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Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels - men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, may we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.
~Mark Twain
A comfortable old age is the reward of a well-spent youth. Instead of its bringing sad and melancholy prospects of decay, it would give us hopes of eternal youth in a better world.
~Maurice Chevalier
“I certainly hope the administration's long-awaited re-involvement in this fundamental debate is genuine, and not because of election year conversion.”
~Ted Kennedy01/2004
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
~Will Rogers
Your Moment of Zinn
Q: How does this nature of dissent and protest serve as the crux of a democracy and a healthy, functioning civic society? Many would argue this is divisive, no?
HOWARD ZINN: Yes, dissent and protest are divisive, but in a good way, because they represent accurately the real divisions in society. Those divisions exist – the rich, the poor – whether there is dissent or not, but when there is no dissent, there is no change. The dissent has the possibility not of ending the division in society, but of changing the reality of the division. Changing the balance of power on behalf of the poor and the oppressed. source, 2010
Dissent in Blue photo credit: Lady Libertine
News
JPMorgan’s Dimon faces investors after big loss
A day after JPMorgan let its chief investment officer go in the wake of the huge loss and the bank’s shares took another sharp fall on the stock market, Dimon will head to Tampa, Florida {Tuesday} to answer to investors at the bank’s annual meeting.
After having outperformed most of its competitors since a year ago, the 12.2 percent drop in JPMorgan shares since the revelation of the loss late Thursday put the bank into the lower ranks of the industry, jacking up pressure on Dimon for a clearer explanation of what happened.
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DOJ opens inquiry into JPMorgan trading loss-report
The U.S. Justice Department has opened an inquiry into JPMorgan's multibillion-dollar trading loss, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The report said the inquiry was at an early stage and that it was not clear what sort of legal violation the U.S. government may be looking at.
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Greece calls new elections after talks collapse
After barely two hours, the politicians threw in the towel. A spokesman for President Karolos Papoulias summoned reporters to announce a new election and plans to form a caretaker government on Wednesday. The vote is expected in mid-June.
Almost immediately, Greek party leaders were in front of cameras and supporters in spirited pre-election campaign mode.
...
Republicans Order Navy to Quit Buying Biofuels
In its report on next year’s Pentagon budget, the House Armed Services Committee banned the Defense Department from making or buying an alternative fuel that costs more than a “traditional fossil fuel.” It’s a standard that may be almost impossible to meet, energy experts believe; there’s almost no way the tiny, experimental biofuel industry can hope to compete on price with the massive, century-old fossil fuels business.
Committee Republicans, like Rep. Randy Forbes, insist this isn’t an attempt to kill off military biofuels before they have a chance to start. “Now, look, I love green energy,” he said in February. “It’s a matter of priorities.”
Quietly, the Republican Party is embracing gays
WASHINGTON — A quiet transformation is taking place in the Republican Party, which has begun to embrace openly gay candidates – and among gay Republicans, who now feel more comfortable speaking out in a party that may have accepted them but didn’t always show it.
While differences still exist, the party is on the cusp of a generational shift in which the longtime foes of gay rights are replaced by younger party leaders who are more accepting.
Pakistan agrees to reopen NATO supply route to Afghanistan, but for a fee
ISLAMABAD — The cost of the U.S.-led war effort in Afghanistan is about to rise by $365 million annually under an agreement that would reopen a key NATO supply route through Pakistan that’s been closed for nearly six months.
The accord, which the Pakistani government announced late Tuesday, would revive the transport of vital supplies of food and equipment from Pakistani ports overland to land-locked Afghanistan. In return, the U.S.-led coalition will pay Pakistan a still-to-be-fixed fee of $1,500 to $1,800 for each truck carrying supplies, a tab that officials familiar with negotiations estimated would run nearly $1 million a day. The officials requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to reveal details of the agreement.
US 'national strategy' on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The national strategy statement comes in response to the National Alzheimer's Project Act, signed into law in January 2011. Citing the new law's provisions, the Obama administration pointed to a $100 million budget request for Alzheimer's-related projects, including $80 million for research, $10.5 million to support caregivers, $4.2 million for projects to increase public awareness of the disease, $4 million to establish and run education programs on the disease, and $1.3 million to improve data collection on Alzheimer's.
By some estimates, as many as 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, which is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. That number is expected to double in the coming years, with the rapid aging of the U.S. population. Barring the discovery or development of drugs or lifestyle interventions that could stop the disease in its tracks, as many as 16 million Americans are expected to suffer from Alzheimer's by the year 2050.
Ninth largest economy in world resorts to austerity
California, America's 'golden state', is slashing spending to avoid a Greek-style default
Taking a deep breath, California's most powerful man strode to a lectern and unveiled the fiscal policy that he hopes will keep America's most populous state from falling into bankruptcy.
"You name it," he declared, "and we've got to cut it!"
It wasn't the most nuanced announcement. But this is no time for subtlety. After years watching his state fall deeper and deeper into the red, Governor Jerry Brown used a gloomy Monday night press conference to unveil what aides described as the ultimate in austerity budgets.
Anti-Wall Street Protesters Upstage Morgan Stanley
Activists hit mega-bank's annual meeting to demand answers
Dozens of protesters took turns stepping up to the microphone and blasting the company’s business practices during the question-and-answer session. At one point, they all stood up for a “mic check,” and shouted, “We will not be quiet until we create a system that prevents the 1% from ripping off the 99%!”
Afghanistan hopeful of extra US cash to fund security
Officials believe Washington will pay more on top of lion's share of expected $4.1bn annual budget after foreign troops leave
Afghanistan is confident the US will stump up billions of extra dollars for its army and police on top of the main chunk of a $4.1bn (£2.6bn) annual budget that is expected to be sealed at a Nato summit this month, an Afghan diplomat has said.
[ ... ]
Nato nations fighting in Afghanistan have informally agreed that they will top up $500m of Afghan government cash to reach $4.1bn annually, the amount western diplomats and the Afghan government say is sufficient to support 228,000 soldiers and police.
The deputy foreign minister, Jawed Ludin, said of the sum: "We are pretty confident that we will get that." But he added that while the money would cover the slimmed-down force numbers scheduled for 2017, it would cost more than that to pay for the much larger force expected to be securing the country in two years' time.
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Blog Posts of Interest
This is a new section in the What's Happenin' diaries that will be updated throughout the day to promote selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
NSA Circles the Wagons: Refuses to Return Whistleblowers' Computers Seized in 2007 by Jesselyn Radack on dailykos
The Universe and Everything by OPOL on dailykos
Important story - just published by bobswern at 6:35 a.m. eastern.
Taibbi: Goldman, BofA Lawyers Accidentally Confirm “Naked Shorting,” Disregard For Compliance on DailyKos by bobswern.