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Post by MacBeth on Feb 9, 2009 6:21:36 GMT -5
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 9, 2009 12:43:59 GMT -5
Dean Baker | New Thinking on the Economywww.truthout.org/020909JDean Baker, Truthout: "It does require that government take an active role in the economy, but it is already taking an active role in the economy in these areas. The difference is that, currently, the conservatives have been setting these rules, while progressives have been polite enough not to pay attention. Instead, they have mostly focused their energy on matters that will have far less impact. The economic crisis brought on by the collapse of the housing bubble offers progressives unprecedented opportunities. But we have to be prepared to actually think big, and not just think about big programs." Tough Math Ahead for Obama, Stimulus Planwww.truthout.org/020909KJohn Hendren, ABC News: "President Obama returned from his first getaway to Camp David on Sunday to face an urgent priority: pressuring Congress to avert a stimulus stalemate. The Senate is poised to pass a compromise $827 billion version as soon as Tuesday. The legislation would have to be reconciled with the very different $819 billion version already approved by the House. Some economists question whether either is enough." Obama's NSC Will Get New Powerwww.truthout.org/020909LKaren DeYoung, The Washington Post: "President Obama plans to order a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Council, expanding its membership and increasing its authority to set strategy across a wide spectrum of international and domestic issues. The result will be a 'dramatically different' NSC from that of the Bush administration or any of its predecessors since the forum was established after World War II to advise the president on diplomatic and military matters, according to national security adviser James L. Jones, who described the changes in an interview." Rebecca Solnit | The Icelandic Volcano Erupts: Can a Hedge-Fund Island Lose Its Shirt and Gain Its Soul?www.truthout.org/020909MRebecca Solnit, TomDispatch.com: "In December, reports surfaced that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson pushed his Wall Street bailout package by suggesting that, without it, civil unrest in the United States might grow so dangerous that martial law would have to be declared. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), warned of the same risk of riots, wherever the global economy was hurting. What really worried them wasn't, I suspect, the possibility of a lot of people thronging the streets with demands for social and political change, but that some of those demands might actually be achieved." United on Climate Change: Obama's Chinese Revolutionwww.truthout.org/020909NGeoffrey Lean, The Independent UK: "Barack Obama is to invite China to join the United States in an effort by the world's two biggest polluters to stop global warming running out of control. Hillary Clinton, his Secretary of State, is to raise the prospect of a 'strong, constructive partnership' to combat climate change on a visit to Beijing next week, and the President is seriously considering a proposal from many of his most senior advisers to hold a summit with the Chinese leadership to launch the plan." Who Gets What: Billions to Colleges and Studentswww.truthout.org/020909OJustin Pope, The Associated Press: "The stimulus plan emerging in Washington could offer an unprecedented, multibillion-dollar boost in financial help for college students trying to pursue a degree while they ride out the recession. It could also hand out billions to the states to kick-start idled campus construction projects and help prevent tuition increases at a time when families can least afford them."
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 9, 2009 18:18:48 GMT -5
President Seeks Grassroots Support for Stimuluswww.truthout.org/020909RMark S. Smith, The Associated Press: "Campaigning for action in the most dire terms, President Barack Obama said Monday that if Congress does not quickly pass an economic stimulus package, the nation will slip into a crisis so deep that 'we may be unable to reverse' it. 'We can't afford to wait. We can't wait to see and hope for the best,' Obama said in Elkhart, Indiana, a community reeling in job losses during the recession that has defined Obama's young presidency. 'We can't posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us in into this mess in the first place.'" US Using British Atomic Weapons Factory for Its Nuclear Programwww.truthout.org/020909SMatthew Taylor and Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian UK: "The US military has been using Britain's atomic weapons factory to carry out research into its own nuclear warhead program, according to evidence seen by the Guardian. US defense officials said that 'very valuable' warhead research has taken place at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire as part of an ongoing and secretive deal between the British and American governments. The Ministry of Defence admitted it is working with the US on the UK's 'existing nuclear warhead stockpile and the range of replacement options that might be available' but declined to give any further information." Ted Kennedy Ready to Cast Key Vote for Economic Stimulus, Senators Saywww.truthout.org/020909TAlan K. Ota and Kathleen Hunter, Congressional Quarterly: "Ailing Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has returned to the Washington area and is waiting to cast a potentially decisive vote to advance the Democratic majority's economic stimulus package, according to several Democratic senators. Kennedy, 76, arrived on Friday from Florida, where he had been recuperating since suffering a seizure during an Inauguration Day luncheon in the Capitol's Statuary Hall." Help for the Homeowners?www.truthout.org/020909UNOW: "Across the country, cities are in crisis because of the fallout from the mortgage mess - property taxes are way down, and abandoned homes are bringing down property values, inviting crime, and draining government coffers. Neighborhoods are being destroyed. Yet the federal bailout money is not going directly to desperate communities and homeowners, but to local and national banks." Fires, Floods Pressure Australian Government on Climatewww.truthout.org/020909EAJames Grubel, Reuters: "Australia's deadliest wildfires increased pressure on the national government to take firm action on climate change on Monday as scientists said global warming likely contributed to conditions that fuelled the disaster. At least 130 people were killed in wildfires, set off by a record heatwave in southern Victoria state over the past week days, while large areas of Queensland state remain flooded by tropical downpours." Job Losses Continue at Accelerated Pacewww.truthout.org/020909LAHeather Boushey, The Center for American Progress: "January was a dismal month for U.S. workers: Employers shed 598,000 jobs and the unemployment rate jumped to 7.6 percent. The economy has lost 3.6 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007 and 1.8 million jobs just over the past three months. The United States has not seen job losses of this magnitude over a three-month period since 1945. The spike in unemployment in January brings the total number of people out of work to 11.6 million - 4.1 million more than a year ago." West Africa: Female Genital Mutilation Knows No Borderswww.truthout.org/020909WAMercedes Sayagues, Inter Press Service: "Laws against female genital mutilation are driving the practice underground and across borders, says UNIFEM. A study released in 2008 looked at the flow of girls traveling to be excised between Burkina Faso and its neighbours Mali, Niger, Ghana and Cote d' Ivoire. Except Mali, all four countries in the study have laws against female genital mutilation (FGM), although enforcement varies widely." US Blacks Continue to Bear the Brunt of HIV/AIDSwww.truthout.org/020909HAReuters: "In the United States, African-American men and women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases noted in a statement issued to coincide with the 9th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on February 7. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, African-Americans make up 12 percent of the U.S. population but account for nearly half of all new HIV infections and almost half of all Americans living with HIV." Lisa Guernsey | Hard Realities for Early Head Startwww.truthout.org/020909EDLisa Guernsey, The New America Foundation: "As the Senate debates whether to cut some Head Start funding from the stimulus package, let's zoom in on Early Head Start for a minute. Early Head Start has been shown to give children a significant boost in cognitive and social skills, according to solid, scientific research. Yet the program serves only 62,000 children nationwide." Thomas Elias | Case Threatens Voting Rightswww.truthout.org/020909VAThomas Elias, The Long Beach Press-Telegram: "Check last fall's election results in the contest for a spot on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, and you'll see that retired businesswoman Doreen Farr won a seat by just 806 votes over Steve Pappas, president of a local school board in the Santa Ynez Valley near Solvang. That race would normally have remained obscure and inconsequential outside the county, where environmental issues are often the biggest bones of contention in local politics. But Pappas has turned his defeat into a lawsuit that could threaten voting integrity across California."
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 9, 2009 19:09:23 GMT -5
Big stimulus risks for both sidesBy: Jonathan Martin and Manu Raju and Dems are poised to push through an $827B package Tuesday and the risks for Obama are considerable. more: www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18576.html------------------------------------------------------- At retreat, Obama reassures DemsBy: Patrick O'Connor Obama reassures nervous Dems he will make a full-court press on their economic recovery package. more: www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18573.html ------------------------------------------------------- Stimulus gut check: Will voters buy it?By: David Rogers Republicans say a bill that is 44 percent tax breaks and backed by business isn't bipartisan enough. more: www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18570.html ------------------------------------------------------- Obama wields the Oval inviteBy: John Bresnahan and Manu Raju Obama deploys one of the highest-profile assets at his disposal: private meetings in the Oval Office. more: www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18569.html ------------------------------------------------------- Biden trip yields few tangible returnsBy: David S. Cloud and Josh Gerstein He does not return with any public promises of new help in Afghanistan from European leaders. more: www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18577.html ------------------------------------------------------- Sebelius, Bredesen up for HHS spotBy: Mike Allen The two are in the running to repleace Daschle. more: www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18562.html
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 9, 2009 19:11:52 GMT -5
National Security Team Delivers Grim Appraisal of Afghanistan Warwww.truthout.org/020909ACraig Whitlock, The Washington Post: "President Obama's national security team gave a dire assessment Sunday of the war in Afghanistan, with one official calling it a challenge 'much tougher than Iraq' and others hinting that it could take years to turn around. U.S. officials said more troops were urgently needed, both from America and its NATO allies, to counter the increasing strength of the Taliban and warlords opposed to the central government in Kabul. They also said new approaches were needed to untangle an inefficient and conflicting array of civilian-aid programs that have wasted billions of dollars." Mohammad Khatami to Run in Iran's Presidential Electionwww.truthout.org/020909BBorzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim, The Los Angeles Times: "Iran's former president, Mohammad Khatami, a moderate, announced Sunday that he would run against incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a critical election in June that is shaping up as a referendum on the performance of the current conservative government. After months of whispers about a possible run, Khatami's move is sure to bolster turnout in a contest that most analysts see as coming at a crucial juncture for the Islamic Republic and its relations with the outside world." Bill Boyarsky | Obama's Immigration Conundrumwww.truthout.org/020909CBill Boyarsky, Truthdig: "One of the worst messes facing the Obama administration is the disgraceful state of the federal government's immigration detention centers. There are 350 of these centers around the country, housing almost 30,000 men, women and even children waiting for the Department of Homeland Security to decide whether or not they will be deported. Some have been in custody for years. The centers are overcrowded. Newspapers and academic and civil liberties studies tell of physically and mentally ill inmates being denied help." Robert Parry | The GOP's Filibuster Hypocrisywww.truthout.org/020909DRobert Parry, Consortium News: "Though seemingly forgotten by most TV talking heads, it was only three years ago, when the Republicans had control of both the White House and Congress - and 'filibuster' was a dirty word. It was usually coupled with 'obstructionist' amid demands that any of George W. Bush's proposals deserved 'an up-or-down vote.' Yet now, with the Democrats holding the White House and Congress, the Republicans and the Washington press corps have come to view the filibuster fondly, as a valued American tradition, a time-honored part of a healthy legislative process." The Chronicles of Favilla | Critics of Capitalismwww.truthout.org/020909EThe authors writing as the Chronicles of Favilla for Les Echos suggest we would do well to review the works of Karl Polanyi and Joseph Schumpeter, both of whom predicted capitalism's collapse: the former because of destruction of the creative spirit, the latter because of the destruction of social solidarity and mores.
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