Razed By Wolves: January 2010

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The ABCs of Anarchy: A great way for kids to learn the non-corrupted meaning of the word Anarchism

.
.H/t: Roxanne Amico, Spiritmorph Studio

A is for Anarchy, B is for Black Bloc, C is for Critical Mass, D is for...

Only $12.99 at CreateSpace or Amazon.com

Friday, January 29, 2010

January 29 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: The OTHER White Meat... Pig - We Made The Nation Safe For Pig Farmers But What About The Pig

"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."

January 29 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: The OTHER White Meat... Pig - We've Made The Nation Safe For Pig Farmers But What About The Pigs?

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In The News:
The White House agrees that the trying of Sheikh Mohammed Khalid in Manhattan is an expensive and potentially dangerous idea, so the trial may be moved to Denver, or someplace really remote like Fargo North Dakota.

There has been an announcement of federal funds for a high speed train between the San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles with one also planned for the Eastern corridor terminating in Miami.

The British parliament has Tony Blair, AKA "George W. Bush's Poodle", testifying on his decision to join the 'coalition of the coerced'... Firedog Lake:"Of course, none of it has any credibility. But Blair might have skated through the most obvious risks of perjury at the inquiry".

That hearing just days after a parliamentary hearing in the Netherlands came to the conclusion that the UN mandate on Iraq DID NOT extend to an allowable invasion of the country (Quote:"The 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq lacked legitimacy and was a violation of international laws"). The question remains... Why didn't the UN intercede?

On Afghanistan, there is a 70 nation conference on how to withdraw from the country in progress, with the news that the UN and the Talib met in Dubai last month to negotiate some sort of truce or ceasefire agreement. The Karzai government is also negotiating with the Taliban, but their 'government's' masters, the US, disapprove.

Meanwhile, IN Afghanistan, NATO is going to provide $500 million dollars to bribe the Taliban even as Afghanistan's 'president" Hamid Karzai "asked for 15 years more of a substantial NATO commitment and heavy investment of foreign training and aid in the country." [More @ Informed Comment]

The US Congress voted 70-30 to confirm Benjamin Bernanke as Federal Reserve Board chairman. The looting of the US treasury at the hands of the financial corporations WILL continue.

One of the biggest environmental disasters in the SF bay area are the wild pigs with no natural predators (The state of California killed off, by decree, most of the Coyotes years ago). Last night a 360 pound porker was wandering the streets of Half Moon Bay, many miles South of San Francisco along the coast. Because the city of Half Moon Bay's authorities didn't know what to do...

"They had it contained near where Grandview dead ends in a wooded area, and we tried to get (the California Department of Fish and Game) out to help us, but they were either unavailable or don't handle boar calls," O'Keefe said. The Peninsula Humane Society was likewise unavailable to help, he added" [In Full]

...the police killed it.

"It's no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" --J. Krisnamurti

In OTHER News:

The situation on Haiti is about as expected...

Haitian hospitals running low on medical supplies

"Top story: With around 200,000 people in need of post-surgical care and countless more still with untreated injuries, doctors say that basic medical supplies are running out in Haiti's hospitals. While international aid continues to pour in," [In Full]

Meanwhile, in America: aid to Haiti's government triples...

Haiti Gets a Penny of Each U.S. Aid Dollar (and the US military receives $0.33c)

By The Associated Press

January 27, 2010 -- AP-- Only 1 cent of each dollar the U.S. is spending on earthquake relief in Haiti is going in the form of cash to the Haitian government, according to an Associated Press review of relief efforts. [In Full]

Ask yourself, how much of that penny trickles down from the Preval 'government' to the Haitian people?

Finally, Our OTHER DIRTY WAR... Somalia: "At least 15 people were killed in a heavy day of fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia." (sourced above) even as the Italian government claims it will take 'control' of the funding of Somali government ministries "...because Ahmed's government "is the best option. We have no alternative but to support this government,"

[After the Commentary, Bryan Bowers. Courtesy of the respective artists and KPIG radio Freedom California Earth]

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Recorded & transcribed by Da' Buffalo Amongst Wolves

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Thursday, January 28, 2010

January 28 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Kazakhstan Is 'Nowhere', But A Road Through Kazakhstan... Modern Highways Modern Warfare

"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."

January 28 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Kazakhstan Is 'Nowhere', But A Road Through Kazakhstan... Modern Highways Modern Warfare

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In The News:
Remember... The State Of The Union speech is a request by the president to congress to do something about the issues discussed. If the coming year is like the last, don't expect much. Sitrep.

However, Nancy Pelosi DID say if they're going to freeze discretionary domestic spending, how about freezing the funds for our wars. Expect no congressional action there either.

Will Federal Reserve chief Benjamin Bernanke keep his post? He has essentially claimed that, during the financial institution economic meltdown, he basically stood back and let the institutions themselves figure out how to staunch the economic flow of green blood from America's financial veins that they themselves suck on for their very sustenance.

There ARE other, highly qualified people (Cenk Uygur @ FiredogLake):

But there is one name that still stands above the rest as clearly the best candidate for the Fed opening – Joseph Stiglitz. Nobel prize winner, former Chief Economist for the World Bank, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors and perhaps the most respected economist in the world.

The right takes over - President Zelaya of Honduras has gone into exile in the Dominican Republic and the officers who staged the coup have been absolved by the Honduran supreme court.

A convoy of trucks carrying supplies for NATO has been attacked on the outskirts of Karachi Pakistan. Most of Pakistan's trade, and 75% of OUR equipment moves through the Karachi seaport..

But there IS another way to move our military supplies. A deal has been signed to complete the last piece of road through Kazakhstan to the Afghanistan border. More in the commentary.

In OTHER News...

Is the cost of your breakfast cereal going up?

Here's one reason why.

U.S. Feeds One Quarter of its Grain to Cars (While Hunger is on the Rise)

(An approximately 6-fold rise in the last 10 years.)

Earth Policy Institute
JANUARY 21, 2010

"The 107 million tons of grain that went to U.S. ethanol distilleries in 2009 was enough to feed 330 million people for one year at average world consumption levels. More than a quarter of the total U.S. grain crop was turned into ethanol to fuel cars last year. With 200 ethanol distilleries in the country set up to transform food into fuel, the amount of grain processed has tripled since 2004.
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When the growing demand for corn for ethanol helped to push world grain prices to record highs between late 2006 and 2008, people in low-income grain-importing countries were hit the hardest. The unprecedented spike in food prices drove up the number of hungry people in the world to over 1 billion for the first time in 2009.
[In Full @ Earth Policy Institute]

Also See: You Are Being Lied To, Part 2: US Department of Agriculture Edition, about how the USDA is gerrymandering maps and statistics about grain crops and production in the US.

Dana Priest at the Washington Post implies the U.S. is targeting American citizens for killing or capture.
(Read the last paragraph carefully)

"as part of the operations, Obama approved a Dec. 24 strike against a compound where a U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Aulaqi, was thought to be meeting with other regional al-Qaeda leaders.

Although he was not the focus of the strike and was not killed, he has since been added to a shortlist of U.S. citizens specifically targeted for killing or capture by the JSOC, military officials said. "

H/t to, and analysis @ Firedoglake

The Pharmaceutical-Medical-Industrial Complex plays with your fear of 'illness'

"On Tuesday, the Council of Europe launched an investigation into whether the World Health Organization (WHO) "faked" the swine flu pandemic to boost profits for vaccine manufacturers" [In Full]

Finally, on a sad note... Historian Howard Zinn passes at 87.

"I wanted more than ‘objectivity’; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it."

A People's History Of The United States should be required reading in every American high school classroom. His site

Read Howard Zinn's works, and others, at HISTORY IS A WEAPON

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

January 27 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Yemen - There May Be A Place Worse Than Afghanistan To Fight In, And We're There

"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."

January 27 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Yemen - There May Be A Place Worse Than Afghanistan To Fight In, And We're There

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In The News:
Toyota is shutting down US and Canadian sales of eight car and light truck models and recalling hundreds of thousands of vehicles while they figure out what to do about a design flaw in an accelerator pedal that sticks in the GO! position.

If you're unemployed, you should have no problem being in front of the boob tube at 5pm pst to watch president Obama's State of the Union address... Keep 'hoping'.

US President Barack Obama will outline a "hopeful track" for the year ahead in his first State of the Union address to Congress, his spokesman has said.

With unemployment at 10% and a soaring deficit, correspondents say the speech will focus on jobs and the economy. Mr Obama has recently been rattled by a slump in voter confidence and victories for Republicans in three key states.

In a recent BBC/Harris poll, 84% of Americans rated the current state of the union as negative. [BBCNews]

An Uzbeki Guantanamo inmate has been released to Switzerland... There are 102 remaining captives, most of whom have done absolutely nothing.

Also notable on that front in the war on...Well, jut about everyone... the UN's list of 'terrorists' shrinks... The United Nations has removed five former Afghan Taliban officials from its sanctions list which was imposed because of alleged links to al-Qaeda.

China is protesting the US sale of modern weaponry including Blackhawk helicopters and state of the art PATRIOT missile systems, to Taiwan.

AP writes that the sale is likely to include UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles and military communications equipment. But F-16 fighter jets are not likely to be included. [source]

A car bomb right outside the gate of US HQ Camp Phoenix in downtown Kabul Afghanistan kills 17 people.

Meanwhile... Fun and games on the Korean peninsula:

North and South Korea exchange fire near sea border

North and South Korea have exchanged fire close to their disputed maritime border, say reports. North Korea twice fired artillery shells into the sea off the South's western coast, said South Korean media.

South Korean coastal bases responded to the first volley with warning shots, but no injuries were reported.

The North said the firing had been part of an annual military drill and firing would continue, but Seoul said the action was "provocative". It came after North Korea declared a no-sail zone in waters off its coast on Tuesday, media reports say. [In Full]

Haiti update and contest:

Spot The US NGO Funds For Haiti

OK folks, here are the rules. The Blue blobs represent NGO donations to Haitian relief efforts. I'm getting eyestrain looking for US NGO contributions. The winner is the person that can... umn... find one?

Click on the map to see it in any scale you'd like @ http://awesome.good.is
(It's an awesome good flash presentation tool)

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Station Contest: Spot The US NGO Funds For Haiti

Mindwash! The Media, You, And Information Wars

"In the flickering light
The comforting glow
Get the world every night
As A TV show
Same old spin
On the shit we're in
Blow by blow
And the more you watch
The less you know"
--Jackson Browne

Any Questions? See: It's NOT The Money... It's What They Do With It
Neuropsychology, 'BlipVertising', And The USSC Ruling On Corporate Electioneering

January 26 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Obama Freezes Domestic Discretionary Spending As The US Economic Ship Begins To Go Under

"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."

January 26 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: We're In Deeper (Economic) Trouble Than We mThink Or... The Congress-Rats Head For The Hawsers As Obama Freezes Domestic Discretionary Spending And The Economic Ship Of State Begins To Slide Under The Waves

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In The News:
Northern Ireland's power sharing government is coming apart. The UK and the Republic of Ireland are holding emergency talks before the inevitable shooting war starts.

In Iraq, the government has executed 'Chemical Ali', who allegedly killed approximately 5000 Kurds with US supplied poison gases, when in reality, the US CIA financed MEK killed more Kurds in the US backed proxy war on Iran.

The acquittal of the Blackwater mercenaries responsible for the Nisoor Square civilian massacre will be appealed by the Obama administration's DOJ attorneys.

Radio Caracas Venezuela has been pulled from the air in because they are refusing to carry the government required presidential speeches by Hugo Chavez

In Washington, quite a few congresscritters who voted themselves the governmental version of Golden Parachutes over the years are getting out when the going gets tough, and retiring in lieu of running for their seats again.

Speaking of "The going gets tough...", tomorrow's state of the union is going to bring a historic event. The Obama Administration is going to announce a three year freeze on Domestic Discretionary spending... Kiss your social services goodbye even as the US economic cookie crumbles.

There WILL NOT be a three year freeze on financing our wars.

"We are in the midst of fighting a war and have security needs. We're going to fund those security needs as necessary," one of the officials told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity." --Reuters

A sampling of the political blogosphere on the topic from Firedog Lake:

* OpenLeft: “This is Bush-style idiocy.”
* Americablog: “I guess Evan Bayh and Ben Nelson will think it’s a good idea.”
* 538: “…on par with John McCain’s “suspending my campaign” gaffe.”
* Orange Satan: “…unalloyed idiocy.”
* MyDD: “Barack Obama may as well hold up a big sign that says, “I want Democrats to lose Congress.”
* Atrios: “We are ruled by idiots.”
* DeLong: “…a perfect example of the fundamental unseriousness of Barack Obama and his administration.”
* Digby: “We are all neo-Hooverists now.”
* Yglesias: “I suspect this initiative was deliberately leaked to progressive bloggers in an effort to get denounced by the left and I don’t want to give them the satisfaction.” [In Full]

News of note in the current US economic DEPRESSION
Kiss ONE of your (3...4) 16 hour a week jobs with no benefits buh-bye:

Walmart To Lay Off 11,200 Sam's Club Staffers

"...mostly part-timers, who offer food samples and showcase products to customers. The company also eliminated 1,200 workers who recruit new members."

Last year, the folks who DID get 'bennies' went buh-bye:

Walmart to Lay Off Up to 800 Employees at Headquarters
Walmart Stores is laying off 700 to 800 employees from its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, including marketing personnel.

James Howard Kunstler gives his opinion of the state of the US economy and the cretins (like the sitting president) who control it:

Swingtime

"Now, one big question is how come the president waited until after the Massachusetts election debacle to man up with the banks? Did it only just come to him that they were looting the nation -- with government assistance? Pretty obviously nobody will believe that Mr. Obama is sincere about reigning in fraud-ridden Wall Street until he issues pink slips to the Goldman Sachs alumni who have been running him like a radio-controlled monster truck.." [In Full]

Meanwhile, "Raw Story" gives 'old meaning' to the word 'shred'...

Kucinich shreds Democrats for betraying the promise of change (Dennis Kucinich Interview)

Also see: Why Do Democrats Keep Calling the Alarm and Pressing the Snooze?
(It is time for the majority party in this country to prove they have the convictions of the soul that gave them the opportunity to serve in the public’s interest.)

While the disaster industrial complex rakes in the bucks over the avoidable humanitarian disaster that is Haiti:

"On the other side (from the military industrial complex's involvement in disaster relief) are the purportedly well-meaning organizations that comprise part of what has been called the "disaster-industrial complex." Among these are entities like the Red Cross that see their coffers drastically inflate during times of acute crisis, but don't always see fit to disburse the bulk of the resources received to the people who need it most. Such mainstream charities often partner with multinational corporations to create disturbing synergies like giving out Wal-Mart gift cards or feeding contractors rather than hungry locals. Even in cases where these entities perform charitable works in good conscience, they often find themselves in the position of perpetuating a marginal existence for the "victims" rather than addressing the root causes of impoverishment and imposed vulnerability that made the disaster possible in the first instance." [In Full]

The New York Times waits four or more years until the US government can develop an alibi for the cultural annihilation of a Native American tribal group along the Arizona/Mexico border know for it's kindness to stranded migrant workers traversing the US/Mexican Sonoran desert.

[Click for a huge image in PDF format]

Monday, January 25, 2010
Shame on the New York Times for Fueling Border Misery
Shame on the New York Times: The truth could have meant one less person would have been beaten, raped or murdered this year by US Border Patrol agents

By Brenda Norrell

UPDATE: Ofelia Rivas response to article

(Photo: Angie Ramon at the site of her son Bennett Patricio's death/Photo Brenda Norrell; Photo 2: US Border Patrol spy camera focused on O'odham home; Photo 3: Migrant detention center called 'dog cage' by Indigenous on Tohono O'odham land. Photo Ofelia Rivas.)

SELLS, Ariz. -- Shame on the New York Times for failing to tell the real story of the Tohono O'odham border and the complicity between elected Tohono O'doham officials, tribal police and US Border Patrol agents. The truth could have meant that one less person would have been beaten, raped or murdered this year by US Border Patrol agents.

Today's article in the New York Times, "War Without Borders," is the typical mainstream article on the Arizona border, which supports more militarization and abuse at the border.

News reporter Erik Echholm offers a superficial view of the situation, focusing on drug trafficking, rather than revealing the real story.

If the reporter had spent more time here, knew more Tohono O'odham, and listened more to the Tohono O'odham, instead of the profiteering politicians, the New York Times would have told a different story.

Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham on the border, describes her encounter with the reporter and what he failed to include in the article... [In Full]

(PS... The Tohono were setting up water and safety stations in the US/Mexican Sonoran desert for stranded migrants... can't have that!)

[After the Commentary Trout Fishing In America does the traditional American Tango... "Mine!". Courtesy of the respective artists and KPIG radio Freedom California Earth]
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Monday, January 25, 2010

January 25 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Have You Heard? We Won The War On Iraq! But For The Iraqis...

"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."

January 25 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Have You Heard? We Won The War On Iraq! But For The Iraqis...

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In The News:
Due to work related time constraints, no news synopsis today.

But for now, an image to dwell on:

Meanwhile...

"Guido Bertolaso, Italy's top disaster expert (and cabinet minister), has attack the US response to the Haiti earthquake, criticising its lack of organisation and the reliance on soldiers with no training in humanitarian operations.

Mr Bertolaso, head of Italy's civil protection service who received international acclaim for his handling of an L'Aquila earthquake last April, described the response as "a pathetic situation which could have been much better organised".

Mr Bertolaso, who arrived in Haiti on Friday, told Italy's RAI state television that Washington had made "a show of force", but military officers co-ordinating the emergency had no links with the humanitarian groups in the Caribbean island state.

"We are missing a leader, a co-ordination capacity that goes beyond military discipline," said Mr Bertolaso, who holds the rank of a government minister, late on Sunday.

"The Americans are extraordinary, but when you are facing a situation in chaos, they tend to confuse military intervention with emergency aid, which cannot be entrusted to the armed forces." [In Full]

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

It's NOT JUST The Money It's What They Do With It: Neuropsychology And Corporate Electioneering

.
.Every one is acting sooooo surprised.

Lets get something straight...

The courts ruled corporations have 'personhood' hundreds of years ago in England and they STILL rule that way in the United States.

Therefore, as-is, corporations have the right to 'freedom of expression'

How you spend money IS a form of that.

Any questions?

Look... That's just the publicly visible tip of the monetary-electoral iceberg anyway... The fact that corporations use their money to influence elections.

Lets talk about HOW they'll spend the money to do that now that corporations can more freely 'contribute' to candidates and electoral campaigns.

Hint... It won't be spent on Get-Out-The-Vote phone banks for the candidates.

It will be invested in advertising.

CAREFULLY crafted political neuro-psychological advertising.

Designed with your mind in mind.

Cf. BlipVerts

Think of it however you like... in awe or abject terror.

A nation of sheep being led to the socio-cultural slaughter willingly.

The next time someone asks you why you believe something
political, or why you think Coke is better than Pepsi... consider:

The Real Deal... Neuro-Advertising:

Advertisers and Politicians Hunt for the "Buy-Button" in Your Brain (Buy! Buy! Buy! [Vote!])

Using a form of marketing known as neuromarketing, corporations and politicians are using MRIs, EEGs, and other brain-scan and medical technology to craft irresistible media messages designed to shift buying habits, political beliefs and voting patterns, as described in the World Business Academy's video "Spellcasters."

By measuring activity in different parts of the brain in response to an ad or other media message, advertisers and political consultants can create advertising campaigns that tap into the pre-conscious brain. The idea is to assess central nervous system response to certain ads, the better to skirt the viewers' rational thought.

Since the dawn of commerce, sellers have tried to figure out how to best pitch their wares, grab attention and close the deal. Sales pitches have always been designed to create a willing buyer, often by creating needs and wants and then offering up a new product to satisfy them.

Clever and unscrupulous sales pitches are nothing new. They helped create a nation of smokers until litigation revealed that tobacco companies hid known risks. The court cases led to big damage awards, new warning requirements and, finally, fewer smokers.

The use of music, images and emotion to manipulate the consumer and voter is also nothing new. But neuromarketing involves a degree of intrusiveness and manipulation that needs to be exposed and stopped. Consumers pushed back when advertisers turned to subliminal advertising - the practice of flashing an image for a tiny fraction of a second, too fast for the cognitive brain to process.

It's time to push back again. [In Full]

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Friday, January 22, 2010

January 22 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Jon Stewart Skewers "The Voice Of Anger & Discontent" Keith Olbermann

"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."

January 22 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Jon Stewart Skewers Keith Olbermann - That's What Happens When The Voice Of Anger And Discontent Becomes Too Impressed With Itself

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In The News:
There goes the (voting) game: the US Supreme Court, over the years, has decided that corporations are people, they cannot have their right of speech abridged, and now, that speech is measured in dollars when it comes to election contributions. The United States has becomes the ONLY DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY IN THE WORLD (Dubai is one of the NON-Democratic countries holding Corporations as Supreme Beings) that allows corporations to contribute to election just like you and I. Firedoglake on the subject:

U.S. Supreme Court Makes Corporations Supreme, People Mere Monkeys

If you had any doubt about the corruption that has infected the very bloodstream of American politics, look at today’s ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court said corporations can spend unlimited amounts to influence the outcome of elections.

I’m gonna repeat my sad joke: we are approaching the time when there will be “corporate creationists” so convinced of the divine status of the corporate life-form that they will deny vehemently that corporations evolved from human beings. Americans, we are the new monkeys.

At the root of the Court’s attack on popular democracy — and it is an attack, and it will promote if not guarantee rule by unaccountable corporate oligarchy — is the Court’s infamous 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision that said money equals speech. Left unaddressed in today’s decision — and others — is the absurdity of this formula. When money equals speech, outfits with more money have more speech. And that destroys the very principle of free speech. [In Full]

The 218 votes needed to pass the health care bill in the House of Representatives are not there. Despite the words you may hear over the next days, weeks, and months, the health care reform bill you've heard about... Public options et al, is deceased. What IS likely to happen "Bits of health care reform likely to be buried in must-pass bills" (but don't expect too much 'reform', except the kind that benefits the HMOs and PharmaCos)

The Economist has more:

"Rip it up and start again
The vote in Massachusetts leaves health reform critically ill

Jan 21st 2010

COULD Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts scupper Obamacare altogether? There are currently two health bills, one passed by each congressional chamber, that Democrats had hoped to merge somehow into a final law. But because the Senate bill passed with just 60 votes—the minimum needed to overcome a Republican filibuster—Republican leaders are gleefully claiming that Mr Brown’s vow to be the “41st vote” against reform will prove the death blow to that dream. " [In Full]

The Obama administration says it is going to regulate the banks, as in financial investment banks vs the kind if bank you put your paycheck in. More from the Jurist.

US President Barack Obama proposed new banking rules [statement; press release] Thursday that he claims would stabilize the banking system and reduce the risk of future bank failures. The legislation [Washington Post report] would prohibit banks from owning, investing or sponsoring hedge funds, private equity funds, or proprietary trading funds for profit where the funds do not benefit the banks' customers. Obama termed this rule the "Volcker Rule" after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker [official profile], who stood behind Obama during Thursday's announcement. The second part of Obama's proposed legislation would prohibit future consolidation between banks to prevent any one bank or small group of banks from having a disproportionate, and potentially negative, impact on the economy. Obama emphasized his commitment to banking reform, stating... [In Full]

Air America, the last liberal-left format national radio talk show on the air is no longer. They claim the economic environment has made their operations untenable along with many other talk shows. More from Firedoglake.

Haiti Report - The main pier at Port au Prince and the main road are now open. The rescue operations are just about done with most of the city bulldozed, only minor violence not befitting the presence of a potential 10,000 US troops, and the residents living in camps at the outskirts of town. What to do with the homeless is next on the agenda. From Foreign Policy:

With aid now flowing more freely, attention is turning to the plight of Haiti's nearly 1 million new homeless. There are reports that the government plans to move as many as 400,000 people to tent villages being set up on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. The tents will not be habitable by May when Haiti's hurricane season starts, but aid groups say they have little choice at this point.

The U.S. Navy is also setting up tents at its base in Guantanamo Bay, preparing for a possible influx of Haitians. The base is currently being used as a staging ground for aid flights into the country. [In Full]

Squatter City on the subject:

The Independent offers a clear-eyed view of the situation in the notorious Port-au-Prince shantytown.

"We don't have doctors, we don't have food, we don't have water," said Louis Jean Jaris, a 29-year-old resident. "The aid comes to Haiti, but it goes elsewhere. In Cité Soleil we are all victims, just like everyone else, but compared to the rest of the country, we are a low priority. To the people in power, we are not considered to be victims."

Black Hawk helicopters were thundering overhead yesterday, taking aid from the airport to desperate survivors. But the shanty town does not have an official food aid distribution post, and only one small water truck was to be found on the streets, surrounded by a fractious crowd.

Small amounts of supplies are of course available, to those who have money. But Cité Soleil's biggest employer, a garment factory, has yet to reopen, and most locals are instead forced to walk miles into central Port-au-Prince in search of handouts. So far, the dysfunctional international aid effort means they are very lucky to find any.

One significant thing the article doesn't say: whether Cité Soleil experienced much destruction due to the quake. There's no doubt that the people there are victims, just like everyone else, but I wonder if the smaller-scale structures of the squatter community were extensively damaged. [In Full]

In regard to the commentary topic... If you enjoyed the minute plus sound clip at the tail of the commentary...
The Stewart skewering of Olbermann in living color...

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Thursday, January 21, 2010

January 21 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Can The Democrats Change Focus To A More Populist Approach? Leashing The Dogs Of Capitalism?

"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."

January 21 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Can The Democrats Change Focus To A More Populist Approach... 'Leashing The Dogs Of Capitalism'?

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In The News:
What are the Democrats going to do now that they no longer have a veto-proof majority? Nancy Pelosi looks at the prospect of forcing the Health Care Reform bill vote as is and then taking it directly to the White House. Other options are limited and if the Senate debates the bill at all now that the Democrats no longer have a veto-proof majority it will be terminal.. flat lined. One pundit HAS another take and another possibility: "Obama learns lesson from Massachusetts: shifts further to the right". More in the commentary.

On Haiti, the tragedy continues as the Haitian people remain calm or try to get out of town... or wait for aid... which is slow in coming, but US troops aren't slow in coming, nor are the Pentagon insiders who are busily sucking in the bucks from the US treasury's disaster relief teat.

(Evergreen International Aviation... They do the 'logistics' end of CIA 'renditions' and have a long history of covert ops for the CIA and Pentagon. The Wired article fleshes(sic) it out)

"A controversial CIA contractor has found new work in Haiti, flying drones on disaster recovery duty.

When last we heard from Evergreen International Aviation, the Oregon-based firm was offering to post sentries at local voting centers during the 2008 election, ”detaining troublemakers” and making sure voters “do not get out of control.”

Now, company vice president Sam White tells Aviation Week that the firm is flying at least one ScanEagle surveillance drone over Haiti. ”The company has a fleet of 747s and a fleet of large and small choppers, and has begun ferrying in supplies to Port au Prince,” the magazine’s Paul McLeary notes. “White wouldn't’t say who the company is moving cargo for, saying only that ‘we’re working with different agencies, and we have one plane coming in tomorrow full of humanitarian supplies.’”

Over the years, Evergreen has had all sorts of interesting clients over its five-plus decades in operation. Back in the late ’80s, the company “acknowledged one agreement under which his companies provide occasional jobs and cover to foreign nationals the CIA wants taken out of other countries or brought into the United States.” In 2006, Evergreen’s parent company flew Bill O’Reilly into Kuwait in 2006, according to SourceWatch. Last April, the company won a $158 million contract to supply the Air Force with helicopters in Afghanistan. [In Full@Wired Danger Room]

No word on what that's costing US taxpayers, but Da Buffalo DID find Evergreen's NGO pricing for "Helicopters to Haiti":

"Bill Doonen, a representative of Evergreen Helicopters (Same Parent Company), said he could take the French team in. But it would cost about $7,000 an hour, with a four-hour minimum. I'm at a loss for words. [In Full @ OregonLive]

Meanwhile, the Venezuelans AND FRANCE are saying there has been a US take-over of the island country, but THAT happened in 2004.

"Weasel Words @ Work"...

"Sensitive to appearances the United States was taking too forceful a role, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the White House was being "very careful" to work with the Haitian government and the United Nations." [In Full]

There IS NO "Haitian Government"... There is a UN/US installed caretaker administrative regime and there has been no government since the US KIDNAPPED Jean Bertrand Aristide in the middle of the night and forced him into exile.

This 'lack of legitimate government' is also the case in Somalia, where the US and UN consorted to FORCIBLY REMOVE the democratically elected ICU and installed the TFG, headed by CIA thugs, who, when forced out, were picked up by a US Navy Seal team and whisked by submarine to Kenya, where the government informed them they were unwelcome, so the CIA took them to Ethiopia, which was more inclined to accept them, and also assist with an invasion of Somalia.

White House National 'Security' Advisor James Jones and Admiral Mullen are in Moscow hammering out the details on the new version of the SALT arms reduction agreement which would "reduce" the US inventory of strategic nuclear tipped missiles to somewhere between 1500-1675 WMDS.

What to do with a concentration camp island? Haiti, now with 2 million homeless and quite a few heading for the Florida Straits on anything that floats... Where will they go? GITMO, just 4 miles down the road from our Gulag, where 100 barracks tents have been set up for waterborne refugees and 1,000 more tents are ready if "needed".

Speaking of homeless.. One last thing... Guam, and expropriation... Currently ramping up as the US shuts it's Okinawa base:

"The military already controls about a third of the island, and will need to acquire more land for the buildup, which goes beyond the Marines. The Army is building a missile defense system on the island and the Air Force is adding more drones. The Navy is expanding its port so it can accommodate visiting aircraft carriers.

University of Guam Professor Victoria Lola Leon Guerrero says that expansion threatens the native Chamorro culture. She worries the military will take ancestral land from Chamorro families.

"These families and their homes are not visible on these maps but they live there. That is their land. They have their homes built. They are being approached by the military as we speak, to give up their land," she said." [In Full]

Yes it's Voice of America.. Yes, She's talking about indigenous Guamanians (?), who ARE American citizens... But HEY... It's not OUR back yard or OUR property being expropriated.

"Container shipments there are expected to jump from 100,000 to 600,000 a year".

So much for that area of the Pacific, it's inhabitants, and environment.

Folks, that's the way we've dealt with the rest of the world for years, "Just Take It", and in the end, the US spends more in it's defense budget than the other 20 largest defense spending nations combined (that includes Russia China Britain France...).

To do what? Defend ourselves from all the enemies we've made.( and it AIN'T because they're jealous of or 'freedom', ask those indigenous Guamians (?))

Hence: "According to polls, Americans support torture, a violation of both U.S. and international law, and Americans don't mind that their government violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and spies on them without obtaining warrants from a court."

It's a rationalized response ie. "I can't prevent theses enemies I've helped create by buying a sweatshirt made in a Pakistani sweatshop, so I guess I'll have to enjoy that sweat in a police protected state"

Of course no red-blooded American would ever SAY that.. They'd rationalize.

[After the Commentary 'Jed' does the Populist Party Hoedown with lyrics directed at those financial institution 'Hos' spoken of in the commentary. Courtesy of the respective artists]

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