World-News

Little-known agency that insures pensions of 44 million workers braces for recession fallout

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. already has an $11 billion deficit that seems sure to grow larger as Corporate America suffers through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

http://www.kfsm.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-pension-bailout,0,4468385.story



Consumers Cut Food Spending Sharply

Markets and Restaurants Feel the Pinch as People Purchase Generic Brands and Stay Home.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123448606475780133.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=consumer+spending
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Great+Depression
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession

"Somewhere in Texas, former President George W. Bush is clearing brush in perfect peace." Former Vice President Dick Cheney is likely out duck hunting in Wyoming, as if he has every right to be walking around free.

http://tinyurl.com/bwkldb


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=crimes+against+humanity

In little-noticed confirmation testimony recently, Obama nominees endorsed continuing the C.I.A.'s program of transferring prisoners to other countries without legal rights, and indefinitely detaining terrorism suspects without trials even if they were arrested far from a war zone.

http://tinyurl.com/c9phtg


From Information Clearing House



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

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was covertly using the Shamsi airfield in Pakistan's restive south-western province of Balochistan, The Times Online reported.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=86029&sectionid=351020401



Officials Confirm CIA Drones In Pakistan

This report was filed by CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad. Pakistan, the U.S., and other NATO member countries have had a quiet, unwritten agreement for the past three to five years to allow the CIA to fly unmanned drones out of remote airstrips in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, a senior military official from a NATO country confirmed to CBS News on Thursday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/02/19/world/worldwatch/entry4812368.shtml


From Information Clearing House

--------

Secrecy and Denial: Pakistan Lets CIA Use Airbase to Strike Militants
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/18

Google Earth Reveals Secret History of US Base in Pakistan
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/19-2



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pakistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=drones

By Norm Lowry

We can die or live, dependent on the Mercy of those we have offended... or... we can simply suffer the consequences of a terrible Day of Reckoning, with its guarantee of more destruction & death than any of us would like to see.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22031.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Norm+Lowry

By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

NEWS broke last week that Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff, lived rent- free for years in the home of Rep. Rosa De Lauro (D-Conn.) - and failed to disclose the gift, as congressional ethics rules mandate. But this is only the tip of Emanuel's previously undislosed ethics problems.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22029.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Rahm+Emanuel
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Rosa+De+Lauro
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Dick+Morris
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Eileen+McGann

It's Time to Treat America's Homeowners as Well as We've Been Treating Wall Street's Bankers

By Arianna Huffington

Why hasn't the foreclosure crisis gotten the attention it deserves?
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22032.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreclosure
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=homeowner
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wall+Street
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Arianna+Huffington

By Ignacio Merino

Right now President Obama is a new broom and the country thinks he is resolving a problem left to him by a Republican administration. He is about to sign in a stimulus package that will fail to stimulate the economy. Then in three months he'll be back at the trough looking for more money. Six months will pass, things will get worse, and it will be viewed as his problem to clean up. By the end of 2009, assuming he follows the path laid out with the stimulus bill, he will be viewed by the American public as inept and the "wrong man for the job". Things will be a lot worse than they are now.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22027.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ignacio+Merino

By Prof. Michael Hudson

The financial "wealth creation" game is over. Economies emerged from World War II relatively free of debt, but the 60-year global run-up has run its course. Finance capitalism is in a state of collapse, and marginal palliatives cannot revive it. The U.S. economy cannot "inflate its way out of debt," because this would collapse the dollar and end its dreams of global empire by forcing foreign countries to go their own way.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22026.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=oligarch
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=empire
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=capitalism
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Treasury
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+Hudson

Brian Grow, Keith Epstein and Robert Berner, Business Week: "The bad mortgages that got the current financial crisis started have produced a terrifying wave of home foreclosures. Unless the foreclosure surge eases, even the most extravagant federal stimulus spending won't spur an economic recovery. The Obama Administration is expected within the next few weeks to announce an initiative of $50 billion or more to help strapped homeowners. But with 1 million residences having fallen into foreclosure since 2006, and an additional 5.9 million expected over the next four years, the Obama plan - whatever its details - can't possibly do the job by itself."

http://www.truthout.org/021809O



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreclosure
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mortgage
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Keith+Epstein
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Berner

Anne Gearan and Jennifer Loven, The Associated Press: "President Barack Obama approved adding some 17,000 US troops for the flagging war in Afghanistan, his first significant move to change the course of a conflict that his closest military advisers have warned the United States is not winning. 'This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires,' Obama said in a statement. That was a slap at his predecessor, George W. Bush, whom Obama has accused of slighting urgent national security needs in Afghanistan in favor of war in Iraq."

http://www.truthout.org/021809K



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Anne+Gearan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jennifer+Loven

http://www.jungewelt.de/2009/02-18/031.php



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bankensystem
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Finanzkrise

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/563.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=RFID
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q==spy+chip
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Verichip

Feb 18 2009 by Janine Yaqoob, Midweek Visiter

AN application to erect a telephone mast on a busy Southport road has been rejected.

Vodafone Ltd submitted the application for the 12.5m mast to be erected on the corner of Manchester Road and Zetland Street.

Councillors ruled against the plans at last Wednesday’s Planning Committee meeting at Bootle Town Hall.

Residents had submitted a 75-signature petition opposing the application.

Cllr Lord Ronnie Fearn, who endorsed the petition, commented: “I am very pleased that the application has been turned down, as are the residents.

“At last Vodafone have seen sense and realised they can not put up a phone mast where there is a conglomeration of people.

Read More...
http://tinyurl.com/dcyk7n

--------

Orange finish alternative Marlow site testing

Bucks Free Press - London, UK

In October 2008 Orange was granted permission to build a mast at the junction of ... The mobile phone operator has finished testing a series of temporary ...

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/4134929.Orange_finish_alternative_Marlow_site_testing/

Die Wahrheit muß ans Licht!
http://ga3.org/campaign/btcpetition?qp_source=bt5fdk

Thank you for signing my petition at BushTruthCommission.com, urging Congress to consider the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate Bush-Cheney Administration abuses.

Now, please urge your friends and family to sign the petition as well:
http://www.bushtruthcommission.com/forward

Thank you for supporting this important effort.

Sincerely,

Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator


Informant: Ruth Gill

--------

Obama's Justice: Reconciliation, Not Retribution

Cynthia Boaz, Truthout: "In the wake of Sen. Patrick Leahy's (somewhat) surprising and determined call for a Truth Commission to investigate the abuses of the Bush-Cheney administration, the Obama administration has been - to many progressives and those on the left of center - disturbingly silent. It's safe to say that the president's less-than-forceful position on the issue has been a source of intense criticism and skepticism from the left about the president's sincerity regarding his claims to promote a new era of transparency and accountability in American politics. These concerns reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the president's perspective as well as his role."

http://www.truthout.org/021809J



The Case for a Truth Commission

Sen. Patrick Leahy, TIME Magazine: "More than 30 years ago, a special Senate investigation peered into abuses that included spying on the American people by their own government. The findings by Senator Frank Church's committee, drawn from testimony spanning 800 witnesses and thousands of pages of government documents, revealed how powerful government surveillance tools were misused against the American people... The parallels with today are clear, and so are the lessons. Then, as in recent years, some were willing, in the name of security, to trade away the people's rights as if they were written in sand, not stone."

http://www.truthout.org/022009A



Truth Commission May Not Lead to Prosecutions

Matt Renner, Truthout: "The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday to explore setting up a commission to investigate and report on potentially criminal policies of the Bush administration. Critics of this approach charge that it could interfere with high-level criminal prosecutions, which are ready for immediate action by an independent or special prosecutor."

http://www.truthout.org/030509A

--------

Support Senator Leahy's brave move: Call and email your Senator today
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jkLXIcPRIdJNJfL&s=5oKHLQPnE7LFIUNuGkF&m=huKOL6NNKbL1F

--------

SENATE JUDICIARY HEARING "TRUTH COMMISSION"
http://groups.google.de/group/freepage-news/t/72517115c91a7898?hl=en

--------

Sen. Patrick Leahy, Issues Call For Investigations Into Bush Crimes

Video
http://snipurl.com/dabs5


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+crimes
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Leahy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=special+prosecutor
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cynthia+Boaz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Matt+Renner

Der Bericht der "International Commission of Jurists" nimmt den siebenjährigen Kampf gegen den Terror in vierzig Ländern genauer unter die Lupe.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29760/1.html

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/02/17



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

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/17-11



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Glenn+Greenwald

17. Februar 2009

"Arbeitnehmerinteressen müssen in der Debatte um Maßnahmen zur Rettung von Banken und Unternehmen stärker berücksichtigt werden", fordert der stellvertretende Parteivorsitzende Klaus Ernst. Ernst erklärt:

Die Debatte muss vom Kopf auf die Füße gestellt werden. Der deutsche Arbeitsmarkt steht am Abgrund. Die Zahl der Arbeitslosen und Kurzarbeiter steht vor einer beispiellosen Explosion. Ab sofort muss gelten: Richtig ist das, was Arbeitsplätze rettet. Die Rettung von Banken und Unternehmen darf kein Selbstzweck sein. Der Einsatz von Steuermitteln muss immer an soziale Kriterien gebunden werden. Unternehmen, die Staatshilfe in Anspruch nehmen, müssen dazu verpflichtet werden, auf Massenentlassungen und Lohnsenkungen zu verzichten. Dort wo der Staat bei Unternehmen einsteigt, muss er zuallererst dafür sorgen, dass die Arbeitnehmer ihre Jobs behalten. Jobs sind wichtiger als Renditen. Solange die Regierung das nicht begreift, sind alle ihre Maßnahmen eine Verschleuderung von Steuermitteln.

http://www.die-linke.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/detail/artikel/rettung-von-arbeitsplaetzen-muss-vorrang-haben/



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

Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service: "Although Oates did not explicitly address the issue of drawdown plans, he has been known to favour a more rapid withdrawal from Iraq than Petraeus and Odierno for some time, according to a military officer who served under Odierno and is familiar with Oates's views. 'His belief is that we need to get out of the country and let the Iraqis take responsibility for their areas.'"

http://www.truthout.org/021709S



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Petraeus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Odierno
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=withdraw+Iraq
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gareth+Porter

dave.tanner@archant.co.uk

18 February 2009

ACCUSATIONS of double standards have been levelled at Devon County Council after a "not-on-our-roof" reaction to suggestions a mobile phone mast be installed on the Civic Centre in Barnstaple.

District councillor Des Brailey was told staff were "likely to object" to having it on the building, despite most authorities and the Government having declared the controversial radiation-emitting equipment safe.

It began when alarmed Sticklepath Hill residents alerted Cllr Brailey, after learning Vodafone had started work to erect a 44-ft mast on the roadside verge by High Wall and in front of their bedroom windows.

North Devon Council planners issued a "stop work" notice and subsequently refused permission for the scheme, designed to replace an existing mast at North Devon College before the college moved.

Read More...
http://tinyurl.com/dzz2xp

Chinese doubts about the value of US Treasury bonds highlight a crucial question: who will buy the estimated $2.7 trillion (£1.9 trillion) to $4.2 trillion of debt expected to be issued over the next two years?

http://tinyurl.com/clud9n


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=America+debt
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Treasury+bonds

Representatives of the Bush White House are no longer advising former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove that he is protected by executive privilege as regards testimony about the alleged political prosecution of an Alabama governor.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Lawyer_Rove_wont_take_Fifth_if_0216.html



Obama, not Bush, now seeking delay of Rove deposition

In a court brief quietly filed Monday, Michael Hertz, Obama's acting assistant attorney general, said it was necessary to delay an effort to force Rove to be deposed in a congressional investigation into the firing of nine US Attorneys and the alleged political prosecution of a former Alabama governor.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_not_Bush_now_seeking_delay_0217.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Karl+Rove
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=executive+privilege
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=firing+attorneys

There is now enough evidence to try former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for war crimes, Manfred Nowak, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, recently told "Frontal 21," a German television program.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20090217cc.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Rumsfeld
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=war+crimes
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Manfred+Nowak

The process began to take shape under President George Bush but has been given impetus by President Barack Obama's call for an increased focus on Afghanistan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29226669/


From Information Clearing House



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

By Johanna Neuman

It is being described as a full-court, all-out campaign, waged in the last days of the Bush administration by then Vice President Dick Cheney, to get George W. Bush to grant a full pardon to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22023.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Lewis+Libby
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Johanna+Neuman

By James Saft

Like it or not the United States will be forced to nationalize large swathes of its banking system by the time the leaves fall from the trees in Washington.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22022.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=banking+system
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=James+Saft

By Martin Jacques

The business and political elite are flying blind. This is the mother of all economic crises. It has barely started and remains completely out of control.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22015.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=political+elite
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Martin+Jacques

By Paul Craig Roberts

The Bush/Obama bailout/stimulus plans are not going to work. Both are schemes hatched by a clique of financial insiders. The schemes will redistribute income and wealth from American taxpayers to the shyster banksters, who have destroyed American jobs, ruined the retirement plans of tens of millions of Americans, and worsened the situation of millions of people worldwide who naively trusted American financial institutions.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22018.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=taxpayer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bankster
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Craig+Roberts

By Thomas R. Eddlem

President Obama's public rhetoric against torture is increasingly at odds with his decisons to defend John Yoo (the former Justice Department official who authored the "torture memo" justifying Bush administration policy), keep in place policies that have protected torture, and even keep in office Bush-era appointees who helped establish torture policies.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22012.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=wiretapping
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Yoo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture+memo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Thomas+R.+Eddlem

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/anderson-r4.html



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

Daniel Nasaw, The Guardian UK: "Republicans in at least six states are seeking to block the White House from transferring Guantanamo Bay detainees to their districts, in what critics call an effort to stymie Barack Obama's efforts to close the prison. Congressional Republicans have introduced bills that would bar the government from moving any of the 250 inmates to some of the most prominent military and civilian detention centres in the US, including a 'supermax' high-security federal prison in Florence, Colorado, which holds at least 16 convicted international terrorists, and a South Carolina naval brig that holds the only enemy combatant jailed in America."

http://www.truthout.org/021709C



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=GOP
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guantanamo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detainee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=enemy+combatant
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Daniel+Nasaw

Elizabeth Stanton, Bloomberg: "U.S. stocks tumbled to a three-month low, extending a global slump, as a record contraction in New York manufacturing spurred concern the government's stimulus package won't be enough to curb the deepening recession. Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. lost at least 8 percent. General Motors Corp., the biggest U.S. carmaker, retreated 15 percent before taking its case for more government support to the Treasury today. Financial shares led declines in Europe and Asia on concern banks may face ratings downgrades and further losses."

http://www.truthout.org/021709E



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Treasury
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stocks+tumble
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Citigroup
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=JPMorgan+Chase
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=automaker
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Elizabeth+Stanton

Jeff Cohen, Truthout: "I have a plan to get NBC out of last place in the ratings. I'm promising blockbuster audience and international buzz. As a once disgruntled ex-employee, I now just want to be positive and help NBC, which needs all the free advice it can get. Here's my idea: A series of NBC News prime-time specials featuring spectacular ambushes of big-time criminals lured into what they expect to be pleasurable surroundings. But, with hidden cameras whirring, the startled villain is dramatically confronted with the evidence of his massive crimes as millions of viewers look on in scorn and righteous amusement. Coming to NBC next week: 'To Catch a Cheney.' Next month: 'To Catch a Kissinger.'"

http://www.truthout.org/021709B



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Cheney
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kissinger
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jeff+Cohen

Warns unread stimulus bill will prolong the agony.
http://www.infowars.net/articles/february2009/170209Paul.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=government+spending
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ron+Paul

Whitehall Devised Torture Policy for Terror Detainees

Ian Cobain and Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian UK: "A policy governing the interrogation of terrorism suspects in Pakistan that led to British citizens and residents being tortured was devised by MI5 lawyers and figures in government, according to evidence heard in court. A number of British terrorism suspects who have been detained without trial in Pakistan say they were tortured by Pakistani intelligence agents before being questioned by MI5. In some cases their accusations are supported by medical evidence."

http://www.truthout.org/021709O

--------

Lawyers Condemn UK Over Torture In 'War On Terror'

By Afua Hirsch

"The framework of international law is being actively undermined ... creating a dangerous situation wherein terrorism, and the fear of terrorism, are undermining basic principles of international human rights law."

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22014.htm



Spy Chief: We Risk A Police State

By Tom Whitehead

Dame Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5, has warned that the fear of terrorism is being exploited by the Government to erode civil liberties and risks creating a police state.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22016.htm



U.S. "War On Terror" Eroded Rights Worldwide: Experts

By Laura MacInnis

Washington's "war on terror" after the September 11 attacks has eroded human rights worldwide, creating lingering cynicism that the United Nations must now combat, international law experts said on Monday.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22010.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=interrogation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detainee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=police+state
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=civil+liberties
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Dame+Stella+Rimington
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ian+Cobain
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Richard+Norton-Taylor
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afua+Hirsch
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Tom+Whitehead
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Laura+MacInnis

Reuters: "Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc are preparing to pay $3 billion of retention awards to brokers to keep them from fleeing a brokerage joint venture, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Terms are not expected until later this month, but the issue could grow politically sensitive because the government has injected money into both companies, the newspaper said."

http://www.truthout.org/021709K



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Morgan+Stanley
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Citigroup

Henry A. Giroux, Truthout: "Already imperiled before the recent economic meltdown, the quality of life for many young people appears even more fragile in the United States in this time of political, economic and social crisis. A great deal has been written critically about both the conditions that enabled the free market to operate without accountability in the interests of the rich and how it has produced a theater of cruelty that has created enormous suffering for millions of hard-working, decent human beings."

http://www.truthout.org/021709J



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+meltdown
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Henry+A.+Giroux

AlterNet
by Katrina vanden Heuvel

02/16/09

Our criminal justice system is broken. The U.S. represents 5 percent of the world’s population but accounts for nearly 25 percent of its prison population. We are incarcerating at a record rate with one in 100 American adults now locked up — 2.3 million people overall. As a New York Times editorial stated simply, ‘This country puts too many people behind bars for too long.’ But people who have been fighting for reform for decades are seeing new openings for change. The fiscal crisis has state governors and legislators looking for more efficient and effective alternatives to spending $50 billion a year on incarceration. At the federal level, there is reason to believe that the Obama administration and a reinvigorated Department of Justice will take a hard look at the inequities of the criminal justice system and work for a smarter and more effective approach to public safety. Finally, there are Congressional leaders — none more prominent than Senator Jim Webb — who understand that the system isn’t functioning as it should and there is an urgent need for reform...

http://adjix.com/t55i


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jim+Webb
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=gulag
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=incarcerat
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Katrina+vanden+Heuvel

Christian Science Monitor
by Walter Rodgers

02/17/09

History may not repeat itself, but all too often it recycles mistakes. In 1961, before the Vietnam War became full-fledged, former Gen. Douglas MacArthur warned President Kennedy not to fight a land war in Asia. Over the next 14 years, more than 58,000 Americans died as Washington ignored his advice and ramped up operations. Today, the US is stuck in another land war in Asia: Afghanistan. … It’s unfathomable that Washington learned so little from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which ended in an ignominious retreat followed by the collapse of the Soviet Union three years later...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0217/p09s01-coop.html



Where will Obama take us in Afghanistan?

Orange County Register
by Alan Bock, Sr.

02/14/09

Although he has focused most closely so far on a stimulus package likely to stimulate government spending more than the U.S. economy in general, President Barack Obama still seems committed to escalating the war in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates purposely tried in recent testimony to tamp down expectations and delineate more modest objectives, noting that it was likely only 10,000 to 12,000 additional U.S. troops (on top of 36,000 already there) could be in Afghanistan by midsummer. But he stressed that the commitment still stands to bring in 30,000 additional troops as soon as feasible...

http://adjix.com/4k6f


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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Fox News Forum
by John R. Lott, Jr.

02/16/09

The stimulus bill had to be passed quickly. President Obama warned that not passing it would result in disaster. He warned that any delay was ‘inexcusable.’ The 1,071 page stimulus bill had to be voted on quickly — so quickly this last week that the House and the Senate couldn’t even provide politicians the 48 hours they were supposed to have to read it. The legislation was not put up on the Web until 11 PM on February 12 and the House passed it just 12 hours later. The Senate started voting on it only hours after that. Politician after politician admitted or complained that it was physically impossible to read the bill. As it was, the copies available on the Web for voters had all sorts of hand markings on it that sometimes made it difficult to figure out exactly what the bill proposed...

http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/02/16/lott_obama_stimulus/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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8:20am Tuesday 17th February 2009

By Charlie Campbell

ANGRY parents have accused a telecoms giant of putting profits over their children's health by installing a new phone mast just yards from a school.

Critics fear the lives of youngsters at Aldersbrook Primary School, in Harpenden Road, could be put at risk when Orange builds the powerful electronic equipment at the junction of Aldersbrook Road and Dover Road.

Mum-of-four Elizabeth Canavan, of nearby Merlin Road, has three children attending the school and told the Guardian she fears for the safety of young children as the transmitter would be the fourth within 200m of classrooms.

Read More...
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/4130598.WANSTEAD__Protests_ring_out_over_phone_mast/



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By Patrick Cockburn in northern Iraq

The exact sum missing may never be clear, but a report by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) suggests it may exceed $50bn, making it an even bigger theft than Bernard Madoff's notorious Ponzi scheme.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22004.htm



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Obama: Learn From Lincoln And Do The Right Thing

As The Economic Situation Declines, He Has To Stop Centrist Diddling

By Danny Schechter

Today, we seem to be at the beginning of a new civil war, a great economic war with fresh details trickling out every day about how bad it is, and how bad it may get. Many banks are insolvent and companies bankrupt. Millions are out of work. No one knows what will happen. Even as the Stimulus bill was passed, no one is confident it will stem the tide of economic decline.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article21997.htm



Ending the Hidden Agenda Behind Tax Cuts

By Joe Brewer

It's time to tell the truth about tax cuts. This phrase dominates political discourse and is coughed out every time a conservative public figure opens his mouth. It is treated like the basis of sound reasoning, yet no one points out what should be obvious - that "tax relief" and "tax cuts" are just code words for destroying the capacity of government to serve the public.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22008.htm



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By Mike Whitney

The global economy is decelerating at the fastest pace on record. 40 percent of global wealth has been wiped out. The banking system is insolvent, unemployment is soaring, tax revenues are falling, the markets are in shock, housing is crashing, deficits are soaring, and consumer confidence is at its lowest point in history.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22007.htm

--------

Davos Debt and Denial

In an age of illusion, the guise of truth is often heresy

By Darryl Schoon

The fact that in 2008 bankers became victims in the game they created has profound implications for capitalism itself. Capitalism, which began in 1694 with the issuance of debt-based money from The Bank of England, has now over three hundred years later reached its last and final stage.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22000.htm



Ireland 'could default on debt'

The cost of buying insurance against Irish government bonds rose to record highs on Friday, having almost tripled in a week. Debt-market investors now rank Ireland as the most troubled economy in Europe.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5733723.ece



Failure to save East Europe will lead to worldwide meltdown

The unfolding debt drama in Russia, Ukraine, and the EU states of Eastern Europe has reached acute danger point.

http://tinyurl.com/aavxj6


From Information Clearing House



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7:30am Tuesday 17th February 2009

A Hampshire MP has accused a mobile phone giant of being like a high tech Count Dracula.

The attack from Eastleigh’s Chris Huhne came after a Whitehall planning inspector’s decision to back a controversial new phone mast at Chandler’s Ford.

A year ago residents were celebrating after scoring a major victory to pull the plug on a plan by Vodafone to put the mast on a green near the busy Bournemouth Road and Leigh Road junction.

Eastleigh Council backed their campaign by kicking out the mast proposal.

Read More...
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4130916.Anger_as_phone_giant_wins_mast_tussle_on_appeal/

http://www.lewrockwell.com/bonner/bonner360.html



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