Sunday, July 29, 2012

Brick TeeVee's Olympic-Sized Climate Crisis Special!


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OLYMPIC-SIZED CLIMATE CRISIS SPECIAL
OLIMPIX UPDATE: Opening ceremonies included an ode to Public Heath Care! Imagine that! British celebrate their health care system in London Olympics Opening Ceremony ..... after a moment marking the two world wars, the ceremony included a segment celebrating the National Health Service (NHS). The British, along with almost every other industrialized country in the world, have a universal health care system, in which care is provided for all, regardless of income. ... The scene may have been a curious sight for many Americans. If the United States hosts another Olympic games it likely will not include a celebration of private insurance, like Aetna, or any public aspects of our system, like Medicare. ...... Obamacare is expected to slow down the increasing rate of health care costs over time, but it will never provide care for all like the British system, and it will not lower costs down to the British level. So years from now, we will not see an “Obamacare” celebration in an American Olympic Games. Hopefully, it does not take another world war for the United States to adopt a system similar to the NHS. Read all of that and watch the slideshow: British Celebrate Their Universal Health Care System in Olympic Opening Ceremony at examiner.com! And from Tyler Durden at zerohedge we learn about Austerity At The Olympics: Each "Gold" Medal Contains 1.34% Gold As every Olympic athlete knows, size matters. The London 2012 medals are the largest ever in terms of both weight and diameter - almost double the medals from Beijing. However, just as equally well-known is that quality beats quantity and that is where the current global austerity, coin-clipping, devaluation-fest begins. The 2012 gold is 92.5 percent silver, 6.16 copper and... 1.34 percent gold, with IOC rules specifying that it must contain 550 grams of high-quality silver and a whopping 6 grams of gold. The resulting medallion is worth about $500. For the silver medal, the gold is replaced with more copper, for a $260 bill of materials. The bronze medal is 97 percent copper, 2.5 percent zinc and 0.5 percent tin. Valued at about $3, you might be able to trade one for a bag of chips in Olympic park if you skip the fish.
Ben Protess of the NYT's Deal Book explains Geithner Faces Senate on Rate-Rigging Scandal The NYT just CANNOT put LIBOR in their headline, can they? A 'scandal'? Monica was a 'scandal'. LIBOR is the BIGGEST SWINDLE The World has ever seen! Not a mere 'scandal'! So....... In testimony before a Senate panel, the second Congressional hearing this week to focus on Mr. Geithner, he promoted the government’s efforts to punish banks that tried to manipulate a benchmark interest rate during the financial crisis. He also deflected questions about his response to the wrongdoing, which occurred in 2008 when he ran the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which focused on reforming the rate-setting process rather than halting the illegal actions. Authorities around the world are investigating whether more than a dozen big banks manipulated the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, a measure of how much banks charge to lend to one another. The benchmark rate underpins trillions of dollars in mortgages and other loans. “We cannot lose sight of the fact that the Libor issue, at its core, is about fraud,” Senator Tim Johnson, Democrat of South Dakota and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said at the hearing on Thursday. “I want you to commit to me and the American people that the administration will make sure that those involved in Libor fraud will be held accountable and prosecuted.” “Absolutely,” Mr. Geithner replied. “I’m very confident that the Department of Justice and the relevant enforcement agencies will meet that objective.” .... For his part, Mr. Geithner acknowledged that Libor was the most recent scandal in a string of Wall Street blowups. The problems, he said, have delivered an enduring black eye to the financial industry. “We’ve seen a devastating loss of trust in the integrity of the financial system.” Yep Timmeh! DEVASTATING LOSS! Like every pension fund and home loan IN THE WORLD being SCREWED by DILIBERATE INTEREST FIXING that is a "devastating loss" for the 99%! Trust? Not so much for the 0.01% eh Timmeh? Just "trust", right? Remember our funny money sez "In God We Trust" too. Ugh. We go to zerohedge for Barofsky On Geithner: "We Should See People In Handcuffs" There is no point in recapping the ongoing vendetta between former SIGTARP Neil Barofsky and former head of the NY Fed, and current Treasury secretary and resident TurboTax expert Tim Geithner. One need but follow the former on Twitter for a quick and concise sampling of the sentiments harbored vis-a-vis the latter. However, in the following interview Barfosky does touch on some points which in the context of the recent Liborgate, should be brought front and center, especially since the increasingly apathetic US audience seems to not care about one bit (as opposed to their distant cousins across the Atlantic for whom Lieborgate has become a daily distraction). Namely, what Barofsky says is that Geithner and other regulators who allowed Lieborgate to proceed should not only lose their job but we should "see [Geithner] in handcuffs." Sadly that will never happen as it would actually be a deterrent to future crime among the highest echelons of America: something which is just not allowed to happen in a system whose very survival is increasingly reliant on rampant criminality. See the whole interview at zerohedge! While there see williambanzai7's TiM GeiTHNeR: TiMe To FLuSH... For more details Bill Black writes at New Economics Perspectives Reinventing Crony Capitalism: the Context of Geithner’s Obscene Rant against Barofsky Neil Barofsky, the former Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) (SIGTARP), was one of the officials that made one proud of America. Naturally, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner detested him. Barofsky discusses Geithner’s antipathy for him in a newly published book: “Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street.” The juicy parts that have been discussed in the media involve Geithner’s epic “f” word rant against Barofsky in fall 2009 in response to Barofsky’s recommendations for greater transparency about TARP. .... My column, however, expands on the article’s last paragraph: “[T]he more-damning allegations of the book [are] that Geithner’s Treasury Department repeatedly tried to undermine Barofsky’s authority, ignoring his warnings about the risk of fraud in TARP programs and generally carrying water for the banking industry.” ..... What enraged Geithner is that the statutory protections provided to ensure the inspector generals’ independence allowed Barofsky to speak truth to power by documenting why he thought that Geithner’s policies were contrary to the program’s mission. That is the real reason that the anti-regulatory reinventors have such a passionate hate for inspector generals. They cannot be “remove[d]” when they provide “resistance” to the anti-regulatory dogma or document that elite frauds are not a trivial problem that provides no basis for vigorous regulation. They can make public embarrassing information that falsifies the anti-regulatory dogma. The IGs can serve as safe havens for those that believe that the government’s mission is to serve the nation’s interests rather than the industry’s interests. This was the heart of Barofsky’s message as shown in his book title – “Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street.” Barofsky’s charge was that Geithner was serving the interests of the often fraudulent banking industry that caused the crisis rather than the interests of the public (“Main Street”). Geithner is a firm believer in the modern version of “what’s good for GM is good for America” – “what’s good for Wall Street is good for America.” What drove Geithner’s verbal assault on Barofsky was the frustration of recognizing that he lacked the power to fire or silence him because of the IG’s statutory protections. Geithner’s only recourse was to seek to intimidate Barofsky. Sadly for Geithner, Barofsky was made of sterner stuff. Geithner’s other problem is that while the Keating Five were intimidating, Speaker Wright was intimidating, and Congressman Dingell, back in the day, was intimidating – Geithner in full rage is a comical hissy fit that would not intimidate even the weakest IG. Barofsky’s greatest challenge was to avoid breaking out in hysterical laughter at the absurdity of Geithner’s attempt to intimidate him. ..... I do not detail Geithner’s actions against Barofsky in this article. I write to situate Geithner’s rage against Barofsky in the broader context of how the “reinventing government” movement helped destroy effective financial regulation and was particularly blind to the essential role that regulators must play to restrain the epidemics of fraud that drive our recurrent, intensifying financial crises. Long read but well worth your time!
SURVEILLANCE UPDATE: It didn't take long for Über-Capitalist Bill Gates and Microsoft to turn SKYPE into yet another illegal government spying tool. Or so it seems. We go to TechDirt's Mike Masnick "from the let's-dig-in dept" Clearing The Air On Skype: Most Of What You Read Was Not Accurate, But There Are Still Reasons To Worry .... But what's actually happening, since so much of this seems to be conjecture and speculation? Well, as the attention and questions grew, Skype itself weighed in to "clarify". It noted that it has been installing more in-house "supernodes" (in the more distant past, various Skype users would act as supernodes) to improve quality for the directory -- but that Skype to Skype calls (again, not calls that touch the public telephone network) were still encrypted person-to-person calls:
    The move to in-house hosting of "supernodes" does not provide for monitoring or recording of calls. "Supernodes" help Skype clients to locate each other so that Skype calls can be made. Simply put, supernodes act as a distributed directory of Skype users. Skype to Skype calls do not flow through our data centres and the "supernodes" are not involved in passing media (audio or video) between Skype clients. ..... [....] Skype software autonomously applies encryption to Skype to Skype calls between computers, smartphones and other mobile devices with the capacity to carry a full version of Skype software as it always has done. This has not changed.
But... is there still reason to be somewhat (though not hysterically) concerned? Perhaps. Chris Soghoian has the best post by far on what's known and what's unknown, which explains how Skype's person-to-person encryption may not be as totally untappable as some people assume. He notes that while the Skype to Skype calls are encrypted, Skype has access to the encryption key (he has a full explanation for how/why this is) and then explains what this likely means:
    Ok, so Skype has access to users' communications encryption keys (or can enable others to impersonate as Skype users). What does this mean for the confidentiality of Skype calls? Skype may in fact be telling the truth when it tells journalists that it does not provide CALEA-style wiretap capabilities to governments. It may not need to. If governments can intercept and record the encrypted communications of users (via assistance provided by Internet Service Providers), and have the encryption keys used by both ends of the conversation -- or can impersonate Skype users and perform man in the middle attacks on their conversations, then they can decrypt the voice communications without any further assistance from Skype.
So there's a risk there, and Soghoian notes that Skype's reticence to set the record straight on exactly how it handles encryption leaves open this possibility. ....In the end, then, it appears that much of this discussion is a whole lot of fuss about nothing particularly new -- but it is worth noting that your Skype calls probably were never quite as secure as you thought they were, even if they're somewhat more secure than some other offerings with little or no encryption and a central server. But if you're looking for 100% secure communications, Skype isn't it -- but that's not because of any change. It's likely always been that way.

WAR ON WOMEN UPDATE: Did you know the host city for next month's GOPher convention is considered by many to be the Strip Club Captol of the Country? Well wouldn't ya know Strip Clubs in Tampa Are Ready to Cash In on G.O.P. Convention writes Lizette Alvarez for the NYT. .... As Tampa gears up for the Republican National Convention, the biggest party it has ever held, the city and its businesses are primping and polishing for the August arrival of tens of thousands of visitors. Like it or not — mostly not, for city officials — Tampa’s well-known strip clubs have joined the welcome wagon. Club owners here say they have schmoozed with their counterparts in former host cities, like Denver, and have been told that revenue pours in during conventions, sometimes quadrupling earnings from a Super Bowl week. As for party affiliation, this is one place where the country’s caustic partisan differences fall away, owners say. Angelina Spencer, the executive director of the Association of Club Executives, which serves as a trade association for strip clubs, said an informal survey of convention business in New York and Denver had determined that Republicans dropped more money at clubs, by far. “Hands down, it was Republicans,” she said. “The average was $150 for Republicans and $50 for Democrats.” Yep those "family values" GOPhers just love to "trickle down" their cash to strippers! But what do Van Gelicals like Michele "One M" Bachman have to say about GOPher male delegates visiting said titty bars? Who knows? Please read ProjectSocialArt.com's Strip Clubs: Setting the Stage for Gender Inequality, Sexual Violence, and Exploitation Due to the sensitive and controversial nature of this subject, we at Project Social Art would like to assure the reader that we are NOT moralizing about a woman’s choice to strip, exotic dance, topless waitress, etc. Our goal is to expose the existence of strip clubs as breeding grounds for gender inequality, sexual violence against women, and the exploitation of women and to provide our readers with a background for understanding our second live-art piece/social experiment in the “Sex in Stock” series. Strip clubs are places where women are objectified in the most obvious and common of ways and where a woman’s body can be bought for a dance or (sometimes) even more. Gender inequality? Sexual violence against women? Exploitation of women? Sounds like part of the GOPher platform! Or organized religion!
CHURCH UPDATE! From USA Today Philadelphia monsignor gets 3-6 years in abuse coverup A Roman Catholic monsignor who became the first U.S. church official to be branded a felon for covering up sex abuse claims against priests was sentenced Tuesday to three to six years in prison. Monsignor William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, handled priest assignments and child sexual assault complaints from 1992 to 2004. Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said Lynn enabled "monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart." She added: "You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong." A jury convicted Lynn last month of felony child endangerment for his oversight of now-defrocked priest Edward Avery, who is serving up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting an altar boy in church. In a related matter Chick-fil-A spokesperson dies from heart attack Struck down by his Maker? Eh? The longtime public relations head for the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain died Friday morning, WRBL-TV reports. ..... Perry’s death comes in the midst of the company being widely criticized following Cathy’s admission that he runs the company “on biblical principles” and has donated millions of dollars to anti-LGBT organizations. From the HuffPoAOL piece cited noted LGBT Hater & ChickFilA prez Dan Cathy then reiterated his stance during an appearance on "The Ken Coleman Show," Good as You blogger Jeremy Hooper reported. "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,' and I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about," Cathy said in that interview, which can be heard here. Needless to say, Cathy's remarks quickly sparked the ire of a number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocates and bloggers. "Regardless of where you stand, the placement of LGBT people within our societal picture and within our body of laws is the conversation at hand," wrote Hooper. "That is not the same thing as 'support for the traditional family,' no matter how aggressively the self-appointed values movement attempts to (mis)name reality!" Added David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement: "Apparently, in the Cathy family’s mind, gay people don’t have families, no one divorces, and everyone must be Christian." We say EAT MORE KALE! HA!
'Voter Fraud' FRAUD UPDATE: From Daniel Denvir at Philly's City Paper A whopping 43 percent of Philly voters may not have voter ID, according to new data The number of Pennsylvanians who might not have the photo identification necessary to vote this November has more than doubled: at least 1,636,168 registered voters, or 20 percent of Pennsylvania voters, may not have valid PennDOT-issued ID, according to new data obtained by City Paper. In Philadelphia, an enormous 437,237 people, or 43 percent of city voters, may not possess the valid PennDOT ID necessary to vote under the state's controversial new law. “Those are the numbers we sent,” says Nick Winkler, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of State, when asked to confirm the data. “If you want to add them together, I think it's misleading.” The new data, received and processed by the AFL-CIO, for the first time includes voters who had PennDOT licenses that have (as of Monday) been expired since Nov. 6, 2011 or an earlier date. If those people do not renew their licenses, the licenses will be expired by at least one year on election day and thus invalid under the new law. And because the AFL-CIO's voter file (which shows the already-publicized large number of voters with no PennDOT record) is seven months old, it could actually represent an undercount since it does not address whether those who have registered as voters since January have valid ID. Pennsylvania's voter ID law is facing increasing scrutiny. Today, Commonwealth Court hearings begin on a lawsuit brought by civil rights groups, including the Pennsylvania ACLU, which allege that the law violates the state constitution's guarantee of the right to vote. And on Monday, the U.S. Attorney General announced that it was investigating whether the law violated the federal Voting Rights Act. In particular, the Department of Justice wants to know upon what basis Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's administration declared that just 1 percent of residents lacked valid identification during the legislative debate over the law. ..... Whatever the exact number that could lack IDs is, it appears to be many, many times larger than original state estimates. “The reality is that thousands more Philadelphians will be impacted by the voter ID law than was originally maintained by the State Department,” says Ellen Kaplan of the good government group Committee of Seventy, which is working to help people get valid ID. “Even taking the lowest possible number, it's a huge hurdle to overcome.” Pennsylvania's contentious law has become the centerpiece of a heated national fight over voter suppression ahead of November's presidential election. And the naked partisanship of Pennsylvania Republicans has contributed to the state law's national notoriety. Late last month, House Majority leader Mike Turzai boasted (video) that the law is “gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.” And two weeks ago, I broke the news that the Corbett administration had awarded a $250,000 voter ID PR contract to the Bravo Group, a firm run by Mitt Romney fundraiser and longtime state GOP leader Chris Bravacos. On Friday, Talking Points Memo described how six people working on that contract all have GOP ties..... In a related matter Brad Friedman of BradBlog reports Game Over: PA Admits There is No Known 'Voter Fraud' That Would Have Been Prevented by State GOP's New Polling Place Photo ID Restrictions Last night we offered some very encouraging news about an apparent federal challenge, in the works by the U.S. Dept of Justice, against the state of Pennsylvania's disenfranchising, GOP-enacted, polling place Photo ID restriction law. Today's news is even more encouraging! The Commonwealth of PA and the plaintiffs in the state challenge to the law have filed a remarkable one-page, 6-point stipulation [PDF] in advance of the trial in that case which is set to begin tomorrow. The stipulation agrees, in plain language, that there has never been a known case of in-person voter fraud --- the only type of voter fraud that can even possibly be deterred by such restrictions --- in the history of the Keystone State, or even in other states, for that matter... [...] ... In other words, these laws are not meant to curb "voter fraud", they are meant to curb voting --- specifically, by people who don't have the type of state-issued Photo ID required under these new laws. In the case of PA, that amounts to some 750,000 legally eligible voters, by the state's own numbers --- more voters than Obama won the state by in 2008. The voters most effected by these laws, as study after study have shown for years, are far and away more Democratic-leaning than Republican.That's the entire story on these purposely disenfranchising voter suppression laws. Period. Always has been, always will be. .... We have, for some time, been calling on the DoJ to bring Section 2 challenges in states where the GOP has imposed disenfranchising polling place Photo ID restrictions, but where the jurisdictions are not those required to receive preclearance for such new laws under Section 5 of the VRA. Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Kansas are just a few such states where Section 2 federal challenges ought to be brought immediately to ensure that all eligible voters who wish to vote are able to do so this November. So, for the moment, we see the DoJ's actions taken to date in PA to be a positive, if long overdue, sign that they are finally taking this stuff seriously in practice, not just in words. We'll be happier still when they take similar action in some of the other states which are not so key to an Obama re-election victory this November. In the meantime, it has been left to local civil rights groups to bring challenges in such states. Tomorrow, the ACLU's challenge to PA's Photo ID restriction, arguing that it violates the state constitution --- as The BRAD BLOG detailed last May --- gets under way. Our colleague, Ari Berman at The Nation, offers a preview of that case today: Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Goes to Court ..... Good on Brad and Ari for following this important development of the GOPhar CANARD of "Voter Fraud"! If you go back to the comments by PA House Majority Leader Mike Turzai as pointed out by Daniel Denvir the full quote to the PA Republican State Committee meeting last month is, "Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done." None of the Brick TeeVee Crew can recall such an out-and-out admission of "election rigging via partisan legislation" ever! Let's hope the ACLU and other voting rights groups plus the DoJ's Section 2 challenges win and make Turzai and his ilk eat some crow!
CLIMATE UPDATE: From Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog Greenland experiences melting over 97% of its area in mid-July Son Nghiem of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, was analyzing radar data from the Indian Space Research Organisation's Oceansat-2 satellite last week when he noticed that 97% of Greenland appeared to have undergone surface melting on July 12--an event completely unprecedented in 30 years of satellite measurements. In a July 24 press release from NASA, Nghiem said, "This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?" Multiple satellite data sets confirmed the remarkable event, though. Melt maps derived from three different satellites showed that on July 8, about 40 percent of the ice sheet's surface had melted, as a strong ridge of high pressure set up over Greenland. By July 12, the melting had expanded to cover 97% of Greenland. As I blogged about last week, temperatures at at the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet, 10,551 feet (3216 meters) above sea level, and 415 miles (670 km) north of the Arctic Circle, had risen above the freezing mark four times in the 12-year span 2000 - 2011. But in mid-July 2012, temperatures eclipsed the freezing mark on five days, including four days in a row from July 11 - 14. Interestingly, ice core records show that in 1889, a similar pronounced melt event occurred at the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and such events occur naturally about every 150 years. "But if we continue to observe melting events like this in upcoming years, it will be worrisome," said Lora Koenig, a NASA/Goddard glaciologist and a member of the research team analyzing the satellite data. Such an event could occur as early as this weekend: the latest wunderground forecast for the Greenland Summit calls for above-freezing temperatures to return again by Saturday through Tuesday, with a high of 36°F (2°C) on Tuesday. This would come close to the record warm temperature at Summit of 3.6°C set just two weeks ago. Exceptionally warm temperatures in Greenland this July have been made more likely by the fact that Arctic sea ice area has been at record low levels so far this month. Furthermore, the Greenland Ice Sheet has become darker this July than at any point since satellite measurements began (Figure 2), allowing Greenland to absorb more solar energy and heat up. ...... According to a university press release by Andreas Muenchow, associate professor of physical ocean science and engineering at the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, “While the size is not as spectacular as it was in 2010, the fact that it follows so closely to the 2010 event brings the glacier’s terminus to a location where it has not been for at least 150 years. Northwest Greenland and northeast Canada are warming more than five times faster than the rest of the world, but the observed warming is not proof that the diminishing ice shelf is caused by this, because air temperatures have little effect on this glacier; ocean temperatures do, and our ocean temperature time series are only five to eight years long — too short to establish a robust warming signal.” Read on and see the maps and charts! Then BBC's Environment correspondent Richard Black explains how in the Antarctic: Grand Canyon-sized rift 'speeding ice melt' A rift in the Antarctic rock as deep as the Grand Canyon is increasing ice melt from the continent, researchers say. A UK team found the Ferrigno rift using ice-penetrating radar, and showed it to be about 1.5km (1 mile) deep. Antarctica is home to a geological rift system where new crust is being formed, meaning the eastern and western halves of the continent are slowly separating. The team writes in Nature journal that the canyon is bringing more warm sea water to the ice sheet, hastening melt. The Ferrigno rift lies close to the Pine Island Glacier where Nasa scientists found a giant crack last year; but the newly discovered feature is not thought to be influencing the "Pig", as it is known. The rift lies beneath the Ferrigno Ice Stream on a stretch of coast so remote that it has only been visited once previously.The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) project revisited the area two years ago in the person of Aberdeen University glaciologist Robert Bingham. The plan was to make ground observations that could link to the satellite data showing unexpectedly pronounced ice loss from the area. The team towed ice-penetrating radar kit behind a snowmobile, traversing a total of about 2,500km (1,500 miles). "What we found is that lying beneath the ice there is a large valley, parts of which are approximately a mile deeper than the surrounding landscape," said Dr Bingham. "If you stripped away all of the ice here today, you'd see a feature every bit as dramatic as the huge rift valleys you see in Africa and in size as significant as the [US] Grand Canyon. "This is at odds with the flat ice surface that we were driving across - without these measurements we would never have known it was there." The Ferrigno rift extends into a seabed trough, called Belgica. The scientists suggest that during Ice Ages, when sea levels were much lower than at present, the rift would have channelled a major ice stream through the trough. Now, they suggest, the roles are reversed, with the walls of the Belgica trough channelling relatively warm sea water back to the ice edge. Penetrating between the Antarctic bedrock and the ice that lies on it and lubricating the join, the water allows ice to flow faster into the sea. "We know that the ice loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is governed by delivery of warm water, and that the warm water is coming along channels that were previously scoured by glaciers," said Prof David Vaughan of BAS. "So the geology and the present rate of ice loss are intricately linked, and they feed back - if you have fast-flowing ice, that delivers ice to the edge where it can be impacted by warm water, and warm water makes the ice flow faster," he told BBC News. .... Ice loss from West Antarctica is believed to contribute about 10% to global sea level rise. But how the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets respond to warmer temperatures is the biggest unknown by far in trying to predict how fast the waters will rise over the coming century and beyond. A total melt of either sheet would raise sea levels globally by several metres..... Next Bill McGibbon writes in Rolling Stone Global Warming's Terrifying New Math Three simple numbers that add up to global catastrophe - and that make clear who the real enemy is If the pictures of those towering wildfires in Colorado haven't convinced you, or the size of your AC bill this summer, here are some hard numbers about climate change: June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States. That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern Hemisphere – the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7 x 10-99, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe. Meteorologists reported that this spring was the warmest ever recorded for our nation – in fact, it crushed the old record by so much that it represented the "largest temperature departure from average of any season on record." The same week, Saudi authorities reported that it had rained in Mecca despite a temperature of 109 degrees, the hottest downpour in the planet's history. Not that our leaders seemed to notice. Last month the world's nations, meeting in Rio for the 20th-anniversary reprise of a massive 1992 environmental summit, accomplished nothing. ...... When we think about global warming at all, the arguments tend to be ideological, theological and economic. But to grasp the seriousness of our predicament, you just need to do a little math. For the past year, an easy and powerful bit of arithmetical analysis first published by financial analysts in the U.K. has been making the rounds of environmental conferences and journals, but it hasn't yet broken through to the larger public. This analysis upends most of the conventional political thinking about climate change. And it allows us to understand our precarious – our almost-but-not-quite-finally hopeless – position with three simple numbers. Go to RS to read this very important article NOW! The economic impacts of ignoring climate change is beginning to come to the fore. The Common Dreams staff reports
'Time Running Out' to Avert Global Food Crisis: Experts The record drought gripping half the US will help push food prices up by 3 per cent to 4 per cent next year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. "In 2013 as a result of this drought we are looking at above-normal food price inflation. ... Consumers are certainly going to feel it," USDA economist Richard Volpe said on Wednesday. The drought has sent corn, soybean and other commodity prices soaring in recent weeks as fields dry out and crops wither across much of the country's midsection. Meteorologists are predicting that conditions behind the drought will continue, putting crops at risk and raising food prices as well as the specter of a food crisis, according to Al Jazeera. "This drought was a surprise for everybody," Volpe said. "The USDA was forecasting a record year for the corn crop until this drought materialized. Now we're not going to get that." But food policy experts contend that despite unexpected high temperatures and poor rainfall this year, food crises are predictable events and have as much to do with man-made climate change and US agricultural policy as they do with isolated droughts. "The drought isn't merely bad because the crops are parched. Climate change has nudged the temperature more than a degree higher than the previous record-breaking US drought in the 1950s," says author, economist and food policy expert Raj Patel. "We don't yet know what the final reckoning will be for food prices," Patel said. "The price is driven by a demand for animal feed, high-fructose corn syrup, and an incredibly stupid US biofuels policy that mandates the transformation of food into ethanol. With the US producing over half of world corn exports, and with the price of those exports set by domestic uses of corn, the US drought will have a profound impact on [global food ]prices." Lester R. Brown, the president of the Earth Policy Institute, writing for The Guardian, noted that world stocks of grain will fall further near the end of this year, worsening an already precarious global food situation. "The world is in serious trouble on the food front. But there is little evidence that political leaders have yet grasped the magnitude of what is happening," he said. "Time is running out. The world may be much closer to an unmanageable food shortage – replete with soaring food prices, spreading food unrest, and ultimately political instability– than most people realize." Go to Common Dreams for Raj Patel's op-ed from The Guardian/UK US Politicians Must Regulate Finance to Tackle the Drought and Food-Price Crisis US leaders worked hard to tackle the 1930s drought and food crisis. Today they are supine, offering the hungry only prayers. Good item! But could it just be the next wave of Disaster Capitalism? Next we find out a Texas Judge Rules Air is Part of the Public Trust Last week a Texas judge surprised many by ruling that air, like water, is part of the public trust. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of several Texas kids, whose attorneys argue that the state of Texas has a duty to maintain a stable, livable climate on behalf of current and future generations. On the other side of the courtroom: the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which argued that water, but not air, is part of the public trust. Travis County Judge Gisela Triana’s ruling underscores the near-consensus scientific view that greenhouse gases are driving climate change and is a rebuke to Texas political leaders such as Rick Perry, who deny the science. But several legal experts, including an attorney who worked on the case, said the ruling is largely a symbolic victory and that the legal ramifications are unclear. "It's one state case in an orchestrated series of cases across the country," said law professor Mary Wood of the University of Oregon School of Law. Wood said making air part of the public trust theoretically means that the government must protect the atmosphere. And by extension, it must protect the climate that humans depend on, she said. Congress and the Obama administration have largely abdicated responsibility for tackling climate change, shifting the focus to the judiciary, Wood said. "At this pivotal time when the opportunity to protect our climate is fast closing, our only hope now is the judicial branch," Wood said. What’s the next step after the ruling? No one really knows but making air part of the public trust could eventually lead to more stringent protections against air pollution and climate change, said law professor Gabriel Eckstein of Texas Wesleyan School of Law. "The notion behind the public trust is that natural resources are so important to people, to the general public that they should have access to them," Eckstein said. Public trust doctrine dates to 530 A.D., when the Roman Emperor Justinian dedicated the air, water and seashore to public use. In the context of water, the public trust confers the right of access to natural lakes and rivers, Eckstein said. Governments are entrusted to protect the water and supply the best quality water to the public. In the context of air, this could mean protecting the atmosphere from pollution and ensuring that everyone breathes quality air, he said. "It's common sense. It's so common sense, we ignore it," Eckstein said. "We took it for granted with water for hundreds of years until we really began to have serious water pollution." But Triana’s ruling is just one small part of a much bigger legal morass. Texas and the EPA are locked in a number of high-profile lawsuits over new air pollution standards and greenhouse gas regulations. Those federal suits take preeminence over the ruling in Travis County. Triana, in fact, acknowledged that TCEQ’s "refusal to exercise its authority" to regulate greenhouse gases was permitted.
Following up is David MorrisCo-founder, Institute for Local Self-Reliance at HuffPoAOL Texas Judge Rules the Sky Belongs to Us All ..... In 2007 in a law review article, University of Oregon Professor Mary Wood elaborated on the idea of a Nature's Trust. "With every trust there is a core duty of protection," she wrote. "The trustee must defend the trust against injury. Where it has been damaged, the trustee must restore the property in the trust." She noted that the idea itself is not new. In 1892 "when private enterprise threatened the shoreline of Lake Michigan, the Supreme Court said, 'It would not be listened to that the control and management of [Lake Michigan] -- a subject of concern to the whole people of the state -- should... be placed elsewhere than in the state itself.' You can practically hear those same Justices saying today that '[i]t would not be listened to' that government would let our atmosphere be dangerously warmed in the name of individual, private property rights." In 2010 Wood, along with Julia Olson, executive director of Our Children's Trust "had the vision to organize a coordinated international campaign of attorneys, youth, and media around the idea that the climate crisis could be addressed as a whole system," Barnes observes, replacing a situation in which "legal solutions were fragmented, focused on closing down a particular power plant or seeking justice for a particular endangered species, threatened neighborhood or body of water impacted by our fossil fuel abuse." On behalf of the youth of America, Our Children's Trust, Kids Versus Global Warming and others began filing suits around the country, arguing the atmosphere is a public trust. So far cases have been filed in 13 states. The "public trust" doctrine is a legal principle derived from English Common Law. Traditionally it has applied to water resources. The waters of the state are deemed a public resource owned by and available to all citizens equally for the purposes of navigation, fishing, recreation, and other uses. The owner cannot use that resource in a way that interferes with the public's use and interest. The public trustee, usually the state, must act to maintain and enhance the trust's resources for the benefit of future generations. ....... Read on for more details! The "Public Trust" angle is a great idea! We need more great ideas like this!
Go to the Advancement Project for more ideas!
And GO NOW TO community-wealth.org a project of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland Community-Wealth.org brings together, for the first time, information about the broad range of community wealth building activity. Featuring Community Wealth Building in Action: The Cleveland Model Something important is happening in Cleveland. The Democracy Collaborative—the host of C-W.org—in partnership with the Cleveland Foundation, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, Shorebank Enterprise Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, and the city's major hospitals and universities—is helping to implement a new model of large-scale worker-owned and community-benefiting businesses. The Evergreen Cooperative Initiative is beginning to build serious momentum in one of the cities most dramatically impacted by the nation's decaying economy. Increasingly, this model is being referred to nationally as The Cleveland Model. Initial planning is now underway to assist other cities in Ohio and nationwide to replicate and adapt this innovative approach to economic development, green job creation, and neighborhood stabilization. Find more many resources at community-wealth.org! DO IT! You can do this! WE can DO THIS! Our LAST WORD goes to CHRIS HEDGES The Careerists It was the careerists who made possible the genocides, from the extermination of Native Americans to the Turkish slaughter of the Armenians to the Nazi Holocaust to Stalin’s liquidations. They were the ones who kept the trains running. They filled out the forms and presided over the property confiscations. They rationed the food while children starved. They manufactured the guns. They ran the prisons. They enforced travel bans, confiscated passports, seized bank accounts and carried out segregation. They enforced the law. They did their jobs. Political and military careerists, backed by war profiteers, have led us into useless wars, including World War I, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. And millions followed them. Duty. Honor. Country. Carnivals of death. They sacrifice us all. In the futile battles of Verdun and the Somme in World War I, 1.8 million on both sides were killed, wounded or never found. ..... Here you have the explanation of why our ruling elites do nothing about climate change, refuse to respond rationally to economic meltdown and are incapable of coping with the collapse of globalization and empire. These are circumstances that interfere with the very viability and sustainability of the system. And bureaucrats know only how to serve the system. They know only the managerial skills they ingested at West Point or Harvard Business School. They cannot think on their own. They cannot challenge assumptions or structures. They cannot intellectually or emotionally recognize that the system might implode. And so they do what Napoleon warned was the worst mistake a general could make—paint an imaginary picture of a situation and accept it as real. But we blithely ignore reality along with them. The mania for a happy ending blinds us. We do not want to believe what we see. It is too depressing. So we all retreat into collective self-delusion. ..... These armies of bureaucrats serve a corporate system that will quite literally kill us. They are as cold and disconnected as Mengele. They carry out minute tasks. They are docile. Compliant. They obey. They find their self-worth in the prestige and power of the corporation, in the status of their positions and in their career promotions. They assure themselves of their own goodness through their private acts as husbands, wives, mothers and fathers. They sit on school boards. They go to Rotary. They attend church. It is moral schizophrenia. ..... Read Hedges' entire piece at TruthDig.com! New articles every Monday! Yes The Careerists. Chalmers Johnson had another word for them: 'Desk Murderers'. How to deal with these schizophrenics and serial economic psychopaths? We note one solution by sane people Iceland Has Hired An Ex-Cop To Hunt Down The Bankers That Wrecked Its Economy! We need more of THAT! Plenty of Careerists will be on yer Corporoteevee on Sunday morning no doubt! Amid the matchups and skirmishes save yer bricks for DARTH CHENEY on This Matthew Dowd (yeah new guy; we thought KO might get the gig haha!) If you have bricks left after THAT WHITEWASH try Fat Tony Scallia on FAKE NEWS (like you'll watch that trainwreck if only for the rubbernecker factor haha!) So much more below like DIGBY and MATT TAIBBI with Sam Seder, Ring of Fire with ELIZABETH WARREN, Max with ROSEANNE BARR, a new Boiling Frogs at PBC and CRIPE more TONS of REAL NEWS! Can you believe it? Go look! Click anything below and BE INSTANTLY SMARTER! GUARANTEED!




BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!©

Democracy NOW!
Monday, July 23, 2012
  • Aurora Shooting Discussions @ Democracy NOW! including Aurora Shooting Witness Omar Esparza, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, Virginia Tech Shooting Survivor Colin Goddard and Bud Welch, the father of an Oklahoma City bombing victim.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 Wednesday, July 25, 2012 Thursday, July 26, 2012 Friday, July 27, 2012 GRITtv »»» GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders (BTV NOTE: We get this: "This site has been suspended. If you are the owner of this site, please contact customer support." Somebody call Laura!!!) »»» FEATURED SHOW Finance Is Lost. Is Banking Redeemable? An interview with John Fullerton of Capital Institute The British banking scandal reveals—again—just how wrong-headed our assumptions about finance are. Morality and self-interest are hopelessly at odds; add planetary crisis to the picture, and we're "lost," said one former JPMorgan executive I had a chance to interview last month. Are banksters redeemable? The British rate-rigging scandal has been lying in plain sight. City of London bankers, upper crust, chummy, professional types, were supposed to tell the truth about their own bank’s borrowing power and every day, based on those estimates, the London inter-bank borrowing rate or LIBOR was set. Now that regulators have spoken, it’s come to seem absurd that private bankers were expected to play fair, act responsibly and act in anything other their own self-interest—without oversight. But that’s just how the inter-bank lending rate setting worked. That said, is the problem with the bankers or with us? See full transcript at link! BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!© »»» NASCAR on ESPN It's the Brickyard 400! Denny Hamlin smoked the field with a 49.244 seconds (182.763 mph) lap around the 2.5 mile oval! Coverage from Indianapolis Motor Speedway begins at NOON et! »»» MLB Sunday TBS Nationals @ Brewers 2 pm et »»» MLB Sunday Night ESPN Red Sox @ Yankees 8 pm et »»» MLB Monday Night ESPNAngels @ Rangers 7 pm et »»» MLB Wednesday Night ESPN Tigers @ Red Sox 7 pm et BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!© The 1st Amendment is Our Permit Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment. Quickly sign the following statement which will be delivered to mayors, police chiefs and major media across the country:
    Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest. We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.
October2011.org Sign the Petition to Get the 99% Deficit Proposal Heard in Congress
    Please SIGN THE PETITION in support of the "99%'s Deficit Proposal" and plan direct actions to tell the Super Committee that the 99% have better solutions to our nation's crises. You can plan your own action at your Congressmember's office or join us in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC for marches to Capitol Hill. Check our calendar for announcements.
VotersForJustice.org OUR GOAL: TO EMPOWER voters with facts and perspectives necessary to decipher the spin, obtain the truth, and support candidates that best represent their interests and values. NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.org A Push for Privacy in the Wake of the Carrier IQ Controversy Remember Carrier IQ, the company that makes the secret spying software that’s installed on more than 140 million phones? You know, the software that can record our most sensitive personal data? ... Thanks in part to the 22,000 people who joined Free Press’ call for a congressional investigation, some of those questions are closer to being answered and mobile users are closer to being protected. The protection comes in the form of a bill from Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey. Markey released a draft of a bill called the "Mobile Device Privacy Act" that would require phone companies to disclose to users just what is being done with all of their data. If the bill passes, an opt-out provision would go into effect a year later and would require companies to allow users to opt out of data-collection schemes like the one developed by Carrier IQ........ CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE American Majority Rejects Washington Austerity Consensus – And We Demand Media Coverage by Roger Hickey, President, Campaign for America's Future: No more silent majority. The Campaign for America’s Future is joining with the Center for Economic and Policy Research (whose Co-Director, Dean Baker blogs regularly about economic bias in the media) and with FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) to monitor the media’s coverage and representation of the American Majority views as they go into covering the big deficit fight. But we want to enlist YOU too. Send us accounts of unbalanced coverage in the national media and in your local newspapers and television. Call up reporters, editors, assignment people and tell them when they are under-representing the views of the American Majority. We should have at least half the experts, pundits, quotes and real people represented in their coverage. In a debate as important as the one we are going into, we can’t allow the media to ignore the American Majority. Much more at www.ourfuture.org MOVE TO AMEND! www.movetoamend.org SIGN HERE NOW! And check out more actions on the Move to Amend Calendar featuring David Cobb's Barnstorming Tour! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net GET INVOLVED! And Alan Grayson is running again in FL-8! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org and Bradley Manning Support Network UPDATE! Michael Ratner on ANTIWAR RADIO Michael Ratner May 2, 2012: Michael Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, discusses his article “Bradley Manning: a show trial of state secrecy;” Manning’s quasi-public trial (which is open to observation, yet vital evidence and court documents are withheld from the media and public); why the NY Times is just as guilty of “aiding the enemy” as Manning and WikiLeaks; how President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta made a fair trial impossible; and how you can support Bradley Manning in his time of need. DONATE YOUR OLD CELL PHONES TO T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATIONHelp save lives. Donate your old & used iPhone, Blackberries, Droid and other phones to help the T.J. Martell Foundations fund life-saving cancer & AIDS research. For more information, go to www.tjmartellfoundation.org CELLULAR PHONE TASK FORCE EDUCATION, ADVOCACY, SUPPORT at CellPhoneTaskForce.org The Cellular Phone Task Force is dedicated to halting the expansion of wireless technology because it cannot be made safe. We provide: education to the public concerning electromagnetic pollution (electrosmog); advocacy for an electromagnetically cleaner environment; support for individuals disabled by radiation from wireless technology and other sources.

B R I C K T E E V E E brick_teevee_test.jpg image ©2006 arkysue THEY report. YOU throw bricks. © Get your Foam Bricks at ThrowThings.com HERE! The essential guide for watching government propaganda IRAQ: 4,486 US Military Dead as of April 21, 2012 AFGHANISTAN: 2,061 US Military Dead as of July 25, 2012 The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises Considering Democracy: 8 Things to ask your Representative

  • This Week (ABC) hosted by ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd
    • Obama campaign senior adviser Robert Gibbs squares off with
    • Romney campaign senior adviser Kevin Madden
    • FORMER Vice President Dick Cheney
    • ROUNDTABLE: George Will; Democratic strategist and ABC News contributor Donna Brazile; Yahoo! News Washington bureau chief David Chalian, radio host and Brietbart.com contributing editor Dana Loesch, and Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus.


  • Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer
    • Penn State president Rodney Erickson
    • *BIG SECRET* Mebbe OLIMPIX?


  • 60 Minutes (CBS) Summer reruns....
    • Hard Times Generation - Scott Pelley brings "60 Minutes" cameras back to central Florida to document another level of homelessness - kids and their parents living in cars. Bob Anderson and Nicole Young are the producers.
    • The Life and Death of Vincent van Gogh - His paintings are among the most well-known in the world, just like the story of his life and death: Vincent van Gogh was a troubled genius who killed himself. But now the authors of a biography say their exhaustive investigation strongly indicates he may not have taken his own life. Morley Safer reports. David Browning is the producer.


  • Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
    • Meet the Press will not air on July 29 or August 5 due to NBC’s coverage of the Olympic games. So there.
    Microsoft, NBC News Dissolve MSNBC.com Joint Venture NBC is buying Microsoft's 50 percent interest in the MSNBC website for an undisclosed amount. MSNBC.com will be rebranded as NBCNews.com, and readers who logged into MSNBC.com late Sunday were automatically redirected to NBCNews.com. Microsoft is preparing to launch its own news service this fall. Although he declined to provide many details about the operation general manager of MSN.com Bob Visse said the news staff will be about the same size as the roughly 100 people who created original content for the MSNBC.com. "There is no question that we are going to have more flexibility to make our own decisions," said Vivian Schiller, NBC News' chief digital officer. "This is really an amicable breakup. We think competition will make us better."
    Okay then.


  • State of the Union With Candy Crowley (CNN) At 9 AM ET, Candy talks to the power players: politicians, business leaders and international newsmakers who will make Monday morning's headlines. At NOON ET, Candy wraps it all up with fresh interviews and the best of the earlier hours.
    • Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and
    • Democratic Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
    • ROUNDTABLE: Ken Goldstein, President of Kantar Media/CMAG, Ron Brownstein, CNN’s Senior Political Analyst and Michael Scherer of Time Magazine
    • Live coverage of Mitt Romney’s speech in Jerusalem


  • HEAD ON RADIO with Bob Kincaid
    HEAD ON
    Headon Radio with Bob Kincaid 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific, 2300 GMT. Duration: 3 hrs. To be part of Conversation Radio on Head-on Radio, call toll-free (877) 443-2366, or use our Liberal community line at 304-658-3333. Email bob [at] headonradio [dot] com during the show!
    • FRONT PORCH FRIDAY!!!!! Bob is BACK!! Listen HERE (mp3) NOW! Amen to the White Rose Society! Donate to Head On HERE! And join Coal River Mountain Watch at www.crmw.net!


  • YOUR GREEN NEWS REPORT
    desi-n-bradWickedWitchMelt
    The Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen: 6 minutes of green news, politics, analysis & snarky comment! BOOKMARK greennews.bradblog.com NOW!
    'Green News Report' - July 26, 2012 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Drought expands in the US, and it's gonna cost ya; Obama Admin expands solar lands --- while Fox 'News' whines about it; US Navy's Great Green Fleet sails to success; Heat records shattered in St. Louis; PLUS: Shocking ice melt across Greenland ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
    • IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): David Letterman On Fracking: 'We're Screwed; Rise in Weather Extremes Threatens Infrastructure; 70% of Arctic ice loss is due to climate change; Could Africa hold the answers to America's drought woes?; U.S. cities unprepared for future heat waves; Winning the carbon tax debate; Geo-engineering, storms may speed up ozone loss ... PLUS: The environment is trying to ruin the Olympics again ... and much, MUCH more! ...
    • BRADBLOG UPDATE: Guest editorial by D.R. Tucker Why They're Worried About Warren Warrenphobia: The right's antipathy towards Warren has no logical basis. They've never presented any proof that Warren, a former Republican (!), is an "ultra-liberal." She's center-left at best policy-wise, closer to Clinton than Castro. The right is still angry at Warren's famous "social contract" speech, but there's nothing in the speech that should set off any partisan alarms. All she says, in essence, is that capitalism is not perfect. Of course, that's the problem. She believes capitalism is not perfect. To the rational mind, that's basic common sense. To the irrational mind, that's treason.
    • BRADCAST UPDATE! 'The BradCast' on KPFK: Targeting the Terrorist-Enabling NRA for Accountability Sadly, they were too busy praying or lying or raising money off the tragedy or something, to show up and defend their deadly positions, so today's show was just me, and a bunch of great callers who, unlike the terrorist-enabling NRA, were not afraid to come on our public airwaves to offer their positions in the public square over our public airwaves. For the record, here are the folks who declined to show up and support their deadly positions on the show today, or who simply didn't respond at all to our invitation to appear. Yes, we really believe in offering opportunities for all legitimate positions to be heard over our public airwaves...
    • Visit BradBlog.com to see who counts yer votes! Now up to 9,200+ Election Protection posts! Find out who's counting your votes and how at ElectionIntegrity.org too.


  • The Peter B. Collins Show PODCAST!
    pbc show
    Listen at PeterBCollins.com!
    The Peter B. Collins Show covers American news and politics from the Left Coast. Veteran talk radio personality Peter B. Collins, based in San Francisco, delivers fresh interviews, commentary and analysis on a range of important topics, with views and voices you don’t often find in the corporate media.
    Holiday Break and Website Changes
      To my valued listeners: We are making some changes to the website and our terms, effective in January. We will continue to offer free podcasts–my new daily news and commentary. Our in-depth interviews will be available for $1 per episode, or to subscribers who pay $5 per month or more. Loyal listeners who simply can’t afford it should send an email to peter@peterbcollins.com, as we will be offering a limited number of scholarships to our friends who are hurting during these tough times. More information will be posted as we complete the revisions. I’m grateful to each of you for listening and supporting this work, and hope that the new model will enable us to keep it going well into the future. All the best, -pbc
    • PBC Standard Podcast 537 July 23, 2012 Journalist Peter Lance on the Blind Sheikh, Killing of al-Awlaki, and Long-term Failures by FBI and Justice Dept on Terrorists and Mobsters
    • PBC Standard Podcast July 25, 2012 Former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin on Her New Book, “The New Feminist Agenda”; Matt Zimmerman of EFF on a Phone Company’s Challenge to National Security Letter
    • PBC Standard Podcast July 27, 2012 Boiling Frogs: Journalist Michael Hughes on His Expose of the Karzai Brothers’ Corruption


  • Ring of Fire Radio
    rofheader
    Find us at http://ringoffireradio.com and http://goleft.tv/ hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder
    Ring of Fire Radio - GoLeft TV - Robert F. Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder - Politics, Commentary, and News.
    This week on Ring of Fire July 27, 2012
    • Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren will stop by to talk about the anniversary of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
    • Best-selling author Cliff Schecter will be here to discuss the biggest news stories of the week.
    • Attorney James Kauffman will tell us about the fraud and corruption being exposed by whistleblowers at Countrywide.
    • Investigative journalist Lee Fang will tell us about the sweetheart loan deals that members of Congress received from Countrywide.
    • John Nichols from The Nation will join us for a discussion on the Aurora Shooting.
    • Mother Jones reporter Nick Baumann will join us to discuss Romney’s outsourcing techniques that he employed at Bain.
    • Justin Elliot from PropPublica will talk to us about Bain Capitals’ involvement with El Salvadorian revolutionaries.
    • VIDEO! THE HISTORY OF CORPORATE CORRUPTION & FRAUD with Robert Kennedy Jr & Mike Papantonio “Call us if you have a personal story about Fraud on Taxpayers or False Claims for Payment made by Corportations at 1-866-389-FIRE (3473)or contact us by email at info@ringoffireradio.com if you have evidence of fraud that robbed taxpayer dollars. If our government is paying too much due to fraud by a corporation, Ring of Fire wants to do a story on it.”
    • VIDEO! Papantonio: Mitt Romney The Olympic Ass Clown Mitt Romney is making gaffe after gaffe on his European tour, and Mike Papantonio tells us why this is dangerous, not just for the GOP, but for the image of the United States.
    Support Those Who Support Progressive Media! 2011 has certainly been a great year for Ring of Fire, and we’ve had some great sponsors that have helped support the show throughout the year. We wanted to take the time to personally thank each and every one of them, and we encourage all of our listeners to take the time to support those who have support us.
    • Join our blog at www.ringoffireradio.com. You can now SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST by clicking on the "Podcast" tab at the top of the Ring of Fire blog. Please help support progressive radio by signing up!
    Ring of Fire Radio Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts 8-11 et Sunday evenings on Chicago's Progressive Talk WCPT AM & FM and 4 pm et on Sirius/XM 167 featuring The PAP Attack! "We’ll bring you the stories that the mainstream media didn’t feel like reporting this week."


  • Majority Report with Sam Seder Streaming LIVE weekdays 11:30 am et @ Majority.fm!

    • July 24, 2012 Digby, Fiscal Cliff Showdown
    • July 25, 2012 Wednesday is Hump Day
    • July 26, 2012 Matt Taibbi, Octopus, Audit the FED and More Libor
    • July 27, 2012 Cliff Schecter, News and Matthew Weiss With Movie Picks
    • MORE Podcast Interviews at Majority.fm!


  • On the Edge with Max Keiser Podcasts and more @ MaxKeiser.com!
    maxheaderhiyall
    "HI Y'ALL! Tell the people! Tell the people!"
    WHO IS MAX KEISER? Max Keiser is a financial expert, Prediction Markets analyst, inventor and filmmaker. He is the creator of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) the first Prediction Market. Max Keiser co-hosts "The Truth About Markets" on ResonanceFM 104.4 in London. He also produces and presents documentary films covering markets and finance for Al Jazeera’s "People & Power" series. Max Keiser started his career on Wall Street in 1983. He is the creator of KarmaBanque a site that enables activists to challenge corporate power.
    • VISIT PirateMyFilm.com!!! Crowd Funding for Pirates!
    • NEW! MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV PLUS here is Max Keiser’s official Facebook page And here is the official Keiser Report page
    The “Keiser Report” has been begging europe to do this for years by maxkeiser READ European Banks Preparing To Boycott Big Three Rating Agencies (zerohedge.com)
    CNBC’s Admission, yes: Silver market is manipulated (skip to 9:30) by maxkeiser READ CNBC Host States Silver Manipulation is a Fact, NOT a Conspiracy! sliverdoctors.com with VIDEO! Once Barclays pointed the finger at BoE as colluding on Libor manipulation (instead of denying it), the roof got ripped off decades of blatant manipulation in these markets. The dollar and U.S. bonds have been protected with Fed interference and outright manipulation; same thing in the UK. And to bolster the price for sovereign bonds, the price of Gold and Silver has been manipulated down alongside the upside price movements of worthless paper. Ratings at CNBC have been plummeting this year – as the audience is way ahead of their talking heads on these points. When CNBC admits that markets, especially silver, are rigged, the few remaining viewers they have collectively sigh; ‘I heard that on Keiser Report three years ago.’ READ CNBC: Silver and Financial Markets Are Manipulated, But So What? Jesse's Crossroads Cafe
    • KEISER REPORT [KR311] Keiser Report: JP Enron We discuss why nobody is freaking about LIBOR in America, while JP Morgan caught doing an Enron on US energy markets and GlaxoSmithKline pays 10% of their ill-gotten gains for bribing doctors and scientists across America. In the second half of the show Max talks to Kevin Sara of the TuNur solar export project of Tunisia about solar exports from the Middle East and toxic derivatives exports from the City of London.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR317] Keiser Report: Where Money Goes To Die We discuss the Irish government being so terribly ‘embarrassed’ that they hired two dirty bankers to ‘clean up’ their financial system and they remind David Cameron over in ‘Grim Britain’ of the ‘dreadful backgrounds’ of Bob Diamond, Jamie Dimon and their ilk. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Wolf Richter of the Testosteronepit.com about the wine bubbles and where money goes to die.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR318] Keiser Report: Financial Feeding Frenzy with Roseanne Barr We discuss feeding frenzies on Wall Street, drug money laundering in the City and Javier Bardem pays a little visit to the bankers. In the second half of the show, Max talks to comedian, actress, writer and Presidential candidate, Roseanne Barr about the mainstreaming of calls to ‘hang bankers’ and about ridding our democracies of politicians owned by bankers.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR319] Keiser Report: Jellyfish Rat-Heart Robot Bankers We discuss the jellyfish robot with a rat heart, aka The Perfect Banker. They also welcome the audience to the world of banking 2012 and introduce the silver dosimeter that signals exposure to toxic financial products and bad economic policies. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Mark O’Byrne of Goldcore.com about silver, gold, manipulation and the crooks put in charge of cleaning up Ireland.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR320] Keiser Report: Hang ‘Em High! Here are photos from the ‘horror hospital’ with ‘Auschwitz like conditions’ in Afghanistan.
    • ON THE EDGE On the Edge with Michael Hudson We interview Dr. Michael Hudson who is out with a new book, The Bubble and Beyond.
    • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM371] The Truth About Zynga & Facebook! Download show HERE (mp3)
    • Donate to ResonanceFM here!


  • ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton
    antiwarradio.jpg LIVE (9-11am Pacific, 12pm - 2pm Eastern) Plenty of archives too!
    Listen at antiwar.com/radio
    Pepe Escobar June 30, 2012: Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “Syria and Turkey’s Phantom War;” Turkey’s violation of Syrian airspace in a purposeful, measured provocation and test of Syria’s defenses; the near-invocation of NATO Article 5 and a wider war (an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all); looking for ways to bypass the UN on Syria, since China and Russia won’t let an interventionist resolution pass the Security Council; grand plans for NATO expansion in the official “Assured Security, Dynamic Engagement” plan; counterrevolutions in the Middle East and South America, as the US looks to rebuild its portfolio of client states; and how Qatar has become the new superpower in the Middle East, surpassing even Saudi Arabia.
    SCOTT HORTON July 5, 2012: Scott says goodbye to Antiwar.com. Scott Horton is the former host of Antiwar Radio. Visit his blog Stress. Due to budget cuts Scott lost his gig at AntiWarRadio.com! Whoa! See ScottHortonShow.com for archives! Send emails to Scott at scotthorton.org to help Scott keep his podcast going!
    • Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!


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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Brick TeeVee's HSBC, SHELLOIL, FDA Spying Special!


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HSBC, SHELLOIL, FDA Spying We'll get to those issues shortly but first following up on last week's LIBOR LIES ZeroHedge has this Guest Post: The Real Libor Scandal by Nomi Prins and Paul Craig Roberts According to news reports, UK banks fixed the London interbank borrowing rate (Libor) with the complicity of the Bank of England (UK central bank) at a low rate in order to obtain a cheap borrowing cost. The way this scandal is playing out is that the banks benefitted from borrowing at these low rates. Whereas this is true, it also strikes us as simplistic and as a diversion from the deeper, darker scandal. .... Indicative of greater deceit and a larger scandal than simply borrowing from one another at lower rates, banks gained far more from the rise in the prices, or higher evaluations of floating rate financial instruments (such as CDOs), that resulted from lower Libor rates. As prices of debt instruments all tend to move in the same direction, and in the opposite direction from interest rates (low interest rates mean high bond prices, and vice versa), the effect of lower Libor rates is to prop up the prices of bonds, asset-backed financial instruments, and other "securities." The end result is that the banks' balance sheets look healthier than they really are. On the losing side of the scandal are purchasers of interest rate swaps, savers who receive less interest on their accounts, and ultimately all bond holders when the bond bubble pops and prices collapse. We think we can conclude that Libor rates were manipulated lower as a means to bolster the prices of bonds and asset-backed securities. The question is, why do investors purchase long term bonds, which pay less than the rate of inflation, from governments whose debt is rising as a share of GDP? One might think that investors would understand that they are losing money and sell the bonds, thus lowering their price and raising the interest rate. Why isn’t this happening? PCR’s June 5 column, “Collapse at Hand,” explained that despite the negative interest rate, investors were making capital gains from their Treasury bond holdings, because the prices were rising as interest rates were pushed lower. What was pushing the interest rates lower? The answer is even clearer now. First, as PCR noted, Wall Street has been selling huge amounts of interest rate swaps, essentially a way of shorting interest rates and driving them down. Thus, causing bond prices to rise. Secondly, fixing Libor at lower rates has the same effect. Lower UK interest rates on government bonds drive up their prices. In other words, we would argue that the bailed-out banks in the US and UK are returning the favor that they received from the bailouts and from the Fed and Bank of England’s low rate policy by rigging government bond prices, thus propping up a government bond market that would otherwise, one would think, be driven down by the abundance of new debt and monetization of this debt, or some part of it. How long can the government bond bubble be sustained? How negative can interest rates be driven? Can a declining economy offset the impact on inflation of debt creation and its monetization, with the result that inflation falls to zero, thus making the low interest rates on government bonds positive? ...... We have learned that the Fed has been aware of Libor manipulation (and thus apparently supportive of it) since 2008. Thus, the circle of complicity is closed. The motives of the Fed, Bank of England, US and UK banks are aligned, their policies mutually reinforcing and beneficial. The Libor fixing is another indication of this collusion. Unless bond prices can continue to rise as new debt is issued, the era of rigged bond prices might be drawing to an end. It would seem to be only a matter of time before the bond bubble bursts.
Next Reuters' David Cay Johnston explains how Idle corporate cash piles up .... Given the enduring hard times, you might think that corporations have used up their cash since 2009. But real pretax corporate profits have soared, from less than $1.5 trillion in 2009 to $1.9 trillion in 2010 and almost $2 trillion in 2011, data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis shows. That is nearly $1 trillion of increased profits over two years, while actual taxes paid rose less than a tenth as much, BEA reports show. Dividends, wages and capital expenditures all grew less than profits, while undistributed profits rose. The result: more cash. Bigger profits are good news, but it would have been better news had those increased profits been put to work, not laid off in accounts paying modest interest. Hoarding corporate cash in bank accounts, Treasuries and tax-exempt bonds poses a serious threat to the economy, as Congress recognized when it enacted the corporate income tax in 1909...... In short, U.S. companies hold vastly more cash than is needed to finance their operations. For investors, companies holding 11.3 percent of their assets in cash lowers returns. Did you buy shares of American Widget so executives could park profits in savings accounts? For workers, idle cash means idle hands and minds. With one in five Americans unemployed or underemployed, and real median wages in 2010 back down to the level of 1999, this is no time for capital to go on an extended holiday. For taxpayers, untaxed profits subtly reduce corporate tax burdens and increase the tax burden on individuals. Because taxes owed on offshore profits are not adjusted for inflation, they depreciate at the rate of inflation. That means a double whammy for taxpayers as government pays interest on money it borrows while its accounts receivable from multinational corporations lose value. ...... Historically the IRS has levied only privately owned firms or publicly traded companies with few shareholders. But Internal Revenue Code Section 531 applies to all corporations. President Ronald Reagan signed Section 532 (c), which made that explicit, though with an exception for untaxed offshore profits. After reviewing decades of literature on these code sections, I cannot fathom any rational basis for giving multinational companies an exception to the cash hoarding rules, which discriminates against purely domestic firms. Some of the multinational corporations say they will bring home what could be more than a trillion dollars if Congress will give them an 85 percent tax discount. The companies frame this as creating jobs. But as I showed in an earlier column, unless there are strict rules, the money can be used to buy back company stock while destroying jobs. Want to motivate companies to put some of those trillions of dollars of idle cash to work creating jobs, paying dividends or sharing the burden of taxes? Call 1-202-224-3121 and tell your senator or representative you want Section 531 vigorously enforced – now – and the offshore loophole closed immediately. Good advice Johnston! But what are the chances the do-nothing GOPher obstructionist House will do any such thing? What woud the "no tax pledge" congresscritters say to Grover Norquist? UGH. But wait! There's more! Guardian UK's Business Editor Heather Stewart fnds £13tn: hoard hidden from taxman by global elite A global super-rich elite has exploited gaps in cross-border tax rules to hide an extraordinary £13 trillion ($21tn) of wealth offshore – as much as the American and Japanese GDPs put together – according to research commissioned by the campaign group Tax Justice Network. James Henry, former chief economist at consultancy McKinsey and an expert on tax havens, has compiled the most detailed estimates yet of the size of the offshore economy in a new report, The Price of Offshore Revisited, released exclusively to the Observer.
He shows that at least £13tn – perhaps up to £20tn – has leaked out of scores of countries into secretive jurisdictions such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands with the help of private banks, which vie to attract the assets of so-called high net-worth individuals. Their wealth is, as Henry puts it, "protected by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy". According to Henry's research, the top 10 private banks, which include UBS and Credit Suisse in Switzerland, as well as the US investment bank Goldman Sachs, managed more than £4tn in 2010, a sharp rise from £1.5tn five years earlier. The detailed analysis in the report, compiled using data from a range of sources, including the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund, suggests that for many developing countries the cumulative value of the capital that has flowed out of their economies since the 1970s would be more than enough to pay off their debts to the rest of the world..... "These estimates reveal a staggering failure: inequality is much, much worse than official statistics show, but politicians are still relying on trickle-down to transfer wealth to poorer people," said John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network. "People on the street have no illusions about how unfair the situation has become."
Speaking of tax dodgers perhaps right-winger Sheldon Adelson qualifies. PR Watch's Laura Stiegerwald finds Sheldon Adelson, GOP Mega-Donor, Investigated for Bribing Chinese Government Officials Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas casino magnate and GOP mega-donor, is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department under suspicions he violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) while dealing with the Chinese government and his Macau casino ventures. The FCPA, introduced in 1977 by U.S. Senator William Proxmire (D-WI), prohibits American companies from bribing foreign government officials. Emails leaked by ex-company employees prompted the investigation and the breaking story by ProPublica and PBS's Frontline. Adelson allegedly instructed a top executive to make a $700,000 payment to Leonel Alves, a Macau legislator, member of the advisory board to the chief executive of Macau, and lawyer whose law firm was helping Adelson's Las Vegas Sands casino set up shop in Macau. Adelson and Las Vegas Sands had sought Alves' help in resolving two issues -- a lawsuit by a Taiwanese businessman and permission to sell luxury apartments in Macau -- and he apparently came through. Approximately two-thirds of Las Vegas Sands' income now comes from Macau. See DN Tuesday (below) for an interview with ProPublica managing editor Stephen Engelberg and freelance reporter Peter Stone for more! Remember WellsFargo/Wachovia money laundering scam from last year? According to the Guardian UK from April 2011 How a big US bank laundered billions from Mexico's murderous drug gangs During a 22-month investigation by agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and others, it emerged that the cocaine smugglers had bought the plane with money they had laundered through one of the biggest banks in the United States: Wachovia, now part of the giant Wells Fargo. The authorities uncovered billions of dollars in wire transfers, traveller's cheques and cash shipments through Mexican exchanges into Wachovia accounts. Wachovia was put under immediate investigation for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme. Of special significance was that the period concerned began in 2004, which coincided with the first escalation of violence along the US-Mexico border that ignited the current drugs war. Criminal proceedings were brought against Wachovia, though not against any individual, but the case never came to court. In March 2010, Wachovia settled the biggest action brought under the US bank secrecy act, through the US district court in Miami. Now that the year's "deferred prosecution" has expired, the bank is in effect in the clear. It paid federal authorities $110m in forfeiture, for allowing transactions later proved to be connected to drug smuggling, and incurred a $50m fine for failing to monitor cash used to ship 22 tons of cocaine. More shocking, and more important, the bank was sanctioned for failing to apply the proper anti-laundering strictures to the transfer of $378.4bn – a sum equivalent to one-third of Mexico's gross national product – into dollar accounts from so-called casas de cambio (CDCs) in Mexico, currency exchange houses with which the bank did business. "Wachovia's blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations," said Jeffrey Sloman, the federal prosecutor. Yet the total fine was less than 2% of the bank's $12.3bn profit for 2009. ... Now comes the HSBC money laundering: Labour demands trade minister face Lords reports Rajeev Syal and Jill Treanor at the Guardian UK The trade minister Lord Green is maintaining his silence over the HSBC money laundering scandal despite calls from Labour for him to appear before the House of Lords to answer questions about his tenure at the top of the UK's biggest bank.
Hours after Labour had called for him to make a rare appearance before peers, Green was seen on Thursday afternoon in the office of Lord Strathclyde, the Leader of the Lords. Green was at the helm of HSBC during the period when a Senate committee in the US found it had bust sanctions and moved money for drug barons. ..... Green has refused to comment since the revelations about HSBC laundering money for drug cartels, terrorists and pariah states emerged this week during Senate hearings in the US. Green was chief executive of HSBC between 2003 and 2006 and was its chairman until 2010, when he resigned to take up a position of trade minister in the coalition government. His tenure covered the period of the damning Senate report which concluded the bank had a "pervasively polluted" culture which allowed HSBC subsidiaries to move billions of dollars around the financial system from countries such as Iran and Syria. Cash was also moved for Mexican drug cartels. There was no personal criticism of him in the Senate report. The revelations have allowed Labour to put pressure on Green over his record in the Lords where, since he arrived in November 2010, he has spoken just five times. Labour also argued that he has questions to answer because he was chairman of the British Bankers' Association during the Libor-fixing scandal and is also an adviser to the Treasury on banking matters.
From the link in the story Nils Pratley writes Being accused by a US Senate committee of operating a money-laundering conduit for "drug kingpins and rogue nations" is as bad as it gets. What happened to the HSBC of legend, the dull bank led by upright conservative types who ensured they employed only similarly good chaps? It seems that, in the period 2004-2010, HSBC's famous federation structure actually meant a management free-for-all. If you were the boss of, say, HSBC's unit in Mexico you were a mini-emperor, answerable to almost nobody. You were even in charge of your own compliance department. The man at head office with the title "head of group compliance" was not allowed to barge into your office to ask what checks you had conducted to discover the true source of the very large dollar deposits coming into the bank. The numbers are extraordinary. According to the Senate committee, HSBC accepted more than $15bn (£9.6bn) in bulk cash transactions from subsidiaries in Mexico, Russia and other countries at high risk of money laundering between mid-2006 and mid-2009 but failed to conduct proper checks.... Time will tell if anybody goes to jail or just gets a slap-on-the-wrist like Wachovia's "settlement" that was "less than 2% of the bank's $12.3bn profit". Grrrrrr.
The Center for American Progress reports on Shell Oil's 37-year-old ship the Artic Challenger grounding as part of SHELLOIL's "fleet" that will "clean up" and "contain" the massive oil spill that WILL happen. In freezing twenty-foot-swells. NOT the warm waters of The Gulf. And we're seeing how that's turning out. ThinkProgress Climate Progress Guest Blogger Kiley Kroh finds Shell Loses Control Of Arctic Drilling Rig In Alaskan Harbor Royal Dutch Shell’s preparedness to drill offshore in the harsh and remote Arctic Ocean this summer has been called into question by a series of recent events. Over the weekend, the company’s drilling rig, the Noble Discoverer, appears to have come dangerously close to running aground near Dutch Harbor, where Shell’s fleet has been assembled. The Noble Discoverer is one of two dozen ships Shell plans to send into some of the most challenging conditions on the planet. According to the US Coast Guard, the vessel slipped anchor and drifted within 100 yards off shore before being pulled back into deeper water by a Shell tugboat. The Los Angeles Times reports:
    The vessel‘s anchor failed to hold and the 514-foot ship began drifting, but its movement was halted when tug boats were called in to assist, Coast Guard spokeswoman Sara Francis told the Los Angeles Times. “We don’t know exactly what happened yet. We do know that the vessel’s anchor didn’t hold, they began to drift, they let out more anchor chain to slow that drift and called for immediate tug assistance,” Francis said.
.... The incident immediately follows the Coast Guard’s refusal to certify Shell’s oil spill response barge, the Arctic Challenger, because of concerns about the fire protection system, wiring, and piping on the 37 year-old vessel. The Coast Guard also expressed doubts about the barge’s ability to withstand harsh Arctic storms. The containment barge is essential to the fleet as it is designed to deliver oil spill response equipment to the five drilling sites. Without it, Shell would not have access to the equipment necessary to contain an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean. In addition to the extreme and unpredictable weather, there is an alarming dearth of infrastructure necessary to mount a large-scale response effort off the North Slope. As detailed in the Center for American Progress report, Putting a Freeze on Arctic Ocean Drilling: America’s Inability to Respond to an Oil Spill in the Arctic, the area lacks roads, railroads, a permanent Coast Guard facility, a major port, or sufficient infrastructure to house and feed a large influx of people. As a result, Shell has said that its oil spill response efforts will be largely self-contained. The fact that the company is experiencing problems with this equipment before even reaching the drill sites raises serious concerns about their contingency plan. .....
Last September CBC reported Arctic oil spill cleanup would be badly hindered Any response to a possible offshore oil spill in the Canadian Arctic would be severely hampered, even more so than previously thought, the World Wildlife Fund says. That’s because Arctic ice, lack of daylight, winds and temperatures make it extremely difficult to contain, burn off or disperse spilled oil, the conservation group writes in a filing to the National Energy Board. During the potential Arctic drilling season, it would be impossible to deploy an emergency oil-spill response up to 84 per cent of the time, the WWF filing says. "We're not against drilling per se, but what we are saying is that it shouldn't be done unless it can be done safely. And what these numbers provide is a very sobering reminder of just how little capacity we have to respond if something goes wrong," WWF program director Rob Powell said Thursday. .... As part of its review, the energy board, which regulates national petroleum and electricity projects in Canada, asked a consultant to look at how difficult it would be to clean up a potential oil spill in the Arctic. The consultant’s report submitted in July found that an emergency response to a spill would be impossible between 15 and 78 per cent of the time, due to weather and other environmental conditions. But the WWF says those numbers understate the difficulties that a possible cleanup would encounter:.... Read on for the horrible outcomes of a potential oil spill in the Artic! And a few weeks ago Arctic drilling: Groups challenge Shell oil spill response plans in the LA Times by Kim Murphy SEATTLE -- In an effort to hold oil companies to a higher standard in the Arctic Ocean, a coalition of conservation groups announced Monday that they are suing to challenge the federal government’s approval of oil spill cleanup plans for Shell Alaska’s upcoming operations in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. The lawsuit, which is being filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, seeks to invoke the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a tough law passed in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. That law sets a high bar for offshore oil and gas operations — a bar that Shell officials say they are already meeting for exploratory drilling scheduled to get underway in August. “This lawsuit is not just about this summer. It’s about the future of the Arctic Ocean,” said Michael LeVine, Pacific senior counsel for Oceana, one of 10 plaintiffs. Others include the Alaska Wilderness League, the Sierra Club, Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity. The suit names the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which earlier this year approved separate Oil Spill Response Plans, or OSRPs, for the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. The plans call for a flotilla of on-site response vessels near any offshore drilling rigs and a complement of near-shore response equipment pre-positioned at points along Alaska's Arctic coast. “The agency has not done its job to ensure that Shell can remove any spilled oil to the maximum extent practicable, which is the legal standard. They’ve just taken Shell’s word for it that this is the best they can do, rather than taking a hard look at what can be done to actually respond to a spill,” LeVine said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. The lawsuit joins a set of preemptive legal actions Shell filed in federal court in Alaska seeking a definitive court ruling on an array of potential challenges to its upcoming drilling operations, including the oil spill response plans. In a related OIL story remember when the invasion of Iraq was originally called "Operation Iraqi Liberation – O.I.L."? Now comes a new book by Greg Mudditt Fuel on the Fire The departure of the last U.S. troops from Iraq at the end of 2011 left a broken country and a host of unanswered questions. What was the war really about? Why and how did the occupation drag on for nearly nine years? And why did the troops have to leave? Now, in a gripping account of the war that dominated the last decade, investigative journalist Greg Muttitt takes us behind the scenes to answer these questions and tells the untold story of the oil politics that played out through the occupation. See this Book Review: Fuel on the Fire: Oil and Politics in Occupied Iraq concluding There are those who still claim the war was not about oil. How could America and Britain reduce a country to rubble and ash over resources? 'Fuel on the Fire' is now one of the most comprehensive bodies of evidence refuting that claim. Muttit's findings are, of course, grim and heart breaking. But to learn of the strength of the Iraqi spirit in the face of such brutality is also inspiring. The book is ultimately optimistic and should encourage the anti-war movement to continue its support for the Iraqi people's resistance to the occupation. Read more at Stop The War Coalition stopwar.org.uk and see the interview with Muttitt on DN! below. So while the Iraq War raged on the GOPhers were braying "Support the Troops" allegedly to prop up support for the illegal occupation. As yet another example of yet another GOPher CANARD we go to Franco Ordonez at McClatchy Sen. DeMint blocks bill for Marines’ Lejeune water victims revealing the GOPhers' complete disdain and hate for those who served. WASHINGTON — Thousands of sick Marine veterans and their families may be on the verge of taking a giant leap toward receiving health care for illnesses they suffered from decades of water contamination at Marines Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. Legislation that has languished for years was expected to be voted on in the full Senate this week under an across-the-aisle deal between the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. But a South Carolina senator has blocked the bill, saying he worries about fraud. Republican Sen. Jim DeMint’s stance has developed into an intraparty standoff with Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the Senate bill’s lead sponsor, who led the call to help the Marines and their families. ...... On Wednesday, Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat who supports the agreement and chairwoman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, is expected to bring the measure to the floor and seek to pass the bill via a unanimous consent vote, according to her spokesman , Matt McAlvanah. But DeMint is expected to take the Senate floor and address concerns he has about the exposure to deceptive practices. DeMint has put a procedural hold on the bill, saying there are not enough safeguards to prevent fraud by those whose illnesses were not due to the water contamination. “Sen. DeMint does not oppose the underlying bill and has been working in good faith to stop fraudulent claims that would divert resources away from affected veterans and their families and to ensure that the program is properly funded to future disruptions,” Wesley Denton, spokesman for DeMint, said in a statement. DeMint proposed adding anti-fraud language that is already part of current law with respect to other veterans benefits, Denton said. .... “I am disappointed that passage of this very important bill has been slowed,” Burr said in a statement. “I am confident, however, that we can pass this bill quickly and finally begin to help those who were exposed to water contaminated with known human carcinogens.” Army Times now reports The DeMint-Murray compromise that allows the measure to move forward came just minutes before Murray was to give a speech on the Senate floor complaining about DeMint delaying a bill that would help veterans and their families. As she was waiting to give her prepared remarks, she noticed DeMint in the back of the chamber and the two began discussing the issue. Agreement was reached in about five minutes, according to aides. DeMint’s concerns about the long-term costs of the Lejeune-related health care were not resolved by the agreement, but he has released his hold on the bill, Denton said. And now Franco Ordonez at McClatchy reports via Miami Herald Senate passes Lejeune water-contamination bill After an impasse with a South Carolina senator was broken, the Senate passed a historic bill Wednesday by unanimous consent that would help thousands of sick Marine veterans and their families who were exposed to contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.
TOO CHEAP TO METER NEWS: The Pottstown Patch reports NRDC Opposing License Renewal For Limerick Reactors Following last month's appellate court ruling, which called into question the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's claim that spent fuel-rods could be stored safely up to 60 years after a plant shuts down, The National Resources Defense Council has filed a motion with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board which seeks to put a halt to the license renewal process for both reactors at the Limerick Generating Station. The Exelon Corporation had initially requested a 20-year extension for both units of the Limerick facility during June of 2011, but they now find themselves amongst a growing list of nuclear facilities facing legal action in the wake of the court's decision. ... Since neither protocol deals with the long-term disposal of the nuclear waste, the National Resources Defense Council argues that a license extension should not be granted until a viable long-term storage strategy is in place. Without an extension, the 40-year license for Unit 1 of the Limerick Generating Station is set to expire on October 26, 2024, and the 40-year license for Unit 2 will expire on June 22, 2029.
Climate Progress proprietor JOE ROMM posts My Oral Testimony For House Hearing Today On Bark Beetles, Drought And Wildfires with video! UPDATE: What is below is what was prepared. I added a bio sentence on the fly upfront (in italics) and changed one word. This was my very first piece of testimony using the secrets of the most memorable and persuasive communicators in history that I detail in my forthcoming book. Good Read!
The Weather Channel tells us 2012 Drought Rivals Dust Bowl while the EconomicCollapseBlog.com explains The Corn Is Dying All Over America.
Mark Bitmann opines in the New York Times about The Endless Summer Here’s what American exceptionalism means now: on a per-capita basis, we either lead or come close to leading the world in consumption of resources, production of pollutants and a profound unwillingness to do anything about it. We may look back upon this year as the one in which climate change began to wreak serious havoc, yet we hear almost no conversation about changing policy or behavior. .... The climate has changed, and the only remaining questions may well be: a) how bad will things get, and b) how long will it be before we wake up to it. The only sane people who don’t see this as a problem are those whose profitability depends on the status quo, people of money and power like Romney (“we don’t know what’s causing climate change”), most of his party, and Rex Tillerson, the Exxon chairman, who called the effects of climate change “manageable.” ..... All of this is the tip of the iceberg, and the iceberg is, of course, melting. As Bill McKibben points out in a piece to be published in Rolling Stone on Friday, not only was May the warmest on record for the Northern Hemisphere, not only was it “the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average,” but it was also followed by a June in which some 3,200 heat records were broken in the United States. The first page alone of the Rolling Stone article will scare the pants off you, but the chorus needs to grow bigger, louder and stronger. That’s why the forthcoming book (due July 24) from Climate Central, “Global Weirdness,” is so welcome. “Global Weirdness,” which explains climate change in simple, easy-to-understand language and ultrashort chapters, is intentionally calm because, says Michael Lemonick, one of the authors: “Some people respond well to ‘Big trouble is coming and we must do something immediately,’ but others are overwhelmed and just turn off. We believe that if you look at all the available evidence it’s clear we’re pushing the earth into a regime where it hasn’t been before, and the effects could well be disastrous.” The time to avoid calamitous effects has likely passed. This doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless, but the longer we wait to curb emissions, the worse and longer-lasting the effects. .... Only reducing carbon emissions can keep matters from becoming worse. Thus the argument for a tax on carbon has never been stronger, but neither has the power of the energy companies to compel legislative paralysis on this issue. The way to a carbon tax is through Congress and the White House, but installing a responsible Congress means campaign-finance reform, another challenge of which Americans are aware but clueless about how to address. But feelings of helplessness are practically un-American: we have the opportunity to demand principled and independent leadership, if we will only try. It was just about a year ago that we saw the beginnings of what is now called the Occupy movement. And although income inequality has hardly been “solved,” it’s a bigger part of the conversation now, and that may well spell Romney’s downfall. A similar movement — one that, as McKibben told me, “identifies the fossil fuel industry as the real enemy in the climate fight, which is ultimately a moral battle” — could possibly get things moving.
SURVEILLANCE UPDATE: Here's one we missed last week from WashingtonsBlog (via GlobalResearch.ca) Spying on Americans: Police Scanners Everywhere...Government Will Soon Be Able To Know What You're Thinking.... Gizmodo reports today:
    Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everything about your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 164 feet (50 meters) away. From traces of drugs or gun powder on your clothes to what you had for breakfast to the adrenaline level in your body—agents will be able to get any information they want without even touching you. And without you knowing it. The technology is so incredibly effective that, in November 2011, its inventors were subcontracted by In-Q-Tel to work with the US Department of Homeland Security. In-Q-Tel is a company founded “in February 1999 by a group of private citizens at the request of the Director of the CIA and with the support of the U.S. Congress.” According to In-Q-Tel, they are the bridge between the Agency and new technology companies. Their plan is to install this molecular-level scanning in airports and border crossings all across the United States. *** The machine is ten million times faster—and one million times more sensitive—than any currently available system. That means that it can be used systematically on everyone passing through airport security, not just suspect or randomly sampled people..... *** According to the undersecretary for science and technology of the Department of Homeland Security, this scanning technology will be ready within one to two years, which means you might start seeing them in airports as soon as 2013. In other words, these portable, incredibly precise molecular-level scanning devices will be cascading lasers across your body as you walk from the bathroom to the soda machine at the airport and instantly reporting and storing a detailed breakdown of your person, in search of certain “molecular tags”.
(Researchers at Cornel university are working on ways to scan which are even cheaper … leading to the possibility that these type of scanners could one day be ubiquitous.)
I Heard That … Moreover, as Newsweek, Telegraph, the Daily Record, IEEE and many other mainstream sources have reported on experiments showing that mind-reading machines have gone from the realm of science fiction to engineering fact. ..... Indeed, patents were granted for machines which can read people’s thoughts at a distance 35 years ago, and IBM predicts that mind-reading machines will be everywhere in 5 years. ..... For Good or For Ill? Technology can be used to make us healthier, more prosperous and more interconnected … or it can be used to impose tyranny. n a time age when yawning, having goose bumps, liking liberty and doing just about anything that average, normal people do can get you labelled as a potential terrorist, the risk of the technology being used for repressive purposes has to be taken seriously. Indeed, the government has been spying on many – or most – Americans for years. Indeed, massive spying started before 9/11. The government monitoring efforts will not focus on spying on potential terrorists – or even criminal activity – recording every phone call, email, internet search or other communication in the country. Indeed, the spying isn’t being done to keep us safe … but to crush dissent … and to help the too big to fail businesses compete against smaller businesses (and here)......
Go read the whole thing! Very scary!
Josh Hersh reports on Drone Wars: Civil Liberties Groups Sue CIA, Pentagon Over Targeted Killings at HuffPoAOL WASHINGTON -- Two leading U.S. civil liberties organizations have filed a lawsuit against David Petraeus, Leon Panetta and other senior CIA and military officials over a series of drone strikes in Yemen that killed three American citizens. The suit, filed Wednesday in Washington and New York by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, alleges that the "targeted killing" of the Americans, including suspected al Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki and his teenage son, violated the Constitution because it took place outside the context of authorized armed conflict. The two groups, who filed the suit on behalf of the family members of the dead Americans, are asking the courts to determine for the first time whether the killings were legal. "While the case is complicated, ultimately it is very simple: our argument is that when the government is killing its own people, it has an obligation to explain it," said Jameel Jaffer, the deputy legal director for the ACLU, in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. "The government has said in response that not only does it not have an obligation to explain it, it doesn't even have to acknowledge it, and we think that is a very dangerous proposition." ..... In response, the White House has said next to nothing, except to offer indirect rationales for its internal deliberation process, and off-the-record assurances that the president was not violating the Constitution. ...... The Obama administration has successfully blocked previous efforts by courts to review documents related to the drone assassination program under the state secrets privilege, which permits the executive branch to prevent the review of certain information that could harm national security. The administration declined to acknowledge the existence of the drone program until Obama defended it during a video chat with the public on Google+ earlier this year. .... Glenn Greenwald chimes in with Obama’s killings challenged again .... So, for the moment, let’s put aside the question of whether Obama’s drone assassinations are justified. Shouldn’t we all be able to agree that the power to order people executed (including U.S. citizens) is far too extreme and dangerous to vest in one person without any checks, review, oversight or transparency? After all, it was a consensus among Democrats that George Bush should be forced to obtain judicial review before merely spying on or detaining people, let alone ordering them executed by the CIA. If Andrew and other Obama defenders agree that “judicial scrutiny” is necessary, then they should cheer this lawsuit, which seeks judicial review, and more importantly, should condemn efforts by the Obama DOJ to argue that courts have no role to play here, either in assessing the legality of these actions or in compelling basic disclosure. But the problem is that each time lawsuits have been brought against the Obama administration seeking either an judicial adjudication of the legality and constitutionality of assassinations, or even seeking basic transparency, the Obama administration has invoked secrecy, immunity and other procedural claims to bar courts from having any role to play. They have insisted repeatedly that they have no obligation to show evidence that the people they’re targeting for death are guilty of anything. In other words, Obama officials have insisted — following John Yoo’s vision of executive omnipotence — that these are decisions for the President, and him alone, to make. Back in 2010, The New York Times‘ Charlie Savage wrote about the application of the state secrets privilege even in the context of its presidential assassinations, and quoted the far-right, Bush-supporting, executive-power-revering lawyer David Rivkin as follows:
    The government’s increasing use of the state secrets doctrine to shield its actions from judicial review has been contentious. Some officials have argued that invoking it in the Awlaki matter, about which so much is already public, would risk a backlash. David Rivkin, a lawyer in the White House of President George H. W. Bush, echoed that concern. “I’m a huge fan of executive power, but if someone came up to you and said the government wants to target you and you can’t even talk about it in court to try to stop it, that’s too harsh even for me,” he said.
So if — or, rather, when — the Obama DOJ comes into court in response to this new lawsuit and demands that it be instantly dismissed (rather than defending the legality of its acts on the merits), shouldn’t critics and supporters of the Obama assassination program alike jointly and strongly condemn that? After all, shouldn’t proponents of this assassination power — those, such as Andrew Sullivan, who believe it is legal and Constitutional for Obama to do this — want more than anyone else for courts to adjudicate its legality?
Good points Glenn! And last month Spencer Ackerman of Wired's Danger Room reported in NSA: It Would Violate Your Privacy to Say if We Spied on You The surveillance experts at the National Security Agency won’t tell two powerful United States Senators how many Americans have had their communications picked up by the agency as part of its sweeping new counterterrorism powers. The reason: it would violate your privacy to say so. .... The query bounced around the intelligence bureaucracy until it reached I. Charles McCullough, the Inspector General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the nominal head of the 16 U.S. spy agencies. In a letter acquired by Danger Room, McCullough told the senators that the NSA inspector general “and NSA leadership agreed that an IG review of the sort suggested would itself violate the privacy of U.S. persons,” McCullough wrote. Let's review: The NSA can't say how many people they've already violated their Fourth Amendment rights because to do so would violate their Fourth Amendment rights! It's the old "chicken meet egg" argument! This "defense" is so laughable on its face, except that it's all they got! Now Ackerman reports the U.S. Admits Surveillance Violated Constitution At Least Once The head of the U.S. government’s vast spying apparatus has conceded that recent surveillance efforts on at least one occasion violated the Constitutional prohibitions on unlawful search and seizure. The admission comes in a letter from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassifying statements that a top U.S. Senator wished to make public in order to call attention to the government’s 2008 expansion of its key surveillance law. “On at least one occasion,” the intelligence shop has approved Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to say, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court found that “minimization procedures” used by the government while it was collecting intelligence were “unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment.” Minimization refers to how long the government may retain the surveillance data it collects. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is supposed to guarantee our rights against unreasonable searches. Wyden does not specify how extensive this “unreasonable” surveillance was; when it occurred; or how many Americans were affected by it. In the letter, acquired by Danger Room (.pdf), Wyden asserts a serious federal sidestep of a major section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That section — known as Section 702 and passed in 2008 — sought to legalize the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance efforts. The 2008 law permitted intelligence officials to conduct surveillance on the communications of “non-U.S. persons,” when at least one party on a call, text or email is “reasonably believed” to be outside of the United States. Government officials conducting such surveillance no longer have to acquire a warrant from the so-called FISA Court specifying the name of an individual under surveillance. And only a “significant purpose” of the surveillance has to be the acquisition of “foreign intelligence,” a weaker standard than before 2008. ...... Wyden’s argument was that the government had not fully disclosed the extent of its new surveillance powers. It argued to Wyden that it is “not reasonably possible to identify the number of people located in the United States whose communications may have been reviewed under the authority of the [FISA Amendments Act].” Separately, the National Security Agency insisted that it would violate Americans’ privacy even to tally up how many Americans it had spied upon under the new law..... Up is Down. Black is White. War is Peace.
In a related matter FDA’s spying campaign wider than previously believed reports MSPB Watch at FDL. In a story that almost defies comprehension, the New York Times is reporting that the Food and Drug Administration’s suspected surveillance of whistleblowers is bigger than previously reported, and includes tracking of sources outside the agency.
The FDA reportedly has developed an “enemies list” to push back against negative coverage of its oft-criticized review of drugs and medical devices. The list includes not only scientists employed within the FDA, but also congressmen, journalists, and outside medical researchers. These efforts have resulted in the collection of some 80,000 pages of documents that include private emails to Congress, draft whistleblower retaliation complaints, and communications with journalists and attorneys.
The FDA contracted with an outside firm to install “key logging” software in employees’ computers, which can record every key stroke and thus intercept draft letters and email passwords. The software was originally set up to collect and analyze surveillance results, but FDA officials used it to provide new leads and to map out new surveillance targets and issues of concern. ....
Read the NWC Response to Article Documenting Illegal FDA Surveillance at the National Whistelblowers Center then TAKE ACTION HERE! Why is this surveillance illegal? NYT's Scott Shane explains in an interview with NPR's Morning Edition Steve Inskeep FDA Monitors Scientists' Critical Emails

    INSKEEP: I suppose this is a reminder, and employers do say this to their employees from time to time, if you're at a company computer, and you send out an email or receive one, the company claims the right to look at that, and I guess the FDA as the employer of these scientists claimed that right and used it, as it's entirely legal.

    SHANE: That's absolutely right. That part of it is legal, and in fact, the FDA pointed out that when an employee signed on to his or her FDA laptop, there was a sort of warning that flashed up that said this is FDA property and everything is subject to monitoring. But the problem is that there are also laws that protect the privacy of, for example, attorney-client privilege and some of these FDA employees were communicating with their lawyers. There are laws protecting the privacy of communications - sort of whistle-blowing communications with Congress, with a whistle-blowing office within the government, and those are not supposed to be interfered with. So it seems that there are two interests in conflict, and that perhaps the FDA's operation went a little bit beyond where it really should have gone in terms of just looking for a leak of proprietary information.


The Brick TeeVee Crew CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH EVERYTHING you do on a company-owned computer is the LEGAL PROPERTY of The Company whether it's shopping on amazon, writing emails (even on a web-based mail system like gmail), posting on blogs, tweets, facebuuk and even your web-surfing history. Every letter you type on a company computer is the company's property BY LAW. And if you perhaps might visit a website or write something The Management disagrees with that action might trigger a "resume-generating event". The Company will argue "said employee was using company resources in excess for non-company business reasons not related to their job description or the goals of The Company" or words to that effect. And they will win. We refer you to Zerohedge's "How To [Read/Tip Off] Zero Hedge Without Attracting The Interest Of [Human Resources/The Treasury/Black Helicopters]" Guide. "It would be very wise of you to study our disclaimer, our privacy policy and our (non)policy on conflicts / full disclosure." The surveillance state is pernicious and LEGALLY extends into your workplace. Be careful. Use discretion. Protect yourself. Know your rights. Even the cops can and WILL snoop yer iphone or other handheld gadget.
    MacDailyNews Note: According to Cellebrite’s website, their system can scan over 3,000 handset models, with monthly software updates for newly released devices prior to carrier launch. The system includes more than 85 data cables for connecting 95% of all handset models worldwide. Cellebrite has exclusive carrier agreements and works directly with cellular phone manufacturers to receive pre-production handsets prior to retail launch. Cellebrite’s system claims complete extraction of mobile phone data – Contacts, SMS Messages, photos, videos, call logs (dialed, received, missed), ESN/IMEI, audio files, and deleted SMS/Call History from the SIM/USIM.
In short CYA B4 UR FUBAR!
So after all that happy news you think it's over? We're doomed? Think again, wabbit. GO NOW TO community-wealth.org a project of the Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland Community-Wealth.org brings together, for the first time, information about the broad range of community wealth building activity. Featuring Community Wealth Building in Action: The Cleveland Model Something important is happening in Cleveland. The Democracy Collaborative—the host of C-W.org—in partnership with the Cleveland Foundation, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, Shorebank Enterprise Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, and the city's major hospitals and universities—is helping to implement a new model of large-scale worker-owned and community-benefiting businesses. The Evergreen Cooperative Initiative is beginning to build serious momentum in one of the cities most dramatically impacted by the nation's decaying economy. Increasingly, this model is being referred to nationally as The Cleveland Model. Initial planning is now underway to assist other cities in Ohio and nationwide to replicate and adapt this innovative approach to economic development, green job creation, and neighborhood stabilization. Find more many resources at community-wealth.org! DO IT! Of course the country is gripping over the Batman Movie Murders so the Beltway Bubalas will once again invoke FEAR to justify MORE SURVEILLANCE while completely ignoring the INSANITY of U.S. gun laws crafted by the N.R.A. featuring Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on This Snufagopolis, State of the Candy and Meet The David plus his Roundtable with MICHAEL "death eater" CHERTOFF. Somehow they managed to snag Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU for Face the Bob, Candy and FAKE SNOOZE, a guy who knows a thing or two about repressive surveillance. So good luck with all that. Instead check out Sam Seder with STEVE KOHN, CLIFF SCHECTER, DDAY and BlackAgendaReport's GLEN FORD, Brad Freidman with JACK ABRAMOFF, Peter B with CHRIS HEDGES and Max with GERALD CELENTE! Good Stuff! And don't miss the new Ring of Fire Radio VIDEO! THE HISTORY OF CORPORATE CORRUPTION & FRAUD with Robert Kennedy Jr & Mike Papantonio. Click anything and be instantly smarter! You literally CAN'T MISS! Oh wow look at the time! That's a wrap for this Sunday. Occupy somewhere! Like community-wealth.org!





BRICK TEEVEE ALERTS!©

Democracy NOW!
Monday, July 16, 2012 Tuesday, July 17, 2012 Wednesday, July 18, 2012 Thursday, July 19, 2012 Friday, July 20, 2012 GRITtv »»» GRITtv @ www.grittv.org with Laura Flanders »»» FEATURED SHOW Finance Is Lost. Is Banking Redeemable? An interview with John Fullerton of Capital Institute The British banking scandal reveals—again—just how wrong-headed our assumptions about finance are. Morality and self-interest are hopelessly at odds; add planetary crisis to the picture, and we're "lost," said one former JPMorgan executive I had a chance to interview last month. Are banksters redeemable? The British rate-rigging scandal has been lying in plain sight. City of London bankers, upper crust, chummy, professional types, were supposed to tell the truth about their own bank’s borrowing power and every day, based on those estimates, the London inter-bank borrowing rate or LIBOR was set. Now that regulators have spoken, it’s come to seem absurd that private bankers were expected to play fair, act responsibly and act in anything other their own self-interest—without oversight. But that’s just how the inter-bank lending rate setting worked. That said, is the problem with the bankers or with us? See full transcript at link! BRICK TEEVEE SPORT!© »»» MLB Sunday TBS Dodgers @ Mets 1 pm et »»» MLB Sunday Night ESPN Rangers @ Angels 8 pm et »»» MLB Monday Night ESPNRed Sox @ Rangers 8 pm et »»» MLB Wednesday Night ESPN Dodgers @ Cardinals 8 pm et BRICK TEEVEE ACTION!© The 1st Amendment is Our Permit Our permit to occupy is The First Amendment. Quickly sign the following statement which will be delivered to mayors, police chiefs and major media across the country:
    Our permit to occupy public squares and parks is in The First Amendment, which affirms "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." When people across the Middle East occupied public squares, leaders in Washington mostly cheered those protesters and warned Middle Eastern governments not to use force to clear them. Those other societies don’t have a First Amendment. Yet Washington affirmed the universal right to assembly and protest. We do have a First Amendment. The force being used to clear nonviolent protesters from public squares in our country is unacceptable. It must stop.
October2011.org Sign the Petition to Get the 99% Deficit Proposal Heard in Congress
    Please SIGN THE PETITION in support of the "99%'s Deficit Proposal" and plan direct actions to tell the Super Committee that the 99% have better solutions to our nation's crises. You can plan your own action at your Congressmember's office or join us in Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC for marches to Capitol Hill. Check our calendar for announcements.
VotersForJustice.org OUR GOAL: TO EMPOWER voters with facts and perspectives necessary to decipher the spin, obtain the truth, and support candidates that best represent their interests and values. NET NEUTRALITY! SaveTheInternet.org A Push for Privacy in the Wake of the Carrier IQ Controversy Remember Carrier IQ, the company that makes the secret spying software that’s installed on more than 140 million phones? You know, the software that can record our most sensitive personal data? ... Thanks in part to the 22,000 people who joined Free Press’ call for a congressional investigation, some of those questions are closer to being answered and mobile users are closer to being protected. The protection comes in the form of a bill from Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey. Markey released a draft of a bill called the "Mobile Device Privacy Act" that would require phone companies to disclose to users just what is being done with all of their data. If the bill passes, an opt-out provision would go into effect a year later and would require companies to allow users to opt out of data-collection schemes like the one developed by Carrier IQ........ CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE American Majority Rejects Washington Austerity Consensus – And We Demand Media Coverage by Roger Hickey, President, Campaign for America's Future: No more silent majority. The Campaign for America’s Future is joining with the Center for Economic and Policy Research (whose Co-Director, Dean Baker blogs regularly about economic bias in the media) and with FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) to monitor the media’s coverage and representation of the American Majority views as they go into covering the big deficit fight. But we want to enlist YOU too. Send us accounts of unbalanced coverage in the national media and in your local newspapers and television. Call up reporters, editors, assignment people and tell them when they are under-representing the views of the American Majority. We should have at least half the experts, pundits, quotes and real people represented in their coverage. In a debate as important as the one we are going into, we can’t allow the media to ignore the American Majority. Much more at www.ourfuture.org MOVE TO AMEND! www.movetoamend.org SIGN HERE NOW! And check out more actions on the Move to Amend Calendar featuring David Cobb's Barnstorming Tour! Also visit Rep Alan Grayson's site www.savedemocracy.net GET INVOLVED! And Alan Grayson is running again in FL-8! Help out at CongressmanWithGuts.com SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT See CourageToResist.org and Bradley Manning Support Network UPDATE! Michael Ratner on ANTIWAR RADIO Michael Ratner May 2, 2012: Michael Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, discusses his article “Bradley Manning: a show trial of state secrecy;” Manning’s quasi-public trial (which is open to observation, yet vital evidence and court documents are withheld from the media and public); why the NY Times is just as guilty of “aiding the enemy” as Manning and WikiLeaks; how President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta made a fair trial impossible; and how you can support Bradley Manning in his time of need. DONATE YOUR OLD CELL PHONES TO T.J. MARTELL FOUNDATIONHelp save lives. Donate your old & used iPhone, Blackberries, Droid and other phones to help the T.J. Martell Foundations fund life-saving cancer & AIDS research. For more information, go to www.tjmartellfoundation.org CELLULAR PHONE TASK FORCE EDUCATION, ADVOCACY, SUPPORT at CellPhoneTaskForce.org The Cellular Phone Task Force is dedicated to halting the expansion of wireless technology because it cannot be made safe. We provide: education to the public concerning electromagnetic pollution (electrosmog); advocacy for an electromagnetically cleaner environment; support for individuals disabled by radiation from wireless technology and other sources.

B R I C K T E E V E E brick_teevee_test.jpg image ©2006 arkysue THEY report. YOU throw bricks. © Get your Foam Bricks at ThrowThings.com HERE! The essential guide for watching government propaganda IRAQ: 4,486 US Military Dead as of April 21, 2012 AFGHANISTAN: 2,050 US Military Dead as of July 13, 2012 The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises Considering Democracy: 8 Things to ask your Representative

  • This Week (ABC) anchor George Stephanopoulos
    • Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
    • Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan
    • Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey
    • ROUNDTABLE: former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, author of the new book "A Nation of Wusses," ABC News' George Will, ABC News' Cokie Roberts, TIME Magazine political columnist Joe Klein, and The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin.


  • Face The Nation (CBS) Host Bob Schiefer
    • The latest on the investigation of the movie theater shooting from Aurora, CO
    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu


  • 60 Minutes (CBS) Summer reruns....
    • Evidence of Innocence - Michael Morton was finally freed when DNA evidence exonerated him after 25 years in prison; he speaks out in his first interview. As Lara Logan reports, Morton's case is one of a series of high profile wrongful convictions that have cast a harsh light on prosecutors. Andy Court and Anya Bourg are the producers.
    • India's Gold - The demand for gold in India accounts for an amazing 32 percent of the worldwide market for the precious metal. And no wonder. The most important tradition at nearly all the 10 million annual weddings in India is the lavish gold jewelry. Byron Pitts reports. David Schneider is the producer.


  • Meet the Press (NBC) Host David Gregory
    • Gov. Hickenlooper on Colorado Tragedy
    • "SECURITY" ROUNDTABLE" Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, former chief of police for the Los Angeles Police Department William Bratton, and gun-control advocate Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY).
    • ROUNDTABLE: New York Times columnist David Brooks, former DC public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, former senior adviser to the 2004 Kerry presidential campaign, Bob Shrum, and former senior strategist to the 2008 McCain presidential campaign, Steve Schmidt.


  • State of the Union With Candy Crowley (CNN) At 9 AM ET, Candy talks to the power players: politicians, business leaders and international newsmakers who will make Monday morning's headlines. At NOON ET, Candy wraps it all up with fresh interviews and the best of the earlier hours.
    • Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
    • Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
    • Virginia Senate Candidates Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine


  • HEAD ON RADIO with Bob Kincaid
    HEAD ON
    Headon Radio with Bob Kincaid 6 PM Eastern, 3 PM Pacific, 2300 GMT. Duration: 3 hrs. To be part of Conversation Radio on Head-on Radio, call toll-free (877) 443-2366, or use our Liberal community line at 304-658-3333. Email bob [at] headonradio [dot] com during the show!
    • FRONT PORCH FRIDAY!!!!! Bob is BACK!! And he's pretty pissed about the Bat Man Shooting and specifically the NRA. Listen HERE (mp3) NOW! Amen to the White Rose Society! Donate to Head On HERE! And join Coal River Mountain Watch at www.crmw.net!


  • YOUR GREEN NEWS REPORT
    desi-n-bradGNR_GeorgeWill_Skeleton
    The Green News Report with Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen: 6 minutes of green news, politics, analysis & snarky comment! BOOKMARK greennews.bradblog.com NOW!
    'Green News Report' - July 19, 2012 IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Hot town, summer in the city --- and in the country, and in the mountains, and on the farms, and in the desert; GOP goes to bat for Monsanto; FDA bans BPA - sort of; Greenland calves new iceberg; PLUS: Australia's new carbon tax FAILS... to cause economic catastrophe ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!
    • IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see link): GOP Seeks to Kill Black Lung Reform; Tea Party Blocks Pact to Restore a West Coast River; Appeals Court Upholds EPA Air Quality Rule; White House Weakened EPA Soot Proposal; Geo-Engineering Experiment to Trap Carbon Deep in the Ocean; Climate scientists call for 'serious' Keystone XL review; Oil jumps on Mid-East worries; Climategate investigation closed; Smart meters bad for your health? ... PLUS: “You can’t run your SUV on cute. Let’s Go.” ... and much, MUCH more! ...
    • BRADBLOG UPDATE: BMN GOP's Photo ID Ballot Initiative Faces State Supreme Court Constitutional Scrutiny This week, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard the League of Women Voters' argument against language set to be used in a ballot initiative this November which, if passed by the electorate, would amend the state's constitution to require that valid, Government-issued Photo ID be presented at the polling place before voters are allowed to vote. The initiative was placed on the ballot by the GOP majority in the state legislature, but, as we detailed earlier this month, the League has filed suit charging that the language used in the ballot question is extremely deceptive and that it fails to accurately explain how the constitutional amendment would change the voting system in Minnesota, while putting the legal rights of voters at risk.
    • BRADCAST UPDATE! BRAD'S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JACK ABRAMOFF The world's most notorious former GOP lobbyist, now out of jail, joins Brad on KPFK to answer some tough questions...
    • Visit BradBlog.com to see who counts yer votes! Now up to 9,200+ Election Protection posts! Find out who's counting your votes and how at ElectionIntegrity.org too.


  • The Peter B. Collins Show PODCAST!
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    Listen at PeterBCollins.com!
    The Peter B. Collins Show covers American news and politics from the Left Coast. Veteran talk radio personality Peter B. Collins, based in San Francisco, delivers fresh interviews, commentary and analysis on a range of important topics, with views and voices you don’t often find in the corporate media.
    Holiday Break and Website Changes
      To my valued listeners: We are making some changes to the website and our terms, effective in January. We will continue to offer free podcasts–my new daily news and commentary. Our in-depth interviews will be available for $1 per episode, or to subscribers who pay $5 per month or more. Loyal listeners who simply can’t afford it should send an email to peter@peterbcollins.com, as we will be offering a limited number of scholarships to our friends who are hurting during these tough times. More information will be posted as we complete the revisions. I’m grateful to each of you for listening and supporting this work, and hope that the new model will enable us to keep it going well into the future. All the best, -pbc
    • PBC Standard Podcast July 16, 2012 Former Green Party Presidential Candidate David Cobb on Amending the Constitution to End Corporate Personhood and Money=Speech
    • PBC Standard Podcast July 18, 2012 Journalist/Activist Chris Hedges Returns to Talk About His Challenge to Obama Detention Law, and His Powerful New Book
    • PBC Standard Podcast July 20, 2012 Journalist Charles Glass on the Civil War in Syria; Prof. David Vine Reports US Now


  • Ring of Fire Radio
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    Find us at http://ringoffireradio.com and http://goleft.tv/ hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder
    Ring of Fire Radio - GoLeft TV - Robert F. Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, Sam Seder - Politics, Commentary, and News.
    This week on The Best of Ring of Fire July 5, 2012
    • The Huffington Post’s Washington bureau chief Ryan Grim will give us the latest on the Libor scandal.
    • Author Chauncey DeVega will tell us why Mitt Romney is having big problems with minority voters.
    • Truthout.org’s lead investigative reporter Jason Leopold will tell us how the Department of Defense drugged terror suspects to illicit confessions.
    • And progressive internet radio host Matt Filipowicz makes his return to the Ring of Fire to talk about some of the biggest stories of the week.
    • VIDEO! THE HISTORY OF CORPORATE CORRUPTION & FRAUD with Robert Kennedy Jr & Mike Papantonio “Call us if you have a personal story about Fraud on Taxpayers or False Claims for Payment made by Corportations at 1-866-389-FIRE (3473)or contact us by email at info@ringoffireradio.com if you have evidence of fraud that robbed taxpayer dollars. If our government is paying too much due to fraud by a corporation, Ring of Fire wants to do a story on it.”
    • RT VIDEO! The Bain Connection to Death Squads A new report out this week details the deadly care being given at numerous different clinics owned by Bain Capital – clinics that still provide a financial benefit to GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Mike Papantonio appears on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann to talk about Romney’s dirty finances.
    • VIDEO! Papantonio: US Chamber Faces Heat For Political Spending The Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United allowed for seemingly endless corporate money to sway our election process. But what it didn’t allow was for tax exempt, so-called non-partisan groups to get involved in political activities. But that’s exactly what some of these organizations, like the US Chamber of Commerce, have been doing over the years. Luckily, we have people like New York state attorney general Eric Schneiderman in office, and Mike Papantonio recently spoke with Mother Jones reporter Andy Kroll about what Schneiderman is doing to help stop the Chamber from destroying our democracy.
    Support Those Who Support Progressive Media! 2011 has certainly been a great year for Ring of Fire, and we’ve had some great sponsors that have helped support the show throughout the year. We wanted to take the time to personally thank each and every one of them, and we encourage all of our listeners to take the time to support those who have support us.
    • Join our blog at www.ringoffireradio.com. You can now SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST by clicking on the "Podcast" tab at the top of the Ring of Fire blog. Please help support progressive radio by signing up!
    Ring of Fire Radio Ring of Fire, hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder: Saturdays at 3 o’clock Eastern, rebroadcasts 8-11 et Sunday evenings on Chicago's Progressive Talk WCPT AM & FM and 4 pm et on Sirius/XM 167 featuring The PAP Attack! "We’ll bring you the stories that the mainstream media didn’t feel like reporting this week."


  • Majority Report with Sam Seder Streaming LIVE weekdays 11:30 am et @ Majority.fm!

    • July 16, 2012 Tom Junod on Obama’s Lethal Presidency
    • July 17, 2012 David Dayen, California’s War on Unions
    • July 18, 2012 Stephen Kohn, FDA Spies on Whistleblowers
    • July 19, 2012 Glen Ford, Obama More Effective Evil?
    • July 20, 2012 Cliff Schecter, News & Isabel Gillies with Movie Picks
    • MORE Podcast Interviews at Majority.fm!


  • On the Edge with Max Keiser Podcasts and more @ MaxKeiser.com!
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    "HI Y'ALL! Tell the people! Tell the people!"
    WHO IS MAX KEISER? Max Keiser is a financial expert, Prediction Markets analyst, inventor and filmmaker. He is the creator of the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX) the first Prediction Market. Max Keiser co-hosts "The Truth About Markets" on ResonanceFM 104.4 in London. He also produces and presents documentary films covering markets and finance for Al Jazeera’s "People & Power" series. Max Keiser started his career on Wall Street in 1983. He is the creator of KarmaBanque a site that enables activists to challenge corporate power.
    • VISIT PirateMyFilm.com!!! Crowd Funding for Pirates!
    • NEW! MaxKeiserTV on YouTube! MaxKeiserTV PLUS here is Max Keiser’s official Facebook page And here is the official Keiser Report page
    The “Keiser Report” has been begging europe to do this for years by maxkeiser READ European Banks Preparing To Boycott Big Three Rating Agencies zerohedge(nakedcapitalism)
    CNBC’s Admission, yes: Silver market is manipulated (skip to 9:30) by maxkeiser READ CNBC Host States Silver Manipulation is a Fact, NOT a Conspiracy! sliverdoctors.com with VIDEO! Once Barclays pointed the finger at BoE as colluding on Libor manipulation (instead of denying it), the roof got ripped off decades of blatant manipulation in these markets. The dollar and U.S. bonds have been protected with Fed interference and outright manipulation; same thing in the UK. And to bolster the price for sovereign bonds, the price of Gold and Silver has been manipulated down alongside the upside price movements of worthless paper. Ratings at CNBC have been plummeting this year – as the audience is way ahead of their talking heads on these points. When CNBC admits that markets, especially silver, are rigged, the few remaining viewers they have collectively sigh; ‘I heard that on Keiser Report three years ago.’ READ CNBC: Silver and Financial Markets Are Manipulated, But So What? Jesse's Crossroads Cafe
    • KEISER REPORT [KR311] Keiser Report: JP Enron We discuss why nobody is freaking about LIBOR in America, while JP Morgan caught doing an Enron on US energy markets and GlaxoSmithKline pays 10% of their ill-gotten gains for bribing doctors and scientists across America. In the second half of the show Max talks to Kevin Sara of the TuNur solar export project of Tunisia about solar exports from the Middle East and toxic derivatives exports from the City of London.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR315] Keiser Report: Cotton Candy Fraud We discuss how market participants are never more than a few milliseconds away from the next act of fraud and how a teaspoon of collateral leads to economic martial law. They also discuss German economists proposing that the wealthy be forced to buy bonds while in Spain the government and EU force bank losses on cooks and pensioners. In the second half of the show, oil analyst, Chris Cook, about how, despite sanctions, oil will always find a home; the Enron technique of pre-pay now being used by Enron’s former counterparties; and how stability is the death for the oil market middlemen.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR316] Keiser Report: Alien Bankers, Leave Earth Alone! We demand that Jamie Dimon leave Earth alone! They also discuss the global Jim Jones like cults surrendering to the derivatives with hostile intent. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Jim Rickards, author of Currency Wars, about ‘Singapore on the Mediterranean’ and how the U.S. Congress will intervene in the Libor case to avoid the Son of Tarp.
    • KEISER REPORT [KR317] Keiser Report: Where Money Goes To Die We discuss the Irish government being so terribly ‘embarrassed’ that they hired two dirty bankers to ‘clean up’ their financial system and they remind David Cameron over in ‘Grim Britain’ of the ‘dreadful backgrounds’ of Bob Diamond, Jamie Dimon and their ilk. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Wolf Richter of the Testosteronepit.com about the wine bubbles and where money goes to die.
    • ON THE EDGE On the Edge with Gerald Celente
    • THE TRUTH ABOUT MARKETS [TaM370] The Truth About Markets – 21 July 2012 Download show HERE (mp3)
    • Donate to ResonanceFM here!


  • ANTIWAR RADIO with Scott Horton
    antiwarradio.jpg LIVE (9-11am Pacific, 12pm - 2pm Eastern) Plenty of archives too!
    Listen at antiwar.com/radio
    Pepe Escobar June 30, 2012: Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses his article “Syria and Turkey’s Phantom War;” Turkey’s violation of Syrian airspace in a purposeful, measured provocation and test of Syria’s defenses; the near-invocation of NATO Article 5 and a wider war (an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all); looking for ways to bypass the UN on Syria, since China and Russia won’t let an interventionist resolution pass the Security Council; grand plans for NATO expansion in the official “Assured Security, Dynamic Engagement” plan; counterrevolutions in the Middle East and South America, as the US looks to rebuild its portfolio of client states; and how Qatar has become the new superpower in the Middle East, surpassing even Saudi Arabia.
    SCOTT HORTON July 5, 2012: Scott says goodbye to Antiwar.com. Scott Horton is the former host of Antiwar Radio. Visit his blog Stress. Due to budget cuts Scott lost his gig at AntiWarRadio.com! Whoa! See ScottHortonShow.com for archives! Send emails to Scott at scotthorton.org to help Scott keep his podcast going!
    • Many more interviews at Antiwar Radio!


  • fauxnews
    • Senator Dianne Feinstein, a staunch supporter of gun control
    • Senator Ron Johnson, a gun rights advocate
    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

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