World-News

Noah Shachtman, Wired: "While the Pentagon preps for a new administration, a scandal from an earlier era is rearing its head. A Defense Department project, supposedly designed to support US troops, was used instead to channel millions of dollars to personal friends and allies of its chief. The 'America Supports You,' or ASY, program was led in a 'questionable and unregulated manner,' according to a Department of Defense Inspector General report, obtained by Danger Room. At least $9.2 million was 'inappropriately transferred' by the project's managers. Much of that money served only to further promote ASY, instead of assisting servicemembers."

http://www.truthout.org/121308C



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Noah+Shachtman

Heidi Vogt, The Associated Press: "The UN confirmed Friday that a mass grave in northern Afghanistan has been disturbed, raising the possibility that evidence supporting allegations of a massacre seven years ago may have been removed. The Dasht-e-Leili grave site holds as many as 2,000 bodies of Taliban prisoners who died in transit after surrendering during one of the regime's last stands in November 2001, according to a State Department report from 2002."

http://www.truthout.org/121308Y



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=massacre
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Heidi+Vogt

A detailed description of at least five high crimes and misdemeanors committed by President George W. Bush.

http://www.votenader.org/issues/high-crimes-and-misdemeanors/


Informant: Eric Griffin



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=high+crimes
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=misdemeanors
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach

Michael Winship, Truthout: "With all the interviews President Bush has been giving out lately, you'd think he has a new movie coming out for Christmas. ABC, NBC, National Review, Middle East Broadcasting, the Real Clear Politics Web site - even a talk with The Washington Post's NASCAR expert. For a fellow who's sometimes gone for months without a press conference, suddenly, the president's a regular chatterbox, spreading the word in these final days that his eight years in office really, really weren't all that bad. Honest."

http://www.truthout.org/121308Z



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+Winship

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/496.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=US+economy

A survey cited by AFP says homelessness and hunger increased in an overwhelming majority of 25 US cities in the past year, driven by the foreclosure crisis.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=78276&sectionid=3510203


From Information Clearing House

--------

Homelessness, Hunger on Rise in US Cities: Report

Agency France-Presse: "Homelessness and hunger increased in an overwhelming majority of 25 US cities in the past year, driven by the foreclosure crisis and rising unemployment, a survey showed Friday. Out of 25 cities across the United States surveyed by the US Conference of Mayors, 83 percent said homelessness in general had increased over the past year while 16 cities, or nearly two-thirds of those polled, cited a rise in the number of families who had been forced out of their homes."

http://www.truthout.org/121408C



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=hunger+rising
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=homelessness
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreclosure
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=unemployment

The Federal Reserve refused a request by Bloomberg News to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=apx7XNLnZZlc&refer=home


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Federal+Reserve
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=taxpayer

By Jonathan Stempel

"Governments are making mistakes," he said. "They're saying to all the banks, you don't have to tell us your situation. You can continue to use your balance sheet that is phony.... All these guys are bankrupt, they're still worrying about their bonuses, they're still trying to pay their dividends, and the whole system is weakened."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21447.htm



What is to be Done?

The End of the Washington Consensus

By Michael Hudson and Jeffrey Sommers

Austerity and "fiscal responsibility" are for other countries. America acts ruthlessly in its own economic interest at any given moment of time. It freely spends more than it earns, flooding the global economy with what has now risen to $4 trillion in U.S. government debt to foreign central banks.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21450.htm



We Told You

By David Sirota

Please, forgive me for saying it. I know it's a tad annoying, but it has to be said to America's ruling class in this humble column space. Because if it's not said here you can bet it won't be said anywhere else in the media, and it needs to be said somewhere on behalf of the millions of citizens who were right.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21454.htm



What Exactly is Money?

A separation of truth and myth about our monetary system

By Jon Ronnquist

Ever wonder why your representatives in government seem helpless to make real changes to bad situations? It's because the situations are only bad from where you're standing and he or she couldn't change them if they wanted to.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21451.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=global+economy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=government+debt
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jim+Rogers
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jonathan+Stempel
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+Hudson
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jeffrey+Sommers
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=David+Sirota
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jon+Ronnquist

Seit 1998 spendeten Banken und Versicherungen den deutschen Parteien mehr als 10 Millionen Euro. Ein Dankeschön für politisches Entgegenkommen?

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29344/1.html

http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt367.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/engelhardt
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Arundhati+Roy

http://www.lewrockwell.com/raimondo/raimondo16.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=/raimondo

http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi99.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/sardi

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north669.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/north

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/dont-cave.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/rockwell

Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, The Free Press: "The last US House seat has been filled by a Democratic county commissioner in a vote count defined by the ghosts of 2004. And the provisional ballot system installed by former Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell - now a candidate for chair of the Republican National Committee - continues to haunt the electoral process in the nation's premier swing state, a legacy underscored by a landmark election protection conference held just as this final House race was being decided."

http://www.truthout.org/121208VA



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ballot+system
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stolen+election
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kenneth+Blackwell
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Republican+National+Committee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bob+Fitrakis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Harvey+Wasserman

Dan Bacher, Truthout: "George W. Bush, the worst-ever president for fish and the environment in the nation's history, will leave office after eight years the same way he came in - with yet another attack on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and other environmental laws."

http://www.truthout.org/121208EA



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Endangered+Species+Act

CBS News and The Associated Press: "With the help of CIA spotters, the Peruvian air force shot down 15 small civilian aircraft suspected of carrying drugs, in many cases without warning and within two to three minutes of being sighted, a US lawmaker said Thursday. It was the first public disclosure of the number of planes shot down between 1995 and 2001 as part of the Airbridge Denial Program, a CIA counternarcotics effort that killed an innocent American missionary, Veronica Bowers, and her infant daughter in 2001."

http://www.truthout.org/121208T

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2008/12/12-4



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Poznan

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/12



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bonnie+Raitt

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/12/12



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ali+Gharib

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/12/12-1



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mountaintop+removal

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/12/12-0



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=war+crimes
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Tom+Lasseter

Die Beschlüsse des EU-Klimagipfels in Brüssel und der UN-Klimakonferenz in Poznan (Posen) sind bei Umweltverbänden und Politikern auf heftige Kritik gestoßen. Die 27 Staats- und Regierungschefs der EU hatten das Ziel erneuert, bis 2020 die CO2-Emmissionen um 20 Prozent zu senken. Bis 2020 soll zudem der Anteil an erneuerbaren Energien auf 20 Prozent angehoben werden. Schließlich wird eine Senkung des Energieverbrauchs um 20 Prozent im gleichen Zeitraum angestrebt. Vergünstigungen wie zusätzliche Zertifikate im Umfang von zwölf Prozent sollen die osteuropäischen Länder erhalten. Auch Deutschland setzte für energieintensive Industrien "Vergünstigungen" durch - zu Lasten des Klimaschutzes. So sollen Industrien wie Stahl, Aluminium oder Zement mit reduzierten Anforderungen belegt werden. Chris Methmann vom globalisierungskritischen Netzwerk Attac warf den verantwortlichen Politikern Versagen vor. Klimawandel und Finanzkrise hätten im Kern dieselbe Ursache: eine forcierte Liberalisierung der Märkte, die eine demokratische Kontrolle der Wirtschaft verhindere - "auf Kosten der Menschen und der Umwelt hier und weltweit". Wer Klimaschutz und ökonomische Stabilität gegeneinander ausspiele, werde weder die Wirtschafts- noch die Klimakrise lösen, so Methmann.

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=19066



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Klimawandel
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Klimakrise
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Klimaschutz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Poznan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Finanzkrise

Die atomkritische Ärzteorganisation IPPNW will das RWE-Atomkraftwerk Biblis B per Gerichtsbeschluss zügig stilllegen. Am Freitag (12. Dezember) wurde eine insgesamt 383 Seiten umfassende Klagebegründung beim Hessischen Verwaltungsgerichtshof (VGH) in Kassel eingereicht. Die Organisation spricht von "sensationellen Startbedingungen" vor Gericht. IPPNW-Anwältin Wiltrud Rülle-Hengesbach erläutert warum: "Es dürfte einzigartig in einer atomrechtlichen Auseinandersetzung sein, dass der zentrale Vorwurf der Kläger von der beklagten Atomaufsichtsbehörde ausdrücklich zugegeben wird." Da das hessische Umweltministerium in einem Vermerk vom 19. September 2005 selbst eingeräumt habe, dass das Atomkraftwerk Biblis "selbstverständlich" nicht dem heutigen aktuellen Stand von Wissenschaft und Technik entspreche, die Anlage also sicherheitstechnisch veraltet und faktisch auch nicht nachrüstungsfähig sei, liegen nach Angaben der Rechtsanwältin "die Tatbestandsvoraussetzungen für einen Widerruf der Genehmigung von Biblis B laut Atomgesetz unstreitig vor".

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=19065



Geplantes Atommüll-Endlager Gorleben kostete bislang rund 1,5 Milliarden Euro

Die Untersuchung des Salzstocks Gorleben auf seine Tauglichkeit als Endlager für hochradioaktive Atomabfälle aus Kernkraftwerken hat bislang rund 1,5 Milliarden Euro gekostet. Vom Beginn der Erkundung 1977 bis zum vergangenen Jahr seien Kosten in Höhe von 1,51 Milliarden Euro entstanden, erklärte die Bürgerinitiative Umweltschutz Lüchow-Dannenberg am Freitag (12. Dezember). Für 2008 seien im Bundeshaushalt weitere 27,6 Millionen Euro veranschlagt. Die Initiative berief sich auf aktuelle Angaben der Bundesregierung.

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=19071



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=IPPNW
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Biblis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Atomgesetz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gorleben

Seven years after biologists David Quist and Ignacio Chapela were excoriated for their study finding transgenes had contaminated traditional corn grown in the remote regions of Oaxaca where the cereal was first cultivated, their results have been largely confirmed by a new study that will appear in the next issue of Molecular Ecology. The scientists who conducted the most recent study worry that corn's days as a natural foodstuff may be numbered.

http://www.truthout.org/121208D



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=GMO+contamination
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=transgenes

Frida Berrigan, Foreign Policy In Focus: "A few months ago, trucks loaded with goods crossed a border. All over the world, this kind of thing happens every day, but not here. October marked the first time in 60 years that Indian trucks loaded with apples and walnuts traveled to Pakistan. The trucks returned carrying a shipment of Pakistani rice and raisins. Around the same time, India and Pakistan increased the number of goods the two nations could trade from just 13 to nearly 2,000. They opened new freight train lines and refurbished custom houses in anticipation of vigorous cross border trade. All of this goodwill is now frozen, stopped by a hail of bullets and the deafening crash of bombs in Mumbai."

http://www.truthout.org/121208O



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mumbai
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Frida+Berrigan

Published Date: 12 December 2008

I attended a meeting at Blackstones Social Club on Thursday November 4, to express my feelings and concerns about the mobile phone mast which is to be erected above the floodlights by O2.

I said about my concerns for the health of the children playing five aside football, up to 40 or 50 at a time, and also the fun days with parents and children who attend.

Read More...
http://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/letters/Mast-out-of-sight-out.4787924.jp

Published Date: 12 December 2008

Campaigners who fought to stop a fourth mobile phone mast being installed near their Northampton homes say their voices simply do not count after O2 won the battle.

The bid to put up the 12.5m monopole on land adjacent to Welford Road, Kingsthorpe, was originally turned down by Northampton Borough Council in June.

But O2 appealed and an independent planning inspectorate in Bristol overturned the decision.

Irene Rose, aged 76, of Larwood Close, off Welford Road, spearheaded the campaign and helped present a 65-signature petition to the borough council. She said: "I feel the general public don't count; our opinions on all sorts of things are just brushed aside.

Read More...
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/39Our-voices-don39t-count-.4787052.jp

12. Dezember 2008

"Der EU-Gipfel tut sich schwer mit dem Klimaschutz und ich befürchte, es wird auch 2009 nicht besser", so Helmut Scholz, Mitglied des Parteivorstandes der LINKEN und des Vorstandes der Europäischen Linken. Er erklärt:

Energie- und Klimapolitik sollten eigentlich seit Rio, spätestens aber seit dem UN-Millenniums-Gipfel fester Eckpfeiler heutiger und künftiger internationaler und EU-Politik sein. Deshalb verfolgen wir aufmerksam den jetzt stattfindenden EU-Rat in Brüssel und erwarten endlich verbindlichen Festlegungen in Sachen Energie- und Klimapolitik. Satt ständig neuer Kompromisse ist ein kompromissloser Einsatz für den Klimaschutz gefragt. Man fasst sich buchstäblich an den Kopf, wenn man die Debatte im Vorfeld und auf dem EU-Gipfel zur Kenntnis nimmt. Wie ignorant kann Politik daherkommen, wenn 30 Jahre nach dem ersten Bericht des Club of Rome "Grenzen des Wachstums" und allen aktuellen Warnungen über den realen Zustand der Erde zum Trotz an einer ausschließlich auf Profit und Wachstum orientierten Politik festhält. DIE LINKE und die Parteien der Europäischen Linken kritisieren seit langem fehlende bzw. unverbindliche Zielvorgaben zum Schutz des Klimas. Auch die Klimaschutzverpflichtungen der EU während der deutschen EU-Ratspräsidentschaft vor einem Jahr harren noch immer ihrer konsequenten Umsetzung. Wann endlich sehen die EU und die - von einzelnen Lobby-Gruppen sowie den im European Round Table versammelten Großbanken und Unternehmen abhängigen - nationalen Regierungen bzw. Staatschefs ein, dass auch sie mit im Boot sitzen, wenn es um die Perspektive Europas geht? Am 1. Januar 2009 übernimmt Tschechien die EU-Ratspräsidentschaft. Der tschechische Staatspräsident Klaus hat erst jüngst befunden: "Das Klima ist okay." Mit dieser Vogel-Strauß-Mentalität wähnt er sich offensichtlich im Einklang mit Bundeskanzlerin Merkel. DIE LINKE und die Europäische Linke fordern die europäischen Staats- und Regierungschefs auf, nicht länger die Augen vor den Tatsachen zu verschließen, damit künftige Generationen nicht zur Geisel kurzsichtiger politischer Machtambitionen werden. Die Staats- und Regierungschefs sind gefordert, im Rahmen der EU ihren Beitrag zu einem verbindlichem Fahrplan konsequenter Klima- und Energie-Politik und die Schaffung neuer Arbeitsplätze in sozialen und ökologisch nachhaltigen Wirtschaftssektoren in überschaubaren Zeiträumen, spätestens bis 2020 zu leisten. Die deutsche und Europäische Linke wird gerade deshalb nicht nur die Brüsseler Beschlüsse zur Kenntnis nehmen sondern aufmerksam die Taten der tschechischen EU-Ratspräsidentschaft begleiten und weiter aktiv bleiben.

http://www.die-linke.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/detail/artikel/kompromissloser-einsatz-fuer-den-klimaschutz-gefragt/

--------

26 internationale Klimaforscher fordern dringend effektivere Klimapolitik

Ein Team von weltberühmten Klimaforschern hat Politiker der weltweit führenden Volkswirtschaften aufgefordert, strenge Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, um der Klimaveränderung Rechnung zu tragen.

http://sonnenseite.kjm4.de/ref.php?id=d8741686369ms162,Offener+Brief-+26+internationale+Klimaforscher+fordern+dringend+effektivere+Klimapolitik,6,a13224.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Klimaveränderung
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Klimaschutz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Klimapolitik

Tibor's Space
by Tibor R. Machan

12/11/08

One of the many benefits of realizing that people are most of all individuals is that they are unique or members of distinct communities, teams, families, etc., all very different, nearly all with their unique goals and attributes. So what is good for some won’t be for others except very rarely. Even medicine acknowledges that cures and fitness programs are often highly specific to those who are to be helped. Once one gets into even more complex areas, like education, careers, living spaces, vacations, nutrition, dress, and the rest of the zillions of concerns of people, uniformity is gone. Sure, all of us need to eat but exactly what is known but ourselves, a few intimates, special consultants, and so forth. There is no general good except in very general terms that need to be spelled out for them to have clear meaning and practical implications...

http://tibikem.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B2FD693F4B9A5746!611.entry



Casino socialism

TCS Daily
by George A. Pieler & Jens F. Laurson

12/11/08

Risk-taking has gotten a bad name, as huge losses for investors large and small undermine our faith in the self correcting power of markets that has held for a quarter-century. As the global recession spreads, blaming free markets has been the knee-jerk response. Free markets are being characterized as unregulated, and therefore both irresponsible, and destructive of citizens’ hard-earned savings and retirement funds. Has the postwar consensus in favor of the mixed economy (market driven economies with variably modest social redistribution) come to an end? If so, what might follow it? The answer, based on a few months’ experience with bailout programs all over the world, appears to go something like this: largely unregulated government bailouts, rampant regulation, and short-sighted policies grounded in panic and ‘actionism,’ rather than reason...

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=121108A


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=casino
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=socialism
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=regulation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=unregulated
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Tibor+R.+Machan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=George+A.+Pieler
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jens+F.+Laurson

USA Today

12/11/08

The Pentagon has catalogued 80,000 DNA profiles in an obscure database that holds genetic information on foreign terrorism suspects and detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Defense officials and documents. The Joint Federal Agencies Intelligence DNA Database has grown by more than 400% since the end of 2006, when it held about 15,000 DNA profiles, Pentagon documents show...

http://tinyurl.com/5hwsp4


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=terror+suspect
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detainee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=database

Griechenland kommt nicht zur Ruhe: Die Proteste gegen den Polizeimord gehen weiter - und nur die ganz besonders niveauvolle bundesdeutsche Mainstream-Medienwirtschaft versucht noch, das ganze als "Randale der Autonomen" zu verkaufen - die Gewerkschaften streiken trotz Regierungsappell, es angesichts der Situation zu lassen, die Regierung wankt. Die kleine aktuelle Materialsammlung "Griechische Riots" vom 12. Dezember 2008 möchte Orientierungshilfe sein: http://www.labournet.de/internationales/gr/riots08.html


Aus: LabourNet, 12. Dezember 2008

Eine Mehrheit ist auch dafür, den Strom künftig ganz aus Erneuerbaren Energien zu erzeugen.

http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/2/120280



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=erneuerbare+Energie

The Utopian Imperative in an Age of Catastrophe
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29328/1.html

Das Gebot zur Utopie im Zeitalter der Katastrophen
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29329/1.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mike+Davis

Der Kosovo-Cocktail
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29311/1.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kosovo

Die Vorgänge um die Ernennung des Nachfolgers von Barack Obama im US-Senat führen Amerika nach der Change-Euphorie vor Augen, wie der politische Alltag abläuft.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29330/1.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul498.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ron+Paul
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/paul

http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski218.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/kwiatkowski

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff244.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Federal+Reserve
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=AIG+insurance
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/rozeff

http://list.lewrockwell.com/t/1212026/12759198/68117/0/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=automaker
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Joe+Salerno

http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo162.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/dilorenzo

U.S. retail sales excluding autos posted their biggest monthly drop in five years in November, as consumers, spooked by a deepening recession, pared spending for a third straight month, a private report released on Thursday showed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSTRE4BA0W820081211



"Nasty Recession" for U.S. to Include Four Quarters of Declining GDP

In its fourth quarterly report of 2008, the UCLA Anderson Forecast predicts that the current recession inflicting the national economy will feature four quarters of negative growth (followed by very tepid growth rates) and rising unemployment rates that last through 2010.

http://tinyurl.com/67ytoc



A tattered safety net for US unemployed

As a rising number of Americans sign up for unemployment benefits, many of the state-funded trusts that pay them are on the decline. At least 12 of them are on the brink of insolvency. In 20 other states, the funds have lost value, even before the big job losses of the past two months.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081211/ts_csm/asafetynet



Report: Recession has 43 states facing financial trouble

Map highlights 43 states said to be facing budget shortfalls.
http://tinyurl.com/56rtzq


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=retail+sales
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=GDP
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=budget+shortfall
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=unemployment

The older the democracy, the less there seems to be now of freedom of expression and right to information, according to a new study by the London-based group Article 19.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45080


From Information Clearing House

"Iranians are working under a legal framework. They have permitted the international (atomic energy) agency to monitor their imported materials," ElBaradei said in a telephone interview with the London-based Al Hayat newspaper on Wednesday.

http://english.farsnews.net/newstext.php?nn=8709210721


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=IAEA
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ElBaradei

We Celebrate 60 Years of Failure

By Cindy Sheehan

Human rights have been converted from a noble goal into an instrument of foreign policy used by rich and powerful nations against the poorest and weakest people of the world.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21443.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Declaration+of+Human+Rights
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sheehan

By Joseph A. Lopisi

Along the same lines as his predecessors, President Obama will deal with the current financial crisis by pointing his finger at everyone except the real culprit, the Federal Reserve Bank, the U. S. executive and legislative branches and their partners in crime, the Wall Street financial institutions.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21438.htm



Beware Of Obama's Groundhog Day

By John Pilger

President Obama is the latest manager of an ideological machine that transcends electoral power. Asked what his supporters would do when reality intruded, Stephen Walt, an Obama adviser, said: "They have nowhere else to go."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21441.htm



Charge the Political Criminals

By Timothy V. Gatto

I believe that the next two months will be the most telling period in American history when it comes to exposing the flaws in our system of government. There are two very important issues that face Obama, and the tenor of his Presidency will be decided by how he handles these issues. Obama has to hit the ground running, he has no choice.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21513.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=financial+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Federal+Reserve
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wall+Street
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=political+criminal
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Joseph+A.+Lopisi
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Pilger
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Timothy+V.+Gatto

By Glenn Greenwald

The House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat [Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas] said Tuesday he has recommended that President-elect Barack Obama keep the country's current national intelligence director and CIA chief in place for some time to ensure continuity in U.S. intelligence programs during the transition to a new administration. . . .

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21436.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=interrogation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Intelligence+Committee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=national+intelligence
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Silvestre+Reyes
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Glenn+Greenwald

Atrocity Unlimited

By Chris Floyd

Not content with destroying the only vestige of stability that Somalia had known for almost two decades by arming, backing and participating in a brutal "regime change" invasion by Ethiopia, the Bush Administration now wants to turn the ravaged land into an international "free fire zone".

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21442.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=regime+change
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Somalia
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chris+Floyd

The US Won't Go So Quietly

By Seumas Milne

Obama was elected on the back of revulsion at Bush's war, but greater pressure will be needed to force a full withdrawal.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21437.htm



It's All Spelled Out in Unpublicized Agreement

Total Defeat for U.S. in Iraq

By PATRICK COCKBURN

The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), signed after eight months of rancorous negotiations, is categorical and unconditional. America's bid to act as the world's only super-power and to establish quasi-colonial control of Iraq, an attempt which began with the invasion of 2003, has ended in failure.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21444.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+withdraw
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=security+pact
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Seumas+Milne
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=PATRICK+COCKBURN