Obama’s small donor base is a myth.

Or so says the LA Times, via The Daily Beast. Sadly, a new report says his small donors were on par with…wait for it…

George W. Bush. I shit you not. From the LAT writeup:

But the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute just issued a detailed study of Obama’s donor base and its giving. And that’s what the Institute found, to its own surprise.

“The myth is that money from small donors dominated Barack Obama’s finances,” said CFI’s executive director Michael Malbin, admitting that his organization also was fooled. “The reality of Obama’s fundraising was impressive, but the reality does not match the myth.”

Adding up the total contributions from the same small individuals (in terms of dollar amounts, not their height), the Institute discovered that rather than the 50+% commonly….

…reported throughout the campaign, only 26% of Obama’s contributions through last August and only 24% through Oct. 15 came from people whose total donations added up to less than $200.

The key word there being “total.”

Ain’t that some shit?

Black Friday sucks..

The sheer gluttony of the American public, at a cost of lives is disgusting. It makes me very sad.

The mass manipulation of the consumer by the retail world...makes you wonder what the average IQ is...don't it?

Thought this graphic would work well for this post..and it's localized to boot. ;)

Meanwhile, in India, people are wondering if it's safe to venture out of their homes. The whole exercise was a great dry run for hitting the good ole US of A...wouldn't you say?

The world is a scary place. And very violent..

Have a great turkey day!

I will be cooking and watching football tomorrow...so anyone that stops by here..enjoy your day off and your hopefully with folks you love and/or care about. I hope you have plenty to be thankful for...in spite of what is happening around the globe.

Here is a great Howlin' Wolf tune entitled: How Many More Years, recorded in 1966. It's sorta timely for all the crappola we got going on now.

Terrorists attack hotels in Mumbai India

IBN is reporting at least 55 people have been killed. The terrorists were seeking out Americans and British citizens. There have been hostages taken at the Taj or Oberoi hotels.From IBN:

Mumbai: Terror struck the country's financial capital late on Wednesday night as coordinated serial explosions and indiscriminate firing were reported from at least eight locations across Mumbai.

At least 55 people - including the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare - the are reported killed and 190 are seriously injured.

The coordinated terror strike which reportedly began at 2233 PM at Chhatrapathi Shivaji Terminus(CST), formerly known as the Victoria Terminus(VT), killed 10 people in the premises of the station, police say.

A live video feed can be watched here.

Update: The Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attacks in India's financial district in the city of Mumbai. 50-60 people held hostage at Taj Hotel. 20 taken hostage at Oberoi Hotel. All hostages are believed to be foreigners.

Tags:Deccan Mujahideen,
Mumbai, India Terrorist Attack

Gates, torture and Obama's choices..

Gates is staying on as we now know...but... Before you get your panties in a wad, read this article by Steve Clemon's, a progressive. An excerpt from his Washington Note piece:

After speaking to some other national security policy experts very close to Bob Gates and General Brent Scowcroft, I changed course and began to see the value of Gates staying at DoD.

My hunch is that Gates wants a chance to make the kind of leaps in the Middle East I have been writing about for some time. He wants to try and push Iran-US relations into a constructive direction. He wants to change the game in Afghanistan -- and the answer will not be a military-dominant strategy. He wants to try and stabilize Iraq in a negotiated, confidence building process that includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and other regional forces. And he wants to support a big push on Israel-Palestine peace and reconfigure relations between much of the Arab League and Israel.

I hope Clemon's hunch is right. Christ, I hope he's right.

As for torture...and whether Obama's administration will go or should go after the war criminals in Bush's cabal..check out this column by Jack Goldsmith at WaPo. Personally, I don't buy into Mr Goldsmith's logic...but it never hurts to listen to the other side of the argument.

My problem with his logic is the pov that charging people with crimes will hinder future presidents in getting opinions and options from smart intelligent individuals.

Horseshit.

Extraordinary Rendition and Torture are war crimes plain and simple. Never in our modern history has an administration been so callous in ignoring the rule of law and the Geneva Conventions. The people that allowed these heinous things to happen and indeed supported them, need to be held accountable. We need to show the world that we will never again allow criminals such as those in the Bush Administration to run rough shod over common sense and common decency.

Not everyone is happy with Eric Holder as AG.

I know I am not, based on his pov on cannabis use and prosecution. His big love for big business doesn't endear him to me either. As this writeup over at Law.com states, both sides of the aisle don't like Mr. Holder for quite a few reasons:

* The right. The Republican Liberty Caucus says: "For years, Eric Holder has worked to degrade our civil liberties and weaken the Constitution and the values on which our nation was founded."

* The left. TalkLeft is not happy about Holder's efforts while U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., "to raise marijuana penalties and restore mandatory minimum penalties for drug crimes."

* The legalization lobby. NORML Blog expresses concern about Holder's "long history of opposing drug policy reforms, perceiving cannabis smoking by adults as a public nuisance worthy of constant harassment, promoting violent governmental intervention into the private lives of citizens who consume cannabis."

* Free speech advocates. The Legal Satyricon says Holder "has a censorship goon past." NewsBusters suggests Holder would "stifle free speech on the internet."

* Civil libertarians. The blog Wizbang Blue accuses Holder of "pandering to religious right organizations" on separation of church and state.

Even legendary trial lawyer Gerry Spence is not pleased. Calling him "Eric Holden," Spence says that when a lawyer works long enough for big corporations, as Holder did as partner at a corporate law firm, "the human psyche begins to dry up and one day will fall out on the carpet of the boardroom floor ... like a dried up old prune." Let us just hope that doesn't happen until after the confirmation hearings.

Working from the middle is one thing, pandering to the wingnut base or the corporatocracy is entirely another. The Rethugs of course will slam him about the Marc Rich pardon..that is a given. But it is very strange to find myself agreeing with anything the right says..very strange feeling indeed. Below is Mr. Holder speaking about limiting free speech:


Tags: Eric Holder, Attorney General

"Budget reform is not an option. It's a necessity."

Obama uttered those words at his second press conference in two days, today.

He can start with the Pentagon's budget, and all those fucking contractors we have sucking us dry in Iraq and other places around the world...including here at home. The Pentagon's piece of the pie is the largest in the whole...cough...pie of a budget.

The Pentagon gets almost a trillion dollars..over 800 Bil to get in the ballpark, not including Iraq expentatures, which are never part of the damn budget.

That is some kinda friggin ballpark wouldn't you say? And the bean counters at the Pentagon know the hammer is going to come down, they are preparing for it. Take this part of a NYT recent writeup:

The obvious targets for savings would be expensive new arms programs, which have racked up cost overruns of at least $300 billion for the top 75 weapons systems, according to the Government Accountability Office. Congressional budget experts say likely targets for reductions are the Army’s plans for fielding advanced combat systems, the Air Force’s Joint Strike Fighter, the Navy’s new destroyer and the ground-based missile defense system.

Over budget is a Pentagon contractor specialty. It's criminal how they milk those contracts. Half the time the crap doesn't work either.

But wait!!! Pulling all those troops out of Iraq would save us 10 Bil a month wouldn't it? Removing all the equipment used by those troops would save us billions as well right?

Nope, not really..

Obama wants to just shift men and equipment to Afghanistan..so there is no savings there and in fact it would add to the cost of the military budget. From the NYT piece again:

Calls by both presidential candidates to shift troops from Iraq to Afghanistan actually would add costs to the Pentagon budget, according to military planners and Congressional budget experts. It is significantly more expensive to sustain each soldier in Afghanistan than in Iraq because of Afghanistan’s landlocked location and primitive road network.

Sigh...fucking heavy sigh..So cut the arm's contracts and high-tech weaponry that seldom works as advertised President Obama.

Prepare for the warmongers to scream about any cut to the military budget.

And the fearmongers will be busy too..count on it.

Bush and todays list of pardons

From Politico:

Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 and eight commutations. That's less than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their time in office. Both were two-term presidents.

On the latest pardon list were:

-Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo. She was convicted for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

-Milton Kirk Cordes of Rapid City, S.D. Cordes was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits importation into the country of wildlife taken in violation of conservation laws.

-Richard Micheal Culpepper of Mahomet, Ill., who was convicted of making false statements to the federal government.

-Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer of Fort Worth, Texas, for reporting or helping cover up a crime.

-Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va. Harley was convicted of wrongful use and distribution of marijuana and cocaine.

-Obie Gene Helton of Rossville, Ga., whose offense was unauthorized acquisition of food stamps.

-Carey C. Hice Sr. of Travelers Rest, S.C., who was convicted of income tax evasion.

-Geneva Yvonne Hogg of Jacksonville, Fla., convicted of bank embezzlement.

-William Hoyle McCright Jr. of Midland, Texas, who was sentenced for making false entries, books, reports or statements to a bank.

-Paul Julian McCurdy of Sulphur, Okla., who was sentenced for misapplication of bank funds.

-Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

-Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles, who was convicted for unlawful use of a telephone in a narcotics felony.

-Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe, Texas, convicted of illegal treatment, storage and disposal of a hazardous waste without a permit.

-Orion Lynn Vick of White Hall, Ark., who was convicted of aiding and abetting the theft of government property.

Bush also commuted the prison sentences of John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., and James Russell Harris of Detroit, Mich. Both were convicted of cocaine offenses.

Under the Constitution, the president's power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled.

Some high-profile individuals, such as Michael Milken, are seeking a pardon on securities fraud charges. Two politicians convicted of public corruption - former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and four-term Democratic Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards - are asking Bush to shorten their prison terms.

One hot topic of discussion related to pardons is whether Bush might decide to issue pre-emptive pardons before he leaves office to government employees who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Some constitutional scholars and human rights groups want the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to investigate possible war crimes.

If Bush were to pardon anyone involved, it would provide protection against criminal charges, particularly for people who were following orders or trying to protect the nation with their actions. But it would also be highly controversial.

At the same time, Obama advisers say there is little - if any - chance that his administration would bring criminal charges.

Well, we now have our answer as to whether Obama will pursue war crimes charges against the jackasses in BushCo...the answer is sadly no.

Excuse me???

When I heard the news yesterday, I damn near shat myself. Citi-friggin-group is begging for, and will probably receive, more of America's money. A lot more. $300 Billion more. To be fair, we are covering the toxic shit if it goes south...and physically giving them $20 Bil cash, real money-not-monopoly type money.

Our fucking money.

But they can't give the auto industry $25 Bil...which is small potato's compared to $300 Bil. I know that sounds unusual since I blasted the auto makers yesterday in the post below.

At least the auto makers MAKE something. Citigroup makes nothing, they create nothing. What they do is legalized gambling for fuck's sake.

But they do that incredibly well don't you think? I mean....how else do you explain how they can figure out a way to manipulate the puppets in our government into giving them more money for doing nothing but being greedy and stupid.

I have friends that are suffering...they work hard, raise a family and are good human beings. They have to do something that hurts...let go of their home.

Yes, my beloved friends made bad decision's too. No doubt...but they have tried to fix those bad decisions, but cutting back and lowering their lifestyle. The bank that holds their mortgage wouldn't work with them..hopefully it isn't Citibank because then my head might explode...seriously.

The fact that greedy people and the corporations they run can get billions...while my friends get nothing...not even the tiniest bit of help, its mind-boggling. They aren't asking for money, they are asking for time..

Time to get it together. They want nothing more than time to break even.

It makes me batshit crazy...

Before Detroit is given a dime, Obama and Congress need to watch this documentary.

Yes, once again I am bringing up the EV-1, GM's electric car that was manufactured to fail. Who Killed the Electric Car is a fine documentary that shows the viability of the electric car and how the auto makers, oil companies, battery manufacturers, California's CARB (CA Air Resource Board), hydrogen supporters and the Bush Administration killed it without blinking a fucking eye.

GM wasn't the only auto manufacturer to design and build EV's (electric battery-run vehicles) in the late 1990's. Toyota, Honda and Ford had them as well. All of them built EV's to fail, and spent millions on them none the less.

The auto makers used older battery technology on purpose, so the cars would have a very limited distance on each charge. There existed technology that would provide a much greater traveling distance. The technology was improved on by Stan Ovshinsky in the late 90's. Ovshinsky's technology was bought up by GM, later sold to Exxon and consequently killed in order to protect the combustible automobile engine, battery manufacturers and the Oil companies.

The auto industry wanted them to fail because the heart and soul of the auto industry is the combustible engine..and the resulting parts needed to keep this dinosaur running. That is their bread and butter...not the vehicle itself, the replacement parts for the engine.

The engine that gets it's life blood from fossel fuel...aka Oil.

The auto industry and their whore's the Oil industry systematically killed the EV's with lobbying efforts, law suits and favoritism towards the hydrogen vehicles. Hydrogen is incredibly expensive and will never be sustainable compared to electric cars, as a fuel for automobiles, scientific reports consistantly show. Auto makers know that, and yet still push it.

In their infancy, cars were built using combustible engines and electric engines. The Oil companies and the automakers have systematically killed all attempts throughout history to build fleets of electric vehicles.

The reason Obama and the congress critters need to watch Who killed the Electric Car is not to see how the two largest industries in our country brought down EV's, it is to see how they play politics and sleep with strange bedfellows in other industries to protect their common interests...to the detriment of cleaner air and ending our addiction to fossel fuels.

The selfish bastards need to be called out for all of it. In a very public setting for all of America to see and hear.

Watching the documentary is a start, it will hopefully piss Obama and you, the public, off at the sheer audacity that was used to bury a promising technology that a large section of our country could all be driving now and charging in our own garages or easily built facilities nationwide.

You can watch the documentary online here. It has french subtitles and pixelates if you try to watch it full screen....but it is worth it m'dear reader. Get your dander up on a Sunday morning..cop an attitude towards the assholes in Detroit and the Oil Companies. Then write to Obama here at his Change.gov site about the bullshittery done to us all in the name of allmighty profits....profits that are sinking like the sun for those bastards who deserve every bad thing that is happening to them.

tags: EV 1, General Motors, Electric Cars,

The United States v Chong

I watched a movie today called A/K/A Tommy Chong. Its a documentary about the fuckwitted federal prosecution of Thomas "Tommy" B. Kin Chong for selling water pipes under the Operation Pipe Dream program that jackass John Ashcroft set up in 2003. From the wiki on Op Pipe Dream:

Operation Pipe Dreams was the code-name for a U.S. nationwide investigation in 2003 targeting businesses selling drug paraphernalia, mostly marijuana pipes and bongs, under a little-used statute (Title 21, Chapter 13, Subchapter 1, Part D, Section 863(a)[1]) of the U.S. Code.

The outcome of Operation Pipe Dreams was hundreds of businesses and homes being raided and 55 people being named in indictments, charged with trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. While 54 of the 55 individuals charged as a result of the operations were sentenced to fines and home detentions, actor Tommy Chong was sentenced on 11 September 2003 to 9 months in a federal prison, forfeiture of $103,000, and a year of probation. The Federal Prosecution admitted being intentionally harsher on Chong in retaliation, citing Chong's movies as trivializing "law enforcement efforts to combat drug trafficking and use."

Yes, those water pipes, the ones used to consume cannabis. The ones you can buy in any head shop or tobacco store in the U.S. They didn't go after heroin, crack or meth sellers...they went after pot paraphenalia sellers.

Mr. Chong did nine months right down the road from Bakersfield, at the Taft Correctional Facility. He entered into a plea bargain so as to protect his wife and son from prosecution. He was fined over $100k as well.

Operation Pipe Dream cost American taxpayers over $12 Million bucks. It netted 55 individuals. Of the 55 people targeted in the investigation, Chong was the only one without previous convictions who received jail time. When asked why Mr. Chong received jail time, the prosecuting fucktard, US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan stated:

"He (Tommy Chong) wasn't the biggest supplier. He was a relatively new player, but he had the ability to market products like no other."

So basically he was treated harsher than any of the other 54 individuals because of who he was, not what he had done.

Our government spent roughly $218,181.00 per individual arrested. At least what we know they spent...you know how BushCo is about providing the truth about anything...From the films website:

a/k/a Tommy Chong chronicles the entrapment and incarceration of comedy icon Tommy Chong of the legendary comedy duo, Cheech and Chong. Josh Gilbert takes on the event in his documentary, and offers a sometimes frightening, often hilarious account of Operation Pipe Dreams, a nationwide drug paraphernalia sting spearheaded by a federal prosecutor named Mary Beth Buchanan, appointed by George Bush three short days after the attacks of 9/11.

After fully armed SWAT teams raided the comedian's home and his business, Chong Glass, Chong was sentenced to 9 months in federal prison for "conspiracy to manufacture and distribute drug paraphernalia through his family business, specializing in handmade glass water pipes, or "bongs". Of the 55 defendants prosecuted, Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong was the only one with no prior convictions to receive jail time. Justifying the sentence, George Bush's appointee, Mary Beth Buchanan cited the classic Cheech and Chong comedy Up In Smoke as evidence that Tommy Chong had become wealthy "trivializing law enforcement efforts to combat marijuana trafficking and use." As Roger Ebert said after viewing the film, "You do not have to approve of drugs to be offended."

The film provides a charming portrait of a counter culture icon set against the backdrop of a War on Drugs gone horribly awry.

It makes me very, very angry that people will buy into bullshit based on fear alone. Common sense is tossed aside and fear rules the day and the brain. Tommy is now an activist, he is on the board of NORML, and talks to groups about the persecution of cannibis smokers. He has stated that the bust and jail time did something no one else could...make him an activist against the bullshit laws used to incarcerate cannabis smokers and sellers.

See the movie on Showtime, buy it...but don't think for one minute that people aren't rotting in jail's all over America for bullshit such as this...because they are people....they surely are.

Fun facts on cannabis, from NORML:

According to recent statistics provided by the federal government, nearly 80 million Americans admit having smoked marijuana. Of these, twenty million Americans smoked marijuana during the past year. The vast majority of marijuana smokers, like most other Americans, are good citizens who work hard, raise families, pay taxes and contribute in a positive way to their communities. They are certainly not part of the crime problem in this country, and it is terribly unfair to continue to treat them as criminals.

Many successful business and professional leaders, including many state and elected federal officials, admit they have smoked marijuana. We must reflect this reality in our state and federal laws, and put to rest the myth that marijuana smoking is a fringe or deviant activity engaged in only by those on the margins of American society. Marijuana smokers are no different from their non-smoking peers, except for their marijuana use.


Why should we decriminalize or legalize marijuana?
As President Jimmy Carter acknowledged: "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."

Marijuana prohibition needlessly destroys the lives and careers of literally hundreds of thousands of good, hard-working, productive citizens each year in this country. More than 700,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges last year, and more than 5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses in the past decade. Almost 90 percent of these arrests are for simple possession, not trafficking or sale. This is a misapplication of the criminal sanction that invites government into areas of our private lives that are inappropriate and wastes valuable law enforcement resources that should be focused on serious and violent crime.

In jail for simple possession? It's wrong...on every level...especially financial ones if that is the only way rightwingers will be able to justify prosecuting cannabis smokers.

Update: Seems NORML is on the same track, worrying and wondering what Obama will do regarding the relaxing of federal prosecutions of cannabis smokers...it doesn't look good according to Allen St. Pierre and his latest article on the site regarding AG nominee Eric Holder:

“NORML has serious concerns about the choice of Eric Holder as the next Attorney General because he has a long history of opposing drug policy reforms, perceiving cannabis smoking by adults as a public nuisance worthy of constant harrassment, promoting violent governmental intervention into the private lives of citizens who consume cannabis, supporting mandatory minimum sentencing and so-called civil forfeiture laws.

His attraction to the myth of ‘fixing broken windows’ and using law enforcement to crack down on petty crimes will swell an already overburdened, bloated, expensive and failed government prohibition against otherwise law-abiding citizens who choose to consume cannabis.”“NORML has serious concerns about the choice of Eric Holder as the next Attorney General because he has a long history of opposing drug policy reforms, perceiving cannabis smoking by adults as a public nuisance worthy of constant harrassment, promoting violent governmental intervention into the private lives of citizens who consume cannabis, supporting mandatory minimum sentencing and so-called civil forfeiture laws.

His attraction to the myth of ‘fixing broken windows’ and using law enforcement to crack down on petty crimes will swell an already overburdened, bloated, expensive and failed government prohibition against otherwise law-abiding citizens who choose to consume cannabis.”

This just shows candidates will say anything to get elected. Its so damn fucked up.



Tags: Tommy Chong, NORML, a/k/a Tommy Chong

Blackwater USA might be screwed under new SOFA.

And it couldn't happen to a bigger bag o' batshit bunch of mutha fucka's... From IHT:

Private contractors working for the U.S. government in Iraq will lose their immunity from Iraqi law under a new pact with Baghdad, senior American officials said on Thursday.

The contractors, who provide everything from personal security to meals for U.S. forces and officials in Iraq, were told they should expect to lose their immunity starting January 1, the State and Defence department officials said.

.....
But the pact explicitly says U.S. Defence Department contractors will lose immunity, said the senior U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They said contractors for the State Department and other agencies are expected to be treated the same way.

Representatives of about 172 companies with operations in Iraq have been briefed on the change.

The companies were read a statement that said: "In the future, contractors and grantees can expect to be fully subject to Iraqi criminal and civil law and to the procedures of the Iraqi judicial system."

And I hope to hell they are all tried in Iraqi courts..sweet Jaysus, its rich...ain't it? BushCo tossed them under the fucking bus in the end. ;)

Thousands of Iraqi's protest against US agreement

We sure as hell don't like it either. From Reuters:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched on Friday against a pact letting U.S. forces stay in Iraq until 2011, toppling an effigy of President George W. Bush where U.S. troops once tore down a statue of Saddam Hussein.

Thousands of demonstrators chanted and waved Iraqi flags in Baghdad's Firdos square, where U.S. forces pulled down a statue of the ousted Iraqi dictator when they took the city in 2003.

Leave them to their own bullshit. Let them kill each other. Just get our troops the hell out of there NOW mutha fuckas. Al-Sadr is a power-hungry bag o' batshit, just like Maliki. They deserve each other.

Photos from Reuters.

Missing Molly Ivins

If you like folk music you will love this. By the Righteous Mothers. Click here to listen. Will open a new window as I am hosting the mp3 on Sirens Chronicles. Enjoy!

BushCo's Midnight Moves to circumvent the system.

From ProPublica:

Here is a rundown of rules and regulations that the Bush administration is pushing through the rulemaking process in its waning days. We will update the list regularly by adding new rules, inserting links to breaking news on each rule, and tracking each rule through the rulemaking process. If you know of other rules we should add to this list, please send us an email here. You can use our tip-sheet to get started on your rules research.

Just the beginning of the end for this bag o' batshit. These to me, are worse than the pardons he will hand out on his last day in office as they screw all of us and enrich someone, some company or some group that this administration owes. Just a few of them below for you to peruse m'dear reader:

EPA Won’t Regulate a Contaminant in Drinking Water
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency

Formal Name: Drinking Water: Preliminary Regulatory Determination on Perchlorate

At Issue: Perchlorate is a chemical component of rocket fuel that can contaminate water both naturally and, more frequently, through improper disposal at rocket test sites, military bases and chemical plants. Cleaning it up would cost billions of dollars. But the contaminant has been linked to thyroid problems in young children, pregnant woman and newborns, leaving critics concerned for the developmental health of those most vulnerable to the chemical's effects.


Uranium Mining Permits Near Grand Canyon Could Increase
Agency: Department of the Interior: Bureau of Land Management

Formal Name: Land Withdrawals; Removal of Regulations Covering Emergency Withdrawals

At Issue: The Bureau of Land Management proposed a rule that would prevent Congress from slowing a flood of uranium mining permits being issued near the Grand Canyon.


Employees of Mutual Fund and Other Investment Companies Could Offer Advice to Their Own Investors
Agency: Department of Labor

Formal Name: Prohibited Transaction Exemption for Provision of Investment Advice to Participants in Individual Account Plans

At Issue: The Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would allow employees of financial institutions to provide investment advice to people with individual investment accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, even if the consultant has a financial interest in the advice. The advisers would be required to disclose to their clients any fees they may receive in connection with the investment options. The DOL argues that this rule will make it possible for millions more Americans to receive valuable advice.


The Interior Department Could Approve Construction Projects with Less Concern for Protected Species
Agency: Department of the Interior

Formal Name: Interagency Cooperation Under the Endangered Species Act

At Issue: The Department of the Interior wants to allow agencies to make their own determination of whether a development project, such as highway or dam construction, would significantly harm protected species, rather than relying on extensive scientific review as they have done previously. The DOI said this will eliminate or reduce cumbersome consultations in situations where the effects “are so inconsequential, uncertain, unlikely or beneficial that they are, as a practical matter, tantamount to having no effect on listed species or critical habitat.” Critics worry about giving so much discretion to federal agencies that may lack scientific expertise.

EPA Lets Factory Farms Decide If They Need A Permit to Discharge Animal Waste into Waterways
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency

Formal Name: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Regulation and Effluent Limitation Guidelines and Standards for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

At Issue: The rule, formulated to address practices voided by a Federal Appeals Court ruling, asks companies that run confined animal feeding operations to voluntarily apply for permits to discharge waste into waterways. If the operators don’t think they pollute enough, they are under no obligation to get permits.

Ain't those simply friggin grand? Christ, wotta criminal load of crappola. Check out the rest here.

Waxman beats Dingell in secret vote for Energy and Commerce

Waxman, the bulldog extraordinaire, in a secret vote has won the chair for the Energy and Commerce Committee this morning, per Politico.

I do heart Henry Waxman. Not only is he left of the center on many things, he is an environmentalist and he takes no prisoners on his current committee, the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

This move shakes up the old boys network of awarding Chairmanships by senority. From Politico:

California Rep. Henry A. Waxman on Thursday officially dethroned long-time Energy and Commerce Chairman John D. Dingell, upending a seniority system that has governed Democratic politics in the House for decades.

In a secret-ballot vote in the Cannon Caucus Room, House Democrats ratified an earlier decision by the Steering and Policy Committee to replace the 82-year-old Dingell with his 69-year-old rival. The vote was 137-122 in favor of Waxman.

The ascension of Waxman, a wily environmentalist, recasts a committee that Dingell has chaired since 1981 with an eye toward protecting the domestic auto industry in his native Michigan. The Energy and Commerce Committee has principle jurisdiction over many of President-elect Barack Obama's top legislative priorities, including energy, the environment and health care.

The vote Thursday allows Waxman to unseat the Dean of the House just three short months before he was set to become the longest-serving chairman in the history of the institution.

Waxman's unexpected challenge has quietly divided members of the Democratic Caucus since the election and forced wavering colleagues to cast a gut-wrenching vote. And the results Thursday could leave a bad taste in the mouth of Dingell supporters, who led a vocal effort to keep the chairman while Waxman’s team led the quiet coup that led to Thursday morning’s stunning vote.

This is a good thing for the left m'dear reader...a very good thing. He will hopefully keep Obama to the left of the center on environmental, health insurance and dealing with the Oil Companies and drilling off our coast.

I hope the rightwing nutjobs choke on it. ;)

Update: The Hill website is reporting Nan Pelosi's fingerprints are all over this 'change'. Got to give the old broad props when she does something right...so here's to ya Nan!

Tags: Henry Waxman, John Dingell, Energy and Commerce Committee

Hey Hank! Where did all that money go dude?

According to Robert Reich, $300 Billion has been spent and went to:

What happened to all the money? About a third has gone into dividends the banks are paying their shareholders. Some of the rest into executive salaries and bonuses. Another portion toward acquisitions designed to raise share values. Another chunk for bailing out giant insurer, AIG.

That's not what taxpayers bargained for. Paulson originally told Congress he'd use the money to buy mortgage-backed securities that were clogging the financial system. He'd create a market for them by holding a kind of reverse auction, buying them from the banks at the lowest prices they'd be willing to sell them for.

But Paulson has abandoned that strategy and is now just handing the money directly to the big banks, and AIG -- all of which are using the money for their own purposes. It's the worst type of trickle-down economics. Taxpayers are sending the money upward, and almost none of it is trickling back down.

I really did not need to read that first thing this morning....no, I surely did not. I can't have any coffee, I can't eat anything, I can't take my meds...all because I am getting an 'upper GI' this afternoon.

Man, I am friggin grumpy as hell and Bob didn't make it any friggin easier.

Thanks Bob. Yes, the truth hurts..especially at 6:45 in the morning.

Hank Paulson, do you know what you are doing? Are you criminally insane or just leisurely fucking us in the ass dude?

Massive fraud and corruption in Iraq government-No kidding?

The post title is heavy on the sarcasm. We get little tidbits of news about the simply massive amount of fraud and corruption but then...it just fades away into the sunset.

I am tired of that bullshit. It's huge and its costing us, as in American's...Billions upon billions.

So, what does Maliki do? Why, according to a NYT writeup, he fires the folks charged with ferreting out the graft and corruption.

Reminds me of the Bush administration...how about you? From the NYT's link above:

The government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is systematically dismissing Iraqi oversight officials, who were installed to fight corruption in Iraqi ministries by order of the American occupation administration, which had hoped to bring Western standards of accountability to the notoriously opaque and graft-ridden bureaucracy here.

The dismissals, which were confirmed by senior Iraqi and American government officials on Sunday and Monday, have come as estimates of official Iraqi corruption have soared. One Iraqi former chief investigator recently testified before Congress that $13 billion in reconstruction funds from the United States had been lost to fraud, embezzlement, theft and waste by Iraqi government officials.

The moves have not been publicly announced by Mr. Maliki’s government, but word of them has begun to circulate through the layers of Iraqi bureaucracy as Parliament prepares to vote on a long-awaited security agreement.

You know...if keeping our soldiers alive and in one piece isn't enough of a reason to bring them ALL home now...this fucking horseshit should be, even for the neocons and the extreme rightwing nutjobs for crying out loud.

And the secrecy..another ala BushCo bush league move. Also there is the fear of retaliation. To speak on the record about what happens in the Iraq government can cost one their life. Again from the NYT:

Senior Iraqi officials and four of the dismissed officials, many of whom asked not to be named for fear of government reprisals, said inspectors had already been removed in the Ministries of Water Resources, Culture, Trade, and Youth and Sport. In addition, inspectors have been removed from the cabinet-level Central Bank of Iraq, and from two religious offices, the Sunni Endowment and the Christian Endowment, whose leaders carry the rank of deputy minister.

One senior Iraqi official said that the list of ministries whose inspectors had been dismissed also included the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the ministry’s public affairs office denied that on Monday.

Sweet-friggin-Jesus, the inspector for the Central Bank has been shitcanned...what a fucking farce.

Just remember, this is YOUR money being squandered, or to be more specific...your children and grandchildren's money since we borrow it from fucking China and others. Oh and typical BushCo bullshit here too: The inspectors and investigators get no protection from the US who has demanded that they be put in place to begin with. Again the NYT piece:

But Stuart W. Bowen Jr., who leads an independent oversight office in Washington, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, and who is currently working in Iraq, said he knew of six of the dismissals. He said the inspectors general were vulnerable because once their offices were created, the United States provided little support and training..[]

This shit makes me crazy...or crazier..not sure which m'dear reader. The second page of the writeup is sure to jack your jaw...or you simply do not give a shit what is done with our billions. Check it out if you have the balls, or the medications to relieve the anxiety that will come with reading how Maliki is stacking the deck, allowing known graft and corruption and putting suceeding in putting all government actions in secret, without one friggin ounce of sunlight, oversight or accountability..Saddam Hussein-style.

I. Just. Love. The. Irony...don't you?

I hope Bush chokes on it like a pretzel...every remaining day of his miserable fucking life.

Crossposted, without all the vulgarity, at the UnCapitalist Journal. ;)

SOFA-Status of Forces Agreement-approved by Iraq cabinet.

The SOFA was approved in an emergency session. The cough...agreement calls for U.S. forces to leave Iraqi cities by June 30 and combat troops to be gone by the end of 2011, unless the Iraqi government asks them to stay. Issues included the schedule for troop withdrawal, provisions for Iraqi legal jurisdiction over U.S. personnel and control over military operations.

An integral part of the agreement was the ability of Iraqi courts to go after American forces for crimes. From Jurist:

In particular, it gives Iraqi courts limited jurisdiction over American military personnel for crimes committed off base when the troops are not on an authorized mission. The SOFA must now go before the Iraq parliament for a final vote. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

Last week, Iraqi Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi , one of two Iraqi vice presidents, called for a national referendum on any proposed SOFA. The agreement has been delayed by months of negotiation, and must still be approved by lawmakers in both countries.

Too bad they don't have real democracy which allows the citizens to decide this important matter..so really, this SOFA isn’t a real comfy place to lay your head and relax…not by a longshot.

There is, to paraphrase DCup, an icky personal post over here.

Driving through the bowels of hell...to get home.

It was horrible, to see first hand the devastation. I couldn't come home to Bakersfield yesterday because the main north and south artery, I-5 was shut down as was highway 210..both of which I use to come home from Temecula.

When I passed the Oakridge Mobile Home Park the smoke was still thick like fog, the smell of burnt wood was heavy in the air. Even with my windows closed and my air conditioning on in the car, I could smell it.

Then, I saw it. On the right side of the road, less than 50 feet from where I was driving...what was left of the Mobile Home Park.

Nothing was left..nothing. Just piles of ashes on cement foundations. It chilled me to my bones. 500 mobile homes gone...all those families, it broke my heart. These were high end mobile homes, not run down outhouses that you think of when you hear the phrase mobile home.

I turned the music off and drove the rest of the way home in silence. I could see huge mushroom-like clouds where the new fires had popped up overnight far away on the horizon..Chino Hills, where Sirens Chronicle writer Big Fella lives, and other places that I usually pass on my journey's to and from Southern Cali. I couldn't go my usual route as new roads were closed today..route 71, 91 hell I dont remember them all.

But it will be a long time before I forget the devastation that used to be Oakridge Mobile Home Park.

The bat guano is hitting the fan:cease fire breaks down in Gaza

Hamas has fired rockets into southern Israel, sending 18 Israeli's to the hospital. From IHT:

Hamas officials said the attack was revenge for the deaths over the past 11 days of 11 militants and the recent increased Israeli closure of Gaza crossings. They said that while they wanted to continue the five-month-old truce with Israel, it seemed to them that Israel did not and if that was the case, Israel would pay the consequences.

Israeli officials, who say they have been keeping the crossings into Gaza shut in retaliation for the rockets, thereby greatly decreasing the supply of supplies and fuel, said it was Hamas that was breaking the truce. Senior Israeli officials met in Tel Aviv on Friday and vowed not to back down from any provocation.

Israel retaliates by keeping food and fuel needed to provide electricity from entering Palestine. It is going to get worse before it gets better. It's a nasty friggin triangle. Again, from IHT:

There are several factors at work beyond the tit-for-tat of the past week and a half. Hamas, which took over Gaza in June 2007 by kicking out its Fatah rivals, is feeling under unusual pressure because hundreds of its men have been arrested by the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank in recent weeks.

The arrests have been part of increased Israeli-Palestinian cooperation in which American-trained Palestinian troops are moving into West Bank cities, leading to some pullback by Israeli troops.

A second factor is that Egyptian efforts to broker a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah have foundered, with Hamas alleging that Fatah had not made good on a mutual prisoner release.

Finally, under American and Israeli pressure, Egypt has started to destroy or shut tunnels into southern Gaza that have been a key source of supplies and fuel — and weapons — that have offset the Israeli closures.

It is all so fucked up over there...no one is right and everyone is wrong. Another generation being raised to hate...fucking lovely.

“As President, I will close Guantánamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions”

Those words above were spoken on August 1st, 2007 by President-elect Barack Obama. We need to hold him to those words.

To that end, the ACLU and Brave New Foundation have created the video below as well as this site. The ACLU and Brave New Foundation are collaborating on a series of videos containing direct testimony from those with firsthand knowledge of the system of injustice that thrives at Gitmo.



Close it down President Obama..shut the fucking place down and end the military commissions. Please. Restore the rule of law and end the madness that is Gitmo and the military commissions kangaroo court.

To sign a letter demanding the above, click here.

Sec of State Hillary Clinton????

That was Olbermann's lead in line tonight on Countdown.

Wow...just...wow..Its not a bad choice..just an interesting one. Evidently she is on the 'short list' and traveled to Chicago today.

More later as it becomes available.

Ok, it's later. From MSNBC:

Two Obama advisers have told NBC News that Hillary Clinton is under consideration to be secretary of state. Would she be interested? Those who know Clinton say possibly. But her office says that any decisions about the transition are up to the president-elect and his team.

Clinton was seen taking a flight to Chicago today, but an adviser says it was on personal business. It is unknown whether she had any meeting or conversation with Obama while there.

Other Democrats known to want the State Department post are Sen. John Kerry and Gov. Bill Richardson. A possible compromise choice would be former Sen. Tom Daschle.

And then Reuters has this but it's also based on NBC news:

The former first lady, who was in a drawn-out battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, is in her second term as a senator from New York.

Several other names also have been mentioned for the top U.S. diplomatic post including Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee; Sam Nunn, a Democrat and former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman; Sen. Chuck Hagel, an outspoken Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was U.N. ambassador in former President Bill Clinton's administration and also sought the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Actually, I think HRC would be a great choice for SoS...I really do. I hope she wants it and I hope she gets it. The woman is a pitbull..not a Sarah Palin pit..a real pitbull.

Marc Ambinder thinks it's bullshit:

Rumor: Is Hillary Clinton on the short list to be Secretary of State?

Fact: Unclear. This rumor is not given much credence in Clinton land or in Obama land; it might well be a creation of the press. Or not. What would Joe Biden think about this?

What does he know? ;)




Tags: Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State

A little fun for the masses suffering through the recession..

Personally, I am dogsitting here:

But I have a fucking cold, so it's not so much fun this time around in the wine country of Temecula. Plus, the pool isn't heated damn it. So I sleep alot, blow my nose a lot and bitch a LOT...to the dogs.

But, I did manage to get around the blogosphere today and found this gem at OkJimm's place. I have purchased the following as Xmas gifts for some friends and family members:

For my brother, the Jesus freak:
For Betmo, a Dashboard Buddha:
And for the rednecks in Bakersfield who are pissed that a Black Man was elected President:

And finally, for Utah Savage, some temporary tatoo's..
Gotta go find something to blow my nose into...I have used all the toilet paper I think..

The Congressional Review Act of 1996

I just heard about this from KO and Jonathan Turley on Countdown...it sounds like a fool proof way of getting around all the BushCo bullshit of the last eight years and the horseshit he is pulling now at the end of his term..a very obscure little law that can undo anything BushCo has put into place within the last six months.

Rahm and Obama-both part of the Chicago Machine.

TAP has an interesting read up that gives us a little history of Rahm Emanuel and Obama with regard to the infamous Chicago Machine, aka the Daley family and their place in it.

I personally have never been a fan of Emanuel's. He ran the DCCC which hates liberal ideology with a passion as witnessed by the fact that many times they refuse to fund liberal candidates when there is a centrist democrat running for the same office.

Emanuel loves big business. He adores it in fact. He is a member of the New Democrat Coalition which professes it's love for all things centrist and pro-business. From the TAP writeup:

So why is Obama hiring Emanuel as chief of staff? Probably for the same reason Daley hired him way back in 1989. He's ruthless, cunning, and absolutely unafraid to be a jerk. In fact, I think Emanuel enjoys being a jerk. Moreover, by being a jerk, I predict Emanuel will do a great service for Obama. By the time Emanuel is finished irritating, humiliating, and infuriating folks in Washington, Obama will look like an angel. People will probably like him even more just because he's not Emanuel.

That doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy, not by a longshot. As a Progressive, I am reserving judgment of Obama until he actually does something as our 44th President. But I tell ya...Rahm doesn't like liberals, not one damn bit. But he does love the corporatocracy.

And that bothers me...a lot.

We went from exporting hope to exporting fear.

Tom Friedman waxes poetic on the world and how Obama can change it's perception of the U.S. with Keith Olbermann.

Bushs toxic legacy-weakening the EPA

As his administration winds down, George Bush is still turning the EPA into a department without teeth thereby allowing American's to suffer and die because of it. As recently as mid-October the Bush Administration has toned down regulations designed to protect American's from the deadly results of lead poisoning.

This isn't about lead, its about the biggest polluter in our government, the Pentagon, and chemicals used for decades on military bases. Chemicals that are known to cause illness, cancer and death, that were not disposed of correctly and now Americans living near Kelly Air Force Base, just as one example, are paying the consequences of those actions.

It's about how the Bush Administration is attempting to cover it all up by fucking with how and why the EPA collects data, uses it and reports it.

BushCo has lowered the bar when it comes to toxic waste. This should be his true legacy in my humble yet vocal opinion. From a Salon.com article:

Beneath the Alvarados' house and those of their neighbors are shallow pools of groundwater that are polluted with tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, a chemical associated with cancer, liver and kidney disease. Before the Kelly base closed in 2001, mechanics used PCE to degrease parts on airplanes and fighter jets. For decades, they chronically dumped the solvent into poorly sealed or unsealed waste pits on the base, where it seeped underground, forming a plume that sprawls over four square miles under 23,000 homes and businesses. Locals refer to the area as "the toxic triangle."

On cool or rainy days, when the Alvarados close the windows and shut off the air conditioning, a sweet chemical smell floods the house. When they eat dinner during these times, says Robert, 66, it's like tasting something acrid. "We drink bottled water but there's nothing we can do about the air except go outside and wait," says Lupe, 64.

Robert, a handsome man with almond skin, limps across his cramped living room with a black metal cane. He shows me a letter that recently arrived from the local hospital, congratulating him; he'd qualified for a kidney transplant. A few years ago he suffered a brain aneurysm, causing him to become nearly blind. His wife and one of his daughters both have battled thyroid cancer. "We know at least 15 people on this street alone who have some sort of cancer," says Robert, a former labor relations employee at Delta Air Lines. "We call ourselves the living dead."

In the Alvarados' front yard, a purple cross sticks out of a cluster of banana trees. The crosses, distributed by a local community group, punctuate front yards throughout the neighborhood. They mark homes where people are battling cancer or other illnesses, an estimated 25 percent of households, according to local activists.

Surveys conducted by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have found elevated levels of kidney, liver and cervical cancer, leukemia and low birth weights in the neighborhoods that surround Kelly Air Force Base. A survey by the University of Texas found that 91 percent of adults in the area experienced multiple illnesses, including chronic sinus infections, nausea, heart and lung disease. Based on these studies, the area qualifies as a cancer cluster (with a higher rate of terminal illness, per capita, than areas of a similar size), says Wilma Subra, a chemist and environmental health activist based in Louisiana, who has consulted with Kelly community activists.

Although it has conducted limited testing, the EPA acknowledges that it's possible for PCE vapor to rise from groundwater into people's living rooms and kitchens. Yet it says the Alvarados and their neighbors have nothing to fear. Based on EPA air quality tests inside five area homes, the nation's environmental guardian claims that it's safe for residents to live above the plume for the next 40 to 100 years, or the amount of time it will take for the chemicals to naturally dissipate.

No one in the government has studied PCE for over a fucking decade. Yet they have the audacity to say its not 'that' harmful to humans and other living things. Read the quote below from a scientist at the EPA:

"It feels like Stalin-era Russia, like the administration set themselves up to decide what's allowable science and what isn't," says a high-ranking staff scientist at the EPA, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Until the recent economic crash, this has been such an anti-regulatory administration. One of the ways to undermine regulations is to undermine the science behind them. It's absolutely shocking what's going on."

Public health officials say this attempt to derail the scientific evaluation of toxins is one of the most damning legacies of the Bush administration. In late September, the Government Accountability Office issued a scathing critique of the EPA's new toxic-assessment procedures. It concluded that the secretive procedures compromise scientific credibility and sacrifice the public's trust in government. Despite such hefty criticism, public officials fear that because the new procedures have been instituted at the EPA so far below the public radar, their harmful impact will survive long after Bush leaves office. It will take a bold and expedient move by Barack Obama or the next Congress to curtail the influence of the Pentagon and other government agencies on the EPA.

Obama needs to do lots of things when he takes office. Restaffing the EPA is hopefully high on his list..people's lives depend on it.

Obama planning to try Gitmo detainees in US courts?

From FindLaw:

President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice.

During his campaign, Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and has said generally that the U.S. legal system is equipped to handle the detainees. But he has offered few details on what he planned to do once the facility is closed.

Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in U.S. criminal courts.

A third group of detainees - the ones whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information - might have to go before a new court designed especially to handle sensitive national security cases, according to advisers and Democrats involved in the talks. Advisers participating directly in the planning spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans aren't final.

The move would be a sharp deviation from the Bush administration, which established military tribunals to prosecute detainees at the Navy base in Cuba and strongly opposes bringing prisoners to the United States. Obama's Republican challenger, John McCain, had also pledged to close Guantanamo. But McCain opposed criminal trials, saying the Bush administration's tribunals should continue on U.S. soil.

The plan being developed by Obama's team has been championed by legal scholars from both political parties. But it is almost certain to face opposition from Republicans who oppose bringing terrorism suspects to the U.S. and from Democrats who oppose creating a new court system with fewer rights for detainees.

Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor and Obama legal adviser, said discussions about plans for Guantanamo had been "theoretical" before the election but would quickly become very focused because closing the prison is a top priority. Bringing the detainees to the United States will be controversial, he said, but could be accomplished.

"I think the answer is going to be, they can be as securely guarded on U.S. soil as anywhere else," Tribe said. "We can't put people in a dungeon forever without processing whether they deserve to be there."

The last line really says it all..."We can't put people in a dungeon forever without processing whether they deserve to be there." There must be a rule of law used to process these individuals, not the very people that 'captured' them also running the trials. There must be habeas corpus, there must be evidence hearings, our rule of law must be applied across the board to all these individuals...some of whom have been sitting in cells for over 5 years and have never been charged.

Update: Obama's top brass tonight, per Olbermann's show, said they do want to close Gitmo however, they have no concrete plans in place yet on how to deal with the prisoners there. The ACLU is also pressing Obama to close Gitmo on day one of his administration.

Federal Reserve refuses to disclose where our money is going and to whom.

The fuckwits can not leave soon enough for me. From Bloomberg:

The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn’t require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.

“The collateral is not being adequately disclosed, and that’s a big problem,” said Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Boston- based Loomis Sayles & Co., where he co-manages $17 billion in bonds. “In a liquid market, this wouldn’t matter, but we’re not. The market is very nervous and very thin.”

Bloomberg News has requested details of the Fed lending under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and filed a federal lawsuit Nov. 7 seeking to force disclosure.

This is criminal and disgusting, we are talking about billions and ultimately trillions of dollars here.

Joey Scar drops the f-bomb on Morning Joe.

W00t! From Rawstory:

MSNBC morning host Joe Scarborough absentmindedly let slip an expletive during Monday morning's broadcast.

"These are good decent steady men who don't go around flipping people off or screaming 'fuck you' at the top of their lungs," Scarborough said, (about the 2:30 point in the video here).

...all the guests notice and mention the obviously missing seven second delay.

Someone then whispers to Joey Scar what he did..and he starts to apologize profusely.

Love It!!! ;p

ICE deportations set a new record.

And I bet they are damn proud of that number too. From Jurist:

Nationwide, ICE deported 349,041 immigrants during the 2008 fiscal year ending September 30, as opposed to the 288,663 reported as removed in the 2007 fiscal year and 2004’s 174,000 deportations. The reports, released by local ICE offices throughout the country, also cited local deportations which have gone up as well. About a third of the deported immigrants had criminal records. The Pew Hispanic Center recently released a report showing a decreased number of undocumented immigrants in the US from 2005 to 2008. While not identifying a specific a reason for the decrease, that report noted increased enforcement of immigration laws. The Miami Herald has more. AP has additional coverage.

The increase in deportations comes despite ICE’s recent abandonment of its voluntary deportation program. ICE maintains a wide range of other initiatives to combat illegal immigration, including raids. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University reported this summer that US immigration prosecutions hit record levels early this year. TRAC attributed the increase in prosecutions to Operation Streamline, a joint federal program under which federal prosecutors levy minor charges against illegal immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border. “Reentry of a deported alien” is by far the most common charge in immigration prosecutions.

Will this change under President Obama? Only time will tell….Remember, these are the smarmy bastards that forceably inject people with psychotropic drugs without their consent…so they can dump them without any problems.