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Weekend News Digest

ek hornbeck — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:59:50 GMT

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 CIT talks to bondholders; bankruptcy still feared
By Paritosh Bansal and Jennifer Ablan, Reuters
Sat Jul 18, 9:22 am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - CIT Group Inc is in talks with a group of bondholders for $2 billion to $3 billion in rescue financing as it tries hard to avoid bankruptcy, a source close to the company said late on Friday.

Bankruptcy is possible if these talks fail, and CIT, a 101-year-old lender that services nearly one million small- and mid-sized businesses, is also exploring the possibility of getting debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, the source said.

The focus of talks turned to the bondholders after earlier negotiations with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc about short-term financing out of court did not result in a deal, the source said.

2 Iran hardliners round on Rafsanjani in election row
By Fredrik Dahl and Hashem Kalantari, Reuters
Sat Jul 18, 9:46 am ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian hardliners hit back at former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Saturday for criticizing the conduct of last month's election and its aftermath, highlighting deepening establishment divisions.

An editor seen as close to Iran's top authority said Rafsanjani was backing "law-breakers," a reference to opposition protesters, and a senior cleric accused him of creating rifts in the Islamic Republic and hinted he should face legal action.

In apparent defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Rafsanjani said in a sermon on Friday that many Iranians had doubts about the official result of the June 12 vote, which showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won.

3 Episcopal Church moves toward blessing gay unions
Reuters
Fri Jul 17, 8:13 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. Episcopal Church gave its clergy the go-ahead on Friday to bless some same-sex unions, such as civil partnerships in states that legally recognize them, setting the stage for further conflict with the wider Anglican world.

The resolution, passed on the final day of the church's triennial national convention, also directs church leaders to develop official rites, or liturgies, for the blessing of same-sex unions -- a move that could see the church eventually change its definition of marriage.

For now, the church's official definition of marriage is a union between a man and a woman. The same-sex rites called for on Friday will be discussed and voted on at the next general church conference in three years.

4 Official: US may create terror interrogation unit
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
47 mins ago

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is considering creating a special unit of professional interrogators to handle key terror suspects, focusing on intelligence-gathering rather than building criminal cases for prosecution, a government official said Saturday.

The recommendation is expected from a presidential task force on interrogation methods that plans to send some findings to the White House on Tuesday.

The official said the panel, which has not completed its work, has concluded that the unit of intelligence and law enforcement agencies should be created. The task force is unsure which agencies should have a role, though the CIA and FBI are expected to be important players, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the panel's work and spoke on condition of anonymity.

5 Obama: Don't squander chance to reform health care
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jul 18, 11:39 am ET

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama told the nation Saturday that his health care overhaul is financially sound and Congress should not squander the chance to make meaningful change. Republicans didn't relent in their criticism of his plan as a costly burden unwisely on a fast track.

For a sixth straight day, Obama sought to keep the focus on his chief domestic priority in the face of mounting resistance on Capitol Hill, including conservative Democrats. White House officials are worried they face a tougher road to passage than anticipated.

"This is what the debate in Congress is all about: whether we'll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more families and businesses go under and more Americans lose their coverage," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "Or whether we'll seize this opportunity - one we might not have again for generations - and finally pass health insurance reform this year, in 2009."

6 Clinton defends US demands for anti-terror help
By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
37 mins ago

MUMBAI, India - Off the injured list and back on the world stage, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday gave an impassioned defense of American demands that India and other countries do more to tackle terrorism and global warming.

Opening a three-day visit to India, Clinton sought to emphasize common interests, symbolized by the terrorist attacks in this seaside city last November that killed 166 people. "It must be stopped," she said, adding that the United States cannot do it alone.

Part of the backdrop to Clinton's visit is a sense of unease among Indians that the Obama administration is focusing more on its anti-terror campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan, at the expense of attention to the world's largest democracy.

7 Honduras crisis talks start, shadowed by ultimatum
By MARIANELA JIMENEZ, Associated Press Writer
13 mins ago

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Crucial talks to resolve the leadership crisis in Honduras began Saturday following an ultimatum from ousted President Manuel Zelaya that appeared to leave little room for compromise.

Delegates of both sides arrived at the home of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who is mediating the U.S.-backed negotiations.

"The international community has given their unanimous support to this mediation hoping that the Honduran conflict can be solved through diplomatic means and the paths of peace," Arias said.

8 People do good deeds as Mandela birthday gift
By MICHELLE THERIAULT, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 41 mins ago

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Nelson Mandela's fans celebrated the anti-apartheid icon's 91st birthday Saturday by emulating him with good deeds, reading to the blind, distributing blankets to the homeless or refurbishing homes for AIDS orphans.

Mandela had called on people to spend time doing good Saturday, the first Mandela Day, which his charity foundations hope will be an annual event.

South Africans collected clothing for poor children, painted schools, planted trees near Mandela's boyhood home in eastern South Africa, and renovated a building in downtown Johannesburg for people left homeless by a fire.

9 Iraq government faces claims of prisoner abuse
By DEB RIECHMANN and BUSHRA JUHI, Associated Press Writers
Sat Jul 18, 12:08 am ET

BAGHDAD - Iraqi officials outraged by the abuse of prisoners at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison are trying to contain a scandal of their own as allegations continue to surface of mistreatment inside Iraqi jails.

Accounts of Iraqis being beaten with clubs, blindfolded and coerced into signing false confessions are attracting increased attention partly because the United States is getting out of the prison business in Iraq. Since a security agreement took effect Jan. 1, the U.S. has transferred 841 detainees into Iraq's crowded prison system and more are on the way.

Allegations of mistreatment have persisted since 2005, when U.S. troops raided an Interior Ministry lockup in a predominantly Shiite area of southeastern Baghdad and found scores of emaciated prisoners. The matter returned to the spotlight after the June 12 assassination of Sunni lawmaker Harith al-Obeidi, an outspoken advocate of prisoner rights.

10 Apollo astronauts relive experiences at ceremony
By JAMES HANNAH, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jul 18, 12:45 am ET

DAYTON, Ohio - It was a reunion of reunions. Twelve Apollo astronauts reminisced, traded stories and poked fun at each other Friday night as the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and moonwalk approached.

The astronauts, including first moonmen Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, attended the ceremony in which the National Aviation Hall of Fame presented the Apollo crews with the "Spirit of Flight" award for their courage and dedication.

The crowd of hundreds at the National Museum of the United States Air Force erupted in cheers when a video chronicling the space program replayed Armstrong's famous first words after stepping on the moon July 20, 1969: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

11 Powerful Iranian cleric says country in crisis
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jul 17, 11:29 pm ET

TEHRAN, Iran - In a sign of endurance for Iran's protest movement, demonstrators clashed with police Friday as one of the nation's most powerful clerics challenged the supreme leader during Muslim prayers, saying country was in crisis in the wake of a disputed election.

The turnout of tens of thousands of worshippers for former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's sermon at Tehran University and the battles with police outside represented the biggest opposition show of strength in weeks. Protesters faced fierce government suppression and hundreds were arrested following the disputed June 12 presidential election.

Outside the university, protests grew from several hundred before the sermon to thousands afterward as worshippers joined in, chanting, "death to the dictator," a reference to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

12 Bank profits not as impressive as they seem
By STEPHEN BERNARD and IEVA M. AUGSTUMS, AP Business Writers
Fri Jul 17, 11:15 pm ET

NEW YORK - The big banks are making big money again, but they won't be back to health as long as they have to deal with a recession and customers defaulting on mortgages and credit cards.

The impressive numbers included a $3 billion second-quarter profit announced Friday by Citigroup and $2.4 billion for Bank of America. They followed similarly robust earnings for Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

That the banks managed to turn a profit at all is remarkable. Just 10 months ago, many of them looked to be on the verge of collapse. The stock market staged a huge rally this week, driven by the signs of health in banking.

13 House panel to probe if CIA kept Congress in dark
By PAMELA HESS, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jul 17, 9:33 pm ET

WASHINGTON - The House Intelligence Committee said Friday it will investigate whether the CIA broke the law by not informing Congress promptly about a secret program to deploy teams of killers to target al-Qaida leaders.

Committee Chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said the hit team plan, which was never carried out, is among several intelligence operations that will be investigated as part of a broad inquiry into the CIA's handling of disclosures to Congress about its secret activities.

"I intend to make this investigation fair and thorough, and it is my goal that it will not become a distraction to the men and women of the CIA," Reyes said.

14 Woman says she feared Alamo would hurt her sister
By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer
Fri Jul 17, 9:31 pm ET

TEXARKANA, Ark. - A woman who said evangelist Tony Alamo had sexually abused her since she was 8 acknowledged to jurors Friday that she hates him, but said the reason she agreed to testify was because she is afraid he will molest her little sister.

Under cross-examination in Alamo's sex-crimes trial, the 18-year-old woman also said that FBI agents had given her some gifts and paid her cell phone bill before she appeared in court as a witness.

The woman, who testified that Alamo "married" her when she was 8 and that he started having sex with her a year later, acknowledged Friday that she hated Alamo and wanted him convicted.

15 Remains of 3 Buffalo Soldiers to be reburied in NM
By MELANIE DABOVICH, Associated Press Writer
29 mins ago

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Until a few years ago, the memory of three African American soldiers was buried beneath the sandy, desert in New Mexico, their remains left behind by the military and to the mercy of looters.

With some investigating and modern forensics, government archaeologists excavated the remains and identified them as Army Pvts. Thomas Smith, David Ford and Levi Morris. They were among the famed Buffalo Soldiers, African-American members of the U.S. Army who served at remote outposts on the Western frontier.

On July 28, more than 130 years since their deaths, they will finally be laid to rest with full military honors at the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

16 Same-sex couples seek immigration benefit
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 3 mins ago

WASHINGTON - Judy Rickard took an early retirement and a reduced pension so she could be assured of more time with her partner, a British citizen whose stays in the U.S. are limited to six months.

Rickard, 61, would have preferred to keep working at San Jose State University and sponsor her partner, Karin Bogliolo, for residency in the United States, just as heterosexual couples can. But U.S. law does not allow for that.

"If you're going to have a system that's designed to keep families together, it should focus on keeping families together," Rickard said.

17 Great Lakes water levels rebound after long slump
By JOHN FLESHER, AP Environmental Writer
2 hrs 47 mins ago

LUDINGTON, Mich. - Great Lakes water levels are rebounding after a decade-long slump that hammered the maritime industry and even fed conspiracy theories about plots to drain the inland seas that make up nearly one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water.

The three biggest lakes - Superior, Huron and Michigan - have risen steadily since fall 2007, when for a couple of months Superior's levels were the lowest on record and the others nearly so. Erie, shallowest of the lakes, actually exceeded its long-term average in June. So did Lake Ontario, although its level is determined more by artificial structures than nature.

The lakes follow cycles, rising and falling over time. Scientists say it's a natural process with environmental benefits, such as replenishing coastal wetlands. But extreme ups or downs can wreak havoc for people.

18 Space: Is the final frontier all it used to be?
By TED ANTHONY, AP National Writer
Sat Jul 18, 10:46 am ET

MOON, Pa. - On July 22, 1969, barely 48 hours after a human being first stepped onto the moon's surface, a community in Pittsburgh's western suburbs called Moon Township had a parade, as suburban communities do.

Understandably, Moon had achieved some notoriety in the weeks leading up to Apollo 11's lunar landing. And on this day, it named Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins honorary citizens and lowered an "astronaut" from a hovering helicopter into Moon Park.

And why not? This was a time of great joy. The Pittsburgh Press was editorializing about the "Moondust Glowing in America's Eyes." The downtown district's "Moonday" shut down offices and some businesses. The Foodland supermarket announced a sale that promised "out-of-this-world specials" to customers: "We've gone lunatic!"

Obama Begins to Fight the Status Quo and The Ruling Class

buhdydharma — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:39:41 GMT

Listen to the impatience and frustration in his voice, hahaha.

This is his issue, as I have said many times before, and the GreedMonsters who control this country and the Congress are giving him a lesson on JUST how much they will lie, cheat, bribe and propagandize in order to get what they want. No matter what the cost to The People or the country.

He is finally, to my ear, losing his naivete, and his hope of some bipartisan nirvana, and beginning to fight back. The Ruling Class is educating him on how things really work, and he is beginning to realize that if he doesn't actively fight against them and call them out (still a bit weakly, all things considered) that they will destroy him and his Presidency and Hope and Change.

Sen DeMint has said that health care is their chance to "break Obama." Maybe, perhaps, we hope....Obama has realized he is going to have to break THEM just to survive and have a vital Presidency. Maybe he is starting to realize the viciousness and the Rules Of Class War

Let's hope he learns the lesson well and will become the President we need in these times.

A President who will fight, not just accommodate. Let's hope that this is just the beginning.

Iceland applies for EU membership

Magnifico — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:35:41 GMT

Wasting no time acting upon the Althingi vote, Reuters reports Iceland hands in application to join EU.

"The (Icelandic) ambassador to Sweden has met with the secretary of state and has handed in to him the application of accession to the EU," said Urdur Gunnarsdottir.

Iceland's formal application letter (pdf) states, "The Government of Iceland has the honour to present hereby, in conformity with Article 49 of the Treaty of European Union, the application of the Republic of Iceland for membership of the European Union."

Yesterday, Iceland's parliament, the Althingi, voted to start membership talks with the European Union. The vote was 33-28 with two members abstaining. ForexTV reported the vote was seen as a victory for Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, "who has been pushing for joining the EU and the adoption of the euro as the recession-hit country's currency."
Reacting to the yesterday's vote, Alda Kalda of The Iceland Weather Report blog, wrote:

There is massive controversy over the issue, even within the individual parties, and a part of the problem has been that the two parties in the coalition government...
A number of amendments were put forth about the resolution, that were debated ad nauseum before the actual voting on the main issue began. One was an amendment proposal by the IP that there should be a double referendum - i.e. that there should be a national referendum about whether or not to enter into talks at all and, if that were passed, another on whether the EU agreement should be accepted. Personally I think this was the IP's attempt to bring down the government - had this proposal been accepted, it would have meant an effective collapse of the coalition, paving the way for the IP to return to power. [Which to many of us is an unthinkable nightmare.] So that was very tense - and the relief palpable [at least Chez YT] when the outcome was announced.
More on this later, perhaps - but the bottom line is that this is a historic day for Iceland and - we hope - an auspicious one.

The Telegraph, reporting on the EU application vote, quoted Bjarni Benediktsson, the leader of the now-minority Independence Party as saying, "There are no credible reasons for Icelanders to give away full control of their natural resources." (The IP facilitated and presided over Iceland's economic collapse. The IP-led government was forced to resign and was replaced after a national election.)

When I last wrote about Iceland in January, I concluded talk of EU membership for Iceland was "premature". No more. The question now becomes when, not if Iceland will join the EU. Icelanders will need to address several obstacles before it becomes EU's 28th member.

One such issue is the failed Icelandic banks and the country's economic collapse. The "unpopular Icesave agreement" according to Eirikur Bergmann, professor in political science and director of Centre for European Studies at the Bifrost University in Iceland. In a 'Comment is free' piece at The Guardian, he writes:

Most economists now agree that it's virtually impossible to stabilise Iceland's tiny currency: the euro is therefore luring Iceland in to the EU at this point. There is, however, a twist to the story: the recently signed agreement with the UK and Holland over the Icesave accounts could still halt Iceland's EU membership process and even kill off the newly established government if refused by the parliament.
Not since the old treaty of 1262, when Iceland came under Norwegian rule, has an agreement proved so unpopular. Many Icelanders feel that the Icesave agreement has been forced up on them by the powerful UK government, which has used its influences in international institutions such as the IMF to block Iceland from receiving foreign help in this ongoing crisis.

There will be other issues as well. Bloomberg News reports Iceland's EU Bid May Stumble Over Fish, Farming, Public Opinion.

he Icelandic government's bid for European Union membership may stumble over agriculture and fisheries and its ability to convince islanders to back entry, political scientist Einar Mar Thordarson said...
"The primary hurdle will be the EU's fisheries and agricultural policy, which might cause intense debate between Iceland and the bloc," said Thordarson of the University of Iceland by phone from Reykjavik. "We shouldn't forget that Icelanders are narrowly divided on membership. It's not a given that a membership deal will be approved in a referendum."

I think the EU should insist that Iceland end its whaling. In June, EUbusiness reported that Kristjan Loftsson, the 66-year-old CEO of Hvalur hf, the Icelandic whaling company, thought EU membership will kill whale hunting in Iceland. "Loftsson said Iceland should stay out of the EU, not in the interests of whale hunters but in the interest of the country's fishing industry as a whole." Loftsson thinks Icelanders should reject EU membership over whaling and fishing concerns. "I think the Icelandic people are sufficiently well-informed to say 'No' to Europe," Loftsson said.

Bloomberg News quotes a May 2009 poll that found only 39 percent of Icelanders wanted to join the EU while 38.6 were opposed. However, "When asked whether Iceland should begin accession talks, 60 percent said they were in favor while 27 percent were opposed."

"For the past 10 years, Icelanders have been divided into three groups, 40 percent favor membership, 40 percent oppose membership and 20 percent are undecided," said Thordarson.

Still despite the obstacles in Iceland's way there are those in the EU, as I noted in January, that desire a speedy entry to the EU for Iceland. AFP notes "Iceland is already a member of the European Economic Area and as such has applied many of the EU 'acquis' or legislation, which should guarantee speedy entry." The current Icelandic government "hopes to join within three years."

If Iceland does join the EU, it would leave Norway as the only Nordic member of the EEA outside of the EU. Iceland Review_Online quotes Ingrid Skjoetskift, a Norwegian journalist, who covers EU matters, as predicting that a possible Icelandic membership is unlikely to change Norwegian minds. But, how the EU reconciles Iceland's whaling and fishing issues with membership may ultimately persuade Norwegians.

"However, I think the discussion will start to evolve more around facts when it is clear what Iceland's membership agreement will look like. The fishing industry is key. It was the main reason for Norway rejecting membership in the 1972 referendum and had considerable weight in 1994 [when Norway rejected membership for the second time]," Skjoetskift said.

That change may be years away. Now, the Iceland is tasked with negotiating with the EU to find a way to reconcile the differences between them. Iceland is motivated and has to gain the euro and the stability that could come with EU membership. Iceland will need to show to the EU, I think, how it will strengthen and improve the EU. Enlargement, just for the sake of getting bigger, is not reason enough. More members may further handicap the EU politically, I think.

To conclude, I'll again quote Alda, my favorite Icelandic blogger on Iceland's EU membership appliation:

Anyway, personally I am very relieved that the EU matter is now out of the way and that we can now get on with membership negotiations. Then, when they're on the table, we can decide in a referendum whether or not we want to join. [They better not reneg on that promise!] And I must say I'm impressed by the new government for getting a move on and checking this matter off their agenda in such an efficient way.

In another six months time, I wonder how far (and fast) Iceland has progressed toward becoming the newest member of the EU.

^{Cross-posted from European Tribune.}

First Amdendment Friday 11 - Bartnicki V Vopper.

Something The Dog Said — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:48:45 GMT

Happy Friday and welcome to the 11th in the Dog's First Amendment Friday series. This series is following the syllabus for the class called The First Amendment and taught at Yale Law School by Professor Jack M. Balkin. As with the Friday Constitutional series this is a layman's look at the Law, specifically the Supreme Court opinions which have shaped the boundaries of our 1st Amendment Protections. If you are interested in the previous installments you can find them at the links below:

This week we look at a privacy case that runs aground of the First Amendment via the publishing of illegally intercepted cell phone conversation.

The Case

Kane and Bartnicki, two union negotiators sued a Mr. Vopper for playing an illegally recorded cell phone conversation where they discussed the nature of negotiations and tactics they might employ. The plaintiffs sued under State and Federal statutes prohibiting the revelation of private conversations.

The Facts

In 1993 a contract was concluded through non-binding arbitration which was generally considered to be favorable to the teachers. After the contract was concluded a Mr. Vopper, a local radio show host who had been critical of the teachers unions demands, played a cell phone conversation on the air. This conversation was between the plaintiffs and disclosed their feelings about the negotiations and tactics, including a strike proposal.

The tape had been given to Mr. Vopper by a Mr. Jack Yocum the head of the local tax payers association anonymously. Mr. Yocum had received it in his mail box with no identifying information. Since there was no legal way to obtain this conversation, the plaintiffs sued for invasion of privacy. They included Mr. Yocum as well as other radio stations and newspapers who printed transcripts of the conversation.

The Procedural History

The defendants offered three arguments against the case, first off that they had not violated the statute since they had nothing to do with the interception; second the conversation might have been inadvertently intercepted and therefore would not be illegal; that the First Amendment Protected them from liability.

Both sides filed for summary judgment in the District Court. The Court found the disclosure of information which is known or should be known to be illegally obtained violates the actual language of the statue, and rejected that argument. The Court found for the defendants that the plaintiffs would have to prove it was illegally obtained, but said that the content gave some indication of intent. The Court rejected the First Amendment argument based on the fact the statute was content neutral, meaning it was not an attempt to suppress speech some might find objectionable and so was Constitutional.

This was appealed to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Appellate Court found that while the law was content neutral, the statutes went too far, and deterred speech more than was strictly necessary to protect privacy interests. In a 2 to 1 decision Court found for the defendants. However the dissenting Judge used a test from the DC District to find against. The Supreme Court accepted the case to resolve the dispute between the cases.

The Legal Issues

Does the State have the right to punish the disclosure of illegally obtained information, if the publisher was not involved in the illegal act of obtaining the information?

Does the public interest in an issue trump the citizen's interest in privacy?

The Majority Opinion, by Justice Stevens

Justice Stevens starts by accepting the plaintiffs contention the conversation was intercepted illegally and that the subsequent disclosure violated the State and Federal statues on this. He also accepts the premise that under both statutes there were entitled to damages from each of the defendants. This confines the issue before the Court to whether the application of these statutes is in this case violates the First Amendment.

Justice Stevens writes:

In this case, the basic purpose of the statute at issue is to "protec[t] the privacy of wire[, electronic,] and oral communications." S. Rep. No. 1097, 90th Cong., 2d Sess., 66 (1968). The statute does not distinguish based on the content of the intercepted conversations, nor is it justified by reference to the content of those conversations. Rather, the communications at issue are singled out by virtue of the fact that they were illegally intercepted-by virtue of the source, rather than the subject matter.
On the other hand, the naked prohibition against disclosures is fairly characterized as a regulation of pure speech. Unlike the prohibition against the "use" of the contents of an illegal interception in ?2511(1)(d),subsection (c) is not a regulation of conduct. It is true that the delivery of a tape recording might be regarded as conduct, but given that the purpose of such a delivery is to provide the recipient with the text of recorded statements, it is like the delivery of a handbill or a pamphlet, and as such, it is the kind of "speech" that the First Amendment protects. As the majority below put it, "[i]f the acts of 'disclosing' and 'publishing' information do not constitute speech, it is hard to imagine what does fall within that category, as distinct from the category of expressive conduct." 200 F.3d, at 120.

Here the Justice is laying out the point they will decide, does the regulation disclosure of private speech which has as its content an issue of public interest become protected speech, regardless of the way that private conversation was obtained.

He goes on to discuss New York Times V United States, which is the Pentagon Papers case where stolen documents about the Vietnam war were given to a NYT reporter and published.

Justice Stevens:

The question here, however, is a narrower version of that still-open question. Simply put, the issue here is this: "Where the punished publisher of information has obtained the information in question in a manner lawful in itself but from a source who has obtained it unlawfully, may the government punish the ensuing publication of that information based on the defect in a chain?" Boehner, 191 F.3d, at 484-485 (Sentelle, J., dissenting).
Snip
The Government identifies two interests served by the statute-first, the interest in removing an incentive for parties to intercept private conversations, and second, the interest in minimizing the harm to persons whose conversations have been illegally intercepted. We assume that those interests adequately justify the prohibition in ?2511(1)(d) against the interceptor's own use of information that he or she acquired by violating ?2511(1)(a), but it by no means follows that punishing disclosures of lawfully obtained information of public interest by one not involved in the initial illegality is an acceptable means of serving those ends.

What the Justice is saying here is that there is no reasonable prohibition on disclosing information, even illegally collected information, if you are not the one who collected it illegally, as long as it is a matter of public interest. Basically Justice Stevens is reading the law very, very narrowly here and using the fact the Congress did not detail this particular situation in its statute to find the defendants are in the clear, since they did not collect the conversation, they merely disclosed it once it was given to them.

He goes on to make the argument that the interest in privacy by the State and so they the plaintiffs should be protected. He takes this apart by using the test of public interest. Justice Steven writes:

In this case, privacy concerns give way when balanced against the interest in publishing matters of public importance. As Warren and Brandeis stated in their classic law review article: "The right of privacy does not prohibit any publication of matter which is of public or general interest." The Right to Privacy, 4 Harv. L. Rev. 193, 214 (1890). One of the costs associated with participation in public affairs is an attendant loss of privacy.
"Exposure of the self to others in varying degrees is a concomitant of life in a civilized community. The risk of this exposure is an essential incident of life in a society which places a primary value on freedom of speech and of press. 'Freedom of discussion, if it would fulfill its historic function in this nation, must embrace all issues about which information is needed or appropriate to enable the members of society to cope with the exigencies of their period.' " Time, Inc. v. Hill, 385 U.S., at 388 (quoting Thornhill v. Alabama,

The basic idea is that even though the Union officials were on a cell phone with reasonable expectations of privacy, since they were talking about something the public had an interest in, when their privacy was violated; they have no recourse, since it was a public issue. The Dog hates this reasoning.

The majority affirmed the finding of the 3rd Circuit that the defendants were in the clear since the statutes both Federal and State violated the First Amendment.

The Dissent

Chief Justice Rehnquist starts out by pointing out the history of the law and how the fact that not knowing who might be listening to our conversations is an egregious violation of our privacy. He then makes his primary argument:

The Court holds that all of these statutes violate the First Amendment insofar as the illegally intercepted conversation touches upon a matter of "public concern," an amorphous concept that the Court does not even attempt to define. But the Court's decision diminishes, rather than enhances, the purposes of the First Amendment: chilling the speech of the millions of Americans who rely upon electronic technology to communicate each day.

Justice Rehnquist's point is that if there is no way to prevent the disclosure of private conversations, even if they are about matters of public interest, then it will in effect make people self censor when they are on cell phones.

He goes on to point out the problem is not that the conversation was disclosed but that it was obtained illegally and then disclosed.

The antidisclosure provision is based solely upon the manner in which the conversation was acquired, not the subject matter of the conversation or the viewpoints of the speakers. The same information, if obtained lawfully, could be published with impunity. Cf. Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart, 467 U.S. 20, 34 (1984) (upholding under intermediate scrutiny a protective order on information acquired during discovery in part because "the party may disseminate the identical information ... as long as the information is gained through means independent of the court's processes"). As the concerns motivating strict scrutiny are absent, these content-neutral restrictions upon speech need pass only intermediate scrutiny.

The point the Chief Justice is making is that the High Court has used the wrong level of test on the statutes. Intermediate scrutiny is used when there a very important government interest and it is furthered by substantially related means. The Majority used strict scrutiny as the test, since they find the First Amendment protections on speech of public interest to trump the value of privacy.

He goes on to discuss how 40 States as well as the Congress felt the need for private discussions to stay private (within reasonable restrictions) was an important government interest, as a free people must be able to discuss issues of great moment with each other and not have it made public, as part of the decision making process all citizens should engage in.

These statutes undeniably protect this venerable right of privacy. Concomitantly, they further the First Amendment rights of the parties to the conversation. "At the heart of the First Amendment lies the principle that each person should decide for himself or herself the ideas and beliefs deserving of expression, consideration, and adherence." Turner Broadcasting,. By "protecting the privacy of individual thought and expression," United States v. United States Dist. Court for Eastern Dist. of Mich., (1972), these statutes further the "uninhibited, robust, and wide-open" speech of the private parties, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, (1964).

He then concludes his dissent with this

So there it is citizens. The Dog finds himself in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia and Thomas here. There is a very compelling need for a people to know who and what is going on public issues, but if a conversation is obtained illegally, through wiretapping, that is out of bounds. There is no interest that can be served by breaking the law. This is point the Majority missed in their zeal to defend the public's right to know on issues that confront them.

That is the Dog's point of view, what is yours, citizens?

The floor is yours.

Housekeeping; the Legal Information Institute is the source for the opinions. You can find today's case here.

Starbucks "FREE PASTRY" day?No way!

Lisa Lockwood — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:18:12 GMT

Facebook members may have noticed an ad on their homepage sidebar today. It's a Starbucks invitation to a "free pastry" day, and clicking on it takes you to the Starbuck's facebook page where you can RSVP whether you will be attending.

Ya, THAT Starbucks.

The one that recently (June 2009) became the most prominent sponsor of the "Morning Jo(k)e" with Jo(k)e Scarborough on MSNBC.
The funny Rethug mouthpiece who giggles into his STARBUCKS coffee cup about American torture. He thinks torture is a hoot, a frat boy prank, a useful tool, and is keeping 'mericans safe.

Apparently, Starbucks does not disagree.
Facebook members have a chance to tell Starbucks how we really feel about their choice of product placement. About the "humor" lacking in all things torture. About how wrong Jo(k)e Scarborough is, and how offensive laughing about torture over Starbuck's coffee on national TV is.

My RSVP says:

As a VERY prominent sponsor of the Morning Jo(k)e/Joe Scarborough show, I can't in good conscience patronize Starbucks.
I don't support companies who apparently agree with laughing Joe S, who has loudly proclaimed that American torture is just dandy, and giggles about it whenever he has the chance.

Here's the Facebook LINKY to the Starbucks RSVP page.

Go yell louder!

Why "church" works

CrustyPolemicist — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:37:40 GMT

I've been thinking a lot recently about what (from my rabid-atheist perspective) appears to be a firm grip by the churches of America on those who attend church. I'm beginning to understand something: it isn't that the church has a grip on the parishioners, it's that the parishioners have a grip on the church. See, down here in the US South, "church" isn't just a building you go to one hour a week, it's the centerpiece of the local people's entire culture. It's where you see your friends and neighbors, it's where your kids go when they're Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts (you'd be amazed how many Scout troops are hosted in church basements), it's where at least two people I know met and wooed their spouses (and where at least one person I know met the person he cheated on his wife with), and at the end of it all, it's where the living go to bury their dead, knowing with certainty that they too will someday be buried there next to generations of their own people. Vacation trips, charity drives, study groups, knitting circles, art classes, the church is at the center of all of it for the majority of Americans, and not just down here in the South.

What do we secularists have to offer in place of this richness? The sad, barren truth, without even the dubious comfort of an uppercase "T" on the word? The truth that there is no God and when you're dead, you're dead and you'll never see your loved ones again? And we wonder why we have, shall we say, a bit of a "PR problem".

Secular humanism will overcome "church" the day that secular humanism offers something better. And to be perfectly blunt, "the truth about how the world is" just isn't perceived by most people as "better". We need more than just "the truth", much more. I'm not sure that secularism as currently constituted even has the potential to replace "church", if for no other reason than the fact that it simply isn't set up structurally to answer the same set of human needs that "church" answers.

Docudharma Times Saturday July 18

mishima — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:30:00 GMT

Saturday's Headlines:

Democrats Grow Wary as Health Bill Advances

U.S. judge ends federal oversight of the LAPD

Iran: Words to heed

Rafsanjani calls on Iran to release protesters

Chechen President hits back over claim he ordered activist's murder

US firm averts French explosion

Jakarta bombers may have been guests at Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, police say

Q&A: What is Jemaah Islamiyah?

World celebrates as South Africa's Mandela turns 91

Post-coup Mauritania election begins

America's Iconic TV News Anchor Shaped the Medium and the Nation
WALTER CRONKITE 1916-2009
By Bart Barnes and Joe Holley
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Walter Cronkite, America's preeminent television journalist of the 1960s and 1970s who as anchor and managing editor of "CBS Evening News" played a primary role in establishing television as the dominant national news medium of that era, died last night at age 92.
CBS Vice President Linda Mason said Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. with his family by his side at his home in New York after a long illness. He had been suffering from cerebrovascular disease, his family said recently.

In Pakistan, Skardu is suffering backlash of Taliban violence
Residents of the beautiful town of Skardu say the violence roiling other parts of Pakistan is keeping foreigners away. Climbing expeditions are down by half in the area that's home to K2.
By Mark Magnier
July 18, 2009
Reporting from Skardu, Pakistan -- Psst -- don't tell anyone, but there's still another part of Pakistan, an oasis of striking beauty all but free of the turmoil, Taliban militancy, suicide bombers and security fears that have gripped much of the rest of the country.
Clocks here in Skardu in northern Pakistan, an hour's flight from Islamabad, may display the same time as their counterparts in the capital, or in Lahore and Karachi. But the slow pace, tranquillity and welcoming of outsiders are more befitting of a long-gone age when traders on horseback plied the nearby Karakoram Highway.
"Someday maybe all of Pakistan will be as peaceful as this," said Abdul Munim, 29, a businessman from Islamabad who has spent much of the last year building cellphone towers in the isolated region more than 7,000 feet above sea level. "There's no fear, no danger of going outside, nothing but quiet."

USA

Democrats Grow Wary as Health Bill Advances
News Analysis
By ROBERT PEAR and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: July 17, 2009
WASHINGTON - Three of the five Congressional committees working on legislation to reinvent the nation's health care system delivered bills this week along the lines proposed by President Obama. But instead of celebrating their success, many Democrats were apprehensive, nervous and defensive.
Even as Democratic leaders and the White House insisted that the nation was closer than ever to landmark changes in the health care system, they faced basic questions about whether some of their proposals might do more harm than good.
And while senior Democrats vowed to press ahead to meet Mr. Obama's deadline of having both chambers pass bills before the summer recess, some in their ranks, nervous about the prospect of raising taxes or proceeding without any Republican support, were pleading to slow down.

U.S. judge ends federal oversight of the LAPD
Saying that the department has reformed itself significantly, the judge ends the consent decree that had been imposed in the wake of the 2001 Rampart corruption scandal.
By Joel Rubin
July 18, 2009
Declaring that the Los Angeles Police Department has reformed itself significantly after decades of corruption and brutality complaints, a U.S. judge on Friday ended a long-running period of federal oversight.
U.S. District Court Judge Gary A. Feess terminated the consent decree federal officials had imposed on the LAPD in 2001, after the Rampart corruption scandal. The decree required the department to undertake dozens of wide-ranging reforms meant to tighten internal checks on officers' conduct and subjected the department to rigorous audits by a monitor who reported to Feess.
In freeing the LAPD, Feess and his monitor, Michael Cherkasky, acknowledged improvements.
"When the decree was entered, LAPD was a troubled department whose reputation had been severely damaged by a series of crises," Feess wrote in his ruling released early Friday evening. "In 2008, as noted by the monitor, 'LAPD has become the national and international policing standard for activities that range from audits to handling of the mentally ill to many aspects of training to risk assessment of police officers and more.' "

Middle East

Iran: Words to heed

The Guardian, Saturday 18 July 2009
Friday prayers at Tehran University normally serve as a showcase for the regime. It was from this pulpit that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told the hundreds of thousands protesting about the stolen election a month ago to stay off the streets. Mass protest and more bloodshed ensued. Yesterday's prayers were anything but a platform for either the supreme leader or his doomed president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who stayed well away.
One of the ayatollah's bitterest rivals, the influential cleric and former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, was in the pulpit. Mir Hossein Mousavi, the candidate who claimed to have beaten Mr Ahmadinejad, was in the front row. Mehdi Karroubi, the reformist cleric, was also there. Mr Rafsanjani's words may not have been carried live on state TV, but they got out soon enough on radio, the blogosphere and Twitter in Persian and English. Together, the three men now form a public and formidable opposition bloc.

Rafsanjani calls on Iran to release protesters
Influential cleric's sermon issues challenge to Supreme Leader and President
By Patrick Cockburn
Saturday, 18 July 2009
The political crisis over Iran's disputed election has flared up once again as the powerful cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a sermon criticising the repression of protesters claiming the poll was rigged.
Police fired tear gas as tens of thousands of government opponents chanted "Freedom, freedom" and "Ahmadinejad, resign, resign" while they listened to the sermon in the prayer hall of Tehran University.
Sitting in the front row was Mirhossein Mousavi, the defeated opposition presidential candidate, in his first official public appearance since the June vote.

Europe

Chechen President hits back over claim he ordered activist's murder
Kadyrov plans to sue Natalaya Estemirova's human rights group
By Shaun Walker in Moscow
Saturday, 18 July 2009
First Russia's small and beleaguered human rights community received the news that the activist Natalya Estemirova had been abducted and murdered. Yesterday, the strongman President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who many believe was linked to the killing, added insult to that injury when he said that he planned to sue the campaigning organisation of which she was a member in order to "defend his dignity".
It was another blow for Memorial, the organisation that supported Ms Estemirova in her work exposing human rights abuses in Chechnya. It came after Oleg Orlov, the group's head, said on Thursday: "I know who is guilty of Natalya's murder. His name is Ramzan Kadyrov."

US firm averts French explosion

US firm averts French explosion
Gas bottles have been placed around the New Fabris site
A threat to blow up another French factory has not been defused
A US construction equipment firm has agreed to pay extra compensation to French workers who had threatened to explode gas canisters at their plant.
The BBC
Staff at JLG Industries in Tonneins, south-western France, made the threat in order to get better redundancy terms for 53 workers.
It is the third such incident in which workers have threatened violence against employers.
Elsewhere, French workers have taken managers hostage in "boss-nappings".
The French Employment Minister, Laurent Wauquiez, described the tactics as "blackmail".
In the JLG deal, the 53 affected workers were each guaranteed 30,000 euros (?26,000; $42,000) in severance pay.
JLG Industries is a subsidiary of the US company Oshkosh, which makes cranes and work platforms.

Asia

Jakarta bombers may have been guests at Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, police say
From The Times
July 18, 2009
Michel Maas in Jakarta and Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor
Suicide bombers posing as hotel guests are believed to have been responsible for the explosions in two hotels that killed at least eight people in Jakarta yesterday and wounded more than 50, in the first such attack in Indonesia for almost four years. Bleeding victims, some of them foreign businessmen who, moments earlier, had been engaged in breakfast meetings, limped or crawled out of the JW Marriott hotel and the neighbouring Ritz-Carlton in Jakarta's Mega Kuningan business district after the explosions, which came two minutes apart, shortly before 8am.
Footage from a security camera at the Ritz-Carlton showed a suited man wearing a baseball cap and carrying a backpack and a wheeled suitcase entering the hotel's first-floor restaurant just before the explosion, which killed two people.

Q&A: What is Jemaah Islamiyah?
Friday's terror attack in Jakarta puts the Al Qaeda-linked Indonesian militant group back in spotlight.
By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the July 18, 2009 edition
It will probably be some days before any kind of official confirmation is available on who was behind the coordinated attacks on the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on Friday.
But the only group to carry out high profile attacks on Western targets in Indonesia's capital in the past has been the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), and most analysts expect the attackers will be found to be part of the group's network. The JI had attacked the Jakarta Marriott once before, killing 20 people there with a suicide car bomb in 2003.
Counter-terrorism efforts in Indonesia and in neighboring countries where the groups members have operated - Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines have all arrested JI members on their own soil - had proven successful until now. Friday's attack was the first terrorist incident in the country in four years.
Is it possible that another wave of JI attacks are in the offing?

Africa

World celebrates as South Africa's Mandela turns 91
By Sibongile Khumalo (AFP)

JOHANNESBURG - Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, turns 91 on Saturday with a call for community service and celebrations from New York's Madison Square Garden to downtown Johannesburg.
The increasingly frail former statesman who is affectionately called Madiba, his clan name, has been inundated by messages of goodwill, from multinational companies to ordinary South Africans.
But the Nobel peace laureate will spend the day at home with his family and close friends.
This year's birthday marks the inaugural Mandela Day, initiated by his charitable foundation in honour of the much-loved icon who became president in 1994.
People around the world are being urged to dedicate 67 minutes of their day to volunteer for community service.
The number reflects the number of years since Mandela dedicated his life to the struggle for equality in South Africa, as he joined the ruling African National Congress in 1942.

Post-coup Mauritania election begins

By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer
NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania - A former military general who ousted this Islamic nation's first freely elected president is vying to become its legitimate ruler in elections Saturday to return power to civilian rule.
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who toppled former President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in August, is a front-runner among nine candidates on the ballot. Voting opened Saturday morning and were due to close 12 hours later.
Aziz resigned from the army post and the junta he led in April so he could run as a civilian. But Abdallahi's overthrow made clear the military wields real power, no matter who is president.
The vote epitomizes a half-century-old struggle still being waged across Africa against the ever-strong reign of autocratic strongmen. At stake is whether Mauritania can really turn its back on an era of military rule, while at the same time taking a hard line against an encroaching al-Qaida presence in the region.

Ignoring Asia A Blog

Late Night Karaoke

mishima — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Open Thread

Random Japan

mishima — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Official business
The National Consumer Affairs Center warned that "germanium bracelets" being marketed as health products online do not, as claimed, "relieve fatigue and smooth blood flow."
The Financial Services Agency suspended the retail operations of Citibank Japan for 30 days after the US-based bank failed to enact proper anti-money laundering procedures.
The government is said to be mulling the creation of a centrally funded sports agency that would be responsible for "nurturing future top athletes, supporting international competitions and promoting company-sponsored events."
A 56-year-old cop in Kitakyushu who was busted for DWI told officers that he was on his way back from gambling on boat races and that he had drunk "one bottle of beer and two glasses of shochu" with breakfast.
The finance ministry announced that it will issue a pair of commemorative coins to mark the 20th anniversary of Emperor Akihito assuming the throne. A ?10,000 coin made of pure gold will feature images of a phoenix and Nijubashi Bridge, while a ?500 version made of nickel and brass will be stamped with chrysanthemums on the front and back.

STATS
472,000
Number of application forms for the government's kyufukin stimulus program that have been returned to municipalities as undeliverable
398
Baseball caps seized by police at the homes of two men arrested for burglarizing a local high school in Saga Prefecture
2.04 million
Number of people who applied to take the national abacus certification exam in 1980
200,000
Number of applicants last year

News of the bizarre
A Japanese man who spent 56 years in China while suffering from amnesia caused by a bullet wound during World War II has died at age 97. Toshiro Ishida passed away in Akita Prefecture, where he had been living since returning to Japan in 1993.
The controversial "mosquito whine" device installed in a park in Adachi-ku to deter young 'uns from loitering and committing acts of vandalism is not having the intended effect: officials found a hole in a female restroom that was likely caused by a baseball bat, and the remains of several bottle rockets were discovered nearby.
It was reported that local governments hit hard by the recession are finding an alternative revenue stream in online auctions. Items on the block have included "a hearse, a Batman figure and nude-photo books."
A 62-year-old Ibaraki man who filed lawsuits against loan agencies on behalf of four indigent clients was arrested after it was discovered he was a scrivener, not a lawyer.
Residents of Uruma in Okinawa marked the 50th anniversary of the crash of a US fighter jet into a local elementary school. It's said that the incident, in which 11 students were killed and over 150 injured, galvanized opposition to the US control over Okinawa. The pilot of the jet ejected to safety.
Toyota unveiled an electric wheelchair that's operated entirely by the brain waves of its occupant.
An elementary school teacher and his wife who were arrested for secretly filming women in a public toilet in Yokohama said that they "did it for fun."

Need A Crime Wave?

See The Economy
Those Darn

Foreigners
Toilets, Trains, Juku Teacher

Arrested
My first run-in with the police
Cycling is a big part of my life here in Japan, so big in fact that I own two bikes, one I keep at the train station in the town I teach at and the other I keep at home for getting around Sendai.
I generally adhere to the rules of the road, but one recent Wednesday evening, I was riding back from Jusco with my husband when, tired, wet and hungry for the fried nastiness in my bike basket, I did the unthinkable; I cycled over a crossing on a red light. My husband protested at first. "Jesus, are you trying to kill me?" I heard from over my shoulder (it was a pretty big crossing and the roads were busy), but the light had just turned from green, so he followed me across.
We were on our merry way once more, when the next thing we know, a police car is alongside us, lights flashing, sirens screaming and "stop please" blaring out of the megaphone.
"It's because you don't have a light, "I said to my husband. We stopped and watched as two police officers, both male-one in his 30s and the other in his 50s-got out of the police car. They didn't introduce themselves, so for the sake of the narrative, let's call the younger officer Baby-face, and the older officer Ed.
"Konbanwa," said Ed..

Yakuza try matchmaking business to make ends meet
These are hard times for us all; hardest of all, says Spa! (July 21), for the yakuza. Once, organized crime bands pursued glory, as they saw it. Now it's a brute, inglorious hustle for mere survival. Nothing's beneath them, as long as it pays. Couple this fact with a surging marriage boom, and you get... yakuza infiltrating the matchmaking business? Sure enough, the magazine finds.
The buzzword is "konkatsu," meaning literally "marriage activity" and written with characters suggesting a similarity to job-hunting. Singles once content to be that way are suddenly in the market for marriage partners, and brokerages, inevitably, are springing up to meet the demand.
In a sense, it would be strange if the yakuza wasn't involved, so obvious is the potential. One lucrative undertaking Spa! looks into is the "marry-a-celebrity" scam. When 15 people, including a yakuza member, were arrested as suspects in May, it appeared that 200 men across the country had been bilked to the tune of 1 billion yen.

Overnight Caption Contest (new)

Night Owl — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:58:41 GMT

The Happiest Man In The World

davidseth — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:05:59 GMT

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
And now, for something completely different. Really. I could relentlessly, clenching my teeth, continue to pound the keyboard to rant and fulminate about the latest outrages. We all do that. Or right now I could do something else, something that might even make me smile. Which brings me directly to Daniel Goleman's lovely piece in today's New York Times, "Sitting Quietly, Doing Something," which is about "the happiest man in the world."
Some anecdotes, though the entire article is well worth your time:
I recently spent an evening with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, the Tibetan lama who has been dubbed "the happiest man in the world." True, that title has been bestowed upon at least a few extremely upbeat individuals in recent times. But it is no exaggeration to say that Rinpoche is a master of the art of well-being.
So how did he get that way? Apparently, the same way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice.

When I called him at his Manhattan hotel... he told me he was in the middle of a shower - but not in the usual sense. The shower, he told me, had run out of hot water midway. When he called the front desk, he was told to wait several minutes and there would be more hot water. In this situation, I probably would have been peeved. But as Rinpoche told me this, he was laughing and laughing.

The only momentary glitch I've witnessed - a few years back - was slapstick: he sat down in an office chair with a faulty seat that suddenly plunged several inches with a thump. Once when this chair had done the same to me I cursed and groused about it for a while. But Rinpoche just frowned for a second - and the next moment he was his upbeat self again.

Another fruit of these spiritual practices seems to be a healthy dose of humility. When Rinpoche told my wife that he was being billed as "the happiest man in the world," he laughed as though that were the funniest joke he'd ever heard.

So I'm wondering about this man. And his happiness. And my happiness. Wouldn't being this happy be incredible fun? And wouldn't I be so much more fun to be around if I were happier? And wouldn't the happiness feelings drive whatever worry and anxiety I might be feeling right out of my mind? Wouldn't everything in my life and surroundings look and feel and actually be different?
I've been a long time meditator, but unlike the great meditators whose minds are measured in laboratories, I'm sure I have nowhere near 10,000 hours of meditation. And I'd be lying if I said I was happy all of the time, or even the majority of the time. Sometimes I'm happy. Those times, sometimes, seem rare. Mostly, I think I'm in neutral. I have some equanimity. Sometimes, and I hope this is not the majority of time, like everyone, else I'm upset, afraid, depressed, anxious. I have negative feelings and emotions. Sometimes these occupy me for what seems like a long time.
So I wonder. What can I do to be more like Rinpoche? I want to be like ~~Mike~~ Rinpoche. Wouldn't that make the world a better place?
--------------
cross-posted from The Dream Antilles

Friday Night at 8: A Nickle's Worth of Visions

Nightprowlkitty — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We're headed into the dog days of summer, so no matter how rapidly events seem to appear it doesn't matter, still have to go sloooooowwwwwww.
I read somewhere in ancient Chinese lore about a soldier, he was a general, I think, some big honcho in the court of the Emperor of the time, with all that power, subject to all that intrigue and anyway, the reign of that particular Emperor ended and the soldier had to flee the palace. From various oracles and just his own intiution and supposed political genius, he knew someone would come along to restore the dynasty but it would be like 40 years or something until that happened.
So the soldier found a place to go fishing.
When he was in his 70s the young man came along who he was supposed to teach, a young man who would end up being emperor.
Well I may have this story all wrong, but that's how I remember it, and who's to say something like that never happened?
I think about that fellow, having to combine utter and complete military readiness while at the same time practicing extraordinary patience, the balance he had to strike to be ready for that one brief time in his life, when his work would be called for.
That level of awareness is, to me, indistinguishable from magic.
To be aware of the seasons and the earth and the great movements of the universe that you can no more control than a fly could drive a tractor, yet be aware as well of the shifting tides of human endeavor and your place in that endeavor. Now that must be some feeling.
And not only to be aware but to be able to act with that awareness in a way that endures.
So the soldier in the story was able to do all that.
Well I don't think we have to wait 40 years. Frankly, even someone of my limited political and strategic abilities knows it's all happening now, as I write this, really transformative times.
But still that kind of awareness resonates with me when I think about it and think about these times we are going through. In the USofA summer is reaching its zenith and it's not slow because nothing is happening but because very much is happening. The harvest is about to appear.
* * * * * * * * *
This was a long week. Happy Friday to everyone.

Friday Philosophy: Slopes of the Slippery Kind

Robyn — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Here it comes again.
At a time when the country of Pakistan, not what anyone generally conceives of as a bastion of progressive attitude on GLBT rights...Pakistan for %^&$%^'s sake...can have its Supreme Court rule that transfolk should be able to enjoy the same rights under the law as do the so-called normal people, there is a struggle in this country to even admit we are human beings, deserving of the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Or, failing those, at least the use of a bathroom.
This mostly is not what I had intended...or wanted...to write about this week. I was thinking of something more abstract, more philosophical, if you will. But, as always, news happens. Sometimes that news sounds good...like the passage by the Senate of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, aka Senate Amendment 1511 to Senate Bill 1390, aka the Defense Appropriation Bill, which is one of those things which I'd like to very much believe in but have been tricked enough in the past to have a voice in my head say, "Wait until it is signed into law."
And, in light of the situation with Don't Ask, Don't Tell, I have to admit that my irony bone is having a major seizure of some sort.
Some have pointed out that 38 states already had hate crimes protections for sexual orientation, with the insinuation that a federal law of this sort was not so urgent. I'd like to point out that only twelve of those states have hate crimes protections for transgender people.
Note: For those of you who think "sexual orientation" covers transfolk, stop it.
Along the way to the passage of the Hate Crimes Bill (which, for those of the "thought crime" mentality, adds GLBT people to the list of protected categories developed starting 40 years ago (if you are complaining only now, why is that?)), there was a telling admission by someone on the right:
This is the first time you would have written into law a government disapproval of a religious belief held by the majority of Americans-that homosexuality is sinful," says Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. "It's more of a slippery slope argument than about the law itself.
Link

So, you see, it's not that they think GLBT people shouldn't be protected from hate crimes, but rather that this "slippery slope" thing needs to be nipped in the bud...and what better way to do that than building a major chasm between normal people who deserve overly-equal rights and those people who deserve no rights at all.
Have you ever noticed that the slippery slope always pops up when abused classes of people try to assert their humanity?
My original intention was to follow that line of thinking onward. Maybe someday I can do that. But meanwhile the news from the front lines in the struggle just didn't stop.
The struggle even takes place in what are considered our most liberal states.
In Syracuse, NY, Lateisha Green's murder was judged an incidence of manslaughter instead, because, apparently, Dwight DeLee shooting her with a rifle wasn't intended to, you know, actually kill her, but just cause bodily harm. On the upside, this was judged a hate crime because DeLee was found to have done this under the impression that Ms. Green was a gay man, rather than the straight woman that she actually was. Lateisha had been living as woman for 6 years, having begun transition when she was 16.
Not so random fact:
According to the FBI, 16 percent of the roughly 9,000 hate crimes committed in 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, targeted the LGBT community. The two more common types of bias-motivated crimes, those based on race and religion, are already covered by the federal hate crimes law, adopted in 1968.

Less than random comment: Just think how much that data might be changed if law wnforcement actually counted crimes against transfolk.
In court, according to observers Lateisha Green didn't exist and the person she was before she transitioned was the "man" who was killed. Or "injured to death," as the jury concluded.
I ask once again: If a person's friends and family accept one of us, isn't that enough?
I fail to see why the prosecution had to portray Moses Cannon as a gay man rather than Lateisha Green as a straight woman. It was, after all, only an important distinction to know what the perpetrator perceived her sexual orientation to be, not what some lawyers perceived it to be. And Mr. DeLee gave that away when he called her a faggot before he shot her.
Yes, some of the people who identified him as having said that later recanted...but that may have had to do with the threats directed toward witnesses by Mr. DeLee's friends and family.

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, House Bill 1728, aka An Act relative to gender based discrimination and hate crimes, is being relabeled as "The Bathroom Bill" in order to make sure that transfolk do not gain equal rights to you other folks.
Has anyone, anywhere, ever presented a case where a transperson has committed a rape, sexual assault, or molestation of a child in a public women's restroom? I'm not saying it has never happened, but unless someone has evidence that it does, is there any reason to deny us the rights other people have based on false supposition?
Can anyone identify the fallacy in the following statement by an opponent?
This clause opens a dangerous legal loophole. Because of the bill's vague wording, any man could legally gain access to facilities normally reserved for women and girls simply by indicating, verbally or non-verbally, that he inwardly feels female at the moment. Public and charter schools and their sports teams and facilities are not exempt. This is the dangerous reality of this bill.

Anyone? Buehler? Anyone?
Can anyone show me where there has been an epidemic of men claiming to be transwomen in order to access the rights we have?
Hint: What rights?
But I am not a fool. As soon as a bill for our rights gets labeled "The Bathroom Bill," I know that the odds of it passing are virtually nil.
So I have a question. Why is it that the "slippery slope" phrase comes up most when people up at that top of that equality hill are busy pouring oil on those of us who are trying to climb that hill?
Hmmm?

Dividing Wall
Slip Sliding Away

Times...days
come and go
when you worry
about slipping
off your high perch
at the top of the cliff
you euphemistically
call a slope
that separates
you from us
I guess you worry
about ending up
where we are now
having to worry
about what we do
about having to climb
upward
to have a chance
to survive
to gain a handhold
on a place
in your society
hoping you don't
stomp on our fingers
The slippery slope
is too often
a melting cliff
of ice
maybe carved
out of your hearts
--Robyn Elaine Serven
--March 27, 2009

Goldman Sachs: The Wheel of Fortune & Blood Funnel

cosmic debris — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:52:34 GMT
Here is the wheel of fortune of our times

This map represents the connections and relationships of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Goldman Sachs International, Goldman Sachs Japan, Goldman Sachs Europe Limited, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Strategies LLC, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC
Below I will post a link to the interactive version where you can click on each of the boxes with a + sign and get more information and see even further connections. I will also post a list of all these many connections. I posted a smaller version of this wheel last night in Badabing's diary, Matt Taibbi Pulls the Rug Out on Goldman Sachs - AGAIN... and am flushing it out for you all by request. Consider this a reference. I hope others will add to it.
Here is what the wheel looks like when expanded:
And here it is in it's noctural form, the "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money". -Matt Taibbi

Here is the interactive version

or go here: Muckety
All you do is type in Goldman Sachs in the search field at the bottom, click go, and away you go!
MAP HINTS: Boxes with + signs can be expanded by doubleclicking. Solid lines are current relations. Dotted lines are former relations. For more options, right-click on a box or click on the map tools to the left. (Requires Flash)

Other Sources worth checking for stories and more background:
Goldman Sachs: Blame the Monster, Or Its Creators?
Naked Capitalism
Zero Hedge
Angry Bear
Baseline Scenario
Calculated Risk
GS at Reuters
GS news on Bloomberg
GS in the NYTimes

Taibbi's stuff
Goldmans Gianto Profits
The Great American Bubble Machine
True Slant: Matt Taibbi Blog
Bonus Videos:
John Stewart riffs on Goldman Sachs in our "Pyramid Economy"
Direct link
This in an interview on France Channel 24 with the somewhat eccentric shall we say, Max Keiser. It's a hoot and there's a lot of truth in the debate. Plus, who can resist a Frenchman who says, "Hanky Panky!"
Goldman Sachs are Scum

Part 2

And Here is the Long Long List of Connections to be found on the Wheel. Again, if you go to the interactive muckety map you can open a new wheel of relationships to each.

People related to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.:
Paul R. Aaron - partner
Sanggyun Ahn - partner
Philip S. Armstrong - partner
Dean C. Backer - managing director
Charles Baillie - partner
Stephanie Bell-Rose - managing director
Philip R. Berlinski - partner
Robert A. Berry - partner
Lloyd C. Blankfein - chairman & CEO
Oliver R. Bolitho - partner
Patrick T. Boyle - partner
Stephen Branton-Speak - partner
Anne F. Brennan - partner
Samuel S. Britton - partner
Kathleen Brown - senior adviser
John H. Bryan - director
Jason G. Cahilly - partner
Gerald J. Cardinale - managing director
Ashton B. Carter - consultant
R. Martin Chavez - partner
Martin Cher - partner
Abby Joseph Cohen - senior investment strategist
Gary D. Cohn - director, president & co-COO
Michael Cohrs - head of equity capital markets
Denis P. Coleman III - partner
Kevin P. Connors - partner
Robert M. Conway - senior adviser
Henry Cornell - managing director
E. Gerald Corrigan - managing director
James V. Covello - partner
Jeffrey R. Currie - partner
Claes Dahlback - director
Philip M. Darivoff - managing director
Alexander Dibelius - Germany unit chairman
Albert F. Dombrowski - partner
Thomas M. Dowling - partner
Walter W. Driver Jr. - chairman, southeast
L. Brooks Entwistle - partner
Stephan J. Feldgoise - partner
Laurie R. Ferber - managing director
Benjamin W. Ferguson - partner
Wolfgang Fink - partner
David B. Ford - senior director
Randy W. Frankel - managing director
Richard A. Friedman - managing director
Stephen Friedman - director
Timur F. Galen - partner
Sean J. Gallagher - partner
Gonzalo R. Garcia - partner
William W. George - director
Richard A. Gephardt - adviser
Paul E. Germain - partner
H. John Gilbertson Jr. - managing director
Gregg Gonsalves - partner
Paul Graves - partner
Bradley J. Gross - managing director
Rajat K. Gupta - director
E. Glenn Hadden - partner
Jonathan J. Hall - partner
Jan Hatzius - partner
David B. Heller - global head of equity trading
Bruce A. Heyman - partner
Martin Hintze - partner
Todd Hohman - partner
James P. Houghton - partner
Paul J. Huchro - partner
Hidehiro Imatsu - partner
Francis J. Ingrassia - investment banker
Ellen Jewett - investment banker
James A. Johnson - director
Andrew J. Jonas - partner
Chansoo Joung - managing director
Lois D. Juliber - director
Robert Steven Kaplan - senior director
Neel T. Kashkari - vice president
Robert J. Katz - senior director
Alan S. Kava - partner
Dimitrios Kavvathas - partner
Larry M. Kellerman - partner
Kevin W. Kennedy - managing director
Thomas J. Kenny - managing director
Steven Kerr - managing director
Hideki Kinuhata - partner
Michael E. Koester - partner
J. Christopher A. Kojima - partner
Michiel P. Lap - partner
Brian J. Lee - partner
David A. Lehman - partner
Deborah R. Leone - partner
John S. Lindfors - partner
H.C. Liu - partner
John V. Mallory - managing director
David M. Marcinek - partner
Eff W. Martin - advisory director
Blake W. Mather - partner
John J. McCabe - partner
Stephen J. McGuinness - managing director
John J. McGuire Jr. - partner
Audrey A. McNiff - managing director
Richard L. Menschel - senior director
Robert B. Menschel - senior director
Marc Mezvinsky - investment banker
Milton R. Millman III - partner
Christopher Milner - partner
Christina P. Minnis - partner
Lakshmi N. Mittal - director
Wayne L. Moore - managing director
Takashi Murata - partner
Jeffrey S. Nordhaus - managing principal
Timothy J. O'Neill - senior strategy officer
Donald C. Opatrny - advisory director
John T. O'Rourke - lobbyist
Willard J. Overlock Jr. - senior director
Todd G. Owens - partner
Craig W. Packer - partner
Michael Paese - director of government affairs
Gilberto Pozzi - partner
Lora J. Price - partner
Lorin P. Radtke - partner
Richard N. Ramsden - partner
Michael J. Richman - partner
Michael Rimland - partner
Luigi G. Rizzo - partner
John F.W. Rogers - partner
Scott A. Romanoff - partner
Julian Salisbury - partner
Muneer A. Satter - managing director
James J. Schiro - director
Paul D. Scialla - partner
Peter E. Scialla - partner
Peter A. Seccia - partner
Karen D. Seitz - managing director
Raj Sethi - VP
Rebecca M. Shaghalian - partner
Devesh P. Shah - partner
Heather K. Shemilt - partner
Magid N. Shenouda - partner
Faryar Shirzad - managing director, government affairs
Alan A. Shuch - advisory director
Suhail A. Sikhtian - partner
David M. Silfen - senior director
Ruth J. Simmons - director
Gavin Simms - partner
Victor R. Simone Jr. - managing director
Marshall Smith - partner
David M. Solomon - managing director
James H.M. Sprayregen - managing director
Esta Stecher - EVP & general counsel
Ben Stein - critic
John D. Storey - partner
Patrick M. Street - partner
Ram K. Sundaram - partner
Robert J. Sweeney - partner
Michael J. Swenson - partner
Gene T. Sykes - managing director
Nadia Titarchuk - trader
Jeffrey M. Tomasi - partner
David G. Torrible - partner
Frederick Towfigh - partner
Thomas E. Tuft - investment banker
Greg A. Tusar - partner
Ashok Varadhan - partner
David A. Viniar - CFO
Andrea A. Vittorelli - partner
John E. Waldron - managing director
Paul Walker - partner
Alasdair J. Warren - partner
John S. Weinberg - vice chairman
Elisha Wiesel - partner
Todd A. Williams - managing director
Dominic A. Wilson - partner
Kendrick R. Wilson III - managing partner
Steve Windsor - partner
Mark O. Winkelman - senior director
Martin Wiwen-Nilsson - partner
Denise A. Wyllie - partner
Han Song Zhu - partner
Other current Goldman Sachs Group Inc. relationships:
2008-2009 financial bailout - receiving federal investment
AIG Financial Products Corp. - trading partner
Angus & Nickerson - lobby firm
APX Inc. - investor
Baptista Group - lobby firm
Basis Technology - investor
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. - investor
Bingham McCutchen LLP - lobby firm
Capitol Tax Partners LLP - lobby firm
Clark & Weinstock, Inc. - lobby firm
DLA Piper - lobby firm
Duberstein Group, Inc. - lobby firm
Gephardt Group - lobby firm
Goldman Sachs Bank USA - opened
Goldman Sachs International - subsidiary
GS Capital Partners - private equity affiliate
Managed Funds Association - member
ML Strategies LLC - lobby firm
Moneygram International, Inc. - investor
Rich Feuer Group - lobby firm
RR&G LLC - lobby firm
Spear, Leeds & Kellogg - acquirer
Sullivan & Cromwell - lobby firm
Vinson & Elkins - lobby firm
Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds - real-estate investment arm
Williams and Jensen - lobby firm
Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network LLC - investor
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. past relationships:
Arthur G. Altschul - general partner
American International Group, Inc. - received payment through AIG federal bailout
Bernard W. Aronson - international adviser
Clifford S. Asness - managing director
Eugene D. Atkinson - limited partner
Claude M. Ballard - general partner
Peter K. Barker - partner
Geoffrey T. Boisi - general partner
Peter L. Briger Jr. - partner
E. John Browne - director
Mark J. Carney - managing director
H. Scott Caven Jr. - VP
Peter R. Coneway - general partner
Dan W. Cook III - senior director
Leon G. Cooperman - general partner
Jon S. Corzine - chairman & CEO
Kenneth S. Courtis - vice chairman
William C. Crowley - managing director
Suzanne Donohoe - partner
Mario Draghi - managing director
Connie K. Duckworth - advisory director
Lewis M. Eisenberg - partner
Michael D. Fascitelli - partner
Wade Fetzer - partner
Eugene V. Fife - partner
Lawton Wehle Fitt - partner
J. Christopher Flowers - head of the financial institutions group
Edward C. Forst - chief administrative officer
Randall M. Fort - director of global security
Henry H. Fowler - partner
Glenn R. Fuhrman - managing director
Fredric B. Garonzik - general partner
Gary G. Gensler - partner
John A. Golden - general partner
J. Markham Green - general partner
William R. Gruver - general partner
Thomas R. Hudson Jr. - VP
Robert J. Hurst - vice chairman
George Herbert Walker IV - partner
Reuben Jeffery III - managing partner
Suzanne Nora Johnson - vice chair
Ann F. Kaplan - managing partner
Robert Steven Kaplan - vice chairman
Carolyn Katz - managing director
Richard L. Kauffman - group chairman
James C. Kautz - partner
Stephen B. Kay - senior director
Steven B. Klinsky - co-founder of leverage buyout group
Peter S. Kraus - division co-COO
Edward S. Lampert - trader
Pierre F. Lapeyre Jr. - managing director
David M. Leuschen - partner & managing director
Adam Levinson - trader
Edward M. Liddy - director
Lawrence H. Linden - general partner
Michael R. Lynch - managing director
James S. Marcus - general partner
Eugene Mercy Jr. - limited partner
Robert E. Mnuchin - partner
Steven T. Mnuchin - EVP & CIO
Thomas K. Montag - co-head of global securities
Philip D. Murphy - senior director
Daniel M. Neidich - managing director
Duncan L. Niederauer - managing director
Michael E. Novogratz - partner
Daniel S. Och - trader
John J. Oros - general partner
Robert J. O'Shea - partner
Mark A. Patterson - VP
Henry M. Paulson Jr. - chairman & CEO
Stephen D. Quinn - general partner & managing director
Thomas L. Rhodes - general partner
Robert E. Rubin - co-chairman & co-senior partner
Kristian R. Salovaara - VP
Mikael Salovaara - partner
Richard A. Sapp - general partner
Mark Schwartz - president & CEO
Matthew P. Silverman - junior investment banker
Bradley E. Singer - investment banker
Steven Starker - managing director
Robert K. Steel - vice chairman
Stuart L. Sternberg - managing director
Chad C. Sweet - VP
John A. Thain - president & COO
John L. Thornton - president & COO
John L. Townsend III - general partner
Byron D. Trott - managing director
Hank Uberoi - partner
Roderick K. von Lipsey - VP
Thomas A. Wagner III - managing director
John L. Weinberg - senior partner
Peter A. Weinberg - head of European business
Sidney J. Weinberg - senior partner
John C. Whitehead - co-chairman & senior partner
Barrie A. Wigmore - partner
David Windreich - VP
Jon Winkelried - director
Jon Winkelried - president & co-COO
Roger Wittlin - group VP
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company - investor in Mars acquisition
Richard B. Worley - VP
Jaime E. Yordan - general partner
Jide J. Zeitlin - partner
Nathaniel M. Zilkha - VP
Robert B. Zoellick - vice chairman
Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC past relationships:
Philip D. Murphy - president
Goldman Sachs Asset Management past relationships:
Gary D. Black - CIO, global equities
David W. Blood - CEO
Goldman Sachs Bank USA current relationships:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. - opened
People related to Goldman Sachs Capital Partners:
Leo F. Mullin - senior adviser
Gregory L. Summe - senior adviser
People related to Goldman Sachs Europe Limited:
Klaus S. Luft - vice chairman

Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Strategies LLC current relationships:
Managed Funds Association - member
People related to Goldman Sachs International:
Segun Aganga - managing director
Jean-Luc Biamonti - managing director
Antonio Borges - vice chairman
Robert D. Hormats - vice chairman
Richard Powers - managing director
Peter Sutherland - chairman
Other current Goldman Sachs International relationships:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. - subsidiary
Goldman Sachs International past relationships:
Eugene D. Atkinson - chairman
Joshua B. Bolten - executive director
Simon M. Robertson - managing director
Goldman Sachs Japan past relationships:
Jun Makihara - managing director

Here are the stock prices I grabbed a few minutes ago from Google Finance. I'd say that GS is way ahead of all its competitors at the moment. How wonderful for them! wink, you betcha!
GS Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 156.72
DB Deutsche Bank 67.86
STT State Street 47.97
JPM JPMorgan Chase 36.76
BK The Bank of New York 29.35
MS Morgan Stanley 28.15
WFC Wells Fargo 25.06
UBS 12.23
BAC Bank of America 13.07
Citigroup 3.07

Four at Four

Magnifico — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:00:00 GMT

CBS News reports the U.S. threatens Afghans over captured GI. "At least two Afghan villages have been blanketed with leaflets warning that if an American soldier kidnapped by the Taliban two weeks ago isn't freed, "you will be targeted.'"

"Military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias confirmed that the leaflets were produced at Bagram Air Base, the primary U.S. installation in Afghanistan, and distributed in the region."

U.S. aircraft blanketed at least two Afghan villages with leaflets stating, "If you do not free the American soldier, then... you will be targeted."
"The new leaflet represents a broader, direct warning to local people in the region where the U.S. soldier was seized. Villagers from near the Paktika-Ghazni border told CBS News the papers were found stuck in trees and littering roofs in the area. The question is, will its stern message help win the missing soldier's freedom, or just antagonize the local people who could help, or hurt, that effort."

At VetVoice, Brandon Friedman writes that Threatening Afghan Civilians Probably a Bad Idea.

Now, whether the U.S. intends to actually target civilians is another question. It won't happen. But it's the threat that counts. And vocally threatening to do something without a willingness to back it up leads to problems in conflict situations...
I think whoever came up with the idea to print these things didn't really think it through. While the likelihood of success using a technique like this is slim, the chance of inflaming the locals even further is much higher. This whole thing seems clumsy and ham-handed, and will almost certainly do more harm than good. I'd love to be proved wrong.
Our thoughts are with the captured soldier.

Makes a person really question President Obama's choice of having Gen. Stanley McChrystal lead his war in Afghanistan. Less than a month ago, the Washington Independent reported McChrystal's tactical priority was to avoid civilian casualties because the U.S. was (and still is) losing Afghan support.

Meanwhile, the NY Times reports an Explosion Kills nine in Afghanistan. "Nine civilians, including five children, were killed Friday when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle on the way to a religious shrine in southern Afghanistan, officials said."

Four at Four continues with a striking jump in mental illness found in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the link between combat stress and homicide, Uighurs say U.S. helped Chinese interrogators, Bush-era war crimes dogging Obama, and an all-female flight crew for Marine One.

The NY Times reports More than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have received a diagnosis of a mental health problem, most often post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. The study is based on Veterans Department "health records of 289,328 veterans involved in the two wars who used the veterans health system for the first time from April 1, 2002, to April 1, 2008."

"The researchers found that 37 percent of those people received mental health diagnoses. Of those, the diagnosis for 22 percent was post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, for 17 percent it was depression and for 7 percent it was alcohol abuse. One-third of the people with mental health diagnoses had three or more problems, the study found."

The Oregonian adds Striking jump in mental illness found in Iraq, Afghanistan veterans. "The study was also the first to suggest that National Guardsmen and reservists suffer these wars differently than active-duty soldiers. Army soldiers and Marines younger than 25 had the highest rates of PTSD and drinking."

"When you look at the number of people who've deployed and that 37 percent of them are affected, it's staggering. That's a sobering number of men and women who will need mental health care," said Jim Sardo, a psychologist who directs the PTSD and substance abuse clinics for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Portland. Researchers found that when other serious behavioral problems were included that the number rose to 43 percent.

In a different investigation, Salon adds The Army admits combat stress contributed to U.S. homicides. "The harsh combat in Iraq, including potential war crimes that were witnessed by soldiers, contributed to a series of brutal murders by soldiers based at this Army post near Colorado Springs after they returned home, according to a hard-hitting Army study".

According to the report, "Survey data from this investigation suggest a possible association between increasing levels of combat exposure and risk for negative behavioral outcomes." The study also says that "combat intensity/exposure . . . may have increased the risk for violent behaviors" and that its "findings are consistent with recent research on combat exposure and subsequent behavior outcomes among Soldiers." ...
The 126-page report issued by the Army Wednesday -- an epidemiological study, or EPICON in military lingo -- focused largely on 14 of the Army post's soldiers allegedly involved in murders since 2005. Ordered by Fort Carson commander Maj. Gen. Mark Graham in the wake of the slayings, it is studded with statistical evidence that buttresses Salon's investigation. The numbers point to a link between violent behavior and substance abuse, repeated deployments, exposure to combat and enlistment waivers. In addition, many of the 14 soldiers allegedly involved in murders witnessed incidents described in the report as War Crimes. Five either heard of or witnessed the "murdering/killing" of non-combatants; three, "detainee abuse;" and, two, "fabricating evidence to justify attacks or criminal acts."
Yet the Army officials presenting the report denied that it established any cause-and-effect relationships.

McClatchy reports Uighur detainees say the U.S. helped Chinese interrogate them. "U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, actively helped Chinese interrogators question members of China's Uighur minority, including physically restraining them so they could be photographed against their will, according to testimony presented Thursday to a congressional subcommittee."

Amongh the Uighurs' claims included the accusation that "U.S. soldiers followed Chinese officials' orders to restrain detainees they said weren't cooperating. One detainee testified that an American told him the harsh treatment he'd received after his interrogation had been at the direction of the Chinese."

"The Uighurs said that the Chinese interrogations took place in September 2002, shortly after they arrived at Guantanamo. They were questioned for as long as nine hours without food or drink, they said."

The LA Times gives a rundown of Bush-era intelligence issues that trip up Obama. "Barely six months old, the Obama administration faces a political problem caused by how the CIA handled a secret counter-terrorism program. Though President Obama has insisted he wants to look forward and push an ambitious domestic agenda, a series of intelligence-related issues has the administration and Congress looking back at the George W. Bush years."

All-in-all it comes down to "What does this mean for the Obama administration?" According to the LA Times:

The administration has to formulate a response to a series of charges: that the CIA launched an undisclosed paramilitary program; that former Bush officials may have been involved in illegal torture; and that the former vice president tried to keep programs secret from authorities and the public. This comes as Republicans increase their defense of the former administration and further their attack on the Obama administration on security issues.

Obama seems content to ignore the illegalities and try to 'move forward' leaving it up to Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate. Evidently the response from the Obama administration will continue to be "our efforts are better focused looking forward than looking back" rather than we're going to investigate, prosecute, and convict the war criminals.

The Guardian reports the president's Marine One helicopter uses all-female crew for the first time in its 50-year history. "It was no accident: marine Major Jennifer Grieves was on her last day of a year-long stint as the first female pilot of Marine One. To honour her, another female major was appointed as co-pilot and a female colour sergeant as crew chief."

Party Over Constitution, Party Over War Crimes, Too?

buhdydharma — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:10:15 GMT
Simulposted ay Daily Kos
Former Republican Congressmen: Republicans Put Party Over Constitution

Former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-Okla.).....
mocked members of Congress when it came to flexing their constitutional oversight authority. In particular, he lamented the House Republican lawmakers' unified opposition to holding hearings to investigate the firing of U.S. Attorneys by the Bush White House.
"One of the most shocking things was when the House voted to hold [Counsel Harriet] Miers and [Chief of Staff Josh] Bolten in contempt because they refused to obey a congressional subpoena," said Edwards. "Every single member of my party, except for three, walked out. Members of Congress walked out of the chamber rather than stand up as members of Congress so that congressional subpoena (would) be obeyed. Party trumped Constitution."

Former Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) made the argument that if the Republican-controlled Congress had exhibited greater oversight during former President George W. Bush's time in office, they could have prevented some of the most calamitous results of that administration and even saved thousands of lives.
"That would have alerted the administration to what was happening, the command authority to what was happening and it probably would have saved a 1,000 lives," Shays said. Shays said the Bush White House abused its powers in a way that resulted in many of the domestic and international problems that have unfolded recently.

Roughly a dozen people in the White House, running an illegal invasion and Organized and Systematic program of torture. They got away with it because of roughly 250-300 Republicans in Congress, who corruptly decided that their raw power was more important than the Constitution.
Scott Horton at The Daily Beast follows up on the Newsweek piece on Holder....
Holder began his review mindful of the clear preference of President Obama's two key political advisers-David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel-that there be no investigation.

But, then, Holder decided to take a close, personal look at the issues, and his perspective began to change. Holder is said to have been closely engaged with three sets of documents-a group of memoranda from the Bush-era Office of Legal Counsel, since repudiated by the Justice Department; the report of the Office of Professional Responsibility on these memoranda, which has been on his desk, awaiting review and release for months; and the report of the CIA's inspector general reviewing in great detail the actual techniques used, guidance given by the Justice Department, and results or lack of results obtained.
Holder released the first set of memoranda and his Justice Department publicly suggested that it would release both the related report and the CIA inspector general's report-often viewed as the Rosetta Stone of the torture controversy. As he read through the latter two documents, my sources said, Holder came to realize the focal and instrumental role that Department of Justice lawyers had played in constructing the torture regime and in pushing it through when career lawyers raised objection. He also took note of how the entire process was orchestrated from within the Bush White House-so that more-senior lawyers in Justice, sometimes even the attorney general, did not know what was being done. And he noted the fact that the United Nations Convention Against Torture, to which the United States is a party, requires that a criminal inquiry be undertaken whenever credible allegations of torture are presented.

One man, what if Holder had NOT read the documents?
From Michael Isikoff: Questions for the Attorney General
3. Your aides have said this is only about investigating operatives and contractors who went beyond the "four corners" of Justice Department legal memos on interrogations. In addition, they have told us your planned probe will not investigate senior Bush administration officials-at the Justice Department, the CIA, and the White House-who gave the green light to the "enhanced" interrogation techniques that were authorized in the memos. If that is the case, don't you risk a repeat of Abu Ghraib, in which only low-level soldiers were court-martialed and their superiors walked free, with no penalties at all?
4. In a speech in Washington last March, you said the following: "Waterboarding is torture. My Justice Department will not justify it, will not rationalize it, and will not condone it." Do you still stand by that statement? And if so, please explain how you square those words with your decision to exclude the individuals who designed, approved, and ordered waterboarding from the scope of your investigation?

One man, as MinistryOfTruth points out has the power to determine if the War Crimes of the Bush Crime Family are exposed and dealt with. This decision WILL change the world.
New York Times Editorial on the Bush Crimes...
We've known for years that the Bush administration ignored and broke the law repeatedly in the name of national security. It is now clear that many of those programs could have been conducted just as easily within the law - perhaps more effectively and certainly with far less damage to the justice system and to Americans' faith in their government.
That is the inescapable conclusion from a devastating report by the inspectors general of the intelligence and law-enforcement community on President George W. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. The report shows that the longstanding requirement that the government obtain a warrant was not hindering efforts to gather intelligence on terrorists after the 9/11 attacks. In fact, the argument that the law was an impediment was concocted by White House and Justice Department lawyers after Mr. Bush authorized spying on Americans' international communications.
We know less, so far, about the Bush administration's plan to send covert paramilitary teams to assassinate Al Qaeda leaders. But what is overwhelmingly clear is that there was no legal or rational justification for Vice President Dick Cheney's order to conceal the program from Congress. The plan was never put into effect, apparently because it was unworkable. But it's hard to imagine Congress balking at killing terrorists.
So why break the law, again and again? Two things seem disturbingly clear. First, President Bush and his top aides panicked after the Sept. 11 attacks. And second, Mr. Cheney and his ideologues, who had long chafed at any legal constraints on executive power, preyed on that panic to advance their agenda.

That same dozen or so Republicans in the White House, breaking every law they could find for no real reason except.....raw power.
And now the Democrats have that same raw power.
Will they use it to cover up the crimes of George Bush and Dick Cheney?
Or will they use it to expose them?
Think about it, we can have one world, where War criminals go free because of politics.
Or another world where justice and the Rule of law are more important than politics.
It really IS, underneath all the politics, all of the complexities of wielding raw power, that simple. Which world do YOU want?
It is all on Eric Holder's shoulders.
Click on the badge to sign the petition, every signature goes directly to the DOJ.

E-Mail the Attorney Generals Office at AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Call the Attorney General and support his decision to investigate.
Department of Justice Main Switchboard - 202-514-2000
Office of the Attorney General - 202-353-1555

Buzz Aldrin calls for "an American colony" on Mars

Magnifico — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:46:01 GMT
Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, writes in an opinion piece at the Washington Post that "it is time we were bold again in space."
Aldrin's vision, "Time to Boldly Go Once More", advocates creating an American colony on Mars in 20 years. He believes if the United States space program "avoided the pitfall of aiming solely for the moon, we could be on Mars by the 60th anniversary year of our Apollo 11 flight."
Aldrin thinks NASA plans to re-explore the moon is a "dead end". Instead, Aldrin says we should commit our nation to establishing "an American colony" on Mars.

Aldrin writes:
Forty years ago today, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and I began our quarter-million-mile journey through the blackness of space to reach the moon.
Neil and I walked its dusty ancient soil, becoming the first humans to stand upon another world. Yet today, no nation -- including our own -- is capable of sending anyone beyond Earth's orbit, much less deeper into space.
For the past four years, NASA has been on a path to resume lunar exploration with people, duplicating (in a more complicated fashion) what Neil, Mike and our colleagues did four decades ago. But this approach -- called the "Vision for Space Exploration" -- is not visionary; nor will it ultimately be successful in restoring American space leadership. Like its Apollo predecessor, this plan will prove to be a dead end littered with broken spacecraft, broken dreams and broken policies.
Instead, I propose a new Unified Space Vision, a plan to ensure American space leadership for the 21st century. It wouldn't require building new rockets from scratch, as current plans do, and it would make maximum use of the capabilities we have without breaking the bank. It is a reasonable and affordable plan -- if we again think in visionary terms.

Instead of racing other nations to the moon, Aldrin writes the U.S. should join an international coalition to establish a scientific base on the moon. "The moon should be for all mankind", he writes.
As part of an international team, American astronauts could test "the tools and equipment that we will need for our ultimate destination: homesteading Mars by way of its moons."
Let the lunar surface be the ultimate global commons while we focus on more distant and sustainable goals to revitalize our space program. Our next generation must think boldly in terms of a goal for the space program: Mars for America's future. I am not suggesting a few visits to plant flags and do photo ops but a journey to make the first homestead in space: an American colony on a new world.

Even though NASA has been successful in exploring Mars with robotic missions, Aldrin believes "the best way to study Mars is with the two hands, eyes and ears of a geologist, first at a moon orbiting Mars and then on the Red Planet's surface."
Aldrin's reasons to colonize Mars include, to understand the earth's "own climate evolution", "inspire America's young students", and "renew our space industry". He believes setting Mars as our target would "galvanize public support for space exploration".
While I doubt there is anything that could persuade some Americans that a Mars program would be a worth while investment for the U.S., I think Aldrin is right that Mars would be more inspiring than just returning to the moon. More importantly, I think there would be significant benefits to the United States and the earth with establishing a Mars colony.
Since, as a nation, the U.S. seems determined to have the highest military-industrial spending in the world, I think diverting some of that money for a Mars colonization program would be a better use of that money. Not only would it keep the Military-Industrial-Complex (MIC) busy, it would be a beneficial refocusing away from engineering more and more lethal means to kill people, to sustaining life in a hostile environment. Not only would this help "renew our space industry", but also, if Congress makes it necessary, create jobs for Americans.
I have advocated before that the U.S. redirct its Military-Industrial-Complex to address climate change and, likewise, technologies developed to support human life on Mars will likely prove beneficial to us living on the earth as well, especially on a warming earth that will become increasingly less hospitable to human life.
Likewise, Aldrin's thinks the "Mars could be a virtual laboratory to study these vast planetary changes" as climate change. Efforts to terraform Mars, essentially shaping the planet's atmosphere and climate to be hospitable for human life, could be essential to addressing our the problems we create for ourselves with the earth's climate.
For those of us who follow the news about the earth's collapsing environment and ecosystem, the future can look bleak. I feel it is our responsibility to try to leave our planet in better shape than it is today. I feel we need to provide hope to future Americans and their brothers and sisters across the planet.
Exciting children about science and engineering through a Mars mission will help inspire them to pursue science and engineering as a career. I believe an increased American involvement in science and engineering is essential for the continued survival of the United States. Not only are we depending, in part, on the scientific and engineering communities to help find solutions to global warming, we are also looking to these men and women to grow the economy and create new industries and jobs. I think as the 21st century unfolds, the nations that focus on science and engineering will be the world leaders by century's end.
On the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing, Aldrin challenges us and "America's leaders to think boldly". So yes! Let us dare to dream and do the impossible once again.

^{Cross-posted at Daily Kos.}

Crossroads For The Rule Of Law - Cheney Hit Squads

Something The Dog Said — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:50:11 GMT
For those of us who are really concerned (obsessed) with the rule of law the revelations of the Cheney sponsored CIA Death Squads are the kind of thing which makes you want to curl up and rock back and forth while thinking of our happy place. It might be going a little under-thought about by most of the nation right now as we are focused on the Health Care bills and the ever diverting "Great Republican Melt Down" with Americas three current favorite clowns, Governor's Palin and Sanford, and Sen. Ensign (The Family, NV) taking up all the oxygen but this is serious stuff we should be really concerned about.
"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"
Think about the facts we know for just a minute; first off, when CIA Director Panetta found out about this program, it was already 4 months after he had taken over the CIA. It was so shocking and so bad, that his first act was to cancel it then and there. Next he went to Congress to tell the intelligence committee, in closed session, that they had not been informed about this program for seven whole years. They were so shocked and freaked out by what they heard that seven Democrat's decided they needed to get Director Panetta on record saying the CIA had either deceived them or not told them something they needed to know.
This part is pretty obviously an attempt to cover the Intel committee's collective asses, as they knew sooner or later this program was going to come into the light of day and they would have some serious explaining to do if the CIA claimed they had indeed briefed them about it. If what the Washington Post is reporting today is true, they had really, really good reason to be freaked out. You can find the whole article here, but the thing which probably had the Representatives nearly wetting themselves comes from the Presidential finding;

The finding imposed no geographical limitations on the agency's actions, and intelligence officials have said that they were not obliged to notify Congress of each operation envisaged under the directive.

Taken in its broadest reading the above means that these Death Squads could go after people in any allied country and even the US! Worse, they did were told they did not have to brief the Congress on each individual operation. As a practical matter this means that CIA trained and paid killers could assassinate a US citizen here in the States and they would not have to inform Congress of it.
Is there anyone reading this who doubts the criminal Bush Administration would have done exactly that, if they felt the need? The Dog does not in the least. This is an Administration who outted a CIA field operative who was living undercover. It is good news they conceived this as an Al Qaeda only program, as there is little doubt they would have used it on some citizen somewhere if they hand not.
If there were not enough to start to investigate the illegal actions of the lawless Bush Administration, this is the reason. We can not allow this kind of thing to stand, it is yet another corrosive little time bomb from the fetid swamp-like mind of VP Cheney and his consigliore David Addington. We can not have an agency as shrouded in secrecy as the CIA being detailed to kill people around the world, perhaps in our own nation, without oversight. There can be a discussion on when it is appropriate to have squads of assassins running around the world, as there are problems with asymmetrical war fare that lead to this being, perhaps, a needed tactic. However it can not be at the sole discretion of the Executive Branch with no oversight.
Actually that last sentence is not true, Presidents who take on that responsibility can have it, as long as they recognize that when it is found out they are going to have to face the Justice system of the United States of America. This is why we must have investigations and if there are crimes (we know there are many) then every single person involved in those crimes must stand before the bar and face the consequences. If their argument is they had the power and responsibility to do so under the Constitution, and then let them test that theory in court.
The Dog knows everyone knows this but it is worth saying again, if we do not do something about these very clear violations of many laws at the behest of the Office of the Vice President and the Executive Branch in general, then we are going to see them again and again and again. This is one of the many ways that democracies die, when the rule of law is completely flouted and the civil society which supports the law does not act.
There are many important issues in front of the Congress right now, but we can not allow them to be totally consumed by them at the risk of something worse happening to our nation. It is not acceptable to have this kind of lawlessness in the CIA; they can do too much with too little scrutiny to allow it. The desire not to alienate the intelligence community is a good one, but it must be second to the need to have these agencies stay within the letter and intent of the law. It becomes clearer on a daily basis that the Bush Administration did not believe this and let slip the dogs of war. It is better to have broken intelligence agency than to have one that acts in ways that will surely over time undermine and destroy the very nation it purports to protect.
We have come to a dangerous crossroads, fellow citizens; we are quickly going to have to choose if we are truly a nation of laws or if we are not. The current bias is against our 233 year old Republic, but it is not too late, not just yet. Do not let this pass by though apathy or distraction. You are the United States of America and if you value that, then you must act, speak and write for action on the crimes of the Bush Administration.
The floor is yours.

This is NOT a "crisis"

CrustyPolemicist — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:15:02 GMT
I think a lot of the wrongheaded thinking on both sides of the discussion about the "economic crisis" is that people keep calling it a "crisis". This is a word that's abused almost as much as the word "tragedy". A crisis is a short, sharp event or series of events. And when it's done, things get back to normal. If -- as I strongly suspect -- the capitalist system is collapsing into a much smaller economic ball (a collapsing star, if you will), then the unemployment numbers and the nosediving housing situation and the freezing of formerly free-flowing credit are nothing more (or less) than the new normal. Perhaps, going forward, 10% + unemployment is going to be normal (it already is in the EU). Perhaps, going forward, those houses that popped in "value" from $500K to 1.5 mil in a few years will stay at their real value (say, $200K)and never regain their former puffed-up "value". Perhaps, going forward, credit of all kinds will not be freely available to one and all, and the engine of American consumerism -- which has always, at its base, been built on the mad flow of credit -- will slow down permanently to the more sedate levels we saw when people put things on layaway instead of whipping out their Platinum Card.
Perhaps this is the new normal. Perhaps this is how we live from now on. Perhaps.

The Morning News

ek hornbeck — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:52:15 GMT
The Morning News is an Open Thread
From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Jakarta hotel bombs kill 9, wound 42: police
By Telly Nathalia and Olivia Rondonuwu, Reuters
53 mins ago
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Near-simultaneous bomb blasts ripped through the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta's business district on Friday, killing nine people and wounding 42 others including foreign businessmen, police said.
A car bomb had also exploded along a toll road in North Jakarta, police said. Indonesia's Metro TV said two people had been killed. No further details on that blast were available.
The bomb attacks, the first in several years, could badly dent investor confidence in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. The Indonesian government has made considerable progress in tackling security threats from militant Islamic groups in recent years, bringing a sense of greater political stability to the country.

2 Obama looks for Republican healthcare backing
By Kim Dixon, Reuters
Thu Jul 16, 8:10 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sought on Thursday to persuade Republicans to support overhaul of the U.S. healthcare industry, his signature domestic policy goal, as the measures moved on a fast track through congressional committees with only Democratic support.
A handful of Democrats on one of the three House of Representatives committees trying to speed the legislation said they also could not back the Democratic bill, but this was not seen as a major obstacle to its passage before both the House and Senate recess in the next two to three weeks.
The focus in Congress remained on finding ways to pay for the estimated $1 trillion cost of the reforms over 10 years, either through higher taxes or savings in the costly federal Medicare and Medicaid programs.

3 Obama Supreme Court pick on track for quick vote
By Andrew Quinn, Reuters
Thu Jul 16, 6:42 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, appeared headed for confirmation as the first Hispanic justice on the U.S. Supreme Court after Senate hearings ended on Thursday with Republicans promising a speedy vote.
But Sotomayor's conservative critics used the last day of her hearing to make a final dramatic point on her record on race issues, hearing testimony from two firefighters who said she ruled to deny them promotions because they were not black.
Through four days before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sotomayor has calmly parried Republican attempts to depict her as unfit for a lifetime appointment to the United States' top court and rife with liberal bias.

4 Keep Guantanamo open, September 11 families say
By Jim Loney, Reuters
Thu Jul 16, 8:59 pm ET
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - Nine relatives of September 11 victims witnessed the controversial Guantanamo war court in action on Thursday and called on U.S. President Barack Obama to keep the remote detention camp and war crimes trials open.
The family members, brought to the U.S. military base in Cuba by the Pentagon, saw three of the five men accused of plotting the 2001 hijacked airliner attacks face the court set up by former President George W. Bush to try suspects in his war on terrorism.
But they did not see the alleged mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who boycotted the session.

5 NASA probes new space shuttle fuel tank problem
By Irene Klotz, Reuters
Thu Jul 16, 9:44 pm ET
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA will hold off launching any more space shuttles until it understands why strips of insulating foam peeled off the fuel tank used by shuttle Endeavour, the U.S. space agency shuttle program manager said on Thursday.
Endeavour arrived safely in orbit after Wednesday's liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida though video and images of the launch showed about a dozen pieces of debris flying off the fuel tank during the 8.5-minute climb to orbit.
Some smashed into the ship's heat shield, though NASA does not believe they caused any serious damage.

6 Foreclosures at record high in first half 2009 despite aid
By Lynn Adler, Reuters
Thu Jul 16, 8:36 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home foreclosure activity galloped to a record in the first half of the year, overwhelming broad efforts to remedy failing loans while job losses escalated.
Foreclosure filings jumped to a record 1.9 million on more than 1.5 million properties in the first six months of the year, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.
The number of properties drawing filings, which include notices of default and auctions, jumped 9.0 percent from the second half of 2008 and almost 15 percent from the first half of last year.

7 Chechnya activist's murder sparks international outrage
By Aydar Buribayev and Amie Ferris-Rotman, Reuters
Thu Jul 16, 10:38 am ET
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The abduction and murder of a prominent human rights activist from Chechnya sparked international outrage on Thursday and her grieving supporters asked "Who is next?."
While relatives and friends returned Natalia Estimirova's body from neighboring Ingushetia where it had been dumped in woodland, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Russia to clarify the circumstances surrounding her killing.
"I expressed my shock at the death," Merkel said after meeting Russian President Dimitry Medvedev in Germany.

8 Budget umpire: Health care bills would raise costs
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer
11 mins ago
WASHINGTON - Democrats' health care bills won't meet President Barack Obama's goal of slowing the ruinous rise of medical costs, Congress' budget umpire warned on Thursday, giving weight to critics who say the legislation could break the bank.
The sobering assessment from Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf came as House Democrats pushed to pass a partisan bill through committees, while in the Senate a small group of lawmakers continued to seek a deal that could win support from both political parties.
Senators involved in the bipartisan talks said Thursday evening they are making solid progress toward a compromise they claimed would hold down costs, addressing the budgetary concerns. But it could take more time to work out difficult issues. And that means that Obama's timetable for floor votes in the House and Senate before August would slip.

9 CIT still fighting to stay out of Chapter 11
By STEVENSON JACOBS and DANIEL WAGNER, AP Business Writers
1 hr 41 mins ago
NEW YORK - CIT Group Inc. is continuing talks with potential lenders to secure billions in much-needed financing and stay out of bankruptcy court after the federal government declined to extend emergency aid to the troubled commercial lender.
CIT shares lost three-quarters of their value Thursday as bondholders made a last-ditch effort to prevent a Chapter 11 filing. CIT is trying to line up $2 billion to $4 billion in rescue financing from its debtholders within the next 24 hours, two sources familiar with the talks told The Associated Press. They requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.
But there is no guarantee bondholders will be able to save the ailing company, which teeters on the brink after rescue talks with regulators broke off late Wednesday after days of round-the-clock negotations. The New York-based bank, one of the nation's largest lenders to small and mid-sized businesses, faces $7.4 billion in debt that's due in the first quarter of next year.

10 NASA lost moon footage, but Hollywood restores it
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
Thu Jul 16, 8:26 pm ET
WASHINGTON - NASA could put a man on the moon but didn't have the sense to keep the original video of the live TV transmission.
In an embarrassing acknowledgment, the space agency said Thursday that it must have erased the Apollo 11 moon footage years ago so that it could reuse the videotape.
But now Hollywood is coming to the rescue.

11 Toony 'Family Guy' vies with live-action sitcoms
By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
1 hr 23 mins ago
NEW YORK - More than most other Emmy categories, the nominations for best comedy series emerge as a clash of disparate contenders.
With the announcement of the 61st annual Primetime Emmy Awards Thursday, a familiar, knotty question rears its head again: Just what kind of comedy is fit to be honored above the rest when Emmy time rolls around?
Maybe it should be a multi-camera sitcom such as CBS' "How I Met Your Mother," whose format takes its cue from "I Love Lucy" more than half-a-century ago. Or what about more cinematic, edgier half-hours such as HBO's "Entourage" and Showtime's "Weeds," where a sexy, middle-class widow tries to maintain her family's lifestyle by dealing drugs?

12 Wife of ex-GOP Rep. Pickering claims he had affair
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 9:49 pm ET
JACKSON, Miss. - The estranged wife of former U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering claims in a lawsuit that the Mississippi Republican had an affair that ruined their marriage and derailed his political career.
Leisha Pickering said in the lawsuit filed this week that her husband and the woman dated in college, reconnected and began having an affair while he was in Congress and living in a building where several Christian lawmakers reside on C Street near the U.S. Capitol. Chip Pickering is the third Republican with ties to the building at 133 C Street SE to find his personal life making headlines in recent weeks, after Nevada U.S. Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.
Leisha Pickering is seeking unspecified damages in the alienation of affection lawsuit she filed this week against Elizabeth Creekmore Byrd of Jackson. The Pickerings filed for divorce in June 2008, but it is not complete.

13 House Democrats muzzle GOP on sensitive issues
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 9:40 pm ET
WASHINGTON - In their zeal to protect their members from politically hazardous votes on issues such as gay marriage and gun control, Democrats running the House of Representatives are taking extraordinary steps to muzzle Republicans in this summer's debates on spending bills.
On Thursday, for example, Republicans had hoped to force debates on abortion, school vouchers and medical marijuana, as well as gay marriage and gun control, as part of House consideration of the federal government's contribution to the District of Columbia's city budget.
No way, Democrats said.

14 Jumbo squid invade San Diego shores, spook divers
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 9:31 pm ET
SAN DIEGO - Jumbo flying squid - aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles - have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.
The carnivorous calamari, which can grow up to 100 pounds, came up from the depths last week and swarms of them roughed up unsuspecting divers. Some divers report tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear.
Stories of too-close encounters with the alien-like cephalopods have chased many veteran divers out of the water and created a whirlwind of excitement among the rest, who are torn between their personal safety and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to swim with the deep-sea giants.

15 Girl 'married' at 8 says Alamo found her 'cute'
By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 7:26 pm ET
TEXARKANA, Ark. - A woman who said evangelist Tony Alamo "married" her when she was 8 years old told federal jurors Thursday that he sexually assaulted her repeatedly until she dodged security cameras and roving guards to escape from his compound in 2006.
Her testimony came after another former underage bride of Alamo said she "married" the pastor at 14 through hurried whispers during visiting hours at a federal prison. That woman later noted inside a Bible the date Alamo first forced her to have sex, but left the name blank out of fear Alamo would beat her.
Alamo, 74, is named in a 10-count indictment alleging he took young girls across state lines for sex. His lawyers said the girls were moved so they could do legitimate work for the ministry, and claim the government has targeted him. He has pleaded not guilty and could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

16 Gates: More US troops could head to Afghanistan
By LARA JAKES, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 6:53 pm ET
CHICAGO - The Pentagon's chief said Thursday he could send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year than he'd initially expected and is considering increasing the number of soldiers in the Army.
Both issues reflect demands on increasingly stressed American forces tasked with fighting two wars.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates' comments came during a short visit to Fort Drum in upstate New York - an Army post that that he said has deployed more soldiers to battle zones over the last 20 years than any other unit. Two Fort Drum brigades are headed to Iraq later this year, and a third is currently in Afghanistan.

17 Rising unemployment accelerates foreclosure crisis
By ALAN ZIBEL and TAMMY WEBBER, Associated Press Writers
Thu Jul 16, 5:10 pm ET
WASHINGTON - Relentlessly rising unemployment is triggering more home foreclosures, threatening the Obama administration's efforts to end the housing crisis and diminishing hopes the economy will rebound with vigor.
In past recessions, the housing industry helped get the economy back on track. Home builders ramped up production, expecting buyers to take advantage of lower prices and jump into the market. But not this time.
These days, homeowners who got fixed-rate prime mortgages because they had good credit can't make their payments because they're out of work. That means even more foreclosures and further declines in home values.

18 Taliban threaten to kill captured US soldier
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 5:09 pm ET
KABUL - Local Taliban commanders threatened Thursday to kill a captured American soldier unless the U.S. military stops operations in two districts of southeastern Afghanistan.
Also Thursday, Canadian authorities announced that a Canadian soldier was killed southwest of Kandahar, bringing to 47 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month. That makes July the deadliest month of the war for foreign troops - with nearly half the month to go.
The Taliban claimed last week to be holding the American soldier, whom the U.S. military earlier described as possibly being in enemy hands.

19 JPMorgan profit surges on investment banking gains
By IEVA M. AUGSTUMS, AP Business Writer
Thu Jul 16, 4:53 pm ET
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The banking industry has another winner.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported a 36 percent jump in second quarter profits Thursday, easily surpassing analysts' forecasts as huge gains in its investment banking business outweighed higher losses from bad loans.
The results came two days after rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also posted surprisingly good results, solidifying the companies' position as the strongest players in the industry. Many other banks are still struggling to emerge from the worst of a credit crisis that peaked last fall as well as a recession that has sent loan defaults higher.

20 Treasurer: Budget impasse threatens Calif finances
By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 9:23 pm ET
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and top lawmakers found themselves back at an impasse Thursday after they appeared to be edging toward a deal to close California's $26.3 billion budget deficit.
The latest dispute arose over education funding and prompted state Treasurer Bill Lockyer to issue a stern warning. He said further delays will threaten the state's ability to build schools, highways and levees.
Lockyer said the state's recent credit-rating downgrade could jeopardize its ability to secure financing for infrastructure projects, which would hurt businesses, local governments and ultimately, taxpayers.

21 Navajos mark 30th anniversary of uranium spill
By SUE MAJOR HOLMES, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 8:05 pm ET
CHURCH ROCK, N.M. - The leader of the Navajo Nation marked the 30th anniversary of a massive uranium tailings spill by reaffirming the tribe's ban on future uranium mining.
Speaking in Navajo and English, President Joe Shirley Jr. addressed about 100 people who made a seven-mile walk Thursday to the site of the July 16, 1979 spill and to the land of Navajo ranchers who live near another contaminated site.
What Shirley called "the largest peacetime accidental release of radioactive contaminated materials in the history of the United States" occurred when 94 million gallons of acidic water poured into the north fork of the Rio Puerco after an earthen uranium tailings dam failed.

22 Recession billboards ask Americans to lighten up
By KELSEY ABBRUZZESE, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 5:32 pm ET
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - "Interesting fact about recessions ... they end."
"Self worth is greater than net worth."
"This will end long before those who caused it are paroled."
Those are a few of the messages drivers in Rhode Island and across the country are seeing as part of a billboard campaign dubbed "Recession 101" and funded by an anonymous East Coast donor who was depressed about how the country was reacting to the economy's tailspin.

23 Economy means more help needed to flee hurricanes
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 5:08 pm ET
NEW ORLEANS - Extra evacuation buses. More storm shelters. A guide to doing hurricane preparation on a budget.
Because of the recession, the nation's coastal communities are preparing to help more people evacuate if a hurricane approaches, especially residents who cannot afford to escape on their own.
"The way the economy is, nobody is able to just pick up and leave," said Bryant St. Amant, a 39-year-old oysterman in Bayou La Batre on the Alabama coast. "You've got to put gas in the car and stock up on supplies."

24 Sears Tower renamed Willis Tower in ceremony
By CARYN ROUSSEAU, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 3:47 pm ET
CHICAGO - The Sears Tower, one of the world's iconic skyscrapers and the tallest building in the U.S., was renamed the Willis Tower on Thursday in a downtown ceremony, marking a new chapter in the history of the giant edifice that has dominated the Chicago skyline for nearly four decades.
Mayor Richard Daley unveiled the tower's new name on a large black sign in the lobby with the help of Joseph Plumeri, the Chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings, the London-based insurance broker that secured the naming rights as part of its agreement to lease 140,000 square feet of space in the building.
"We believe in Chicago," Plumeri said. "You will find over time that Willis is not going to just have its name on the building, it's going to have an impact in society, in the community."

25 Wal-Mart exec foresees eco-ratings for all
By TOM PARSONS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 3:02 pm ET
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Wal-Mart has big hopes for a new effort to develop eco-ratings for products it sells - one that goes far beyond its own stores.
"We see this as a universal - this is not a U.S. standard," Wal-Mart Stores Inc. President and CEO Mike Duke told a gathering of more than 1,500 suppliers, nonprofit groups and company staffers at the giant retailer's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. "Across the world, this standard would work across all retailers, all suppliers."
The meeting was intended to provide some details of Wal-Mart's sustainability efforts, starting with the ratings that company officials hope to develop in the next few years.

26 Bones lead to mystery Miami graveyard from 1900s
By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 16, 10:17 am ET
MIAMI - When Enid Pinkney was a girl in the 1940s, her grandmother would tell her stories about a black cemetery nestled in the northwest corner of Miami in an area once called Lemon City.
Pinkney never saw any headstones or tombs on the former farm land, which gradually became surrounded by small homes, car lots and industrial warehouses starting in the 1950s and 1960s. Interstate 95 rumbles past a few blocks away.
But Pinkney's grandmother was apparently right. The bones of at least 11 people - and possibly dozens more - were recently discovered during construction of an affordable housing project. A local historian says the site was probably a cemetery for settlers from the Bahamas who came to South Florida in the early 1900s to tend to wealthy whites and to help build Florida's most cosmopolitan city.

27 Honduras protesters call for president's return
AFP
2 hrs 22 mins ago
TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) - Protesters calling for the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya blocked key roads around the Honduran capital, intensifying a three-week leadership crisis in this Central American state.
Demonstrations were set to continue until representatives of Zelaya and the de facto government that kicked him out of the country at gunpoint on June 28 meet for weekend talks in Costa Rica.
A first round of talks last week mediated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias failed to reach a breakthrough.

28 Australia presses China on Rio Tinto 'spy'
by Talek Harris, AFP
2 hrs 3 mins ago
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia has urged China to deal with an alleged spy as quickly as possible as his company, mining giant Rio Tinto, rejected claims against him as "wholly without foundation."
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he had pressed China "politely but firmly" to push through the case, a day after Beijing angrily told Australia not to interfere.
Smith met China's Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei during a multinational summit in Egypt as tensions rose over the arrests of Australian mining executive Stern Hu and three of his Chinese colleagues.

29 Activist murder overshadows Germany-Russia talks
by Richard Carter, AFP
Thu Jul 16, 12:59 pm ET
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - Talks between the German and Russian leaders on Thursday that sought to concentrate on their growing economic ties, were overshadowed by the murder of a top rights campaigner in the Caucasus.
Following the meeting at a picturesque castle in the southern city of Munich, the governments of Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Dmitry Medvedev signed a raft of agreements, including the foundation of a new joint energy agency.
The pair inked a 500-million-euro (706-million-dollar) export guarantee scheme to "go towards financing German and European exports to Russia over the next two years," according to a statement from Germany's KfW bank.

30 Spike in British swine flu deaths as race for vaccines begins
AFP
Thu Jul 16, 4:04 pm ET
LONDON (AFP) - Britain announced a spike in deaths related to swine flu on Thursday, but as health experts began grappling with worst-case scenarios, difficult questions over the availability of vaccines emerged.
France and Portugal announced major orders for vaccines against the A(H1N1) virus, soon after Latin American countries expressed concern that their poorer region could miss out, despite being worst-hit by the pandemic.
In London the Health Protection Agency said 29 people with the A(H1N1) virus in Britain had so far died, a sharp increase in the death toll, which earlier this week stood at 17.