While we obsess about the democratic nominee - will it be Obama? will it be Clinton? My candidate is better than yours! Your candidate is a sleazy slim ball, so there! - the job market is worse than you think.
The number of Americans out of work for at least six months is rising - reaching levels more typically seen deep into a recession or period of job contraction, not at the beginning.
Yea! There MAY be a deal to end the writer's strike next week.
LOS ANGELES — Informal talks between representatives of Hollywood’s striking writers and production companies have eliminated the major roadblocks to a new contract, which could lead to a tentative agreement as early as next week, according to people who were briefed on the situation but requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak.
Stewart/Colbert we need you! There's a lot more. Jump with me...
OK, if you followed me down here, good on you! My purpose is not to analyze so much as it is to highlight what else is going on in the world and here at home as we obsess, er are dedicated, in promoting the democratic nominee we each believe will be the better President. I know it's hard to pay attention to other things happening during this historical primary season and general election, but there is other important news that significantly impacts our lives and that deserves our attention. As we work to elect a democratic President, we ignore much of it at our own peril.
For instance, remember the Defense Authorization Bill Bush recently signed? Well, Gary Hart illuminates us about that signing of the Defense Authorization Bill in The Burdens of Empire.
Yesterday, President Bush signed the Defense Authorization Bill, including Section 1222 prohibiting permanent military bases in Iraq, with the now customary "signing statement" declaring that he has no intention of enforcing the law of the land, including this provision, though bound by oath and Constitution to do so. (my emphasis)
Some food for thought...
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Of course, the next Democratic president can simply cancel this back-door deal. But Karl Rove, Jr., will have those pictures of half-finished bases to use in future elections to prove the Democrats soft on terrorism. By the way, al Qaeda still represents less than ten percent of the attacks still underway in Iraq. The rest are still carried out by sectarian tribes, clans, and gangs. But Mr. Bush still finds it politically profitable to call them all "al Qaeda." (emphasis mine)
Question: Will the next democratic president "simply cancel this back-door deal?" Not sure I'd make bets on that one.
And speaking of the Middle East, in a Feb 3rd articlein The Observer we learn this tidbit.
Attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan surged last year, according to previously unpublished figures from allied military forces fighting insurgents.
Statistics compiled by the multinational International Stabilisation Force in Afghanistan show attacks on international troops and the Afghan government have gone up by between a fifth and a third.
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Recent weeks have seen fierce criticism of European nations' efforts in Afghanistan by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates. In recent days there has been a bad-tempered exchange between Berlin and Washington after the Germans received a 'stern' letter from Gates asking for an increase in the 3,500 soldiers that they have deployed in the north of Afghanistan. Canada threatened to withdraw its troops, who have been fighting in the south and taking heavy casualties, if other nations did not do more. (my emphasis)
And we pulled our resources from Afghanistan to go to Iraq????????
In another YEA! piece of news, some states are considering calling back National Guard troops from Iraq. Great news, if they're successful.
SAN FRANCISCO — State legislators in Vermont introduced legislation Wednesday demanding the state’s National Guard troops return from Iraq. Lawmakers in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are poised to push similar legislation.
At the heart of the matter is a contention that President George W. Bush’s legal authority to deploy the National Guard to Iraq has expired.
"Congress laid out a pretty specific mission for the Guard in 2002," Vermont State Representative Michael Fisher (D-Lincoln) told OneWorld. "That mission was two things: it was to defend the national security of the United States (against) the threat posed by Iraq, and, two, to enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. I don’t believe there are any credible arguments that the state of Iraq poses a risk to the Untied States or that there may still be weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
"If the president believes there’s still a need to have our National Guard in Iraq to stabilize that country or whatever, it’s his job to go back to Congress and ask for that authorization," Fisher added. "The president doesn’t have the authority to permanently federalize our Guards."
Former President Jimmy Carter weighs in on Voter ID cards in a NYT Op-Ed today. I've always had mixed emotions about mandatory Voter ID cards. Here's Carter's perspective.
In 2005, we led a bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform and concluded that both parties’ concerns were legitimate — a free and fair election requires both ballot security and full access to voting. We offered a proposal to bridge the partisan divide by suggesting a uniform voter photo ID, based on the federal Real ID Act of 2005, to be phased in over five years. To help with the transition, states would provide free voter photo ID cards for eligible citizens; mobile units would be sent out to provide the IDs and register voters. (Of the 21 members of the commission, only three dissented on the requirement for an ID.)
No state has yet accepted our proposal. What’s more, when it comes to ID laws, confusion reigns. The laws on the books, mainly backed by Republicans, have not made it easy enough for voters to acquire an ID. At the same time, Democrats have tended to try to block voter ID legislation outright — instead of seeking to revise that legislation to promote accessibility. When lower courts have considered challenges to state laws on the question of access, their decisions have not been consistent. And in too many instances, individual judges have appeared to vote along partisan lines.
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Fortunately, the Supreme Court has taken on a case involving a challenge to Indiana’s voter ID law. The court, which heard arguments last month and is expected to render a judgment this term, has the power finally to bring clarity to this crucial issue...
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The bad news, however, was this: While the numbers of registered voters without valid photo IDs were few, the groups least likely to have them were women, African-Americans and Democrats. Surveys in other states, of course, may well present a different result.
As Jimmy Carter writes, "We hope the court will approach the challenges posed by the Indiana law in a bipartisan or nonpartisan way." AMEN.
And you know all those toys and products coming from China and other countries that can poison us? And all that food that doesn't tell us where it really came from or what's in it? Well, this bit of news should be REALLY disturbing to Americans. A Feb 3rd NYT editorial talks about the FDA in crisis.
The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to be Americans’ main line of defense against tainted food, drugs, medical devices and other products — in a world abounding with tainted goods. So it was especially chilling last week to hear the agency’s former chief counsel, Peter Barton Hutt, tell a Congressional panel that the F.D.A. was "barely hanging on by its fingertips." (my emphasis)
That warning was supported by several equally grim authoritative reports and other expert testimony that made clear that the agency does not have enough money or enough skilled scientists to do its job. (my emphasis)
Think about that. The agency that is supposed to provide oversight against tainted food, drugs, medical devices and other products is broke. Chilling indeed. The food we eat, the toys our children play with. The medications we consume. How safe do you feel? Moving right along...
Think global warming is a priority for our government even with Al Gore and all the hype behind climate change? Well, you might want to reconsider if you believe that. According to Jim Lobe, Wars Drawf Warming in US Budget
WASHINGTON - Despite growing recognition in the Pentagon and the intelligence community that global warming poses serious national security threats to the United States, Washington is spending 88 dollars on the military for every dollar it spends this year on climate-related programmes, according to a new study released here Thursday by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). The study, entitled "Military vs. Climate Security", found that the government has budgeted 647.5 billion dollars for the defence budget in 2008 — more than the defence budgets of the rest of the world’s nations combined — compared to 7.37 billion dollars for climate-related programmes. (my emphasis)
Of the latter total, moreover, only 212 million dollars is devoted to helping poor countries obtain clean, renewable energy sources that do not contribute to global warming — less than what U.S. military forces in Iraq spend each day on operations there.
"While we spare no expense to wage war, we seem to have no money to spare on averting climate disaster," said Miriam Pemberton, the report’s author. "The increasingly dire warnings from climate scientists make clear that changing these federal spending priorities can’t wait."
Indeed, the report comes amid unprecedented global concern that climate change could have devastating consequences for much of the earth. Hardest hit will be the world’s poor countries, which have fewer resources to cope with the threats posed by global warming, including more extreme weather events, prolonged droughts, and sea-level rise, which most scientists believe are inevitable if the world fails to quickly stabilise and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Talk about fucked up priorities. Stew over this one.
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Despite warnings that climate change will create the great disruptions in the developing world, the smallest component of the climate budget — a mere 212 million dollars — is devoted to international assistance, according to the report. By contrast, Washington will spend nearly ten billion dollars in aid to foreign militaries. (my emphasis)
Wal-Mart: The New Washington. WTF?
The nation’s largest private employer sure sounds like it’s running for president these days.
It’s making sweeping commitments to reduce America’s energy use and improve its health care system. It’s obsessively polling voters, boasting of a higher favorability rating than Congress. It’s even touting an "economic stimulus plan for American shoppers" in the form of steep price cuts made last week. (Four 12-packs of Pepsi? $10.)
That last one may be slightly tongue in cheek — even discount retailers have a sense of humor — but the bigger message is not: after years of running afoul of the United States government on labor and environmental issues, Wal-Mart now aspires to be like the government, bursting through political logjams and offering big-picture solutions to intractable problems. (my emphasis)
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In Wal-Mart we trust? After years of criticism that it was a poor corporate citizen and miserly employer, maybe.
Read it. It's fun! Can you trust Wal-Mart? I've shopped there once in my life, in Columbus TX, when I was visiting a friend and it was the only place to go. I've never been in another one and if I can help it, I'm going to keep it that way.
I'm going to close with something that should really, really piss you off. Read Glenn Greenwald's Is Michael Mukasey Prioritizing the Harassment and Imprisonment of Journalists? I hope you don't punch out your computer...
Ever since the President’s illegal warrantless eavesdropping program was revealed by the New York Times‘ Jim Risen and Eric Lichtblau back in December, 2005, there has been a faction of neoconservatives and other extremists on the Right calling for the NYT reporters and editors to be criminally prosecuted — led by the likes of Bill Kristol (now of the NYT), Bill Bennett (of CNN), Commentary Magazine and many others. In May, 2006, Alberto Gonzales went on ABC News and revealed that the DOJ had commenced a criminal investigation into the leak, and then "raised the possibility that New York Times journalists could be prosecuted for publishing classified information."
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Eighteen months have passed since Gonzales’ threats, and while there have been some signs that the investigation continues — former DOJ official Jack Goldsmith, for instance, described how he was accosted and handed a Subpoena by FBI agents in the middle of Harvard Square, demanding to know what he knew about the NSA leak — there had no further public evidence that the DOJ intended to pursue Risen and Lichtblau. Until now. (my emphasis)
Yesterday, the NYT reported that Jim Risen was served with a grand jury Subpoena, compelling him to disclose the identity of the confidential source(s) for disclosures in his 2006 book, State of War. The Subpoena seeks disclosure of Risen’s sources not for the NSA program (for which he and Lichtblau won a Pulitzer Prize), but rather, for Risen’s reporting on CIA efforts to infiltrate Iran’s nuclear program. Nonetheless, Risen’s work on State of War is what led to his discovery that the Bush administration was illegally spying on Americans without the warrants required by law. (my emphasis)
The issuance of a grand jury Subpoena to a reporter seeking the disclosure of confidential sources is one of the most serious steps the DOJ can take. If the reporter refuses to disclose his source(s) — as reporters feel duty-bound to do, and, independently, as their future ability to uncover government secrets requires — the reporter can be held in contempt and consigned to prison (Risen has indicated he will not comply). Judy Miller’s refusal to disclose her sources in the Libby case, in response to a grand jury Subpoena, is what led to her imprisonment for 85 days, until she finally relented and revealed her sources. Had she not done so, she could have (and likely would have) remained imprisoned indefinitely. (my emphasis)
Greenwald thinks this is the bottom line
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Although one can’t say for certain, it seems rather likely that what has led to the issuance of this grand jury Subpoena to Risen is that Michael Mukasey has apparently decided to make criminal investigations of such leaks one of his top priorities, and is prepared for a massive First Amendment fight with Risen and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, which likely will include a willingness to imprison Risen if he fails to comply — just as the Neoconservative Right, still seething over Risen’s role in exposing the President’s NSA lawbreaking, has been demanding for some time.
I think of the corruption and the crooks and liars that run our government and this is what Michael Mukasey makes his top priority? We all know why - the AG will do anything to protect our corrupt government from being held accountable. Instead, it will go after those who seek to speak truth to power and expose this government for what it really is: a government owned and operated by special interests and corporations with the express intent of feeding the military industrial complex and lining the pockets of Wall Street to the detriment of society at large. As Grover Norquist famously stated,
"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."
And so my fellow Kossacks, as we concentrate on a presidential election of historic proportions, the world around us rages and life literally limps along. Can we really afford to let it all pass us by and not get involved in all these issues that impact us on a daily basis? What will we forfeit, what will we lose if we ignore the world around us and focus only on our nominee for the democratic presidential race? I for one don't want to find out...