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Post by MacBeth on Feb 11, 2009 7:55:11 GMT -5
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 11, 2009 8:50:35 GMT -5
Yahoo! Alerts
Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 5:31 AM PST
WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. trade deficit falls to lowest level in nearly six years as recession depresses imports.
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 11, 2009 9:58:35 GMT -5
Maya Schenwar | States Push to Take Back National Guardwww.truthout.org/021109JMaya Schenwar, Truthout: "Going on its seventh year, the Iraq war has taken its toll on not only the US military, but also on the states's National Guard units, which were called up when Congress passed the 2002 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) against Iraq. Now a growing state-level movement is working to keep the Guard at home. Its logic: The AUMF's goals have been fulfilled. The authorization's explicit purposes were to defend the US against the 'threat posed by Iraq' and to enforce UN Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq's alleged ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein - along with his supposed threat - is gone, and the UN resolutions are no longer relevant, so there's no longer a mandate to keep troops in Iraq." Haggling Begins on Final US Stimulus Planwww.truthout.org/021109KJeremy Pelofsky and Richard Cowan, Reuters: "US lawmakers began haggling in earnest over a final package of tax cuts and spending on Tuesday after the Senate passed its $838 billion version of a rescue plan to fight the deepening recession. President Barack Obama wants the Democratic-controlled Congress to deliver a package by this weekend so he can sign it into law. But he must keep together a narrow coalition that wants the price tag lowered to about $800 billion. The House of Representatives passed its own $819 billion measure and the two chambers have appointed a small group of lawmakers to iron out differences in talks that could drag into next week." Netanyahu, Livni Declare Win in Israeli Electionwww.truthout.org/021109LSteven Gutkin, The Associated Press: "Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hard-line rival Benjamin Netanyahu both claimed victory in Israel's parliamentary election Tuesday, which early returns suggested was too close to call. With 67 percent of the votes counted, Livni's centrist Kadima Party had 29 seats in the 120-seat parliament while Netanyahu's hawkish Likud Party was right behind with 28, Israel's Channel 1 television said. However, soldiers' votes on bases across the country weren't being tallied until Thursday evening, which could shift the results by a seat or two. Regardless of who gets the most votes, Netanyahu's Likud Party appeared to have the upper hand in forming a ruling coalition thanks to strong showing by other right-wing parties." More Accuse Britain in Torture of Guantanamo Detaineewww.truthout.org/021109MJulie Sell, McClatchy Newspapers: "Despite years of denials, new questions are being raised about Britain's possible involvement in the torture of a detainee now on a prolonged hunger strike at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. Both an American military lawyer who's seen classified documents on the case and the head of a special parliamentary committee said Tuesday that the British government might have been complicit in the alleged mistreatment of Binyam Mohamed. The former British resident was seized in 2002 and held in several countries - including Morocco, where he claims he was tortured - before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2004."
Juan Cole | Could Khatami Be Iran's Obama?www.truthout.org/021109NJuan Cole, Informed Comment: "You have an economy in shambles, increasing international isolation, the danger of further wars, an unpopular millenarian president who thinks God put him in office to reshape the world, and an alarmed public across the board. And you have a liberal challenger to the woeful status quo who is known for an ability to reach out to conservatives and a dislike of social polarization, who is wildly popular with youth, women and liberals, but who might attract even conservative votes. Sound familiar? I am talking about Iran." Autoworker Families See End of Linewww.truthout.org/021109OTim Jones, The Chicago Tribune: "Four generations and 127 years. That's Kurt Surato's direct bloodline to General Motors Corp., starting with his great-grandfather, who swept floors in 1912 for auto pioneer Ransom Olds, to Kurt's current job of fastening front ends to SUVs, 50 every hour. The Surato family's factory lives mirror the soaring arc of the domestic auto industry, spanning the birth of the Oldsmobile, the creation of the speedometer, automatic transmission and front-wheel drive - and now, in its downward trajectory, the demise of General Motors as we know it. The end of the line jobwise, at least for the Surato family, is near."
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 11, 2009 15:14:05 GMT -5
Marjorie Cohn | A Call to End All Renditionswww.truthout.org/021109AMarjorie Cohn, in an article for Jurist, presents legal background and analysis on the United States's practice of rendition under the Bush administration, and examines the legal opinions offered so far by the Justice Department under President Barack Obama. Attacks on Afghan Government Buildings Kill 20www.truthout.org/021109BAmir Shah and Rahim Faiez, The Associated Press: "Eight Taliban gunmen wearing suicide vests attacked three Afghan government buildings Wednesday in a coordinated assault that killed 20 people in the heart of Kabul just ahead of a planned visit from the new U.S. envoy to the region. The attacks in a city dense with barricades and armed guards underscored the difficulty of fending off the Taliban even with abundant troops and weaponry as the U.S. beefs up its presence." Police: 16 Dead, 45 Wounded in Twin Baghdad Bombswww.truthout.org/021109CReuters: "Sixteen people were killed and 45 wounded on Wednesday when twin car bombs exploded at a bus terminal and market area in southwestern Baghdad, Iraqi police said. The coordinated explosions at the bus terminal in Baghdad's Bayaa neighborhood took place as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shi'ites are making their way toward a holy city for an annual pilgrimage, a ritual often targeted by insurgent attacks." Geithner's New Bank Bailout: Private Investors Hold the Keywww.truthout.org/021109DMark Trumbull, The Christian Science Monitor: "The Obama administration's new strategy to deal with troubled banks relies both on regulation and private-sector intervention in a bid to break a persistent credit logjam. If the strategy, announced Tuesday by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, succeeds, it would remove a major roadblock to economic recovery. If it fails, the result will be to dull the impact of President Obama's plan to create jobs by cutting taxes and boosting government spending, many economists say." Bank CEOs: The Men Behind the Billionswww.truthout.org/021109EAlice Gomstyn and Russell Goldman, ABC News: "The eight bank chief executives who will testify before Congress today will explain how they have used money from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. The executives have spurred their share of headlines in recent months for everything from defending their banks' spending practices to forgoing their multimillion-dollar bonuses, as at least seven bank CEOs have done so far. Below, a look at the eight men, their compensation and the financial firms they run. Compensation totals, which are courtesy of James F. Reda and Associates, do not include retirement investments and other deferred compensation." Gaetan de Capele | Everything Must Change in the Auto-Industrial Societywww.truthout.org/021109FGaetan de Capele in Le Figaro and Emma Rothschild in The New York Review of Books argue for fundamental change in the auto industry.
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 11, 2009 17:45:12 GMT -5
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Post by MacBeth on Feb 11, 2009 18:40:09 GMT -5
Deal Reached in Race for Stimulus Billwww.truthout.org/021109RCBS News / The Associated Press: "Moving with lightning speed, key lawmakers announced agreement Wednesday on a $789 billion economic stimulus measure designed to create millions of jobs in a nation reeling from recession. President Barack Obama could sign the bill within days." Robert Scheer | No Tough Love for Wall Streetwww.truthout.org/021109SRobert Scheer, Truthdig: "What an insipid anticlimax! Rising to 'a challenge more complex than our financial system has ever faced,' Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner promised on Tuesday to give trillions more to the very folks who profited from that malignant complexity. For all the brave talk about transparency and accountability in the banking bailout, he gave the swindlers who got us into this mess yet another blank check to buy up the 'toxic assets' they gleefully created." Global Court Weighs Case Against Sudan's Presidentwww.truthout.org/021109TColum Lynch, The Washington Post: "In the coming weeks, judges from the International Criminal Court will decide whether to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of genocide and other war crimes in a military campaign that has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Darfur since 2003. But Bashir's government is hardly being treated like an international pariah." Bill Moyers Journal | Finding Economic Stimuluswww.truthout.org/021109UBill Moyers Journal: "This week on Bill Moyers Journal, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), MIT Sloan School of Management professor and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics Simon Johnson examines President Obama's plan for economic recovery. " Bush-Era Offshore Drilling Plan Is Set Asidewww.truthout.org/021109EAMSNBC.com: "The Obama administration on Tuesday overturned another Bush-era energy policy, setting aside a draft plan to allow drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts." Farms See Big Crop of Workerswww.truthout.org/021109LAJerry Hirsch, The Los Angeles Times: "What a difference a bad economy makes. The collapse of the construction industry and a slump in the restaurant and food service sector have sent thousands of people back to looking for work on California farms, which not so long ago were hurting for workers." Peggy Simpson | Can Feminist Groups and Bloggers Bridge the Digital Divide?www.truthout.org/021109WAPeggy Simpson, The Women's Media Center: "At the least, leaders of national women's rights groups and the founders of fast-growing feminist blog sites gathered in the same room. That in itself was a first. And a major accomplishment, says Shireen Mitchell of Digital Sisters, one of the organizers of the Fem2.0 conference held in early February in Washington, DC." Scientists Heartened at Prospect of End to Stem Cell Banwww.truthout.org/021109HAAmanda Gardner, HealthDay News: "Researchers are rejoicing over President Barack Obama's anticipated lifting of the eight-year ban on embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, President George W. Bush." Senate Cuts Education Aid in Stimuluswww.truthout.org/021109EDUAlyson Klein, Education Week: "Cash-strapped schools, colleges, and prekindergarten programs would receive more than $80 billion in federal assistance under a version of the massive economic-stimulus package passed by the US Senate today on a partisan, 61-37 vote."
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