Congressional Budgets Pass Early Tests on Deficits and Economy, But Questions Remain

"On the whole, the budget plans that the House and Senate approved yesterday pass the twin tests of: 

(1) beginning to address long-term deficits, or at least not making these deficits worse; and

(2) not undermining the fiscal stimulus Congress recently passed.   

The Senate's adoption, however, of amendments that are intended both to facilitate a further large tax cut for the estates of the nation's wealthiest individuals and to make it less likely that Congress will allow the Bush tax cuts to expire for people at the top of the income scale suggests that significant dangers lie ahead.  The adoption of these measures raises questions about Senators' professed concerns about deficits and debt and about whether Congress has the fortitude to begin making hard choices..."

The full Policy Points is posted to:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2764
http://www.cbpp.org/files/policypoints4-3-09.pdf  3pp.

Howard Stern Fan Pranks Deadly Serious Fox News from Gawker

FROM http://gawker.com/5197579/howard-stern-fan-pranks-deadly-serious-fox-news

SEE LINK ABOVE FOR VIDEO

There was a tragic shooting in Binghamton, New York, as the shouty 24-hour news channels all hastened to tell us. One brave Howard Stern fan stood up against the strictures of seriousness and good taste.

We kind of felt for the Fox News anchorlady who got hoaxed by someone pretending to call from the scene in Binghamton. We didn't get the "Baba Booey" thing, either. But notice how she doesn't even pause at the mention of the formerly important shock jock's name. Has Howard Stern become a complete nonentity after leaving regular radio for satellite?

Turner, Cutler may have to patch things up from Chicago Sun-Times News

From the "Inside the Bears" blog: http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/04/before_cutler_felt_burned_by_m.html

Before Cutler felt burned by McDaniels, there was ...

By

Brad Biggs

Jay Cutler's exit from Denver is easily traceable.

He felt he could not trust Josh McDaniels after he got on board with the new coach, bought into the program McDaniels was selling, and then the new coach tried to trade him. The nearly five weeks of banter back-and-forth, a teleconference, a face-to-face sitdown, text messages, he said, she said produced nothing but drama, a riveting offseason story the NFL probably cherished.

And it ultimately led to Cutler becoming a Bear, the 12th starting quarterback of the Jerry Angelo regime, Thursday afternoon in a blockbuster deal that will define the general manager's career one way or another.

Now we'll see where Cutler can pick things up with another coach he feels has jilted him, or at least did at one point--Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner.

Yep. Add Turner to the list of coaches that might not be high on Cutler's list. Those close to Cutler have said so, any way. It ought to make for some interesting questions when Cutler is introduced at a 5 p.m. press conference at Halas Hall. Here's betting the Bears work to smooth this one over before he fields any of those queries if they already haven't. We'll see if in the passage of time this one has blown over.

Jay Burch, the athletic director at Heritage Hills High School where Cutler prepped in southern Indiana, described it to Denver Post columnist Woody Paige back in December.

``[Denver coach Mike] Shanahan is a very wise man,'' Burch said. ``I wonder if Ron Turner now would have wanted Jay at Illinois and in Chicago.''

As the story goes--and it's unfolded in the Denver Post, on ESPN.com and in the Post-Tribune in Merrillville, Ind., among other places--Cutler accepted a scholarship to Illinois without having visited the campus. Turner, of course, was the head coach at the time. Cutler's high school football season led straight into basketball season (he was a three-sport star who reportedly had the talent as a switch-hitting shortstop to play professionally) and he didn't get to Champaign, Ill., to check out the campus until the end of December. When he got there, things weren't all ``Oskee Wow-Wow.'' Try ``what the hell?!?''

``When Jay went for his official visit, the coach told him they were rescinding the offer because they had some hot-shot quarterback from California,'' Burch told Paige.

That hot shot turned out to be Mike Dlugolecki, who quickly transferred away from Illinois to San Diego State where he made his mark, if you can call it that, passing for 2,597 yards with 10 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

``It's not right,'' Cutler's father, Jack Cutler, told ESPN.com's Pat Forde in an April 24, 2006 column. ``I still have a bitter taste in my mouth over that.''

Cutler had turned down interest from Purdue, Duke and Maryland to commit to Illinois. When he was left empty-handed in Champaign, he was forced to scramble.

``That was dirty,'' Jack Cutler said in Mike Hutton's May 3, 2006 story in the Post-Tribune. ``But that's what happened.''

Michael Smith at The Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal attributed the same word ``dirty'' to Jack Cutler in a Nov. 12, 2005 article.

The Bears were ecstatic Thursday with the addition of Cutler and should be. Sid Luckman's last season was 1950. The Bears have traded away Bobby Layne, lost a coin flip for Terry Bradshaw, traded away a first-round pick for another quarterback from Indiana, Rick Mirer, and wasted precious time waiting for non-prospects to become prospects. Landing at Vanderbilt certainly worked out for Cutler. He became a first-round draft pick. The rest is history.

Angelo just better hope Cutler can get on board with Turner, who told the Tribune in the past that Illinois never rescinded a scholarship because it never offered one to Cutler. Maybe they should get together on this one.

'Return of the Jedi' Never Turned a Profit? from Cinematical

I hate hearing shit like this - http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/03/return-of-the-jedi-never-turned-a-profit/

Apparently, the Dark Side of the Force doesn't help evade the details of fine print. The London Times overheard David Prowse (a.k.a. "The Man Inside Darth Vader") reveal a rather shocking fact to Equity magazine -- he's never received any residuals from The Return of the Jedi because the film never made a profit.

Says Prowse: "In the last 30 years you can count the number of times [The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi] have been in the cinema on one hand, and it never returned much money. I get these occasional letters from Lucasfilm saying that we regret to inform you that as Return of the Jedi has never gone into profit, we've got nothing to send you. Now here we're talking about one of the biggest releases of all time."

His friends say that the letter informing him that ROTJ hadn't made a profit actually referred to the Special Edition re-release and DVD, and that the terms of his contract reward him profits only when the film exceeds its production costs ... which the ROTJ Special Edition may never have done. LucasFilm won't comment, except to say that Prowse is mistaken: "Lucasfilm, as a matter of policy, does not discuss its financial arrangements with cast or crew on its movies, and we will respect that policy here other than to say that Mr Prowse's statement is not accurate."

Call me crazy, but I think even the Special Edition has turned a pretty tidy profit by now. Even if it hasn't, if there's one thing the Star Wars films have been, it's insanely lucrative -- and you would think the studio could toss its players (especially a fan favorite like Prowse) a chunk of change just to say "Thanks for the memories."

Abracadabra! Orthodoxy from Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines

from http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20090403_abracadabra_orthodoxy/

An obvious photoshop job in Israel has hilariously tried to make Israel's inaugural cabinet a bit more Orthodox. In a move by ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspapers, two female cabinet members were photoshopped out of an official picture of Israel's new cabinet, replacing the women with two non-cabinet men.

Another newspaper blacked out the two women entirely.

The BBC:

Two ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspapers have altered a photo of Israel's new cabinet, removing two female ministers.

Limor Livnat and Sofa Landver were grouped with the rest of the 30-member cabinet for their inaugural photo.

But Yated Neeman newspaper digitally changed the picture by replacing them with two men. The Shaa Tova newspaper blacked the women out.

Publishing pictures of women is viewed by many ultra-orthodox Jews as a violation of female modesty.

Read more

READ THE WHOLE ITEM

663,000 from American Leftist

from http://amleft.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_amleft_archive.html#8042382342796765159

Meanwhile, bonuses for management at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, you know, the two government sponsored entities, the two home mortgage giants, that should have been investigated for fraud.

Along these lines, this article was the most e-mailed article from the New York Times website for two days in a row, and, on the third day after posting, remains fourth on the list. An excerpt:

As the national economic crisis has deepened and social services have become casualties of budget cuts, libraries have come to fill a void for more people, particularly job-seekers and those who have fallen on hard times. Libraries across the country are seeing double-digit increases in patronage, often from 10 percent to 30 percent, over previous years.

But in some cities, this new popularity — some would call it overtaxing — is pushing libraries in directions not seen before, with librarians dealing with stresses that go far beyond overdue fines and misshelved books. Many say they feel ill-equipped for the newfound demands of the job, the result of working with anxious and often depressed patrons who say they have nowhere else to go.

The stresses have become so significant here that a therapist will soon be counseling library employees.

"I guess I'm not really used to people with tears in their eyes," said Rosalie Bork, a reference librarian in Arlington Heights, a well-to-do suburb of Chicago. "It has been unexpectedly stressful. We feel so anxious to help these people, and it's been so emotional for them."

Urban ills like homelessness have affected libraries in many cities for years, but librarians here and elsewhere say they are seeing new challenges. They find people asleep more often at cubicles. Patrons who cannot read or write ask for help filling out job applications. Some people sit at computers trying to use the Internet, even though they have no idea what the Internet is.

Elsewhere, the reporters note that children's programs and cultural arts events are filled to capacity, suggesting the need for people to rely upon sources of free entertainment.

How did the world get a workprint of X-Men Origins yesterday? Blame terrorists

from http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/04/02/how-did-the-world-get-a-workprint-of-x-men-origins-yesterday-blame-terrorists/

I was perusing the Internet yesterday and found something unusual: a movie that was to be released on May 1 instead appeared, in very high quality yet with glaring problems. The movie was X-Men Origins: Wolverine and it featured a certain very hirsute Australian actor playing a guy with claws. That's all I'll say.

Not to be hyperbolic, we are witnessing the rise of media terrorism. This workprint, essentially a version of the movie released to the various parties who have a stake in the film - either in testing, special effects, or editing - was not released by a happy person. The fact that you rarely see workprints of any value online - the last one of any interest was probably Star Wars Episode 3 - is a testament to the value the parties involved put on secrecy and trust. People who like their jobs don't leak workprints like X-Men. Sure, Paul Blart Mall Cop got a workprint release, but who cares about that? I suspect the people working on X-Men are proud of their work - heck, they're making cool sci-fi movies! - and they don't want people to steal it.

Here is Fox's official stance on the leak:

"Last night, a stolen, incomplete and early version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was posted illegally on a website. It was without many effects, had missing and unedited scenes and temporary sound and music. We immediately contacted the appropriate legal authorities and had it removed. We forensically mark our content so we can identify sources that make it available or download it. The source of the initial leak and any subsequent postings will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law – the courts have handed down significant criminal sentences for such acts in the past. The FBI and the MPAA also are actively investigating this crime. We are encouraged by the support of fansites condemning this illegal posting and pointing out that such theft undermines the enormous efforts of the filmmakers and actors, and above all, hurts the fans of the film."

My official stance is that the movie kicked ass and I want to see it in theaters.

That said, could this have been an inside job? Could someone at a company that has been downsizing lately have done this out of spite? What happens when workprints become fodder for blackmail?

I'm not saying this will happen, but this is the first time I've seen such a highly anticipated release so long before its official release date. Maybe resident pirate Nicholas can set me straight, but this is a scary leak and indicative of things to come. Disgruntled employees can easily create a digital copy of anything out there and leak it. They usually don't because they're not usually disgruntled. But someone, somewhere must have been amazingly mad at someone to dump this movie on the masses. Even the piracy motive doesn't stand up here.

How To Check Out Your Financial Advisor

from http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/02/financial-advisors-madoff-personal-finance-retirement-check-your-pro.html?partner=financial_newsletter


William P. Barrett, 04.02.09, 2:34 PM ET

In the wake of the Bernard L. Madoff scandal, it's a question on everyone's mind, especially older folks with the most to lose: How can one check out the people helping to manage one's life savings?

A lot of smart money with access to expensive private investigators got taken in by the confessed, now-imprisoned Madoff. But he was the rare case of an out-and-out fraudster with no previous adverse public regulatory baggage. As it turns out, there are cheap and easy ways to vet financial professionals and the outfits they work for, for a history of blunders--or worse.

The absolute easiest way: Google the name of your broker and then the firm. Also check some of the specialized Google services, such as Google News and Google Blog Search, which can pick up more recent events.

In Pictures: Six Ways To Check Out A Financial Pro

The next easiest way: If it's a stockbroker or brokerage you're checking out, pick up the phone, call your state securities regulator--here's a list of them all--and ask to be sent all materials retrievable from the Central Registration Depository. The CRD is a private database maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Make sure you ask specifically for all disciplinary matters, which can include arbitrations, penalties and lawsuits. In many states you also can get education and past employment records, to see if the broker changes jobs frequently--often not a good sign--or has been a stockbroker for just two years after coming off a decade as a disc jockey or truck driver.

A somewhat sanitized version of the CRD also can be accessed on a FINRA web site. However, a separate, harder to find FINRA database of securities arbitration decisions going back years lists cases from FINRA, its predecessor, NASD Regulation and the New York Stock Exchange. It can be searched by specific words--such as your broker's name.

If you're using a commodities broker, the National Futures Association has an online database of registrants.

The CRD also contains some information on financial services professionals who are not stockbrokers, including financial planners and advisors, who have run afoul of the law. Warning: Coverage can be spotty. But there are other sources.

Investment advisory firms managing $25 million or more of assets must register with the Securities & Exchange Commission, and the filings are online. Required disclosures include whether a third party holds the assets the firm advises on (a good protection, which, alas, wasn't the case with Madoff) and any regulatory baggage. Smaller firms file with their headquarters-state securities regulator, where again the information is just a phone call away. Many financial advisors hold the certified financial planner (CFP) credential issued by the CFP Board of Standards, a private agency in Washington, D.C., which also offers online searching.

Some of those pitching financial services hold the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) credential; ChFCs are life insurance agents, who like traditional stockbrokers, gets commissions for selling you a product such as deferred annuities. They are licensed by individual state insurance departments, which will also provide information upon request.

Searching the archives of local news media for the name of your financial professional can also be useful. Many newspapers now have years of their back issues online, and searches are often free, especially if you're already a subscriber. A broader print news media search can be conducted through such commercial databases as Factiva and Lexis-Nexis. Many public libraries have terminals that permit free searches of these services, and some libraries allow borrowing-card holders to search certain news databases from their home computers.

It's also useful to know if your prospective broker or advisor has been on the end of nasty litigation. Most federal courts, including civil, criminal and bankruptcy, can be searched online via PACER, which requires an account. (Name searches cost 8 cents each and downloaded documents cost 8 cents a page). But there's a useful, free site that lets you search federal civil dockets. You won't be able to retrieve documents, but at least you'll know there's something out there--say a securities suit--that raises questions.

The dockets of many local trials courts are now also online. Google the name of the court to get the site, or call the court clerk's office for the Web address. Make sure you search a database that includes the defendants in cases (not just the plaintiffs.) Finally, a visit to the local state or county courthouse might be in order. Ask a clerk for help. And while you're there, go to the office where deeds are recorded and see if your broker has any federal or state tax liens whose magnitude might seem worrisome to you. If a would be financial advisor can't manage his own affairs, why would you trust him to manage yours?

In Pictures: Six Ways To Check Out A Financial Pro

Twitter Has Captain Kirk, Dell Tweeting for Revenue

from http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ahkPE5tzJa08&refer=home

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Twitter Inc., the online messaging service derided by comedian Jon Stewart as "inane chatter," is being taken seriously by big business.

Dell Inc. is using Twitter to sell personal computers and solve customer problems. International Business Machines Corp. uses it to get research scientists talking. Intel Corp. is there looking for engineers and Microsoft Corp. is sponsoring a Twitter site that carries "Tweets" from executives.

Corporate fascination with Twitter, a blend of instant messaging and blogging known as "micro-blogging," is intensifying as companies seek new ways to reach consumers in the recession. Twitter users post 140-character "Tweets" about whatever's on their mind, giving companies a unique opportunity to pounce on consumers right as they express an interest in buying something, said analyst Charlene Li.

"It's the ability to tap into somebody's interest at the moment it's expressed," said Li, founder of Altimeter Group, a San Mateo, California-based research firm that specializes in social technology.

Twitter users in the U.S. increased 15-fold to 7 million in February from a year ago, according to Nielsen Online. Facebook Inc. and News Corp.'s MySpace each had more than 50 million. Still, companies can use Tweets to get an instantaneous snapshot of what people are saying about their products, or reach consumers who are just about to buy, say, a Dell computer.

Twitter may also be a solution for reaching users that are increasingly immune to traditional advertising. About 24 percent of 123 businesses surveyed by Forrester Research Inc. are planning to cut traditional ad budgets to boost social-media spending this year.

Social-Media Spending

"More and more, people are becoming aware of the different ways companies can use Twitter," Chief Executive Officer Evan Williams, 37, said in an e-mail. "And as the user base has grown, the value to doing so has grown."

Twitter's popularity hasn't gone unnoticed by larger Internet companies. Google Inc., the most popular search engine, is in talks to buy the company, the TechCrunch blog reported today, citing people close to the discussions. Facebook held talks to buy Twitter for about $500 million, the Financial Times reported in November, citing people familiar with the matter.

In October, Williams said in an interview that Twitter expected to start making revenue in 2009, probably through advertising. Last month, Microsoft started sponsoring a site that publishes Tweets from executives at companies such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Amazon.com Inc. Twitter doesn't disclose its sales.

Small Fluffy Creatures

Twitter has also spawned a cottage industry of third-party companies that plumb the "Twittersphere." Companies such as Boulder, Colorado-based Collective Intellect Inc. and San Francisco-based Salesforce.com Inc. have applications that let clients track customer comments on Twitter. In July, Twitter bought a search engine to help users navigate the site.

Twitter users post messages about music, brands of coffee, the sex lives of their pets, anything and everything. Twitterers direct their musings at groups of users that decide to "follow" them on the site. Much of the content takes the form of "life streams," or short descriptions throughout the day of what a particular user is doing or thinking. It's those random, often frivolous postings that have attracted ridicule from comedians such as Stewart, host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show.

"Thank jesums for coffee, music, small fluffy creatures, sharks, aliens, spandex, big sunglasses, NARS turkish delight, lipgloss, and perez Hilton," a user called DanaLaurenJazz Tweeted last week.

Not Just Random Chatter

Twitter is more than a forum for random thoughts, said Todd Chaffee, a partner at Institutional Venture Partners, which invested $14 million in Twitter in February. In total, Twitter has received more than $50 million in venture funding since it was started in 2006 by Williams and co-founder Biz Stone. Facebook, by contrast, has raised about $500 million from debt and equity, including a $240 million investment from Microsoft that valued the company at $15 billion.

"The conventional wisdom is that it's just a conversation place," Chaffee said. "The real story is it's a utility to be used in different ways."

Priceline.com Inc., Southwest Airlines Co. and JetBlue Airways Corp. all post deals on Twitter to entice users who are thinking of traveling. Actor William Shatner, the frontman for Priceline's "Negotiator" TV-advertising campaign, appears as a pitchman on Twitter touting air-fare deals. Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in "Star Trek," also uses Twitter to drive visitors to his own site.

'Flickering Fire'

"Even the youngsters are having problems explaining why Twitter exists," Shatner, 78, said in phone interview. "It's like watching a flickering fire, learning about the minutia of someone's life by peripherally involving yourself in it and hearing about their cat."

While micro-blogging sites are growing in popularity, Twitter faces the challenge that its technology could be reproduced. Facebook and sites such as LinkedIn Corp. offer similar micro-blogging features.

"I don't know how persistent Twitter will be," said Sharon Wienbar, a partner at Foster City, California-based Scale Venture Partners, which invests in Internet companies. "What's achieved in Twitter can be achieved in a lot of other form factors."

Dell Outlet

Dell, the world's second-largest personal-computer maker, started using Twitter after an employee attended the South by Southwest technology festival in Austin, Texas. Dell's outlet unit, which sells reconditioned, returned and slightly damaged machines, Tweets to reach new customers.

"Dell Outlet doesn't have a lot of marketing dollars," spokesman Richard Binhammer said. "It occurred to them that they might be able to move their inventory quicker by offering deals on Twitter."

Dell has landed $1 million of sales using Twitter. Even though that's a fraction of Dell's $61 billion in annual sales, it costs almost nothing, Binhammer said. Twitter also allows Dell to promote new products and help customers with technical problems, he said.

Advertisers are courting social-networking users because their opinions matter. More than 65 percent of 112,000 people surveyed said they were more likely to purchase products or services that they learned about in social-networking services, according to Powered Inc., an Austin-based company that helps Sony Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. with their social-media strategies.

'Absolutely Critical'

IBM uses Twitter as more than just a sales tool, said Adam Christensen, manager of social-media communication at the world's largest provider of computer services.

"It's not so much about selling widgets and gadgets as helping IBM employees engage with each other and the outside world," he said. "This is the next generation of instant messaging."

IBM has more than 1,000 employees using Twitter to share ideas and communicate on research projects. IBM also has its own internal version of the service and uses Tweets to do informal surveys, figuring that Twitter users are a good focus group for technology usage.

Intel, the world's largest semiconductor maker, has used Twitter to advertise engineering positions and publicize events including the company's developer forums.

For companies just getting a start, such as Yield Software Inc., Twitter also offers a cheap and direct marketing path.

"It's just absolutely critical to our business strategy," said Derek Gordon, vice president at San Mateo, California-based Yield. "When I started out in PR, it was all about mass communication. Now it's very much one-to-one. It's this intimate connection with people you seek to serve."

New Public Database Reveals First-Hand Accounts of How Toxic Burn Pits Are Making U.S. Troops Sick

from http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/134913/new_public_database_reveals_first-hand_accounts_of_how_toxic_burn_pits_are_making_u.s._troops_sick/

By Nora Eisenberg, AlterNet
Posted on April 3, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/134913/

Cancer, pulmonary disease, multiple sclerosis, sleep apnea, heart disease: Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans have suffered all these and more from toxic fumes spewing from burn pits on American bases. The Disabled American Veterans now has information on 182 sick veterans in a database developed by Assistant National Legislative director, Kerry Baker. Forty-eight have developed lymphoma, leukemia or other cancers; and 16 veterans in the database have died. And on March 30th, a group of seven lawmakers asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to attend to these findings as well the findings from an independent scientific consultant, which found a serious danger that veterans may become ill  from burn pit fumes.

As early as 2006, the DoD had been informed by Air Force Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight Commander Darrin Curtis that the pit was an acute health hazard. Though the Department of Defense has admitted that samples at the large burn pit at Balad contain Acetaldehyde, Acrolien, Arsenic, Benzene, Carbon Monoxide, Ethylbenzene,  Formaldehyde, Hydrogen Cyanide, Hydrogen Fluoride, Phosgene, Sulfur Dioxide, Sulfuric Acid, Toluene, Trichloroethane, Xylene, and other chemicals, to date, it  has insisted the pit presents no known dangers. The letter to Gates -- signed by Senators Russ Feingold, D-Wis.; Evan Bayh, D-Ind; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Representatives Tim Bishop, D-N.Y.; Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.; John Hall, D-N.Y.; Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y.; and Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H. -- urged vigilance, citing the protracted and painful lessons from Agent Orange.

Rep. Bishop's office has developed a website in which veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan can tell their stories. In just a few days, many stories of negligence and suffering have emerged, adding to a tragic saga.

Dave

Dave was stationed at Balad, less than half a mile downwind from a double burn pit.

"They burned plastic, chemicals, tires, metal and who knows what else in that pit. Two months in everyone was coughing up black stuff. Three months in my black stuff started to include blood. I went to the clinic and the front desk turned me away. They said that I didn't need to see a doctor because it was just the burn pit crud. They said, 'A doctor cannot help you if you are not ill from a disease.' Later in the deployment, the smoke was so bad that we all were puking from it. Found out later that it was probably arsenic in the smoke. An air force memo outlined Dioxin, the chemical that made everyone sick from agent orange, comes from burning the same materials that were in the burn pit. The DoD tries to say that the dioxin was of no threat to human life. … I might not be the smartest guy in the world but dioxin is dioxin and it's harmful to humans no matter what the source. Be it agent orange or standing in the plume of the burn pit … But whatever, I came back home and was still coughing and having breathing problems. The doc gave me Sudafed."

Dave's Physical Training run time went from 10:12 to 13:59 in 6 months. His squad leader told him it was his fault. He should run even more, to run faster.

"So I took his advice … and then boom. Emergency room. Couldn't breathe. Had to be put on a machine … And the salt in the wound: The DoD says that burning tires, plastics, chemicals, medical waste, metal, oil, etc. isn't harmful. Which makes you wonder why it's illegal to burn that stuff back at home. "

Terry

Terry, deployed with the 101st Division, was stationed in Balad.

"Two weeks after arriving in country on my most recent deployment to Balad, I started developing symptoms that were eventually diagnosed as Still's Disease (Adult Onset Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis). The experts say that the disease is triggered by something to which you're exposed."

Terry is an Army Reserve Major and civilian airline pilot, and the illness has put both his military and civilian careers in jeopardy.

Kathy

Kathy was a staff sergeant with the National Guard in Balad.

She became sick while there, and once home was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease -- hearing loss and tinnitus.

"My health began to slowly decline. Widespread muscle aches and pains w/stiffness gradually settled in, as did neuralgia and sleep apnea."

She now sleeps with a breathing machine. Kathy has done extensive research and has found dozens of studies that have linked high concentration of particulate matter to cardiovascular problems, as well as to premature death.

Michael

Michael was stationed in Balad Iraq from Oct 2005 until June 2006.

"During this time I would always complain about the smoke. We were told it was safe. Well I started choking in my sleep waking up not breathing. At the time I was also being treated for PTSD so that's what I was told it was from. I got medavaced from Balad in June. I seen another doctor; he told me that it did not sound like PTSD. I did a sleep study and I found out that I had sleep apnea really bad. since then I have had three surgeries on my face and now I have chronic pain in my face because the first surgery did not go well. I have breathing problems during the day, a problem with the lower part of my lungs so now I'm on inhalers. I never had any of these problems until I got to Balad. It has pretty much ruined my army career. It's time someone is held responsible for negligence to me and my fellow soldiers going through the same thing."

Robert

Robert was deployed to Balad, Iraq from February to June 2006.

"Virtually every night my tent was hazy and full of smoke and at times you could even see bits of ash floating in the air. The smell was so acrid that even holding your head on the sheet/blankets would not help you get that "clean" breathe of fresh air. I never got a good nights sleep there."

Things he saw in the burn pit included 55-gallon drums of unknown fluids, tent parts, cabinets … anything from paper to the kitchen sink. He now has problems doing "normal tasks like moving boxes, putting on my boots, playing with my children … It feels like someone is grabbing me in the center of my chest and squeezing to prevent me getting a good breath … I find myself gasping for air and hyperventilating to catch my breath. For Robert, a 42-year-old father of six, "The most troubling of this isn't my health as it is is the health and welfare of the thousands of other service men and women who have come and gone through Balad. My oldest two children also joined the Air Force … and ironically enough my oldest daughter is heading to Balad this summer on her third deployment to the same base. My son is also heading to Balad this summer on his first deployment. What is in their future … one can only hope …"

Derrol

Derrol was stationed at Bagram, Afghanistan and later Balad, Iraq as an Air Force reservist on active orders for over six years.

From the steady burning pits, he suffered both coughing and diarrhea. "An x-ray for a back problem showed that one half of my right lung was missing … they found 2 large nodules/masses in my lower right lung. A CT scan "showed a total of 7 nodules/masses in my right lung and scarring in my left. A Line of Duty was initiated and pushed through rather quickly to confirm the injury as active duty, deploy related. I contacted the VA and started a claim in November of 2007. I again deployed to Qatar for 4.5 months last summer and the claim was held until I was released from active duty in Sept 2008. It is now March 24, 2009 and I still have not heard from VA as to my medical board rating for compensation and disability. I also have problems with my stomach now and shortness of breath, I am still waiting on VA."

John and Wallace both worked for KBR at Balad. They both now have colon cancer.

***

More first-hand reports from veterans can be found on the online Military Times.

Veterans who are suffering health problems they believe are connected to burn pit fumes should report their condition to Kerry Baker at 202-314-5229, to add to the database.

Nora Eisenberg is the director of the City University of New York's Faculty Fellowship Publication Program. Her short stories, essays and reviews have appeared in such places as the Partisan Review, the Village Voice, the Los Angeles Times, Tikkun, and the Guardian UK. Her third novel, When You Come Home, which explores the 1991 Gulf War and Gulf War illness, was recently published by Curbstone Press.

© 2009 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/134913/

Obama's Blackwater? Chicago Mercenary Firm Gets Millions for Private "Security" in Israel and Iraq

from http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/134594/obama%27s_blackwater_chicago_mercenary_firm_gets_millions_for_private_%22security%22_in_israel_and_iraq_/

By Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet
Posted on April 2, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/134594/

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama's advisers said he "can't rule out [and] won't rule out" using mercenary forces, like Blackwater. Now, it appears that the Obama administration has decided on its hired guns of choice: Triple Canopy, a Chicago company now based in Virginia. It may not have Blackwater's thuggish reputation, but Triple Canopy has its own bloody history in Iraq and a record of hiring mercenaries from countries with atrocious human rights records. What's more, Obama is not just using the company in Iraq, but also as a U.S.-government funded private security force in Israel/Palestine, operating out of Jerusalem.

Beginning May 7th, Triple Canopy will officially take over Xe/Blackwater's mega-contract with the U.S. State Department for guarding occupation officials in Iraq. It's sure to be a lucrative deal: Obama's Iraq plan will inevitably rely on an increased use of private contractors, including an army of mercenaries to protect his surge of diplomats operating out of the monstrous U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

The Iraq contract may come as no surprise. But according to federal contract records obtained by AlterNet, the Obama administration has also paid Triple Canopy millions of dollars to provide "security services" in Israel. In February and March, the Obama administration awarded a "delivery order" to Triple Canopy worth $5.5 million under State Department contract SAQMPD05F5528, which is labeled "PROTECTIVE SERVICES--ISRAEL." According to one government document, the contract is scheduled to run until September 2012. (Another document says September 2009.) The contract is classified as "SECURITY GUARDS AND PATROL SERVICES" in Israel. The total value of the contract was listed at $41,556,969.72. According to a January 2009 State Department document obtained by AlterNet labeled "Sensitive But Unclassified," the Triple Canopy contract is based out of Jerusalem.

According to federal records, the original arrangement with Triple Canopy in Israel appears to date back to at least September 2005 and has been renewed every year since. The company is operating under the State Department's Worldwide Personal Protection Program (WPPS), which provides for private security/military companies to operate on the U.S. government payroll in countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, and Israel. Triple Canopy, according to an internal State Department report, also worked under the program in Haiti, though that task order is now listed as "closed." In State Department documents the WPPS program is described as a government initiative to protect U.S. officials as well as "certain foreign government high level officials whenever the need arises." The State Department spent some $2 billion on the WPPS program from 2005-2008.

Triple Canopy's Growing Footprint in Iraq

Triple Canopy is hardly new to the Iraq occupation. Founded in Chicago in 2003 by "U.S. Army Special Forces veterans," the company won its first Iraq contract in 2004. In 2005, with its business expanding, Triple Canopy relocated its corporate headquarters from Obama's home state to Herndon, Virginia, placing it much closer to the center of U.S. war contracting. (On several U.S. government contracts, however, including the Israel security contracts, its Lincolnshire, Illinois address is still used.) 

Along with Blackwater and DynCorp, Triple Canopy has had armed operatives deployed in Iraq on a major U.S. government contract since the early stages of the occupation. At one point during this arrangement, Blackwater was responsible for Baghdad (the largest share of the work), DynCorp covered northern Iraq and Triple Canopy southern Iraq. Triple Canopy also worked for KBR and other corporations. As of 2007, Triple Canopy had about 2,000 operatives in Iraq, but only 257 on the State Department contract. However, its new contract, which takes effect May 7, will greatly expand Triple Canopy's government presence in Iraq. (Meanwhile, Blackwater is scheduled to continue to work in Iraq under Obama through its aviation division and in Afghanistan, where it has security and counter-narcotics contracts. It also holds millions of dollars in other U.S. government contracts around the world and in the U.S. In February alone, the Obama administration paid Blackwater nearly $70 million in security contracts.) The Obama administration may have traded Blackwater for Triple Canopy in Iraq, but it is likely that some of Blackwater's operatives, too, will simply jump over to Triple Canopy to keep working as armed security guards for occupation officials.

Like Blackwater, Triple Canopy has had its share of bloody incidents, among them  allegations that operatives have gone on missions where they shot at civilian vehicles, including one after a briefing where a team leader cocked his M-4 and said to his men, "I want to kill somebody today. ... Because I'm going on vacation tomorrow." (The man in question denied any wrongdoing). While Triple Canopy fired some employees for not reporting shooting incidents in Iraq, none have been criminally prosecuted in Iraq or the U.S. (For a full report on this and other incidents involving Triple Canopy, check out the great work of Washington Post foreign correspondent Steve Fainaru, author of Big Boy Rules.)

Also like Blackwater, Triple Canopy has hired mercenaries from countries with atrocious human rights records and histories of violent counter-insurgencies. Among them: Peru, Chile, Colombia and El Salvador. In fact, in Iraq, Triple Canopy hired far more "Third Country Nationals" than Blackwater and DynCorp and has used more TCNs than US citizens or Iraqis. As I reported in my book, Triple Canopy used the same Chilean recruiter (who served in Augusto Pinochet's military) Blackwater used when it hired Chilean forces, including some "seasoned veterans" of the Pinochet era. In El Salvador, the company reportedly used "a U.S.-trained former paratrooper and officer of the Salvadoran special forces during the country's civil war" where the U.S. backed a brutal right wing dictatorship in a war that took the lives of some 75,000 Salvadorans. A Triple Canopy spokesperson reportedly said of the Salvadorans, "They've got the right background for the type of work we are doing." A Triple Canopy subsidiary in Latin America has also reportedly used a former CIA base in Lepaterique, Honduras as a training center. In the 1980s, the facility was used by the CIA and Argentinian military intelligence in training Contra death squads to attack Nicaragua. The base also served as the headquarters for the notorious Battalion 316, a CIA-trained Honduran military unit responsible for torture and disappearances.

There is also cause for concern about Triple Canopy's attitude towards accountability for its forces in Iraq, particularly in light of new rules which, on paper, give Iraqi courts jurisdiction over contractor crimes. Blackwater has, at times, conspired with the U.S. State Department to whisk its forces out of Iraq when they are facing potential prosecution for alleged crimes committed in the country, as in the case of a drunken Blackwater operative who was alleged to have shot and killed a bodyguard to Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel-Mahdi on Christmas Eve 2006.

According to one Triple Canopy operative, "We were always told, from the very beginning, if for some reason something happened and the Iraqis were trying to prosecute us, they would put you in the back of a car and sneak you out of the country in the middle of the night." Another Triple Canopy operative said U.S. contractors had their own motto: "What happens here today, stays here today."

The use of mercenaries by Hillary Clinton's State Department stands in stark contrast to her co-sponsorship as a Senator of a bill last year that sought to ban the use of such companies in U.S. war zones, specifically Iraq. Last February Clinton said, "The time to show these contractors the door is long past due." Now, Clinton will be relying on these hired guns for protecting her and her staff in various countries.

It's hardly a surprise that Obama is continuing the use of mercenaries in Iraq and beyond (Triple Canopy itself maintains offices in Abu Dhabi, Nigeria, Peru, Jordan and Uganda); nevertheless, members of Congress -- whose actions when Bush deployed these private armies were too little, too late -- have a responsibility to investigate his use of companies whose profits are intimately linked to a continuation of war. Moreover, Obama's choice of this particular company should be investigated, both by the House and Senate, before May 7th when Obama's mercenaries become the official paramilitary force in Iraq. As for Triple Canopy's role in Israel, Obama's administration should explain exactly what these forces are doing on the U.S. government payroll.

Jeremy Scahill, an independent journalist who reports frequently for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now!, has spent extensive time reporting from Iraq and Yugoslavia. He is currently a Puffin Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.

© 2009 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/134594/

Afghan President Signs Law "Legalizing Rape"

from http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/134219/afghan_president_signs_law_%22legalizing_rape%22/

By Jerome Starkey, Independent UK
Posted on March 31, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/134219/

Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has signed a law which "legalizes" rape, women's groups and the United Nations warn. Critics claim the president helped rush the bill through parliament in a bid to appease Islamic fundamentalists ahead of elections in August.

In a massive blow for women's rights, the new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right to leave the home, according to UN papers seen by The Independent.

"It is one of the worst bills passed by the parliament this century," fumed Shinkai Karokhail, a woman MP who campaigned against the legislation. "It is totally against women's rights. This law makes women more vulnerable."

The law regulates personal matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance and sexual relations among Afghanistan's minority Shia community. "It's about votes," Ms. Karokhail added. "Karzai is in a hurry to appease the Shia because the elections are on the way."

The provisions are reminiscent of the hardline Taliban regime, which banned women from leaving their homes without a male relative. But in a sign of Afghanistan's faltering steps towards gender equality, politicians who opposed it have been threatened.

"There are moderate views among the Shia, but unfortunately our MPs, the people who draft the laws, rely on extremists," Ms Karokhail said.

The bill lay dormant for more than a year, but in February it was rushed through parliament as President Karzai sought allies in a constitutional row over the upcoming election. Senator Humeira Namati claimed it wasn't even read out in the Upper House, let alone debated, before it was passed to the Supreme Court. "They accused me of being an unbeliever," she said.

Details of the law emerged after Mr. Karzai was endorsed by Afghanistan's Supreme Court to stay in power until elections scheduled in August. Some MPs claimed President Karzai was under pressure from Iran, which maintains a close relationship with Afghanistan's Shias. The most controversial parts of the law deal explicitly with sexual relations. Article 132 requires women to obey their husband's sexual demands and stipulates that a man can expect to have sex with his wife at least "once every four nights" when traveling, unless they are ill. The law also gives men preferential inheritance rights, easier access to divorce, and priority in court.

A report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Unifem, warned: "Article 132 legalizes the rape of a wife by her husband".

Most of Afghanistan's Shias are ethnic Hazaras, descended from Genghis Khan's Mongol army which swept through the entire region around 700 years ago. They are Afghanistan's third largest ethnic group, and potential kingmakers, because their leaders will likely back a mainstream candidate.

Even the law's sponsors admit Mr. Karzai rushed it through to win their votes. Ustad Mohammad Akbari, a prominent Shia political leader, said: "It's electioneering. Most of the Hazara people are unhappy with Mr. Karzai."

A British Embassy spokesman said diplomats had raised concerns "at a senior level".

© 2009 Independent UK All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/134219/

Warnings Over Obama's Dangerous Afghanistan Plan Falling on Deaf Ears

from http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/134104/warnings_over_obama%27s_dangerous_afghanistan_plan_falling_on_deaf_ears/

By Gareth Porter, IPS News
Posted on March 30, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/134104/

WASHINGTON, Mar 28 (IPS) -- The argument for deeper U.S. military commitment to the Afghan War invoked by President Barack Obama in his first major policy statement on Afghanistan and Pakistan Friday -- that al Qaeda must be denied a safe haven in Afghanistan -- has not been subjected to public debate in Washington.

A few influential strategists here have been arguing, however, that this official rationale misstates the al Qaeda problem and ignores the serious risk that an escalating U.S. war poses to Pakistan.

Those strategists doubt that al Qaeda would seek to move into Afghanistan as long as they are ensconced in Pakistan and argue that escalating U.S. drone airstrikes or Special Operations raids on Taliban targets in Pakistan will actually strengthen radical jihadi groups in the country and weaken the Pakistani government's ability to resist them.

The first military strategist to go on record with such a dissenting view on Afghanistan and Pakistan was Col. T. X. Hammes, a retired Marine officer and author of the 2004 book The Sling and the Stone, which argued that the U.S. military faces a new type of warfare which it would continue to lose if it did not radically reorient its thinking. He became more widely known as one of the first military officers to call in September 2006 for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation over failures in Iraq.

Col. Hammes dissected the rationale for the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan in an article last September on the website of the Small Wars Journal, which specializes in counterinsurgency issues. He questioned the argument that Afghanistan had to be stabilized in order to deny al Qaeda a terrorist base there, because, "Unfortunately, al Qaeda has moved its forces and its bases into Pakistan."

Hammes suggested that the Afghan War might actually undermine the tenuous stability of a Pakistani regime, thus making the al Qaeda threat far more serious. He complained that "neither candidate has even commented on how our actions [in Afghanistan] may be feeding Pakistan's instability."

Hammes, who has since joined the Institute for Defense Analysis, a Pentagon contractor, declined to comment on the Obama administration's rationale for the Afghan War for this article.

Kenneth Pollack, the director of research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy of the Brookings Institution, has also expressed doubt about the official argument for escalation in Afghanistan. Pollack's 2002 book, The Threatening Storm, was important in persuading opinion-makers in Washington to support the Bush administration's use of U.S. military force against the Saddam Hussein regime, and he remains an enthusiastic supporter of the U.S. military presence in Iraq.

But at a Brookings forum Dec. 16, Pollack expressed serious doubts about the strategic rationale for committing the U.S. military to Afghanistan. Contrasting the case for war in Afghanistan with the one for war in Iraq in 2003, he said, it is "much harder to see the tie between Afghanistan and our vital interests."

Like Hammes, Pollack argued that it is Pakistan, where al Qaeda's leadership has flourished since being ejected from Afghanistan, which could clearly affect those vital interests. And additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Pollack pointed out, "are not going to solve the problems of Pakistan."

Responding to a question about the possibility of U.S. attacks against Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan paralleling the U.S. efforts during the Vietnam War to clean out the Communist "sanctuaries" in Cambodia, Pollack expressed concern about that possibility. "The more we put the troops into Afghanistan," said Pollack, "the more we are tempted to mount cross-border operations into Pakistan, exactly as we did in Vietnam."

Pollack cast doubt on the use of either drone bombing attacks or Special Operations commando raids into Pakistan as an approach to dealing with the Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan. "The only way to do it is to mount a full-scale counterinsurgency campaign," said Pollack, "which seems unlikely in the case of Pakistan."

The concern raised by Hammes and Pollack about the war in Afghanistan spilling over into Pakistan paralleled concerns in the U.S. intelligence community about the effect on Pakistan of commando raids by U.S. Special Operations forces based in Afghanistan against targets inside Pakistan. In mid-August 2008, the National Intelligence Council presented to the White House the consensus view of the intelligence community that such Special Forces raids, which were then under consideration, could threaten the unity of the Pakistani military if continued long enough, as IPS reported Sep. 9.

Despite that warning, a commando raid was carried out on a target in South Waziristan Sep. 3, reportedly killing as many as 20 people, mostly apparently civilians. A Pentagon official told Army Times reporter Sean D. Naylor that the raid was in response to cross-border activities by Taliban allies with the complicity of the Pakistani military's Frontier Corps.

Although that raid was supposed to be the beginning of a longer campaign, it was halted because of the virulence of the political backlash in Pakistan that followed, according to Naylor's Sep. 29 report. The raid represented "a strategic miscalculation," one U.S. official told Naylor. "We did not fully appreciate the vehemence of the Pakistani response."

The Pakistani military sent a strong message to Washington by demonstrating that they were willing to close down U.S. supply routes through the Khyber Pass talking about shooting at U.S. helicopters.

The commando raids were put on hold for the time being, but the issue of resuming them was part of the Obama administration's policy review. That aspect of the review has not been revealed.

Meanwhile airstrikes by drone aircraft in Pakistan have sharply increased in recent months, increasingly targeting Pashtun allies of the Taliban.

Last week, apparently anticipating one result of the policy review, the New York Times reported Obama and his national security advisers were considering expanding the strikes by drone aircraft from the Tribal areas of Northwest Pakistan to Quetta, Baluchistan, where top Taliban leaders are known to be located.

But Daniel Byman, a former CIA analyst and counter-terrorism policy specialist at Georgetown University, who has been research director on the Middle East at the RAND corporation, told the Times that, if drone attacks were expanded as is now being contemplated, al Qaeda and other jihadist organizations might move "farther and farther into Pakistan, into cities."

Byman believes that would risk "weakening the government we want to bolster", which he says is "already to some degree a house of cards." The Times report suggested that some officials in the administration agree with Byman's assessment.

The drone strikes are admitted by U.S. officials to be so unpopular with the Pakistani public that no Pakistani government can afford to appear to tolerate them, the Times reported.

But such dissenting views as those voiced by Hammes, Pollack and Byman are unknown on Capital Hill. At a hearing on Afghanistan before a subcommittee of the House Government Operations Committee Thursday, the four witnesses were all enthusiastic supporters of escalation, and the argument that U.S. troops must fight to prevent al Qaeda from getting a new sanctuary in Afghanistan never even came up for discussion.

© 2009 IPS News All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/134104/

Obama to Bring More Mercenaries to Afghanistan -- Sound Familiar?

from http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/133289/obama_to_bring_more_mercenaries_to_afghanistan_--_sound_familiar/

By Jim Hightower, Creators Syndicate
Posted on March 28, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/133289/

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to war we go!

As President Barack Obama begins winding down the Bush war in Iraq, he is building up his own war farther east. We're told that it will be a new, expanded, extra-special American adventure in Afghanistan, involving a vigorous surge strategy to "stabilize" this perpetually unstable land.

The initial surge will add 17,000 troops to the 36,000 already there. Then, later this year, there is to be a second troop surge of another 17,000 or so. This mass of soldiers is expected to be deployed to a series of new garrisons to be built in far-flung regions of this impoverished, rural, mostly illiterate warlord state that is ruled by hundreds of fractious, heavily armed tribal leaders. We're not told how much this escalation will cost, but it will at least double the $2 billion a month that American taxpayers are already shelling out for the Afghan war.

The extra-special part of this effort is to come from a simultaneous "civilian surge" of hundreds of U.S. economic development experts. "What we can't do," said Obama in an interview last Sunday, "is think that just a military approach in Afghanistan is going to be able to solve our problems." To win the hearts (and cooperation) of the Afghan people, this development leg of the operation will try to build infrastructure (roads, schools, etc.), create new crop alternatives to lure hardscrabble farmers out of poppy production and generally lift the country's bare-subsistence living standard.

What Obama has not mentioned is that, in addition to soldiers and civilians, there is a third surge in his plan: private military contractors. Yes, another privatized army, such as the one in Iraq. There, the Halliburtons, Blackwaters and other war profiteers ran rampant, shortchanging our troops, ripping off taxpayers, killing civilians and doing deep damage to America's good name.

Already, there are 71,000 private contractors operating in Afghanistan, and many more are preparing to deploy as Pentagon spending ramps up for Obama's war. The military is now offering new contracts to security firms to provide armed employees (aka, mercenaries) to guard U.S. bases and convoys. Despite the widespread contractor abuses in Iraq, Pentagon chief Robert Gates defends the ongoing privatization push: "The use of contractor security personnel is vital to supporting the forward-operating bases in certain parts of the country," he declared in a February letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

What the gentle war secretary is really saying is this: "We don't have a draft, and I don't see a lot of senators' kinfolks volunteering to put their butts on the line in Afghanistan, so I've gotta pay through the nose to find enough privateers to guard America's Army in this forbidding place."

Meanwhile, here's an interesting twist to Obama's contractor surge: the for-hire guards protecting our bases and convoys will not likely be Americans. The Associated Press has reported that of the 3,847 security contractors in Afghanistan, only nine are U.S. firms.

Actually, being an American contractor is not a plus in the eyes of the Afghan people, for they've had bitter experiences with them. They point to DynCorp, a Virginia-based contractor that got nearly a billion dollars in 2006 to train Afghan police. The bumbling "Inspector Clouseau" of comic fame could've done a better job. At least he might have amused the people.

What they got from DynCorp was a bunch of highly paid American "advisors" who were unqualified and knew nothing about the country. Some 70,000 police were to be trained, but less than half that number actually went through the ridiculous eight-week program, which included no field training.

A 2006 U.S. report on the DynCorp trainees deemed them to be "incapable of carrying out routine law enforcement work." Meanwhile, no one knows how many of the trainees ever reported for duty, or what happened to thousands of missing trucks and other pieces of police equipment that had been issued for the training.

The punch line of this joke is that DynCorp got another contract ($317 million) last August to "continue training civilian police forces in Afghanistan."

Excuse me for saying it, but Obama is about to sink us -- and his presidency -- into a mess.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.

Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the new book, "Swim Against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow." (Wiley, March 2008) He publishes the monthly "Hightower Lowdown," co-edited by Phillip Frazer.

© 2009 Creators Syndicate All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/133289/

UPDATED: U.S. Soldier Convicted in Execution-Style Murder of Iraqi Detainees

from http://www.alternet.org/blogs/waroniraq/134063/updated%3A_u.s._soldier_convicted_in_execution-style_murder_of_iraqi_detainees/

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet
Posted on March 30, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/www.alternet.org/134063/

Sgt. Mayo pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 35 years today, telling a military court that the murders were "in the best interest of my soldiers." Read more here.

A second U.S. soldier was convicted today for the execution-style killing of four Iraqi detainees in 2007.

"Wearing his dress uniform and speaking crispy and confidently, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Mayo of Fort Bragg, N.C., pleaded guilty to charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder at the proceeding at the U.S. Army's Rose Barracks in southern Germany," reports the Associated Press.

The 27-year-old Mayo, who will be sentenced later today, faces life in prison -- the same sentence that was meted out last month to 28-year-old Sgt. Michael Leahy, an Army medic who admitted to his role in the same set of murders. Leahy's trial attorneys tried, unsuccessfully, to block a videotaped confession in which he described shooting his gun "anywhere from a foot to a couple of inches away" from the Iraqi detainees, then dumping their bodies in a canal.

"When I shot the guy in the back of the head he fell back on me," Leahy described to interrogators. "When he fell back on me my arm went to the right and I fired again …"

"I shot the other guy. The other guy was right in front of me and I shot him. I don't think it actually killed him, although it would have later on."

The murders took place in March 2007, after at least four Iraqi men were detained following a confrontation with an Army patrol.  According to the AP, "the Iraqis were taken to the U.S. unit's operating base in Baghdad for questioning and processing, although there was not enough evidence to hold them for attacking the unit. Later that night patrol members took the Iraqis to a remote area and shot them in retribution for the attacks on the unit, according to testimony."

Mayo, Leahy and Master Sgt. John Hatley, 40, are accused of pulling the trigger.

"Hatley stated that if we took (the) individuals to detention they'd be released in a matter of days," Mayo told the court. "He said we should take care of them. I agreed."

The Washington Post has more.

 

Liliana Segura is a staff writer and editor of AlterNet's Rights and Liberties and War on Iraq Special Coverage.

© 2009 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/www.alternet.org/134063/

"Dana White, the volatile president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is under fire after an obscenity-filled video blog was released Wednesday in which he took aim at women and homosexuals."

from http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=4038031&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Dana White, the volatile president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is under fire after an obscenity-filled video blog was released Wednesday in which he took aim at women and homosexuals.

White also unleashed a verbal tirade against a female reporter from Sherdog.com in the video blog, which was posted for a time on the UFC's Web site. It has since been pulled from the site.

The rant was centered around a Sherdog.com article which White believed incorrectly told of his group's credentialing policies for the agents and managers of fighters. He called the Sherdog.com writer, Loretta Hunt, a "dumb bitch" among expletives, and termed the report "an absolutely [expletive] retarded story."

In Hunt's story, she wrote that Zuffa, the company that owns and operates promotions for the UFC and WEC, notified some fighter representatives that they will no longer receive credentials to sit with their clients backstage on fight night.

White used an anti-gay slur when referring to an anonymous source in Hunt's story on Sherdog.com, which is a partner of ESPN.com in the coverage of Mixed Martial Arts.

"I stand by the story," Hunt said in an e-mailed statement to ESPN.com. "It's accurate. I contacted the UFC in ample time for them to respond, clearly stating what the article would be about. They did not reply. Then, I went out of my way to find people that could possibly present Zuffa's side, which is included in the article."

Groups such as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) have called for White to apologize for the tirade. He has not done so, according to a spokesman for the UFC, though a post from GLAAD spokesman Ted Rybka indicated that White will apologize on the UFC's YouTube site.

Problems in the commercial real estate sector "It's just one more thing to worry about,"

from http://www.noonehastodietomorrow.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=996&Itemid=35

Problems in the commercial real estate sector, which have already given shares in some lenders a drubbing and pushed one real estate trust to the brink of bankruptcy, are poised to worsen as the jobless rate soars, says Moody's Investors Service.

"It's just one more thing to worry about," said John Lonski, Chief Economist at Moody's Capital Markets. "This is not good news for those that have exposure to office space, especially office space funded with large amounts of debt."

He found a strong correlation between the U.S. unemployment rate over the last several decades and the U.S. office vacancy rate. For every one percentage point rise in the unemployment rate, the vacancy rate tended to rise by 3.2 percentage points.

With economists expecting the quarterly average unemployment rate to hit 9.2% in the fourth quarter, office vacancies are poised to jump.

Lonski forecast the vacancy rate could climb to nearly 19% at the end of the year from 14.7% in the fourth quarter of last year. That higher rate would be the steepest since 1992, when the U.S. real estate market was suffering its last major collapse.

Economists polled by MarketWatch expect the Labor Department will say Friday the unemployment rate already hit 8.5% in March. Read more in Economic Preview.

They got a preview of how bad job losses in March may have been with a report Wednesday from ADP Employment Services. The payroll services provider said private-sector firms cut 742,000 jobs, the large job losses recorded by ADP in its nine-year history. See story on ADP.

Following the report, BNP Paribas economist Brian Fabbri revised the bank's forecast for March job losses to a loss of 700,000 from a forecast of 615,000.

'The next shoe'

Emptier offices push down rents, driving down cash flows from these properties. That decline makes it harder for property owners to pay on their loans, teeing up banks that made a lot of commercial mortgages for more loan write-downs. Regional banks are particularly vulnerable, analysts say.

"The next shoe has dropped," wrote Joe Morford, an analyst who covers Western banks, in a report last week.

"It now appears that the next leg of the credit cycle is upon us, with CRE-related issues surfacing at most, if not all, of our banks."

READ MORE

From the G20 in London, a "new world order" is emerging.

from http://www.noonehastodietomorrow.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=995&Itemid=35

From the G20 in London, a "new world order" is emerging.

So announced the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to a press conference. "First of all, for the first time, we have together fixed the principles for a reform of the global banking system," Brown said, "This is a vast programme of measures which for the first time brings the shadow banking system, including hedge funds, within the network of global reglulation. We have agreed on the need to set international accountancy standards, we shall set rules for the rating agencies to eliminate conflicts of interest; we have arrived at an agreement to put an end to tax havens which do not supply information upon request. This is the beginning of the end for tax havens".

Initial jobless claims reached their highest levels in over 25 years last week

Initial jobless claims reached their highest levels in over 25 years last week, while a record 5.7 million Americans continue to receive unemployment benefits. On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported a staggering 669,000 Americans filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week. The figure, now at a 26-year high, is well ahead of the 657,000 recorded in the previous week, and greater than the 650,000 Wall Street had expected. Though labor data are considered lagging economic figures, they're closely examined for their insight into consumer behavior. Thursday's report indicates the U.S. labor market is still extremely frail and a recovery is far off. The results from the coming weeks may prove useful as they come in the wake of the first quarter at a time when businesses will be reassessing their health. The Labor Department also reported on Thursday that the total number of Americans claiming unemployment rose by 161,000, to 5.7 million, the highest reading on record. Despite the weak labor data, stocks rallied Thursday due to an accounting change to give banks more wiggle room in valuing assets, and news that the G-20 will boost financial support to create jobs and restore economic growth. (See "Accounting Change Fuels Rally" and "The G-20 Summit.") The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 2.76%, from 2.66% Wednesday, as demand for treasuries waned in light of optimism in the equity markets. Thursday's labor report from the government comes a day after the ADP report said private-sector employers cut 742,000 jobs in March, greater than the 706,000 revised cut in February. (See "Economic Reports Paint Bleak Picture.") The reading was well ahead of Wall Street's expected forecast of 655,000. The labor market's weakness was distributed across all major components tracked by ADP, indicating the recession has gone above and beyond the housing crisis that propelled it. (See "The Fuel That Fed The Subprime Meltdown.") The government's labor report for the month of March is due Friday, and the Street expects the unemployment rate to reach 8.5%, with 658,000 jobs shed. In early March, the U.S. Labor Department reported the unemployment rate in February reached 8.1%, with 651,000 cuts. (See "The Depressing Truth About America's Economy.") "I can't imagine Friday's report is going to be anything but bad," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management. Stone's expectations are essentially in line with the Street, forecasting the March report to record a drop of 630,000, with an unemployment rate of 8.5%. Regardless of exact figures, the job loss will be enormous, said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. "Whether it's 650,000 or 700,000 is a minor detail, frankly," Wyss said. Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers, expects the unemployment rate to reach 9.5% by the middle of 2010, while possibly reaching 9.0% by the end of this year. Later in the day, the Commerce Department reported that in February, new factory orders jumped 1.8%, the largest increase since June, and the first increase of any kind in seven months. The increase was higher than the 1.1% Wall Street had expected. Thursday's report was bittersweet though, as January's reading was revised downward to a drop of 3.5%, from the initial 1.9% contraction the government reported.

from http://www.noonehastodietomorrow.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=994&Itemid=35

Bill O'Reilly Is on the Ropes: Tries to Defend His Harassment Machine

from http://www.alternet.org/blogs/mediaculture/134727/bill_o%27reilly_is_on_the_ropes%3A_tries_to_defend_his_harassment_machine/

By Amanda Terkel, Think Progress
Posted on April 2, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.thinkprogress.org//134727/

Yesterday, Bill O'Reilly defended his top henchman, producer Jesse Watters, who is supposedly "the subject of far-left angst, because he goes out and talks to the bad guys." During his conversation with Amanda Carpenter of the Washington Times — who agreed with everything the Fox News host was saying — O'Reilly defended his "ambush journalism" as a "legitimate brand of journalism":

O'REILLY: Now the far-left websites fear greatly the vicious guy Jesse Watters. And Jesse Watters is now the subject of far-left angst, because he goes out and talks to the bad guys. Tell us about that.

This, of course, a legitimate brand of journalism, has been practiced ever since television news was invented in the '60's when the bad guys won't comment, when they run and hide.

Watch it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCxNVmyyfHY

Actual journalists disagree with O'Reilly. While he's right that man-on-the-street interviews have been around for a long time, Fox has taken them to a whole new level. ThinkProgress recently contacted Columbia Journalism Review editor in chief Mike Hoyt — also a victim of an O'Reilly ambush earlier this year — who said that what O'Reilly does is nothing more than "fake journalism":

I don't have a problem with the idea, anyway, of a street interview. I didn't complain when 60 Minutes was doing it to various politicians and moguls, so I can't really complain now when Fox shows up at my bus stop. But I do have a problem with how O'Reilly does it — which has nothing to do with an interview, with gathering information, trading points of view, seeing what you think, etc., and everything to do with grabbing whatever out-of-context quote that he can use to make you look stupid. It borrows the form of journalism but it isn't journalism; it's fake, like those digital fireplace fires that provide no heat.

Furthermore, O'Reilly isn't just trying to track down the "bad guys" who "run and hide." As I have noted, no one at Fox News ever contacted me or anyone else at ThinkProgress before harassing me. Similarly, the New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg also never received a chance to explain himself before being tracked down outside his New York City home. So is O'Reilly interested in journalism and getting at the facts? Or is he interested in intimidation of his perceived opponents?

O'Reilly also claimed that Watters is "as polite as possible" when ambushing people; he just is "[o]ut there having a conversation that anybody would have." We're not sure what types of conversations O'Reilly has with his friends…but the people we talk to certainly don't consider it "polite" to launch ad hominem attacks and smears.

Update: Yesterday, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Fox producer Griff Jenkins his "worse" person and O'Reilly his "worser" person of the day. Olbermann referred to Fox's "ambush journalism" as "news terrorism."

Update: Crooks and Liars's John Amato writes:

Jesse can bring his camera crew anywhere he wants and ask tough questions too, but what's despicable about his tactics is that he shows up on their private property unannounced or (worse yet) on the private weekend getaways, after stalking them. That's uncool and out of line and that's what's objectionable. If Jesse had called Amanda Terkel and asked for an interview and she met him, then there would have been no problem. But you all decided to "get" her. You claim you reserve this treatment for when "the bad guys won't comment," but you never even gave Amanda Terkel that opportunity.

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.

© 2009 Think Progress All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.thinkprogress.org//134727/

Senator Admits the Truth: Time Spent Fundraising "Nothing Short of Amazing"

from http://www.alternet.org/blogs/democracy/134760/senator_admits_the_truth%3A_time_spent_fundraising_%22nothing_short_of_amazing%22/

By Lagan Sebert, American News Project
Posted on April 2, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://newsproject.org/134760/

On Tuesday, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL.) introduced campaign finance legislation intended to ease the rising fund-raising burden on politicians. The legislation would give grants and matching funds to qualified candidates for federal office who volunteer to cap individual contributions at $100.

Joining Durbin to introduce the 2009 Fair Elections Now Act were Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Reps. John Larson (D-CT) Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Walter Jones (R-NC).

Public financing supporters often cite the corrupting influence of money as the primary motivation for reform, but Senator Durbin and his bipartisan coalition focused on the issue of fundraising as an enormous time drain on public servants trying to carry out the business of government.

ANP producer Lagan Sebert was at a lightly covered press conference at which Durbin expressed his growing frustration. The amount of time members of Congress spend raising election money is "nothing short of amazing," he said.

© 2009 American News Project All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://newsproject.org/134760/

Coke Is Great for You!

from http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/134800/coke_is_great_for_you!/

By Tana Ganeva, AlterNet
Posted on April 2, 2009, Printed on April 3, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/www.alternet.org/134800/

Last year, Coca-Cola ran a series of ads in Australia claiming that the sugary soft drink is "kiddy safe," and doesn't cause obesity or tooth decay.

But Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was not convinced that Coke -- basically carbonated high-fructose corn syrup -- is some sort of magical elixir with no adverse health effects. Today, the consumer watchdog forced the company to run corrective ads in major newspapers throughout Australia, as well as post accurate information on their website.

According to Reuters, ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel said in a statement: "Coke's messages were totally unacceptable, creating an impression which is likely to mislead that Coca-Cola cannot contribute to weight gain, obesity and tooth decay."

How nice that some countries take steps to protect consumers from dangerously misleading advertising! In the U.S., some combination of the FTC and the FDA is technically charged with that task. But, as you've no doubt noticed, we're the country that allows big pharma to stick a serious-looking non-doctor dressed in a doctor's coat on TV to peddle pills to consumers.

© 2009 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/www.alternet.org/134800/

Statement by Chad Stone, Chief Economist, on the March Employment Report

With the continued sharp deterioration in the labor market in March, the pace of job losses in this recession now is far worse than even during the deep 1981-82 recession.  Thus, Congress acted wisely this week in rejecting calls to cut federal spending in 2010, at a time when the economy clearly will still be quite weak and need continued strong stimulus.

Congress must not undermine the effectiveness of stimulus spending that it included in the economic recovery act just as it is starting to take effect in the economy.  The time for deficit reduction will come once a solid economic recovery is underway.  Right now, however, the top priority is turning the economy around so that a recovery can start.

Moreover, for the recovery act to stem the tide of job losses and lay the groundwork for a strong recovery as quickly and effectively as possible, federal, state, and local governments must get programs up and running quickly.  In particular, states must use the money that Congress provided to them as intended so that it will have maximum effectiveness as stimulus.  (See the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis, "If States Fail to Use Stimulus Funds as Intended, Efforts to Strengthen the Economy Could Be Undercut," available at http://www.cbpp.org/2-24-09sfp.htm.)

About the Jobs Report

The recession that began in December 2007 has entered its 16th month, and the pace of job losses is far worse than it was even in the deep 1981-82 recession (see chart).  Given the depth of the recession, stimulus will continue to be important in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.  Congress should continue to reject efforts to undo the provisions of the recovery act that provide such stimulus.

The bad news in today's jobs report is pervasive.

•    Private and government payrolls combined have shrunk for 15 straight months, and net job losses since the start of the recession total 5.1 million.  (Private sector payrolls have shrunk by 5.3 million jobs over the same period.)

•    Job losses have averaged 667,000 a month over the last five months, accounting for almost two-thirds of the job losses so far.

•    The official unemployment rate, which was 4.9 percent at the start of the recession in December 2007, reached 8.5 percent last month. 

•    Other indicators show the breadth of labor market weakness.  For example, the percentage of the population with a job (59.9 percent) has fallen to its lowest level since July 1985. 

•    The Labor Department's most comprehensive alternative unemployment rate measure — which includes people who want to work but are discouraged from looking and people working part time because they can't find full-time jobs — stood at 15.6 percent in March, up 6.9 percentage points since the recession began and the highest level on record in data that go back to 1994.

•    Almost one-quarter (24.2 percent) of the 13.2 million unemployed have not been able to find a job despite looking for 27 weeks or more.  (Regular unemployment insurance benefits typically run out after 26 weeks.)

This statement is posted to:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2762
http://www.cbpp.org/files/4-3-09ui-stmt.pdf  2pp.

House Republican Budget Would Aid Wealthy Individuals and Corporations, Cut Public Services, Slow Economic Recovery By Paul N. Van de Water and Kathy A. Ruffing

"The House Republican budget, introduced April 1 by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), calls for a massive transfer of resources from the broad majority of Americans to the nation's wealthiest individuals and corporations.  

It provides the richest households with a new round of very costly tax reductions by extending the Bush high-income tax cuts and adding another set of tax cuts that are particularly large at the top of the income scale (as well as a cut in corporate taxes).  To help pay for these tax cuts, the proposal eliminates Medicare and Medicaid in their current forms, imposes large reductions on other domestic programs, and apparently repeals the Making Work Pay tax credit.

In addition, by cutting spending starting in the fiscal year that begins in October — when the economy almost certainly will still be weak — the House Republican budget would likely prolong and deepen the recession, already the worst since the Great Depression."

The full report is posted to:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2761
http://www.cbpp.org/files/4-2-09bud.pdf  3pp.

Obama explains how G20 agreements will affect Americans back home from Crooks and Liars

from http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/obama-explains-how-g20-agreements-wi

Download | Play    Download | Play

There were several questions at President Obama's G-20 Summit press briefing today asking him to compare himself to the previous administration. While he made clear there was a significant difference between himself and his predecessor, mostly he shied away from slagging the Republicans he replaced, and particularly George W. Bush.

But watching him onstage, you couldn't help making the comparison. And all I can say is: What a relief it is to once again have a thinking, competent, and capable man as the president.

Still, probably the most pertinent question, for those watching at home, came from Chuck Todd:

QUESTION: What concrete items that you got out of this G-20 can you tell the American people back home who are hurting, the family struggling, seeing their retirement go down, or worrying about losing their job, what happened here today that helps that family back home in -- in the heartland?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, as I said before, we've got a global economy. And if we're taking actions in isolation in the United States but those actions are contradicted overseas, then we're only going to be halfway effective, maybe not even half.

You've seen, for example, a drastic decline in U.S. exports over the last several months. You look at a company like Caterpillar, in my home state of Illinois, which up until last year was doing extraordinarily well. In fact, export growth was what had sustained it even after the recession had begun.

As a consequence of the world recession, as a consequence of the contagion from the financial markets debilitating economies elsewhere, Caterpillar is now in very bad shape.

So if we want to get Caterpillar back on its feet, if we want to get all those export companies back on their feet so that they are hiring, putting people back to work, putting money in people's pockets, we've got to make sure that the global economy as a whole is successful.

No doubt this is some reassurance for Americans. At the same time, it was responses like this one, I think, that will help build confidence in America among other nations:

Download | Play    Download | Play

Bailout 'will not succeed': ex-AIG chief from Raw Story Breaking News

Bailout 'will not succeed': ex-AIG chief

from http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Ex_AIG_chief_says_government_bailou_04022009.html

The former head of AIG said Thursday he was not to blame for the collapse of the insurance giant and declared that government-backed plans to rescue the firm would fail.

"All plans so far advanced by the US government to date have failed and the current plan, in my opinion, will not succeed," Maurice "Hank" Greenberg told a congressional hearing.

Greenberg, 83, presided over American International Group for nearly four decades before he was forced out in 2005, about two years before financial turmoil erupted stemming from a home mortgage meltdown that wreaked havoc across the globe.

The government had pumped 180 billion dollars so far into AIG to keep it afloat, the largest single recipient of federal bailout money.

Greenberg claimed "major mistakes have been made" in the bailout plans.

He said the government imposed "unrealistic financing terms" on AIG, including slapping about 14 percent interest for the first year of the bailout funds -- "charging interest whether AIG actually drew down funds or not.

"That was not only different from those that were imposed on any other company, but which fundamentally undermined AIG's continued viability," he said.

The government also obtained most of the equity in the company and moved to sell off key assets.

Greenberg claimed the government used AIG "to funnel money to other institutions, including foreign banks" that required the company to put up collateral after losing its coveted AAA credit rating.

"It advanced billions of dollars of taxpayer money to AIG instead of pursuing the opportunity to raise private capital in conjunction with providing government guarantees that would have eliminated the necessity of putting up additional cash collateral," he said.

Greenberg felt the government should "create conditions that allow AIG to repay the taxpayer" by rebuilding the company, saying this "is the best way of doing that."

He also said that the government should "wall off" AIG Financial Products division, which was responsible for backing risky financial transactions that led to the company's downfall, from the rest of the group.

The government should then replace as many loans as possible with guarantees and extend what remains of existing loans for 20 years at possibly low interest rates, he said.

This could reduce the government's ownership in the company to 15 percent common equity to allow private capital to be raised over time, he said.

"The current approach of announcing the sale of insurance subsidiaries simply results in people seeking employment elsewhere and taking business with them," he said.

Greenberg blamed AIG's current management for the current mess.

"AIG's business model did not fail. Its management did."

He said that the Financial Products division was subject to numerous risk controls during his watch and conducted business largely on a hedged basis.

"Massive losses at AIG-FP in 2007 and 2008 resulted significantly from a shift in the way the unit did business after I left the company in the spring of 2004," he said.

NECKBRONCO from Kissing Suzy Kolber by Big Daddy Drew

from http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2009/04/neckbronco.html

Well well well…

The Bears acquired quarterback Jay Cutler today for No. 1 draft picks in 2009 and 2010, a No. 3 pick this year and Kyle Orton, the Sun-Times has learned.
The Bears receive the Broncos' fifth-round draft pick this year.

Cutler, 25, is coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Broncos, but he became disgruntled and wanted a trade after learning Denver was considering a deal for quarterback Matt Cassel.

That sound you heard was Brandon Marshall putting his hand through another TV.

Chicago Bears acquire Jay Cutler from Denver Broncos from ESPN.com by John Clayton

The Chicago Bears pulled the big upset Thursday afternoon by acquiring Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, a source told ESPN.com.

The Broncos confirmed the move.

Cutler

To acquire Cutler, the Bears had to give up quarterback Kyle Orton and first-round picks in 2009 and 2010, a source said.

To complete the trade, the Broncos had to give back a third-round pick in 2009.

The Bears beat out the Redskins, Buccaneers, Lions, Titans and other teams to get land the 25-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback.

The Broncos had been asking for at least two first-round choices.

NFL.com Video

Highlights of some of Jay Cutler's best moments in 2008.

Cutler asked to be traded when he found out first-year coach Josh McDaniels tried to acquire Matt Cassel in a trade with the Patriots.

Cutler had not returned phone calls from the Broncos, according to the team, and had been staying away from the offseason program.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com

 

Chicago, Meet Your New Quarterback: Jay Cutler [Jay Cutler Traded To Chicago Bears] from Deadspin by DAULERIO

from http://deadspin.com/5196116/chicago-meet-your-new-quarterback-jay-cutler

In somewhat of a stunning move in the, wow-that-happened-fast sense, the Denver Broncos have sent Jay Cutler to Chicago for, well — A LOT.

According to the Sun-Times:

The Bears acquired quarterback Jay Cutler today for No. 1 draft picks in 2009 and 2010, a No. 3 pick this year and Kyle Orton, the Sun-Times has learned.

The Bears receive the Broncos' fifth-round draft pick this year.

Wow. Anyway, obviously, this also marks the end of the brilliant (for us) Kyle Orton era in Chicago. But lucky for him the winters are quite nasty in Denver as well, so the Neckbeard could possibly return.

Bears get their quarterback in trade with Denver [Chicago Sun-Times]

FAILMeter Takes Dig At Daley from Chicagoist

from http://chicagoist.com/2009/04/02/failmeter.php

We saw this a couple days ago and didn't get around to posting it - but since it might have been on the chests of a number of protesting cops earlier today, we thought we'd pass it on. You recall the FAIL Meter that we directed your attention towards a while back? Well, it's been repurposed by someone to take a more direct dig at the mayor.

While the creator remains anonymous - we found this via SCC - we bet a few of these shirts saw the light of day this morning.

Dodd Takes a Hit for AIG Bonus Blunder from Truthdig:

from http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20090402_dodd_takes_a_hit_for_aig_bonus_blunder/

When the word got out that Sen. Chris Dodd was responsible for loosening the restrictions on executive bonuses while drafting the stimulus bill, his constituents were apparently listening, as Dodd's approval rating in his home state of Connecticut has hit an all-time low, and he could be in danger of losing his Senate seat in 2010.

CBS:

In a direct match up with possible Republican 2010 candidate former Congressman Rob Simmons, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd has the support of only 34 percent of his constituents, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows. Simmons receives 50 percent of the vote, according to the poll.

Dodd, who has been in the Senate for 30 years, chairs the Senate Banking Committee. Many of those polled cite his involvement in the AIG bonus fiasco for their unhappiness with the incumbent, whose has just a 33 percent favorability rating. That's the lowest point his approval rating has ever gone; in March, it stood at 49 percent.

Read more

Bayer and Johnson & Johnson respond to your emails. from Think Progress

from http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/02/j-and-j-and-bayer/

In response to our Stop Supporting The O'Reilly Harassment Machine campaign, we recently received statements from two of O'Reilly's key advertisers. Johnson & Johnson told us:

With the help of our advertising agencies, a conscientious effort is made to screen all programs prior to broadcast. As a result of our screening, we have frequently withdrawn ads from television shows in the past and we will continue to monitor programming in the same manner in the future.

Your concern will be directed to network personnel. However, the most effective comment on programming is direct action by viewers. Therefore, we would urge you to communicate your feelings directly to the network.

Similarly, Bayer told us: "While there may always be reasonable differences over what constitutes acceptable programming, we do try to exercise good judgment in selecting networks on which to advertise." We understand companies may choose to advertise on The O'Reilly Factor to reach its large audience. However, doing so should not mean that advertisers forsake their right to criticize Bill O'Reilly's harassment tactics.

Kroll Sees High Risk of Fraud in Bailout and Stimulus Packages from BailoutSleuth by Avi Klein

from http://bailoutsleuth.com/2009/04/kroll-sees-high-risk-of-fraud-in-bailout-and-stimulus-packages/

The economic downturn has created a welcoming environment for fraud, according to global risk consultancy firm Kroll Inc.

The firm, which specializes in financial investigations, issued a report this week pointing to the bailout and stimulus programs as prime targets for illegal activity.

"Those impacted by the economic instability who are inclined to engage in fraudulent business practices will work to secure stimulus funds by any means possible," said Blake Coppotelli, a senior director in the firm's business intelligence and investigations practice.

With so much money circulating due to the stimulus package and the Troubled Asset Relief Program, there are many opportunities for greedy, and sometime desperate, people to cut corners or defraud clients and employers, the firm said.

Kroll pointed to fraudulent minority- and woman-owned companies as prime examples. Many public-works projects give special consideration to such firms, and there are temptations for companies to create sham ownership structures in order to qualify.

"Many companies will want to take a closer look to ensure that the competition is not using a false claim of minority or woman-ownership to gain and unfair advantage," said Kroll director Mark Skertic.

Infrastructure projects, which make up a large part of the stimulus package, already have a notorious history of corruption, the firm said.

In the case of the banking bailout, the more details the United States and other countries disclose, the less chance there is for fraud, said Robin Hodess, director of policy and research for Transparency International.

"We want government to come clean on the decisions being taken in terms of what companies are being bailed out," she said in an interview with Kroll. "Which companies are being supported and what they are doing with the money are issues that need to be made clear."

Lincoln-Kyl Estate Tax Amendment is Both Unnecessary and Unaffordable

Lincoln-Kyl Estate Tax Amendment is Both Unnecessary and Unaffordable

By Jason Levitis and Chuck Marr

"Senators Blanche Lincoln and Jon Kyl will offer an amendment to the Senate budget resolution to substantially weaken the estate tax, by going well beyond President Obama's proposal to make the 2009 estate tax rules permanent.

This amendment would be both fiscally irresponsible — it would pave the way for a significant increase in long-term deficits and debt — and unnecessary to protect small businesses and farms, nearly all of which are already exempt from the tax under the 2009 estate tax rules. 

The amendment also would lead to significant reductions in charitable contributions, while benefiting only the wealthiest 0.28 percent of estates."

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2759
http://www.cbpp.org/files/4-2-09tax.pdf  5pp.

Although she is ‘focused on Alaska,’ Palin still agrees to attend a Right to Life fundraiser in Indiana. from Think Progress

 http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/01/palin-fundraiser-life/

Earlier this month, the top congressional GOP fundraising committees issued a press release announcing that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) would deliver the keynote address at their annual fundraising dinner. The groups eventually had to backtrack when Palin's staff claimed that the governor had never made such a commitment because she was too busy with Alaska state business. However, First Read now reports that Palin is still planning to attend a Right to Life fundraiser in Indiana on April 16:

On April 16, Palin will be attending the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner in Evansville, IN, as well as a breakfast the next day for S.M.I.L.E., a nonprofit organization for people with family members who have Down syndrome. Palin's spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton, said Palin will be taking a "36-hour vacation" to attend the events in Indiana. Palin's political action committee will pay for the travel. […]

Stapleton said Palin would not agree to political events until after April 20, when the Alaska legislative session ends. "She is focused on Alaska," Stapleton said today. […] Stapleton could not explain why Palin would say yes to a political event in Indiana and not attend a political event in Washington.

Sticking to the script from Political Animal

 http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017557.php

STICKING TO THE SCRIPT.... Back in February, the Senate Republican Communications Center sent Fox News a press release about the stimulus package. Soon after, Fox News took the Republicans' materials and aired it, word for word, without telling viewers that the "story" was a creation of Republican officials.

Eventually, the network apologized, not for using Republican propaganda as an on-air script, but for including a typo in their report.

Oddly enough, Fox News doesn't learn from its mistakes.

During the April 1 edition of Fox News' Happening Now, while co-host Jon Scott interviewed Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Fox News aired "FOXfact[s]" purporting to describe facts about the House Republican budget. However, all of the seven on-screen "FOXfact[s]" were nearly identical to portions of an op-ed Ryan published in that day's Wall Street Journal.

Ryan wrote in the op-ed, "The Republican budget achieves lower deficits than the Democratic plan in every year." Fox News offered this "Fox Fact" to viewers, "GOP Budget: Achieves lower deficits than Dem plan in every year."

Ryan said, "Under our plan, debt held by the public is $3.6 trillion less during the budget period." Fox News said, "GOP Budget: Debt held by public $3.6 trill less than during budget period."

Ryan said, "Our budget gives priority to national defense and veterans' health care." Fox News said, "GOP budget gives priority to nat'l defense & vet health care."

Ryan said, "We do these things by rejecting the president's cap-and-trade scheme." Fox News said, "GOP budget rejects the president's cap-and-trade scheme."

Ryan said, "Our budget does not raise taxes, and makes permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax laws." Fox News said, "GOP budget doesn't raise taxes; makes permanent '01 & '03 tax laws."

Ryan said, "Capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15%, and the death tax is repealed." Fox News said, "GOP Budget: Capital gains & dividends taxed at 15% & death tax repealed."

I mind the propaganda, but I'm also offended by the laziness. The network couldn't go to the trouble of changing the wording a little?

 

Sticking to the script from Political Animal

 http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017557.php

STICKING TO THE SCRIPT.... Back in February, the Senate Republican Communications Center sent Fox News a press release about the stimulus package. Soon after, Fox News took the Republicans' materials and aired it, word for word, without telling viewers that the "story" was a creation of Republican officials.

Eventually, the network apologized, not for using Republican propaganda as an on-air script, but for including a typo in their report.

Oddly enough, Fox News doesn't learn from its mistakes.

During the April 1 edition of Fox News' Happening Now, while co-host Jon Scott interviewed Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Fox News aired "FOXfact[s]" purporting to describe facts about the House Republican budget. However, all of the seven on-screen "FOXfact[s]" were nearly identical to portions of an op-ed Ryan published in that day's Wall Street Journal.

Ryan wrote in the op-ed, "The Republican budget achieves lower deficits than the Democratic plan in every year." Fox News offered this "Fox Fact" to viewers, "GOP Budget: Achieves lower deficits than Dem plan in every year."

Ryan said, "Under our plan, debt held by the public is $3.6 trillion less during the budget period." Fox News said, "GOP Budget: Debt held by public $3.6 trill less than during budget period."

Ryan said, "Our budget gives priority to national defense and veterans' health care." Fox News said, "GOP budget gives priority to nat'l defense & vet health care."

Ryan said, "We do these things by rejecting the president's cap-and-trade scheme." Fox News said, "GOP budget rejects the president's cap-and-trade scheme."

Ryan said, "Our budget does not raise taxes, and makes permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax laws." Fox News said, "GOP budget doesn't raise taxes; makes permanent '01 & '03 tax laws."

Ryan said, "Capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15%, and the death tax is repealed." Fox News said, "GOP Budget: Capital gains & dividends taxed at 15% & death tax repealed."

I mind the propaganda, but I'm also offended by the laziness. The network couldn't go to the trouble of changing the wording a little?

 

Drug-resistant TB explosion looms from Raw Story Breaking News

World on cusp of crisis that could deluge hospitals, say experts.

from http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/65262.html

BEIJING — The world is on the cusp of an explosion of drug-resistant tuberculosis cases that could deluge hospitals and leave physicians fighting a nearly untreatable malady with little help from modern drugs, global experts said Wednesday.

"The situation is already alarming, and poised to grow much worse very quickly," said Dr. Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organization.

With Bill Gates at her side, Chan urged health officials from 27 countries at a three-day forum in Beijing on drug-resistant TB to recognize the warning signs of what looms ahead, saying that traditional drugs are useless against some strains of tuberculosis and health-care costs for treating those strains can be 100 to 200 times more than for regular tuberculosis.

"This is a situation set to spiral out of control. Call it what you may: a time bomb or a powder keg. Any way you look at it, this is a potentially explosive situation," Chan warned.

Gates, the software magnate turned philanthropist, said scientific overconfidence had led to a lack of innovation and urgency in fighting tuberculosis, which affects 9 million people each year, killing nearly 2 million of them.

"The most commonly used diagnostic test is today more than 125 years old," Gates said. "The vaccine was developed more than 80 years ago, and drugs have not changed in 50 years."

Tuberculosis is a highly contagious bacterial infection that attacks the lungs and can affect other organs as well. Coughing, sneezing and even talking can spread the bacteria. If untreated, a person with TB can infect 10 to 15 other people in a year.

Once thought conquered in developed countries, virulent forms of tuberculosis are again on the march, caused often by improper use of drugs and poorly managed treatment regimes. It remains largely a disease of poverty.

Chan said that traditional treatment often left the patient wishing to end the medicine.

"Instead of taking two to four pills, one has to take 13 pills. Put yourself in the position of the patient. Thirteen pills are not 13 candies," Chan said, noting that courses of treatment can last four to six months and patients don't like the hassle of taking the pills for so long.

Outbreaks of multi-drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis are highest in India, China, Russia, South Africa and Bangladesh. Scientists now see even worse strains, which they label extensively drug-resistant TB, that can be treated neither with the two principal anti-TB drugs nor with more expensive second-line drugs.

In early 2007, 20 countries reported cases of the more fatal TB. By the end of last year, 54 countries reported the malady.

Jorge Sampaio, the U.N. secretary general's special envoy to halt TB, called the extensively drug-resistant strain "a very deadly and devastating epidemic."

Later in the day, Gates offered a grant of $33 million to China's Ministry of Health to finance what he called an innovative pilot program for TB prevention that other nations could use. The program uses new systems to reduce pill intake, offers incentives for doctors to monitor TB and pays for the development of new diagnostic tests.

China has about 1.5 million cases of TB each year.

Under the pilot program, TB patients will get medicine kits with built-in reminder alarms as well as receive cell-phone text messages reminding them to take their medicines.

Gates said that his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was financing research on a new TB vaccine and that "it'll be about five to six years from now before we could have a completely new vaccine."

April Fool's Jokes: ThinkGeek's Tauntaun Sleeping Bag

from http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/01/april-fools-jokes-thinkgeeks-tauntaun-sleeping-bag/

Yes, it's April 1st, which means it's April Fool's Day ... and so all over the web today you have folks goofing around, playing practical jokes on their readers (ahem, why you lookin' at us?), and so on and so forth. Our various movie nerd friends are really having a good time -- creating the ultimate in ridiculous announcements, like Moviehole's four (!) pranks including one claiming Johnny Depp will play Freddy Kruger in the new Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Others went with the go-to film for high traffic, opting to create fake news for the next Batman movie (see JoBlo and InContention), while Slashfilm came at us with a new Matrix film starring Robert Pattinson.

My favorite April Fool's Day prank, however, is sitting over at ThinkGeek in the form of a fabulous Tauntaun Sleeping Bag (see above). You Star Wars geeks will immediately know what that image references, and while it's sorta gross, is it wrong of me to kinda want one of these? From ThinkGeek's description: "This high-quality sleeping bag looks just like a Tauntaun, complete with saddle, internal intestines and glowing lightsaber zipper pull. Now when your kids tell you their favorite Star Wars movie is "Attack of the Clones" you can nestle the wee-ones snug in simulated Tauntaun fur while regaling them with the amazing tale of "Empire Strikes Back".

You can check out a ginormous list of April Fool's Day jokes from around the web over here, and definitely let us know your favorites in the comments section below.

tyler exclusive - lindsay might do porn from What Would Tyler Durden Do?

tyler exclusive - lindsay might do porn

from What Would Tyler Durden Do?

A plan is in place for Lindsay Lohan to make two hardcore porn movies.  She has refused this offer several times already, but competing groups are now driving the price to insane heights.  The producer loaning her the Maserati is not the only one in porn trying to get her to do this. 

Very obviously, Lindsay Lohan isn't gonna get gangbanged in a rented out bowling alley (that's not a euphemism for her vagina by the way), but she can choose some guy she likes, fly to a resort and get it on her knees while he films it.  The plan I heard says the tape will be released in two parts, a total of six hardcore scenes, claiming it was made during her trip to Mexico with Sam last September (here).  The guy will remain anonymous.

Lindsay has no money.  She has no Hollywood job offers or decent endorsement deals.  She has not agreed to do anything in regards to these sex tapes, in fact she has refused several times, but she is being offered millions, upfront, locked away for now but paid later while calling it a lawsuit settlement.  I asked the odds that she would actually do this, I was told 1 in 4.

So there you go.  At first this seems insane, but then two seconds later it seems about right.  If she got real slutty, the movie would make hundreds of billions of dollars.  Even the novel based on the movie would hit number 1.  Personally, the minute I heard the dvd was done, I would wrap my penis in packing material just to make sure it stays safe until the big day.

"You may not know Peter Arnell, but you know his work. The crazy Pepsi-is-the-center-of-the-universe logo design! The awful failure of the new Tropicana design! But what's the man himself like? Massively insecure, of course:"

'Branding' Hustler Peter Arnell Packs Pistol, Drops Names, Destroys Employees [Maniacs]

from http://gawker.com/5194044/branding-hustler-peter-arnell-packs-pistol-drops-names-destroys-employees

You may not know Peter Arnell, but you know his work. The crazy Pepsi-is-the-center-of-the-universe logo design! The awful failure of the new Tropicana design! But what's the man himself like? Massively insecure, of course:

Newsweek profiles Arnell in this week's issue, and apparently he spent all his time staging elaborate spectacles for the benefit of the reporter, who must be made to understand how important Peter Arnell is:

There's a phone call with someone named Jay. Arnell puts the call on speakerphone. In case I don't recognize the voice, he stage-whispers to me, "It's Jay Leno." Afterward, he calls Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment, and Rudy Giuliani, but can't get them on the phone.

Also, how bizarre:

He owns 1,600 pairs of eyeglasses, all fitted with his prescription...Having done advertising work for the New York Fire Department, he's managed to get a fire-department badge and radio, and has outfitted his Jeep Commander with flashing lights. Two former business associates, who requested anonymity to avoid damaging their relationship with Arnell, say Arnell carried a handgun in an ankle holster. (Arnell acknowledges only having a gun permit and says stories of him carrying it at work are "inaccurate.") He also carries a Sony digital camera, and he snaps pictures constantly-75,000 in the past 12 months. An assistant uploads and catalogs them. Arnell devours oranges, about 20 a day, which turn his hands yellow. When he's done with one bowl, an assistant whisks away the peels and brings in another.

Mmm hmm. But where is the man who we named one of the worst bosses in New York?

This person recalls Arnell humiliating employees by making them get down and do push-ups in front of clients. "He is unencumbered with any sense of morality. Until you experience it firsthand, it's just completely and utterly unfathomable."

There he is! Why, we can...only imagine working for such a tyrant. Got any more good Peter Arnell stories? Send em over! [Newsweek]

Fire Ken Lewis for the $3 Billion in Merrill Lynch Bonuses

from http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/04/01/fire-ken-lewis-for-the-3-billion-in-merrill-lynch-bonuses/

I've been meaning to point to Andy Stern's call to give Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, the same treatment Obama gave Wagoner--the boot.

Both Rick Wagoner and Ken Lewis sunk large public companies -- putting thousands out of work and toppling the American economy -- while accepting billions in taxpayer bailouts. Yet only Wagoner got a pink slip. It's time for Treasury Secretary Geithner to replace Ken Lewis as CEO and let real reform take hold at Bank of America.

And Change to Win's petition calling to fire Lewis. 

But this tidbit--courtesy of Howie--will really make you want to oust Ken Lewis.

In its last days as an independent company, Merrill gave performance-based bonuses exclusively to employees earning $300,000 a year or more and holding a rank of vice president or higher, according to their financial statements. $3.62 billion was handed out to these executives - a sum equal to 36.2 percent of the $10 billion in taxpayer funds that were allocated to Merrill as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) before the bonuses were paid.

The company had been failing as a result of misadventures in the now infamous mortgaged-backed securities market which began crumbling with the decline of home values as the bubble burst.

The performance bonuses were determined by Merrill's compensation committee on December 8, 2008, before Merrill revealed that it lost $15 billion in the final three months of 2008, unusual timing according to court documents filed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in an ongoing suit against Merrill's former CEO.

In prior years, Merrill paid performance bonuses of this type after the end of the year, in January or February of the next year.

[snip]

The questionable timing and the amounts of these bonuses were not revealed to Bank of America shareholders when they voted to acquire Merrill. These facts raise questions about what government officials knew about the bonuses and when they knew it, according to Kucinich's letter. 

$3.62 billion would keep all of GM in business for a month or two. But you and I are dumping that on a bunch of Merrill Lynch guys who brought down our finance system.

O’Reilly’s Claim of Ratings Record Is Shown to Be Laughably False

from http://www.pensitoreview.com/2009/04/01/oreillys-claim-of-ratings-record-is-shown-to-be-laughably-false/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdLt_tmG9yM

Last week, the trade magazine "Broadcasting & Cable" interviewed Bill O'Reilly on the event of his 100th week as the top-rated cable news show. On Monday, Keith Olbermann had a field day with O'Reilly's gaffes and misstatements, particularly including his delusion that being first for 100 weeks is a record.

Transcript:

First, the funniest, most embarrassing O'Reilly mistake. Ms. Guthrie, "congratulations on 100 consecutive months as the top rated on cable news. That's quite an accomplishment in this day and age."

Olbermann (imitating Ted Baxter as O'Reilly): "I don't think it has ever been done in any kind of TV milieu. We had our people research all programs going back to the '50s like "Gun Smoke" and things like that. Nobody has ever stayed on top this long."

See, you need new people. "The Today Show" has been in first place for 694 consecutive weeks, as of last Friday, which calculates out to 166 executive months, every one of them since May 1995. "Meet the Press" has been in first place for 131 consecutive months, ever since May of 1988.

Bill, you are not only not the longest running top rated program ever in any kind of TV milieu, you are not even the second current longest running top rated program this week. How embarrassing for you. How embarrassing nobody at Fox knows enough about television to tell you this obvious fact.

…

Here are two embarrassing admissions that pertain to the president and ratings, and what Bill-O thinks of his colleagues at Fox. "I think that the ratings over the past three months prove beyond any doubt that many Americans are uneasy with the direction of the country. Sixty two million Americans voted against Barack Obama. Some of these people are concerned."

Apparently not that many; 62 million people voted against Obama. Since the election — since October 31st of last year, O'Reilly's audience is up, let me get the number, oh, I'm sorry. Since October 31st of lastyear, O'Reilly's audience is down 568,000 viewers a night, down. Gosh, Bill, using your logic, doesn't that mean more people are uneasy with the direction of your show than the direction of the country?

"My program is the least skeptical of the so-called conservative programs. We give the president the benefit of the doubt. And we never cheap shot him."

Uh-oh. By implication, Bill is saying the other conservative shows do cheap shot him? So Bill, does Sean Hannity cheap shot Obama? Glenn Beck? Bill, who will never go deaf listening to colleagues tell him he is a team player, didn't think this part ofthe interview through. Did he?

…

Olbermann (mimicking Ted Baxter as O'Reilly): "NBC is corrupt top to bottom. They say, oh, it is only MSNBC. No, it's not. It is across the board. What they did to the Branchini family was disgraceful. Every media outlet in the country should come in on that."

The Branchini family? You mean Alexa Branchini of It Happened to Alexa Foundation? What on Earth are you talking about? Miss Guthrie, "What did they do?" Bill-O, "They attacked a foundation that helps rape victims and their families for having me MC a charitable event."

We didn't attack them. We attacked you for having had the hypocrisy to attend a fund raiser for rape victim after you twice came out and blamed rape victims for their own victimization and, in one case, death.

Ms. Guthrie, "NBC has denied that they had anything to do with that."

Bill-O, "that's a lie. NBC's air drove all of that. The Internet cannot get traction unless it has an outlet, a national outlet. NBC provided that. I hope you're understanding this. There aren't two sides to this story. There's what happened and the NBC lie about what happened. That is it."

Let me see if I'm correctly summarizing your evidence of what you previously described as a well-financed cabal to smear you about this. One, you called the raped and murdered Jennifer Moore moronic and you described how her drunkenness and scanty attire led to her horrible death. Two, you said the raped and molested teenager Sean Hornbeck enjoyed parts of his captivity more than he had life with his family.

Three, in a bitter irony, you wound up headlining a fund raiser for rape victims, a fact promoted by the support group. Four, the irony was noted on several websites. Five, we raised it here. Six, Amanda Terkel wrote about it at ThinkProgress.org. Seven, you sent an employee to follow her and stalk her in a car for two hours.

Therefore, eight, this is a conspiracy against you.

Bill, a rhetorical question, in private, has any doctor ever used the word "megalomania" to you?

Neoconservatism: The Return

from http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41291

A new incarnation, a new name – and the same old warmongering

by Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com

It was a neocon moment: there they were, the organizers of the Foreign Policy Initiative, the new neoconservative think-tank – Bill Kristol, Dan Senor, and Robert Kagan, with Clifford May, Randy Scheunemann, and junior neocon James Kirchick in tow. It was the occasion of FPI's first public event – their Washington coming out party, so to speak – and who should show up but I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. A more fitting symbol of the neoconservative tendency in American politics – its history, its methods, and its essential criminality – could hardly be conceived.

While John McCain was ostensibly the main attraction, the real focus of the conference was a celebration of the man who defeated him. As David Weigel put it, the FPI conference turned into a "Neocons for Obama" festival, as super-hawkish foreign policy maven Fred Kagan hailed President Obama's Af-Pak offensive as the best thing since the Iraqi "surge": "He's definitely saying no to pulling back. It was a gutsy and correct decision." Yet all is not rosy: "Kagan worried/predicted that Obama's base would bristle at the plan, so 'he will be counting on some significant amount of support from his political opponents.'"

Not to worry. The brain-dead Obamaites are shamelessly eager to grant their Glorious Leader a pass, no matter what he does. So far, there is not a peep out of Obama's liberal supporters, except a few voices raised at the Nation, even as the president mounts a major escalation of the Long War. Not only that, but his supporters are rallying around their commander in chief, now that we're fighting the "right" war in the "right" way. And take a good look at some of his supporters…

FPI is the latest in a long line of neocon front groups, all of them – the Committee on the Present Danger, the Committee for a Free World, the Project for a New American Century [.pdf] – aimed at whipping the country into a militaristic frenzy. There is not only an ideological legacy here, but a genealogical one, as the catalytic role of a member of the Kristol family has always been instrumental in organizing these groups – Irving back in the day, his son William more recently. The one and only aim of this ideological Mafia is to conjure enemies and agitate relentlessly for a more aggressive foreign policy. The neocons may shift from Left to Right and back again when it comes to economic issues, but what they really care about – where their hottest passions lie – is in maintaining and expanding America's overseas empire.

They are ecstatic that Obama is launching a major offensive on the Afghan-Pakistan front, and they are urging him to do more. Their latest campaign is undertaken in cooperation with the "progressives" over at the Center for American Progress and the Center for a New American Security, both conduits for recent and future administration appointees.

The Af-Pak popular front means an alliance of convenience between the neocons and the White House, not at all a surprising development if one knows the history of these former Scoop Jackson Democrats turned "conservative" Republicans. They can function quite well no matter which party is in power, and they always have a prominent public forum, no matter how discredited their views are in the public mind. Of one thing we can be sure: the infiltration of the Obama administration has already begun, with Dennis Ross – who signed on to more than one PNAC letter urging war with Iraq – now ensconced as a envoy dealing with Iran.

First on the program, John A. Nagl, the Center for a New American Security's president. CNAS is enormously influential in the foreign policy councils of the Obama administration, and Nagl is a key figure among the so-called national security Democrats. He is the chief theoretician of the "nation-building" counterinsurgency doctrine espoused by Gen. David Petraeus, architect of the Iraqi "surge" that now is backfiring in our faces.

Nagl is paired with Robert Kagan, a second-generation neocon, co-founder, with Kristol the Younger, of PNAC, and a tireless cog in the War Party's propaganda machine. The topic under discussion: "Internationalism vs. Isolationism." Yes, the "internationalists" of both parties can put aside their differences and unite against the dreaded isolationists, those fearsome, anti-social troglodytes who insist on minding their own business and wish that the American government would, too.

Moderating this anti-"isolationist" hate-fest was Jackson Diehl, deputy editorial page editor at the Washington Post, a newspaper that serves as the voice and guardian of the bipartisan "internationalism" that rules out any real debate when it comes to foreign policy.

Rep. Jane Harman, noted Democratic hawk and chair of the House intelligence subcommittee, also spoke, alongside Republican John McHugh of New York, who was on the House floor the other day demanding that Congress "ensure the [president's Afghan-Pakistan] strategy is fully funded, resourced, and executed."

It doesn't matter to these people that the nation is sick of war and near bankruptcy: they live inside the Washington bubble, the Imperial City, where hubris permeates the air. It doesn't matter how many times the neocons have been repelled, they just keep bouncing back. This is a crew of respected "analysts" and policy wonks that has never been right, not about anything. From their gross overestimation of Soviet military power in the Cold War era, to the "domino theory" that kept us in Vietnam, to their willfully erroneous assumption that Iraq possessed "weapons of mass destruction," their foreign policy prognostications leave behind them a trail of uninterrupted error. It is a record unequaled in the history of ideas, yet the neocons' influence, while it is currently waning, never disappears altogether. The neocons always make a comeback, and a well-funded one to be sure.

The innocuous-sounding Foreign Policy Initiative is just the sort of camouflage the neocons need in the age of Obama: no more proclamations of a "New American Century," but rather more sober-sounding, "pragmatic" slogans. Together with their newfound liberal and "progressive" allies, they beat the drums for more military spending, a rising confrontation with Russia, and, of course, a showdown with Iran.

Having exhausted their previous host, the GOP, the neocons have no qualms about moving on. The Democrats will do just as well. Whoever's in power is the object of their affection. Their role is to whisper in the ear of the prince, to make sure he gets the "right" information – and then sabotage him if he fails to respond to their ministrations.

As the neocons hail Obama, their new conquering hero, the irony of all this underscores the difficulties of instituting real change in our foreign policy. The same old faces turn up no matter which party is in power, and the same old ideas – shopworn "internationalist" bromides – dominate a consensus that never questions whether an empire is good for the American people.

Unpaid taxes lead to dead homeowner

from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/634604.html

74-year old woman's body not found until her home is sold at auction.

The death of a 74-year-old woman – whose body lay in her home bedroom for more than a year in Calhoun County – wasn't discovered until her house was sold at auction because of unpaid taxes.

"I think the community has learned that if they have a neighbor, and they haven't seen them for a while, to at least notify us and let us do a welfare check," Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers Jr. said this week.

Deputies discovered the body of Mary Sue Merchant last Thursday on the floor of her bedroom in the rural S.C. county just south of Columbia. The body of her dog was near her, Summers said.

No foul play is suspected, and the house was undisturbed, he said.

"We checked everything out," the sheriff said. "The house didn't look to be ransacked or anything that."

Although neighbors live all around Merchant's house, her absence was unremarkable to them, the sheriff said.

"This lady sort of kept to herself always, her and her husband both. He's deceased. It wasn't uncommon for them not to see her. She didn't go out much and had no friends or relatives that we've found so far. She didn't have any children that we've found."

Unpaid property taxes on the house led to the body's discovery, the sheriff said.

The house was recently sold at auction for delinquent taxes. As the buyer was waiting to take possession, he kept driving by the house.

"He noticed a car sitting outside that hadn't moved in a week or so. He called me, and I checked, and called the power company and found out the power was cut off in February 2008.

"I sent a deputy up there just to look around, and that's when we went in the house and found her," the sheriff said.

"The last transaction we see that she made was filling a prescription sometime in October of 2007," he said.

WSJ: AIG's Tax Shelter Business Was 'Even Bigger' Than Their CDOs; IRS Calls At Least One Of Them A 'Sham'

from http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/wsj-aigs-tax-shelter-business-was-eve

And apparently phony, to boot! I don't know about you, but I'm feeling even better about writing AIG that blank check. Joe Cassano was the head of AIG's financial products division who insured all those bad CDOs - you know, the ones that helped trigger this global meltdown?

The Feds are closing in on a criminal fraud case against Joseph Cassano, reports ABC News, which tracked down the former AIG Financial Products czar wearing blue spandex and a sheepish expression outside his home in London. And before you wonder why a Brooklyn College educated swaps dealer with a name like Joe Cassano lives in London again, the answer is probably "taxes" -- and decimating taxes, it may not shock you to know, is fast emerging as the cornerstone of the AIG business model.

An ABC News investigation found that Cassano set up some dozens of separate companies, some off-shore, to handle the transactions, effectively keeping them off the books of AIG and out of sight of regulators in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

"This is the other very important issue underneath the AIG scandal," said [tax law expert Jack] Blum. "All of these contracts were moved offshore for the express purpose of getting out from under regulation and tax evasion."

And as breathtaking as the sum of taxpayer dollars AIG has managed to put down in its post-crisis nationalized afterlife, the zombie insurer might possibly have indirectly scammed the government out of more money back in its Triple-A days. Today the Wall Street Journal explores AIG's euphemistically-named "tax structuring" business in a story about an IRS battle with Hewlett-Packard over an offshore entity -- or what the IRS terms a "sham that lacked economic substance and a business purpose" -- that AIG set up for the company to collect $132 million in tax credits. AIG's tax business, is "even bigger than the credit-default swaps business that led to the company's meltdown," a person "familiar with the business" tells the Journal.

But that might be compartmentalizing things: we are beginning to suspect the credit default swap business and the tax "structuring" business were the same thing -- not just because they served the same end.

An attorney and tax shelter expert we spoke with today says AIG FP was one of the biggest players in the business of engineering offshore tax shelters for corporate and private clients that resembled a multibillion dollar tax evasion scheme called Son of Boss (we don't have time to figure out why) that thousands of corporations and wealthy individuals used to book phony capital gains losses and evade most or all of their income taxes in the late nineties and early 00s. The mind-numbing litany of esoteric loopholes such tax shelters employ to concoct said phony losses is something you don't want to hear about at this hour -- trust us -- but they are generally anchored by a set of exotic unregulated derivative securities whose 'notional value' can help fabricate losses that don't actually exist. Which is where Cassano came in -- only, obviously, the losses existed.

RealtyTrac Launches Renter Foreclosure Alerts

from http://www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/realtytrac-launches-renter-foreclosure-alerts/

Do you rent a house?  Are you worried your landlord might be falling behind on payments?

If you answered yes to the above questions, RealtyTrac's new Renter Alerts might be just the thing for you.  (Or you could just ask the owner if everything is "alright").

The foreclosure information provider today launched a new service that gives tenants early warning if the property they rent enters into default or is set to be foreclosed on by the bank or lender.

Essentially, the foreclosure monitoring service sends e-mail alerts to subscribers immediately if any foreclosure-related activity takes place on a given property.

"Unexpected evictions are becoming an all-too-familiar scenario for good tenants who pay their rent on time," said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac.

"Some landlords aren't paying their mortgages — even while their tenants are paying their rent faithfully — causing the tenants to be evicted without warning. Our new Renter Alerts give tenants a good early warning system and avoid this unpleasant and unfair scenario."

Realty Trac said 2.3 million households received a foreclosure notice in 2008, an 81 percent increase from the previous year, and 2009 is expected to be even higher.

Of those, 30 percent were non-owner occupied, meaning the renters were likely displaced as a result, despite never missing a payment themselves.

The service, which carries an annual fee of $24.95, also allows those to research a property before renting it out.

Back in January, Fannie Mae launched its so-called Real Estate Owned Rental Policy, which gives tenants of foreclosed properties more options, such as month-to-month leases or financial assistance should they choose to relocate.

If you're looking to stay abreast of the latest mortgage industry news, consider my free e-mail updates!

The New Car Deals Are Piling Up — But Do You Care? [Auto Bailout]

from http://consumerist.com/5193743/the-new-car-deals-are-piling-up--but-do-you-care

BusinessWeek did a little math and discovered that if you lined up all the new financing deals, tax incentives and discounts — a new car might actually be cheaper than a late model used one. But do you care?

From BusinessWeek:

"This is a terrific time to buy a new vehicle," says Jack Nerad, executive market analyst at Kelley Blue Book. The market favors buyers so much that, with financing rates factored in, some new models are less expensive than year-old, used versions of the same car, according to an analysis by car-buying site Edmunds.com. A back-of-the envelope calculation finds that a Chevrolet Malibu with a $25,000 list price could effectively sell for about $10,000 less if all of the proposed incentives are put in place.

That's cheap, but is it cheap enough?

Cheap enough?
( surveys)

As Auto Deals Add Up, Will Buyers Bite? [BusinessWeek]

Credit Crisis Crash Lands Midway Deal

from http://chicagoist.com/2009/04/01/credit_crisis_crash_lands_midway_de.php

Photo by JOE M500

Mayor Daley's dream of privatizing Midway Airport has run into trouble as the nation's credit crisis has pushed the deal back at least six months, if not indefinitely. The April 6 closing date for the deal has been canceled, while the privately owned Midway Investment and Development Company, LLC, or MidCo for short, tries to line up more financing for the deal. The city is negotiating with the consortium backing MidCo is made up of Citigroup (yes, that Citigroup) unit Citi Infrastructure Investors, YVR Airport Services Ltd and John Hancock Life Insurance Co. to line up financing for the $2.52 billion 99 year lease deal.

"The MidCo team has not been able to put together the combined package of equity and debt to come up with the $2.5 billion they are obligated to pay," a source told the Sun-Times. "The problem is the credit crunch that's effecting the availability of bank credit and the general decline in the stock market. Pension funds don't have as much money to invest. MidCo has been working hard. They are relatively close. ... They believe with more time, they can get there." Nevertheless, the Mayor's Office believes that a deal can still be reached.

If MidCo can't line up more equity investors or bank financing can't be lined up, the airport will remain under the city's control. The best part (for the citizens of Chicago) of the deal falling apart is that if MidCo can't come up with additional financing, the city keeps the $126 million that the consortium has already put up.

“This has the potential to be another several hundred billion dollars. If the auto companies go under, they have huge unfunded liabilities” in pension plans that would be passed on to the agency."

Pump and Dump Swindle Used Employee Retirement Funds

from http://cryptogon.com/?p=7791

Via: Boston Globe:

Just months before the start of last year's stock market collapse, the federal agency that insures the retirement funds of 44 million Americans departed from its conservative investment strategy and decided to put much of its $64 billion insurance fund into stocks.

Switching from a heavy reliance on bonds, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation decided to pour billions of dollars into speculative investments such as stocks in emerging foreign markets, real estate, and private equity funds.

The agency refused to say how much of the new investment strategy has been implemented or how the fund has fared during the downturn. The agency would only say that its fund was down 6.5 percent - and all of its stock-related investments were down 23 percent - as of last Sept. 30, the end of its fiscal year. But that was before most of the recent stock market decline and just before the investment switch was scheduled to begin in earnest.

No statistics on the fund's subsequent performance were released.

Nonetheless, analysts expressed concern that large portions of the trust fund might have been lost at a time when many private pension plans are suffering major losses. The guarantee fund would be the only way to cover the plans if their companies go into bankruptcy.

"The truth is, this could be huge," said Zvi Bodie, a Boston University finance professor who in 2002 advised the agency to rely almost entirely on bonds. "This has the potential to be another several hundred billion dollars. If the auto companies go under, they have huge unfunded liabilities" in pension plans that would be passed on to the agency.

In addition, Peter Orszag, head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, has "serious concerns" about the agency, according to an Obama administration spokesman.

Last year, as director of the Congressional Budget Office, Orszag expressed alarm that the agency was "investing a greater share of its assets in risky securities," which he said would make it "more likely to experience a decline in the value of its portfolio during an economic downturn the point at which it is most likely to have to assume responsibility for a larger number of underfunded pension plans."

However, Charles E.F. Millard, the former agency director who implemented the strategy until the Bush administration departed on Jan. 20, dismissed such concerns. Millard, a former managing director of Lehman Brothers, said flatly that "the new investment policy is not riskier than the old one."

Financial Rescue Nears GDP as Pledges Top $12.8 Trillion

from http://cryptogon.com/?p=7793

This isn't a rescue. It's a shakedown.

Via: Bloomberg:

The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s.

New pledges from the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. include $1 trillion for the Public-Private Investment Program, designed to help investors buy distressed loans and other assets from U.S. banks. The money works out to $42,105 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. and 14 times the $899.8 billion of currency in circulation. The nation's gross domestic product was $14.2 trillion in 2008.

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with the chief executives of the nation's 12 biggest banks on March 27 at the White House to enlist their support to thaw a 20-month freeze in bank lending.

"The president and Treasury Secretary Geithner have said they will do what it takes," Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said after the meeting. "If it is enough, that will be great. If it is not enough, they will have to do more."

'Goodbye, Rush, don’t get your fat ass stuck in the Holland Tunnel on your way out!"

NYC Erupts In Frenetic Partying As Rush Limbaugh Announces His Departure

from http://www.unattributable.com/2009/04/nyc-erupts-in-frenetic-partying-as-rush-limbaugh-announces-his-departure/

Hot on the heels of a new NY state plan to tax residents who earn over $500,000, talk radio's most capacious turd-burger, Rush Limbaugh, has announced plans to sell everything and move to Texas, a state with no income tax:

"When I am there working I pay whatever, you know, my rate is based on income for that day in New York. And I try to go as little as possible. If it weren't for hurricanes down here, I would never go up there. New York is the escape valve in case hurricanes are showing up in our area, because of the loss of electricity. So I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to look for an alternative studio somewhere outside New York, perhaps Texas — another no-income-tax state — and I'm going to get the hell over there, when a hurricane starts coming our way, 'cause I told Mayor Bloomberg: I'll be the first to lead the way. You know, this is just… I'll sell my apartment. I'll sell my condominium. I'm going to get out of there totally, 'cause this is just absurd, and it's ridiculous — and it isn't going to work. It's punishing the achievers for the mistakes and the lack of discipline on the part of a bunch of corrupt politicians that have run that city and state into the ground for I don't know how many years — and I, for one, am not going to take the blame for it. "

Or for being a hypocritical, prescription-shopping, Oxy junkie! But I digress… The news has been grounds for riotous celebration in NYC, even amid the anxiety of the recession, and residents have poured into the streets wave goodbye to the "unofficial leader of the GOP".

Limbaugh added, "New York is probably going to celebrate that I'm not going to come back… They hate me, so they're happy I'm not coming back. They're going to praise Paterson for driving me out, even though I am rarely there anyway." He also predicts that "there are going to be others that are going to get out of there, especially in this economy." Could that mean Bill O'Reilly and others could be joining Rush in Texas? What a bargain!

Goodbye, Rush, don't get your fat ass stuck in the Holland Tunnel on your way out!

Today on As the World Economy Burns. . . . from Firedoglake

from http://firedoglake.com/2009/04/01/today-on-as-the-world-economy-burns/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuoRVFvnaPI

• Rob Johnson and I talk about Timothy Geithner's Private/Public Plan (YouTube).

• Stiglitz: "Treasury hopes to get us out of the mess by replicating the flawed system that the private sector used to bring the world crashing down, with a proposal marked by overleveraging in the public sector, excessive complexity, poor incentives and a lack of transparency."

• Jamie Galbraith's testimony on Lessons From the New Deal (PDF): "Social insurance addressed a fundamental problem of capitalism: unregulated private markets are unstable. They cannot be relied on to provide an adequate minimum living standard for the working population. They cannot be relied on to provide a secure repository for savings. They cannot be relied upon to provide decent incomes in retirement. The problem of the Depression was perhaps above all a problem of insecurity, or as Roosevelt put it, of 'fear itself."

• Sarkozy threatens to walk out of G20 if Obama doesn't agree to tighter global financial regulation, saying "the crisis is too serious for us to hold a summit for nothing. . . . If things don't advance in London there will be an empty chair. I'll get up and leave."

• Simon Johnson applauds Obama's push for more open governance of the IMF: "The masterstroke is simple and also brilliant. The US is pushing for - and likely to get - the Managing Director (known as the MD) of the IMF to be selected through an open, competitive and merit-based selection process."

• The GAO says that there is only $32 billion left in the TARP fund, contra Tim Geithner who insists there is $135 billion left. Turbotax error perhaps?

"So in the United States, unemployment is skyrocketing. The uninsured is skyrocketing. The social fabric is coming unglued."

from http://cryptogon.com/?p=7796

You guys will love this.

Via: Solari:

Max Keiser: ….they (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan et al) are systematically undermining the entire system. They are creating a mechanism to carve out equity and capital for themselves at the expense of society at large.

So in the United States, unemployment is skyrocketing. The uninsured is skyrocketing. The social fabric is coming unglued. You have riots all over the world…in Iceland and other countries due to this financial terrorism that was pre-meditated, on purpose and should be addressed as such.

There is a double standard. Why is the US pursuing so-called terrorists in nations like Afghanistan when they let these guys roam free on Wall Street? They're the worst criminals of all – they do far more damage.

Interviewer: Let's leave Afghanistan out of this…

Max Keiser: But why? It's a great source of poppy and heroin which fuels a lot of these bankers bonuses. Let's be frank about that.

More: maxkeiser.com

"...meaning the cost of a pack of cigarettes in Chicago now stands at $9.36"

Cigarette Taxes Go Up

from Chicagoist http://chicagoist.com/2009/04/01/cigarette_taxes_go_up.php

It's April 1 which means you're paying more for a pack of smokes. Starting today, a new tax hike on cigarettes imposed by the federal government ups the tax from $0.39/pack to $1.01/pack, meaning the cost of a pack of cigarettes in Chicago now stands at $9.36. But wait, smokers, there's more. Part of Governor Quinn's budget proposal would raise the state tax on a pack of cigarettes even further: by $0.50 this year and by another $0.50 next year, all to help pay for a backlog of Medicaid bills. Currently, according to the Tribune, a pack of cigarettes is still a bit cheaper in Cook County at around $8 a pack and $5 a pack in surrounding counties. Still, the high price isn't even the most expensive in the nation: that honor goes to (who else) New York, where smokers pay $3.76 total in taxes per pack, as opposed to places like South Carolina where the total tax per pack is $1.08. [Trib, CBS 2]

AIG Crisis Could be the Tip of an Insurance Iceberg from cryptogon.com by Kevin

from http://cryptogon.com/?p=7802

Via: Los Angeles Times:

The company's situation reflects problems throughout the life insurance industry as investments suffer. Further strain could bring about a second financial crisis.

When insurance giant American International Group Inc. imploded last fall, the firm's problems were quickly blamed not on its core insurance business but on an obscure operation that traded exotic mortgage securities.

But as the economic crisis deepens, it has become clear that AIG's problems extend across most of its business lines, including its massive life insurance and retirement services operations, which reported a staggering $18-billion quarterly loss this month.

Monsanto GM Corn Harvest Fails Massively in South Africa from cryptogon.com

from http://cryptogon.com/?p=7804

Via: Digital Journal:

South African farmers suffered millions of dollars in lost income when 82,000 hectares of genetically-manipulated corn (maize) failed to produce hardly any seeds.The plants look lush and healthy from the outside. Monsanto has offered compensation.

Monsanto blames the failure of the three varieties of corn planted on these farms, in three South African provinces,on alleged 'underfertilisation processes in the laboratory". Some 280 of the 1,000 farmers who planted the three varieties of Monsanto corn this year, have reported extensive seedless corn problems.

Urgent investigation demanded
However environmental activitist Marian Mayet, director of the Africa-centre for biosecurity in Johannesburg, demands an urgent government investigation and an immediate ban on all GM-foods, blaming the crop failure on Monsanto's genetically-manipulated technology.

Willem Pelser, journalist of the Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport, writes from Nelspruit that Monsanto has immediately offered the farmers compensation in three provinces - North West, Free State and Mpumalanga. The damage-estimates are being undertaken right now by the local farmers' cooperative, Grain-SA. Monsanto claims that 'less than 25%' of three different corn varieties were 'insufficiently fertilised in the laboratory'.

80% crop failure
However Mayet says Monsanto was grossly understating the problem.According to her own information, some farms have suffered up to 80% crop failures. The centre is strongly opposed to GM-food and biologically-manipulated technology in general.

"Monsanto says they just made a mistake in the laboratory, however we say that biotechnology is a failure.You cannot make a 'mistake' with three different varieties of corn.'

Muslim who won't sell pork loses franchise from Chicago Breaking News

from http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/04/muslim-who-wont-sell-pork-loses-franchise.html

An Arab-American owner of a Chicago-area Dunkin' Donuts store has to give up his franchise after he lost his long-running legal battle with the restaurant chain over his religious objections to selling pork products.

A lawyer for Walid Elkhatib said Tuesday his client is in the process of removing Dunkin' Donuts signs from his Westchester outlet, but apparently not fast enough for the company. Dunkin' Donuts went to federal court in Chicago on March 27 to stop Elkhatib, 59, from using the company's trademarks and other proprietary materials.

The company's lawsuit came two weeks after a federal jury found that the chain did not discriminate against Elkhatib for refusing to renew his franchise agreement because he declined to sell breakfast sandwiches with bacon, ham or sausage.

The dietary restrictions of Elkhatib's Muslim faith forbid him from eating or handling pork. When he decided to go into the restaurant business, his faith one of the reasons why he invested in Dunkin' Donuts in 1979. The chain did not introduce breakfast sandwiches until 1984.

For nearly 20 years, Dunkin' Donuts accommodated his religious beliefs, even providing him signs for his store that said, "No meat products available," Elkhatib asserted in court documents. But in 2002, the company reversed course and told him it would not renew his franchise agreement if he did not sell its full line of products.

Elkhatib sued the company but because he is not an employee of Dunkin' Donuts, he could not sue under federal laws banning religious discrimination in the work place. Instead, he invoked a law that bars racial and certain forms of ancestry discrimination in the making of contracts.

A Chicago federal judge rejected Elkhatib's claim, finding that it was a religious rather than a racial claim. But in 2007 an appellate court allowed the case to go to trial, finding that Dunkin' Donuts did not consistently apply its rules on franchise holders. In fact, Elkhatib's lawyer found a Chicago location that did not sell breakfast sandwiches with pork because many of the customers followed Jewish dietary laws that ban the consumption of pork products.

Elkhatib's franchise agreement expired in April 2008, but Dunkin' Donuts allowed him to keep operating the store until the end of the trial.

After the four-day trial ended March 13 in favor of Dunkin' Donuts, Elkhatib continued to use its trademarks although his franchise agreement had expired, the company said in its suit. Elkhatib also has not returned company operating manuals and other materials despite repeated request, the company said.

Elkhatib's lawyer, Robert Habib, said his client will end his association with Dunkin' Donuts, but he has a 10-year lease on the property and owns the equipment.

"He plans to continue to operate a restaurant," Habib said. "Walid will survive."

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI): Our Budget Last Week Was Just A ‘Marketing Document’ from Think Progress

from http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/01/not-a-budget/

Last week, President Obama complained during a prime-time press conference that Congressional Republicans were failing to offer concrete alternatives to his budget, opting instead to simply obstruct and delay his own. In response, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) hurriedly assembled a news conference to introduce the House Republican's alternative "budget" (the one without any numbers). "Well, that's not true because here it is, Mr. President," Boehner said, brandishing a shiny 19-page document in his hand.

But reporters refused to fall for their stunt, pointing out that budgets need to be more than a "glossy pamphlet" without any numbers. During the same press conference, one reporter asked, "Are you going to have any further details on this today?" Another went further, asking, "What about some numbers? What about the out-year deficit? What about balancing the budget? How are you going to do it?" Boehner and others defended the pamphlet, calling it a "detailed road-to-recovery plan."

In face of all this criticism, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is now backtracking and admitting that last week's budget was just a "marketing" stunt. Asked by Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski if the budget legislation he's introducing in the House today is "a little bit more clear than the one we saw last week," Ryan responded by claiming last week's budget wasn't a budget at all, but rather just a "marketing document":

RYAN: Yes. The thing you saw last week was not the alternative budget. This is our alternative budget we're bringing to the floor today. […]

What was released last week was more of a marketing document. Not a budget. This is our budget.

Watch a compilation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHTHouJQtP4

Despite his admission, Ryan's budget proposal doesn't appear to make any more economic sense than it did last week. Indeed, despite the growing recession, Ryan is calling for a five-year spending freeze which, as Pat Garofalo explains, would "negate the stimulus, while betting economic recovery will occur thanks to an abundance of supply-side tax cuts."

Geithner Gone? from Dealbreaker

from http://dealbreaker.com/2009/04/geithner-gone.php

Despite assurances to the contrary, President Obama has personally asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to step down, sources told HousingWire early Wednesday morning. Geithner, who has seen a whipsaw of public opinion over his handling of bonuses at American International Group and the introduction of a so-called public-private investment program designed to clear bad assets off of bank balance sheets, has been the subject of strong criticism from Republicans and even a few prominent Democrats.

The stunning move comes after Geithner's popularity on Wall Street has gained momentum in the past week, as investors have largely cheered a proposal to see the Treasury, Federal Reserve, and FDIC partner with private investors to clear toxic assets off of of the hands of troubled banks.

"It's being done quietly, but the President has asked Geithner to step aside," said a source close to the Cabinet with knowledge of the decision. "He feels there is too much of a lack of trust, and he was frankly expecting more of a bounce in financial markets from the PPIP than what's been seen so far."

Geithner Out at the Treasury: Source [Housing Wire]

Hamid Karzai Signs Law ‘Legalising Rape in Marriage’ from cryptogon.com

from http://cryptogon.com/?p=7806

Via: Telegraph:

President Hamid Karzai has signed a law the UN says legalises rape in marriage and prevents women from leaving the house without permission.

The law, which has not been publicly released, is believed to state women can only seek work, education or doctor's appointments with their husband's permission.

Only fathers and grandfathers are granted custody of children under the law, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

Opponents of the legislation governing the personal lives of Afghanistan's Shia minority have said it is "worse than during the Taliban".

Mr Karzai has been accused of electioneering at the expense of women's rights by signing the law to appeal to crucial Shia swing voters in this year's presidential poll.

While the Afghan constitution guarantees equal rights for women, it also allows the Shia community, thought to represent 10 per cent of the population, the right to settle family law cases according to Shia law.

The Shiite Personal Status Law contains provisions on marriage, divorce, inheritance, rights of movement and bankruptcy.

The bill passed both houses of the Afghan parliament, but was so contentious that the United Nations and women's rights campaigners have so far been unable to see a copy of the approved bill.

Shinkai Zahine Karokhail, a female MP, said the law had been rushed through with little debate.

She told the Guardian newspaper: "They wanted to pass it almost like a secret negotiation, "There were lots of things that we wanted to change, but they didn't want to discuss it because Karzai wants to please the Shia before the election."

The Afghan justice ministry confirmed the law had been signed, but said it would not be published until technical difficulties had been overcome.

A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai would not comment.

20 Steps To Armageddon

from http://ashizashiz.blogspot.com/2009/04/20-steps-to-armageddon.html

Stunning is the best word to describe it. Like, halted-in-your-tracks there's no way they really believe what they're saying stunning. Recovery? RECOVERY???? Consumer spending??? What??? WHAT???!?!? Look, it's really so very simple. Here's the 20-step road to Armageddon. Virtually guaranteed by the actions of our leaders beginning in the early 1970s and culminating with the Obama-Summers-Geithner bailout mania:

1. Consumers are tapped out
2. Consumers are in debt
3. Consumers want to get out of debt
4. Consumer's cannot get credit
5. Consmer's don't want credit
6. Consumer purchasing power is gone
7. Businesses are not selling stuff
8. Businesses raise prices to make up for poor sales
9. Consumers cannot pay higher prices
10. Consumers cannot get out of debt
11. Stimulus monies are hoarded
12. Stimulus monies are used to pay down debt
13. Stimulus monies create NO new jobs
14. The velocity of money crashes
15. Deflation accelerates
16. Prices crash
17. Businesses close en masse
18. Unemployment explodes
19. Consumers starve
20. Civil War erupts

laughable: GOP budget missing at press conference

GOP budget missing at press conference

from Raw Story Breaking News

GOP budget missing at press conference

from http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/04/republicans-have-no-budget-at-press-conference/

At a press conference Wednesday, the two top Congressional Republicans -- House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate House Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) addressed a crowd of some 50 Republicans and their colleagues and ripped Obama's multi-trillion-dollar budget as too expensive. But they didn't, apparently, have a copy of their own budget, according to reporter Sam Stein.

"Do you guys have a formal budget yet?" asked a reporter.

"Mr. Ryan will outline the Republican budget at 10:30 this morning. And yes we do have it," replied Boehner, referring to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.).

A silence followed, with reporters apparently unsure what to ask next.

Democrats mocked the GOP budget, details of which appear fully in the Wall Street Journal.

"If you expected a GOP alternative to the failed policies of the past that got our country into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, then I have two words for you: April Fool's," Kenneth Baer, the Obama Office of Management and Budget communications director, said.

"Well, look, I thought it was most appropriate that this thing came out on April Fools' Day because this thing is the biggest April Fools' Joke and cruelest that we have had in years," Huffington's Sam Stein quoted Obama's Austan Goolsbee as saying. "If you look at what they are doing...they are calling for putting in a multi-trillion dollar additional tax cut for the highest income Americans, they are now talking about privatizing Medicare turning it into a voucher so that they can cut it substantially. That's not the reform of an entitlement -- it is the gutting of a program."

Earlier this month, Raw Story noted that Republicans were mocked for introducing a budget that contained no specific budget -- or plan for government spending.

The Republican Road to Recovery, as the 19-page document is titled, is a three-part outline of where congressional Republicans stand on Obama's budget plan. Curbing government spending, creating jobs and lowering taxes, and controlling the debt are the foundations of the Republican's argument. Much of the "Road to Recovery" is specific criticisms of the Democrat budget and policies, like energy and health care reform.

However, it is not a budget. There is no plan for government spending, nor are there tables illustrating how money will be allocated. When reporters received copies of the document, they realized that an alternative Republican budget wasn't going to be announced, even though the press conference was supposed to be the announcement of that budget.

According to the Huffington Post, reporters began questioning Boehner on specifics. "Are you going to have any further details on this today?" one reporter asked. "On what?" responded Boehner. "There's no detail in here," the reporter explained.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was visibly pleased by the lack of detail in the Republican's budget. "It's interesting to have a budget that doesn't contain any numbers. I think the 'Party of No' has become the party of no new ideas."

-John Byrne

"Bush environment chairman now coal cheerleader..."

Exclusive: Bush environment chairman now coal cheerleader...

from Raw Story Breaking News

Exclusive: Bush environment chairman now coal cheerleader...

from http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Former_Bush_official_proclaims_Coal_clean_0401.html

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. That saying stands true for one former Bush official, who has tried to reinvent himself as an ally of clean, renewable energy proponents while still touting the virtues of "clean coal."

Even though the hurdles to achieving carbon emissions capture on a mass scale have been well documented and even though no new nuclear power plant has been built in the U.S. in 30 years, James Connaughton, former chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality is preaching the virtues of clean coal and nuclear power as the best solutions to domestic energy needs.

"Coal is clean now," proclaimed Connaughton, Tuesday night during the taping of the premier episode of PBS's"Planet Forward," where he was a guest panelist. He argued in favor of a host of energy alternatives to foreign oil but advocated the most in favor of building new coal and nuclear power plants.

As chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, Connaughton argued in favor of "aspirational goals" for industries to reduce their green house gas emissions rather than binding commitments. A former lobbyist for utilities, mining and chemical companies, he has been criticized for weakening government standards on the amount of arsenic allowed in drinking water and, more generally, for advising President Bush to ignore calls for government-mandated reductions in industrial greenhouse gas emissions.

Connaughton now works in the private sector as executive vice president of Constellation Energy, a Fortune 500 company that sells electricity and natural gas.

Pollution control improvements made to coal plants as a result of The Clean Air Act, have made coal much cleaner as an energy source, Connaughton said, adding "we shouldn't give it up as an option" in the county's energy future.

Writing on the clean coal myth, The Washington Post's Steve Mufson says, "The phrase 'clean coal' is polluting the energy debate. The phrase is an oxymoron. We can come up with ways to clean up after coal - many of them very expensive and, in the case of coal's greenhouse gas emissions, untried. And we can use coal more efficiently than in the past. But coal itself is not clean and never will be. That is a matter of chemistry and geology."

Connaughton's promotion of coal during the show's filming did not go unchallenged. His co-panelist, L. Hunter Lovins, president of the nonprofit sustainability group, Natural Capitalism Solutions, objected to his painting of coal as an environmentally-friendly energy source.

"I will never speak against research [into carbon sequestration of coal plant emissions]," Lovins said. "I don't think there is a future is in the commercialization of it."

Lovins said the U.S. would be best served by immediately putting resources into improving energy efficiency. She applauded the decision to assign $3.2 billion from the 2009 stimulus bill towards energy efficiency and conservation projects. Weatherizing preexisting buildings and reforming the nation's energy grid should take precedence over developing new solar and wind technologies because the energy savings from efficiency gains will be more immediate, she said.

Connaughton, whose company does sell power produced from coal plants, said with half of the country's electricity already being produced from coal, it is unavoidable that coal will play a long-term role in the U.S.' energy future. When pressed, however, he did admit that no scientist has yet figured out a way to scale up carbon sequestration so it can be used to capture the emissions of coal plants.

"It's going to take at least 10 to 15 years," he said of where the technology stands now.

Lovins pointed out that one of the positives of coal energy, it's low price, goes away when you add in carbon capture technology, which doubles the price of it.

Connaughton responded that Moore's Law, which describes the exponential increases in computer technology efficiency over time, would eventually bring the price of carbon capture down as it is already bringing down the cost of solar technology.

He also argued in favor of building more nuclear power plants, saying that they are the cleanest of all energy technologies and that the U.S. could reuse nuclear material as is done in France.

The show's third panelist, Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, a company that is building the first national electric vehicle network in Israel, said if nuclear power was turned to as the solution to the planet's energy needs, it would require the construction of a new nuclear power plant every 18 hours. While China has plans to build nuclear power plants, Agassi said the country had already decided to limit the number of plants to only 40 because of the country's lack of uranium resources.

"That won't be the backbone of our strategy," Agassi said of nuclear power's future in America.

Agassi argued in favor of solar technology, saying it was the only energy source that could scale up to meet all of the energy needs of the developing and industrial world.

Planet Forward, which focuses on climate change and energy policy with a large emphasis on viewer interaction through the Web, will begin airing on PBS in mid-April. It is filmed at the George Washington University and hosted by Frank Sesno, a professor of media affairs at the university.

Joe The Plumber Confronted By Union Workers, Gets Stumped On Policy (VIDEO)

from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/01/joe-the-plumber-speaks-ou_n_181696.html

"Horny" attention-monger Samuel J. "Joe the 'Plumber'" Wurzelbacher has been asked by Americans For Prosperity to serve as the group's labor-busting shill in the campaign against the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow labor unions to form through both a secret ballot or by card-check -- a choice that would reduce instances of anti-union intimidation common to the formative stages of organizing. And, as with almost all things related to Joe The Plumber -- like war reporting and taxes and probably plumbing -- ol' Joe just walks in front of cameras and flaunts the fact that he doesn't know a blessed thing about what he's talking about and doesn't plan to change. (I say "almost all things" because I had hoped that he had found his true calling as a digital teevee conversion spokesmodel, which he was actually okay at.)

Anyway, via Greg Sargent, here's a video of a reporter from Keystone Progress attempting to divine what, if anything, Wurzelbacher knows about the labor law issues he's spokesmodeling for now. SPOILER ALERT: HE DOES NOT KNOW A BLESSED THING, GAH. What Joe knows how to do, apparently, is dodge questions, say the word "brother" over and over again like he's Desmond from Lost, and bleat senselessly about how "it's all about America." It's no wonder that actual plumbers hate this phony like he was feline leukemia.

[WATCH.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR9lhvAE1gQ

GOP budget: "Democrats, in contrast, had plenty to say, with Obama officials mocking the Republican document as a sad April Fools prank. "

from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/01/white-house-house-gop-bud_n_181687.html

House and Senate Republicans emerged from an early morning meeting in a closed House chamber Wednesday morning to unveil their much-awaited budget alternative.

Roughly a hundred GOP men and women descended the East Capitol steps in a light drizzle to announce their product to the American people.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined their colleagues, entering from the side, and addressed the gathered reporters.

After ripping the Democratic budget as too expensive, Boehner said that "Republicans in the House will offer a better solution that'll be less on spending, less on taxes and a lot less on debt for our kids and grandkids."

But there was no budget. "Do you guys have a formal budget yet?" asked a reporter.

"Mr. Ryan will outline the Republican budget at 10:30 this morning. And yes we do have it," replied Boehner, referring to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.).

A silence followed, with reporters apparently unsure what to ask next.

Democrats, in contrast, had plenty to say, with Obama officials mocking the Republican document as a sad April Fools prank.

"If you expected a GOP alternative to the failed policies of the past that got our country into the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, then I have two words for you: April Fool's," said Kenneth Baer, OMB communications director.

Another administration official added on background: "We read the Ryan budget alternative -- or what we know of it -- in the Wall Street Journal. It appears that this is more of the same failed policies that got us into this mess."

Meanwhile, Austan Goolsbee, an economic adviser to the president and increasingly active administration spokesman, told MSNBC: "Well, look, I thought it was most appropriate that this thing came out on April Fools' Day because this thing is the biggest April Fools' Joke and cruelest that we have had in years. If you look at what they are doing...they are calling for putting in a multi-trillion dollar additional tax cut for the highest income Americans, they are now talking about privatizing Medicare turning it into a voucher so that they can cut it substantially. That's not the reform of an entitlement -- it is the gutting of a program."

Baer's and Goolsbee's remarks are far sharper than the generally inclusive approach the Obama White House took with the House GOP during the crafting of the stimulus. The change in tone may be owed to the fact that the president was unable to persuade a single Republican in the House to vote for that recovery package. Mainly, however, the alternatives that the GOP is offering for the budget -- entitlement reform, $4 million in tax cuts primarily for the wealthy, a freeze on discretionary spending for five years on everything except national defense and veterans health care -- are diametrically at odds with where the president stands.

That said, Goolsbee pivoted from his condemnation of the GOP to note potential points of agreement, telling MSNBC: "There are a few areas where they seem to be looking in the correct direction. And that is following some of the reforms that [OMB Director] Peter Orszag and others in the administration have been putting forward and some health care reforms. But in a lot of areas it is problematic."

Family dies in fire as police hold back help

Family dies in fire as police hold back help

from Raw Story Breaking News

Family dies in fire as police hold back help

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1165634/Pictured-Couple-died-house-year-old-son-police-held-neighbours-desperate-help.html

'Nearly 8 years after 9/11, Rush tells NY to 'drop dead'"

Nearly 8 years after 9/11, Rush tells NY to 'drop dead'

from Raw Story Breaking News

Nearly 8 years after 9/11, Rush tells NY to 'drop dead'

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who has been treated like a GOP leader since Obama's election, didn't mince words when it came to pontificating on a new New York tax plan which reportedly aims at the state's highest earners.

"Drop dead," the self-proclaimed "El Rushbo" wrote on Monday.

Newsmax reports, "Angered by a New York state plan to tax residents earning over $500,000 per year, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh vowed Monday to sell all of his property and shut down his operations there and move them to Texas, a state with no income tax."

Rush railed on his show, "When I am there working I pay whatever, you know, my rate is based on income for that day in New York. And I try to go as little as possible. If it weren't for hurricanes down here, I would never go up there. New York is the escape valve in case hurricanes are showing up in our area, because of the loss of electricity. So I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to look for an alternative studio somewhere outside New York, perhaps Texas -- another no-income-tax state -- and I'm going to get the hell over there, when a hurricane starts coming our way, 'cause I told Mayor Bloomberg: I'll be the first to lead the way. You know, this is just... I'll sell my apartment. I'll sell my condominium. I'm going to get out of there totally, 'cause this is just absurd, and it's ridiculous -- and it isn't going to work. It's punishing the achievers for the mistakes and the lack of discipline on the part of a bunch of corrupt politicians that have run that city and state into the ground for I don't know how many years -- and I, for one, am not going to take the blame for it. "

Limbaugh's "drop dead" retort is a shout-out to an infamous Daily News front page headline in 1975 which blasted President Ford for refusing to bail-out the then beleaguered New York City economy. But some might find the phrase unsettling in these post-9/11 times. Not that Limbaugh has ever been too concerned about offending anyone.

Although The New York Post recently opined that two years later NYC "was largely restored to economic health," it's editors added that "[t]he collapse of the global financial system has left a far bigger hole in the city economy than did the 2001 attacks."

"You’d probably blow up your Range Rover too if it cost $50,000 but you suddenly owed $150,000 on it because your loan was denominated in a foreign currency and your currency was now worthless."

Iceland. How to blow up a country.

from Politics in the Zeros. Anti-war, global warming, peak oil, progressive politics by Bob Morris

Michael Lewis on the collapse of Iceland

Iceland's de facto bankruptcy—its currency (the krona) is kaput, its debt is 850 percent of G.D.P., its people are hoarding food and cash and blowing up their new Range Rovers for the insurance—resulted from a stunning collective madness. What led a tiny fishing nation, population 300,000, to decide, around 2003, to re-invent itself as a global financial power?

Read the whole thing. It's simultaneously sobering and bizarre.

You'd probably blow up your Range Rover too if it cost $50,000 but you suddenly owed $150,000 on it because your loan was denominated in a foreign currency and your currency was now worthless.

Murkowski rips Jindal’s ‘volcano monitoring’ comments on Senate floor.

Murkowski rips Jindal's 'volcano monitoring' comments on Senate floor.

from Think Progress by Satyam Khanna

In February, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) criticized the fact that the stimulus package provided funding for "volcano monitoring." Ironically, last week, Mt. Redoubt in Alaska erupted, spewing gas 11 miles into the air and sending ash toward Anchorage. In an impassioned floor speech yesterday discussing the "importance of volcano monitoring," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — who introduced legislation funding volcano monitoring — took a minute to criticize Jindal's ignorant remarks:

MURKOWSKI: I think we're all aware that there has been some recent comments made about federal spending for volcano monitoring and the suggestion perhaps that this might be wasteful money — that we don't have any need to be monitoring volcanoes. And I can assure you, Mr. President, that monitoring volcanoes is critically important to the nation, to the world, and particularly to Alaska right now where we are being held hostage by a volcano.

Watch it:

Popout

Curiously, Murkowski voted against the stimulus package that provided funding for volcano monitoring.

"President Obama has once again chosen neither to veto a bill nor to sign and execute it, but rather to imitate Bush by signing the bill and announcing that he will violate a portion of the new law: "

Another Signing Statement, Another Law Smashed, Another Smudge on the Constitution, Another Yawn From Partisanized Americans

from AfterDowningStreet.org - Impeach Bush and Cheney Now! by davidswanson

By David Swanson

President Obama has once again chosen neither to veto a bill nor to sign and execute it, but rather to imitate Bush by signing the bill and announcing that he will violate a portion of the new law:

Section 8203 of the Act provides that the Secretary of the Interior shall appoint certain members of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission "based on recommendations from each member of the House of Representatives, the district of which encompasses the Corridor." Because it would be an impermissible restriction on the appointment power to condition the Secretary's appointments on the recommendations of members of the House, I will construe these provisions to require the Secretary to consider such congressional recommendations, but not to be bound by them in making appointments to the Commission.

Click for: The full statement.

Click for: The New York Times' report.

Click for: The determination to defend the rule of law announced by Democratic leaders and activist groups. [keep clicking]

read more

"Ten years ago, Congress repealed this archaic and useless little law called Glass-Steagal, because Larry Summers wanted a cushy gig at Citigroup."

90 More Geniuses For You to Blame [History]

from Gawker by Pareene

Ten years ago, Congress repealed this archaic and useless little law called Glass-Steagal, because Larry Summers wanted a cushy gig at Citigroup.

As we now know, and as NO ONE COULD'VE FORESEEN THEN, repealing Glass-Steagal really helped eventually break the whole world economy. Cajun Boy went back and read the Times article about the vote, because he is hoping one of his readers has a time machine. The piece probably ran on page A52 or something too, right?

Many of the people who were 100% wrong on this are, of course, still respected and important. Well, no one takes Phil Gramm seriously. But Larry Summers is advising another president!

'Today Congress voted to update the rules that have governed financial services since the Great Depression and replace them with a system for the 21st century,'' Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers said. ''This historic legislation will better enable American companies to compete in the new economy.''

Hah. And hey, who's that, with the money quote? Why it's the president of the liberal New School, that famed war criminal Bob "universally loathed" Kerrey:

''The concerns that we will have a meltdown like 1929 are dramatically overblown,'' said Senator Bob Kerrey, Democrat of Nebraska.

Well how we he to know? It's not like anyone actually saw this coming! Hah, except this LIBERAL NUTCASE:

''Glass-Steagall was intended to protect our financial system by insulating commercial banking from other forms of risk. It was one of several stabilizers designed to keep a similar tragedy from recurring. Now Congress is about to repeal that economic stabilizer without putting any comparable safeguard in its place.''

Man, who's this joker, Lyndon LaRouche? No, it was this guy named Paul Wellstone—who was actually a Senator himself! But then the CIA killed him. It was pretty fucked up.

But yes, as usual, it's the serious-minded "centrist" Senate "grownups" who reach across the aisle who FUCK EVERYTHING UP. They are the reason the Senate is fundamentally undemocratic and it should be abolished. Some fucking jerkoff from Nebraska can hold the country hostage because they're trying to fix the inefficiencies that enrich his precious student loan companies.

The Senate is broken and its "centrists" are all the worst examples of politicians this country manages to produce—we would take actual criminals over them, in fact, because criminals don't consider their base motivations the sober, patriotic, wise judgment of true independent statesmen. Well, maybe Blago does.

How to prepare for Conficker from Politics in the Zeros.

How to prepare for Conficker

from Politics in the Zeros. Anti-war, global warming, peak oil, progressive politics by Bob Morris

Windows Secrets has a comprehensive article on how to defend against the Conficker worm, whichs triggers on Wednesday. While no one is quite sure what it will do (and it's on millions of computers, mostly in Asia) protecting yourself, they explain, is easy.

If Conficker triggers, it blocks your access to antivirus websites. So, it's important to take precautions now, before April 1.

• Run Windows Update and get the latest patches.
• Update your third party antivirus software.
• Turn off Auto Run. (And keep it turned off)
• Download a Conficker removal tool, just in case you might need it.
• Run Secunia's Software Inspector, a free online software scan, to see if any of your non-Microsoft programs need patching.

Windows Secrets has full details.

Lockheed's Official Congress-Briber Closes Up Shop [Politics] from Gawker

Lockheed's Official Congress-Briber Closes Up Shop [Politics]

from Gawker by Pareene

Remember how we paid Lockheed Martin $67.5 million to index Dick Cheney's emails? The guy whose fault it was has been caught: Paul Magliocchetti, the famous lobbyist.

Magliocchetti runs PMA Group, a lobbying firm that will close down, next week, because his whole scam was basically found out. He funneled thousands to a couple of Democratic representatives, and those reps sent billions to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

Every single fucking solitary dime the federal government spends on, say, feeding poor people, is watched and debated and decried as stupid waste. But if you show up in Congress one day and say "hello, I'm a defense contractor," they will just give you a check for a billion dollars and say, "hey, why don't you make us an airplane that doesn't work."

So John Murtha was the ringleader, here, accepting $774k from PMA and countless perks and gifts and things in 2008, and earmarking a healthy $38 million to PMA's clients, in return. Also on the wall of shame: Peter Visclosky from Indiana and James "Get a Brain" Moran from Virginia. All Democrats, all very good friends of the defense industry.

Murtha is more or less proud of his record of ignoring ethics rules, of course: "If I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district," he says.

This is a funny thing about the congressional ethics rules: if all Magliocchetti did was funnel contributions to congressmembers, and then those congressmembers appropriated billions for his clients, well, the lobbyist might get in trouble, but the Representative can say "we don't know why that sommelier and that caddy sent us $150k but we certainly had nothing to do with it!" But if Magliocchetti, say, takes the member golfing, or to dinner, that is the illegal bribery. We can only consider it a crime if it's petty enough to seem ridiculous, and not grand enough to just be How Things Work.

So! The FBI raided PMA last year, and now he is closing down shop. Government is saved!

ShamWow Guy's Cannibal Hooker, Post-Beating [Mug Shots] from Gawker

ShamWow Guy's Cannibal Hooker, Post-Beating [Mug Shots]

from Gawker by Hamilton Nolan

Vince Shlomi, better known as the ShamWow! guy, was arrested for beating up a hooker who tried to eat his tongue. She was arrested too. The Smoking Gun got her mug shot, and it's brutal.

This is 26-year-old Sasha Harris, who took $1,000 from Shlomi for sex and then, according to him, bit his tongue and wouldn't let go until he punched her in the face several times. She didn't talk to the cops, according to the earlier reports, so we don't know what she would have to say about all this. She looks terrible; but ShamWow guy's mug shot shows he got pretty fucked up himself.
[The Smoking Gun; Previously]

The Hooker-Beating ShamWow Guy Is a Renegade Ex-Scientologist [Scientology] from Gawker

The Hooker-Beating ShamWow Guy Is a Renegade Ex-Scientologist [Scientology]

from Gawker by John Cook

Vince Shlomi's claims to fame are his ability to shill oddly absorbent towels, and after last week, getting arrested after beating a prostitute to a pulp. Are you surprised he was also involved with Scientology?

Shlomi's full name is Vince Offer Shlomi, and he has used the name Vince Offer in the past. According to online accounts, Shlomi joined Scientology in 1982 as an aspiring filmmaker. In 1997, with the help of contacts he made through the cult's Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles, he began production on The Underground Comedy Movie, a low-budget and low-brow direct-to-DVD film based on sketches Offer perfected on his cable-access show. Slash, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Joey Buttafuoco had roles.

But according to accounts of Offer's 2004 complaint against Scientology, church bigwigs took a dim view of the project and allegedly launched a campaign to kick Offer out of the cult and discredit him. He was brought up on charges by a Scientology court—which apparently included a 14-year-old as one of its judges—and declared a criminal (the nature of the specific charges isn't clear—a press release announcing the suit says the allegations were never actually presented to Offer; Gawker is working on obtaining a copy of the complaint). From the press release:

[T]he Scientology sub-organization that recruits and caters to celebrities "Celebrity Center International," located in Hollywood and whose motto is "To Create a Safe Space for Artists," according to Offer recruited dozens of his Scientology friends, associates and actors that worked on Underground Comedy, to write false and malicious reports against him. If individuals refused to write these reports, they were threatened with condemnation and punishment that could be lethal to their careers.

After being convicted, Offer became a persona-non-grata in the church. His business, which depended on Scientology connections, dried up, and he lost financing to complete the movie.

Less than two years later, in 1999, the church reversed itself on appeal and cleared Offer of any wrongdoing. Eventually, Offer managed to get his movie released on DVD. He marketed it with infomercials, a medium at which he clearly excelled. From the release:

By January 2002, Offer's life was destroyed, as he was now broke, alone and was left with an unfinished movie. To keep from going under, he undertook his inherent marketing abilities and pitched kitchen vegetable choppers at swap meets. In the span of 5 years, Offer went from owning an enterprise with dozens of sales reps in 1997, to selling on his own in a swap meet. In April of 2002, against all odds, he managed to generate enough money from swap meet sales to launch a successful infomercial campaign for his movie. It is the first movie ever to be marketed in this medium, which propelled DVD sales to almost 100,000 units in the US.

In 2004, flush with Underground Comedy Movie money, Offer filed his suit in "a quest to expose the human cruelty and destructive practices committed, still to this day, by the Church of Scientology's leadership helmed by David Miscavage." According to Offer's attorney Ford Greene, who confirmed the story of the suit to Gawker, it was dismissed in 2004.

So you be the judge: Was Offer just unlucky in his choice of prostitute in Miami last month, or did Scientology decide that he was becoming too big a potential liability and launch Operation Tongue Bite?

Sick Around America: Half-Assed Health Insurance Doesn’t Work from Firedoglake

Sick Around America: Half-Assed Health Insurance Doesn't Work

from Firedoglake by Christy Hardin Smith

Medical notes via a.drian.

This infuriates me. And not just because I have a pre-existing condition that would likely have me on the "insurance blacklist."

It's especially timely because growing numbers are looking for individual health insurance after losing their jobs. On top of that, small businesses, which make up the bulk of South Florida's economy, are frequently finding health policies too expensive and are dropping coverage, sending even more people shopping for insurance....

''This is absolutely the standard way of doing business,'' said Santiago Leon, a health insurance broker in Miami. Being denied for preexisting conditions is well known, but when a person sees the usually confidential list of automatic denials for himself, ``that's a eureka moment. That shows you how harsh the system is.''...

Imagine working your rear end off for a company and having them close down in this recession. But you've paid into an emergency fund for health care coverage, so you think you've planned ahead and made wise choices.

Or, if you own a small business (as I have), trying desperately to find affordable coverage for your employees and continually getting quoted insane prices for a relatively healthy group of people that none of you can afford. It's nuts.

And then, you get slapped with the fine print:

Many jobless Americans are shocked to learn that the health plan, either paid for by the employer or deducted from each paycheck, costs so much. The average payment under COBRA can be around $1,200, and much higher if your company had a really good health plan....

$1,200? That's reasonable compared to what you could be paying if you have a pre-existing condition and have to pay out-of-pocket for an individual plan.

Once you are out of the workplace, you have no leverage to negotiate on a group basis for a lower rate. It's just you and your meds, and whatever an insurance company does or does not want to cover.

In what universe does it make sense that the people who most need regular medical care are the ones least likely to get it?

Or that people who are now out of work in their chosen field -- and are turning up at fast food joints or pizza delivery trucks or various other lower wage jobs just to make ends meet -- now have no decent, regular health care coverage. So communicable diseases they have get spread around the community if not treated.

How does this make any sense at all whatsoever?

Only in a system where medical care is treated solely as a "for profit" enterprise, and where public health concerns mean nothing. That's where.

The market takes care of its own, and screw the rest of us when it comes to health care.

That has to change. Or we are going to be in an even larger world of hurt if a bird flu or other pandemic hits. Just imagine how far some pandemic disease could spread if no one could afford to go to the doctor and have their symptoms identified until it had been spread through every school and public office and business in your county? And then tell me that health care isn't important.

Frontline has what looks to be a very intriguing documentary airing on this subject tomorrow evening entitled "Sick Around America."

Here's hoping some policy-makers are watching it, even though they still have their government-paid healthcare intact. But to keep it, they have to stay in office, don't they?