Russia blames US for flood of Afghan heroin into country

Why does this not surprise me?

And then there is this:


Obama creates a deadly power vacuum
By Spengler Middle East (Asia Times)
Jun 30, 2009

I've been reading mostly non-fiction since September 12, 2001. I feel like I am in retreat. I went to the library today and picked up some fiction. Granted, some of them are Joseph Wambaugh, and it is not all fiction, but sometimes all the shit I read is just overwhelming. I need a break occasionally and movies mostly suck, so I read.

Friday squirrel blogging, and climate change that won't affect the rotten little rodents

Proposed climate bill a breath of fresh air
David Greising
June 26, 2009

China welcomes U.S. climate bill, says more needed
Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:56am EDT

Wow, I find the title of the above article a bit ironic since

China blames pollution for surge in birth defects
The government's acknowledgment of the problem is a victory for environmentalists, who say the rate of defects is highest in coal-producing regions.
By Barbara Demick
February 02, 2009

and

US scientists believe that as much as 25 per cent of the air pollution in Los Angeles comes from China.

And finally as long as we are talking about pollution, might as well throw in the most dysfunctional part of the US budget, and the worst polluter on the planet -- the US Military.

The farm lobby vs. the global warming bill
The agriculture lobby's fingerprints are all over a crucial bill aimed at fighting global warming.
June 26, 2009

Rep. Broun receives applause on the House floor for calling global warming a ‘hoax.’
...Broun’s tired hoax claims aside, Broun’s $3,100 talking point is contradicted by the Congressional Budget Office, which found that that the average cost of the legislation would be only 48-cents a day, the price of a postage stamp,...

Media reported conservatives' high cap-and-trade cost estimates, but not lower CBO number
June 23, 2009 3:52 pm ET

Reprimanded Psychiatrist? Bad Advice?

Give that documentary a Peabody!
The Observatory — June 24, 2009 01:10 PM
By Paul Scott

But where her film was generous in its inclusion of heartbreaking personal stories about depression, its broad survey of the science of the illness included frequent appearances by Charles Nemeroff, M.D., a leading— some say powerful —mood disorders researcher from Emory University. Last fall, Nemeroff also became one of the most prominent psychiatrists to be rebuked for failing to disclose funds earned from the drug industry.

Sibel Edmonds on with Brad Friedman as he fills in for Mike Malloy KTLK right now

click title link

The Health Care Industry vs. Health Reform

Submitted by Wendell Potter on June 24, 2009 - 12:12pm.

Amy Smart says Congress needs to strengthen the Waxman-Markey bill

Update: 2:10 PM 6/25/2009 the other side speaks here
...Cap-and-trade is an ineffective tool for that, because it does not reliably end fossil fuels' price advantage....

Fuck Wall Street, Fuck Wall Street, FUCK WALL STREET

Why not? They can't get enough of fucking us in the ass and we ain't even getting kissed first!

(Update 8:19 PM 8/7/2009 those of you who got here by using the Google search term "street fuck" I have no idea what you are looking for, but I think that this particular blog entry is beyond your little lizard brain mentality, go away, like to here )


Foreclosure Fiasco
Posted on Jun 24, 2009
By Robert Scheer

...California couldn’t get the White House to guarantee $5.5 billion in short-term notes to avert severe cuts in state and local payrolls, from prison guards to schoolteachers. Compare that with the $50 billion already given to Citigroup, plus an astounding $300 billion to guarantee that institution’s toxic assets. Citigroup benefits from being a bank “too big to fail,” although through its irresponsible actions to get that large it did as much as any company to cause this mess...



Obamanomics: The Good, the Bad, the WeakOn bank regulation, the White House goes too far, and not far enough.
—By Nomi Prins (Mother Jones)
Wed June 17, 2009 7:07 PM PST

Wall Street players reimburse Treasury with money we lent them—and Geithner celebrates?
—By Nomi Prins (Mother Jones)
Sun June 14, 2009 6:41 PM PST

10 Sleazy Ways That Goldman Sachs Distracted Us While Pocketing Billions from the Treasury
By Nomi Prins, AlterNet. Posted May 28, 2009.

Madoff says 12 years is plenty

71-year-old Ponzi fraudster faces a maximum of 150 years in the slam. His lawyer asks judge to consider 12 years - an 'effective life sentence.'

By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: June 23, 2009: 11:39 AM ET

..Madoff is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29. He has been locked up in the Metropolitan Correctional Center since March 12, when he pleaded guilty to masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme of all time. He pleaded guilty to 11 criminal counts, including fraud, money laundering and perjury.

Madoff perpetrated the scheme through his firm, which he founded in 1960. Thus far, federal investigators have identified 1,341 investors in Madoff's firm, with losses exceeding $13 billion...

Are you fucking kidding me? Oy. Oy Vey. Oy Gevault.

Americans Want Real Health Care Reform. Help Us Make Congress Understand

By Howie Klein Sunday Jun 21, 2009 11:00am (Crooks and Liars)

Dueling government priorites

Gov. Dean: 'Why Would You Put A Trillion Dollars Into Something That Hasn't Worked?'
By Susie Madrak Saturday Jun 20, 2009 3:00pm

Umm. yeah. I know that is a wonderful question regarding the healthcare "debate" in this country but ummm.....

What The Fuck?

The Three Trillion Dollar War:

As Part of Crackdown on Journalists, Iranian Security Forces Detain and Beat Canadian Journalist

In his first public remarks after days of demonstrations, Ayatollah Khamenei denied any possibility that last week’s vote had been rigged and defended President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad as the rightful winner of the election. At the same time, the Iranian government continues to arrest journalists, prominent reformists and associates of the opposition candidates, including twenty-six-year-old Mohammadreza Jalaeipour, the top strategist for presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi. We speak to Toronto Globe and Mail reporter George McLeod. On Sunday, he was arrested, briefly detained, and beaten by Iranian security forces.

Middle East (Asia Times)
Jun 20, 2009
Beijing cautions US over Iran
By M K Bhadrakumar

After 8 years of discouragement in this arena

Yesterday, a House subcommittee approved the Fiscal Year 2010 State/Foreign Operations Appropriation bill that includes a substantial increase in funding for international family planning.

The subcommittee, under the leadership of Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), allocated $648 million for family planning and reproductive health care, including $60 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This amount is significantly higher than President Obama’s budget request of $593 million with $50 million for UNFPA.

Overall funding for international family planning declined by nearly 40% between 1995 and 2008. President Obama indicated his intent to reverse this trend by designating more than half of his proposed global health budget increase for family planning.

Yesterday’s move by the House subcommittee goes even further, signaling that they understand that, even in a difficult economic climate, real investment in international family planning will pay dividends: it will increase maternal and child survival, ease pressure on the environment, and encourage social stability in the developing world.

The bill will be considered by the full Appropriations Committee next week. We will keep you updated as the bill makes its way through the House and Senate.

Nunya sez Yaaaaaayyyy, good news from Population Connection.

Republicans still worried about Obama 'infomercial' despite ABC promise

BY Richard Huff
DAILY NEWS TV EDITOR
Updated Thursday, June 18th 2009, 10:22 AM

Call for 'day of mourning' in Iran

UPDATED ON:
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
20:25 Mecca time, 17:25 GMT


Middle East (Asia Times)
Jun 18, 2009
Page 1 of 2
Khamenei rides a storm in a tea cup
By M K Bhadrakumar

...Besides, "unity rally" held in Tehran by supporters of Ahmadinejad condemned "enemies, particularly the US, Britain and Israel. [for] interfering in Iran's internal affairs, plotting against the government and giving media support to the enemy groups, rioters and social and political hooligans who are trying to fuel chaos in the Islamic Republic".

Dude is whacked.

Following up on yesterday's happy news

Bitchin'. Who better to help put the nail in the coffin than Ahmadinejad?

Here's to stolen elections, corruption, OILigarchs and the American race to the bottom of the living standards. I'm sure the rich won't mind if we live like poor Brasilians,

as long as they live like the rich Brasilians, in gated communities with bullet proof SUVs and bodyguards.

The American Empire Is Bankrupt

Posted on Jun 14, 2009 TruthDig
By Chris Hedges

This week marks the end of the dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency. It marks the start of a terrible period of economic and political decline in the United States. And it signals the last gasp of the American imperium. That’s over. It is not coming back. And what is to come will be very, very painful... (click on title link)




From The Times (UK)
June 15, 2009
World Agenda: Looking to the future without the West


US cities may have to be bulldozed in order to survive Uk Telegraph
By Tom Leonard in Flint, Michigan
Published: 6:30PM BST 12 Jun 2009
Dozens of US cities may have entire neighbourhoods bulldozed as part of drastic "shrink to survive" proposals being considered by the Obama administration to tackle economic decline.

Update 4:30 PM 6/17/2009
China, Russia sign five-point joint statement
www.chinaview.cn 2009-06-18 05:26:55

BRICs Don't Flee The Dollar
Paul Maidment, 06.17.09, 11:30 AM EDT
The dollar's reserve currency status remains unchallenged, despite rhetoric.

Bric in search of elusive common cause
..."Do not expect any short-term initiatives with respect to the dollar," said Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Brazil's minister for strategic affairs, backing that position. "No one wants to say things or do things that would increase volatility in the ... crisis."

Iranian election

I don't speak Farsi, but it looks like a lot of people are not happy about the Ahmadinejad "win." My blogger friend Naj sent me this, she has more.

Tehran in support of Mousavi UK Times online

EU leads international pressure on Iran over vote
Mon Jun 15, 2009 10:36am EDT

Iran's Stolen Election May Spark Global Crisis
Writer, founder of GlobalEconomicCrisis.com (article from HuffPo)
Posted: June 13, 2009 03:41 PM
Sheldon Filger
...Moreover, the regime announced the predetermined outcome only a few hours after the polls had closed, a logistical impossibility given the geography and demographics of Iran. However, when a regime decides what the outcome of an election will be in advance, electoral logistics are inconsequential....

Big crowd turns out for pro-Mousavi rally in Tehran
Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:52am EDT
..."Where are the 63 percent who voted for Ahmadinejad?" they chanted, referring to his official election tally...

Monday, June 15, 2009
Iran supreme leader orders vote fraud probe By ANNA JOHNSON and ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writers
...The students set a truck and other vehicles on fire and hurled stones and bricks at the police, he said. Hard-line militia volunteers loyal to the Revolutionary Guard stormed the dormitories, ransacking student rooms and smashing computers and furniture with axes and wooden sticks, Akbar said.

Before leaving around 4 a.m., the police took away memory cards and computer software material, Akbar said, adding that dozens of students were arrested....

Washington has wait-and-see stance on Iran
Published: June 15, 2009 at 9:24 AM UPI
...The Obama administration has been low key in its reaction to Iran's election and the days of protests that followed, The Washington Post reported Monday. Obama, during his campaign and while in office, has indicated a willingness to re-establish a diplomatic relationship with Iran...

I think the Obama administration is doing the right thing by staying low key about this. Obama needs to be very careful considering the US govt's history in Iran, and Iranian sensitivity to Washington meddling. If the powerful in Iran need to close off access to foreign press, internet access, and cell phones, facebook, and then use thugs to push people off the streets the people's anger at injustice will leak out no matter how hard the regime tries to hide it.

If Ahmadinejad really does end up with the presidency, then Obama needs to be very careful about ignoring the right-wing nutjobs in this country.

More touristy pics.

As I took this picture of the fountain, I was acutely aware of the coming exhibit poster being displayed on the outside museum wall to my left. I had no interest in paying to see it, in fact I was repulsed. Not just because I'm squeamish about being around dead humans, but because this guy gives me the creeps and there are still questions about whether or not the bodies were all willing to to be plastinated and displayed when they were still alive. There are a a lot of medical and nursing students in San Diego, and people who really want to see this, so I figure they don't need my $25 .

Sino-Russian baby comes of age

Asia Times
Jun 13, 2009
from page 2 of 3

....The Obama administration's proposed budget for the State Department allocates of $41.5 million for Kyrgyzstan and $46.5 million for Tajikistan, whereas the corresponding figures for the current fiscal year are $24.4 million and $25.2 million, respectively. US military aid to the two countries will also similarly be increased under the new budget.
The justification given is that Central Asia's strategic importance has risen of late for US regional policies. According to budget justification documents released by the State Department in Washington on May 7:

"Central Asia remains alarmingly fragile: a lack of economic opportunity and weak democratic institutions foster conditions where corruption is endemic and Islamic extremism and drug trafficking can thrive. For this region, where good relations play an important role in supporting our [US] military and civilian efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, the [budget] request prioritizes assistance for the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan."

The political rationale for in Washington's decision to step up aid to Central Asia at a time when the Russian capacity to bankroll Central Asian economies is in serious doubt. "The United States rejects the notion that any country has special privileges or a 'sphere of influence' in this region; instead the United States is open to cooperating with all countries in the region and where appropriate providing assistance that helps develop democratic and market institutions and practices.


Sunday, June 14, 2009
NEWS BRIEFS

KYRGYZSTAN: RUSSIANS KANT LEAVE MILITARY AIRBASE FOR 49 YEARS
5/29/09

The Americans may have to be out of their base by August, but the Russians can look forward to at least another 49 years in Kyrgyzstan.

Under a new deal, the Russian air base at Kant, outside of Bishkek, will be leased to Moscow for 49 years, with an automatic option for a 25-year extension. Kant was opened in 2003 and serves Collective Security Treaty Organization forces. Russia pays $4.5 million annually to the Kyrgyz government in rent, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on May 29.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev ordered US forces out of the Manas Air Base in February in a move that was widely linked to the receipt of a massive aid and loans package from the Kremlin. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Posted May 29, 2009 © Eurasianet

When you live in San Diego

Sometimes you just gotta go play tourist.












Time spent with a really good friend is the best.

No, I'm not posting the pics of me and my friend goofing off in Balboa Park or on the roof, just the few of the pictures I took.

Friday squirrel blogging

Holocaust survivor: Museum shooter akin to suicide bomber
(CNN) -- The gunman who opened fire at Washington's U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum this week is no better than a suicide bomber, a survivor of the Holocaust said.


ANALYSIS - Qaeda struggling with slump in donations
Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:27pm IS

When it comes to poor Al Quaida struggling for donations, the first thing that goes through my mind is "Sympathy is in between shit and syphilis in the dictionary."

Gator gitters

Did anyone else get this e-mail? Just recently a buddy sent me this, but it's been circulating since 2004. I'm glad I don't live in the southeastern part of the US, for more than one reason.


This picture was taken by a helicopter flying over Lake Wiess about 90 miles north of Birmingham , Alabama !
The helicopter pilot and the game warden were in communication via radio's here is a transcript of their conversation.

'Air1 have you a visual on the gator, over'

'Approaching inlet now, over'

'Roger Air1'

'Gator sighted.. Looks like it has a small animal in its mouth.. moving in, over'

'Roger Air1'

'Holy Crap it's a Deer!'

'confirm Air1.. did you say Deer?, Over'

'Roger.. a Deer in its mouth.. looks like a full sized buck.. that's a big gator, we are going to need more men, Over'

'Roger Air1.. can you give me a idea on size of animal, over'

'Its big 25 feet at least, please advise Gator is heading to inlet.. do I pursue?, over'

That has to be a HUGE gator to have a whole deer in its mouth!

The deer was later found to be a mature Stag and was measured at 11feet!

Are you ready to go skiing on Lake Wiess ?!

If you ski at the west end of the lake -- try not to fall.


This alligator was found between Centre and Leesburg , Alabama near a house! Game wardens were forced to shoot the alligator - guess he wouldn't cooperate...

Anita and Charlie Rogers could hear the bellowing in the night.

Their neighbors had been telling them that they had seen a mammoth alligator in the waterway that runs behind their house,

but they dismissed the stories as exaggerations.

'I didn't believe it,' Charles Rogers said, but they realized the stories were, if anything, understated.

Alabama Parks and Wildlife game wardens had to shoot the beast.

Joe Goff, 6'5' tall, a game warden, walks past the 28 foot, 1 inch alligator 8.5 metres (?) he shot and killed in their back yard.

snopes sez, story basically true, but gator was "at least 12-13 feet long"

Too bad they shot it. Jeff Sessions would have made a nice snack.

Anyhow, this woman probably wouldn't want to tangle with this particular gator, but she seems to do pretty well with other gators.

California nears financial "meltdown" as revs tumble

By Jim Christie Jim Christie – Wed Jun 10, 7:31 pm ET
Reuters
Underscoring the severity of California's cash crisis, Controller John Chiang, who has previously warned the state's government risks running out of cash without a budget deal, said revenues in May fell by $1.14 billon, or 17.7 percent, from a year earlier...
...The state's revenues from personal income taxes tumbled by 39.3 percent in May from a year earlier while revenues from corporate taxes fell by 52.1 percent and revenues from sales taxes sagged by 7.6 percent, according to a report released by Chiang's office....


Public release date: 9-Apr-2009
University of Kansas
Tax lobbying provides 22,000 percent return to multinational firms, KU researchers find A recent tax law change provided a tax break to the corporations by lowering their tax rate 85 percent on certain worldwide income
LAWRENCE, Kansas — Three professors at the University of Kansas have found that a one-time tax break allowed multinational corporations to receive a 22,000 percent average return on lobbying expenditures.


Obama: Corp. tax-cheats cost $210 billion
Posted May 4, 2009 12:15 PM
by Christi Parsons
President Barack Obama said this morning that he plans to crack down on American companies that legally avoid U.S. tax obligations by investing money in countries with lower tax rates.


Ummmm, yeah, Obama must be going after some low hanging fruit, because $210 billion seems awfully damned low to me.

FedEx Campaign Delivers Controversy

Source: New York Times, June 9, 2009

...At issue is "a provision in a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill" that would reclassify some FedEx employees under the National Labor Relations Act, making it easier for them to form unions. UPS, which is "heavily unionized," is already classified under the Act. UPS spokesman Malcolm Berkley said that FedEx "uses the fact of the labor law it is currently under inappropriately as a lever when talking to UPS customers, particularly when we're negotiating our contracts."...

I'm tired of hearing what rich people think

This picture was in my mind when I woke up this morning. I think I stole it from the Freeway Blogger's site.



Anyway, it's exactly how I feel today. The Nation Magazine had an essay contest for high school or college students a while back and here are two of the winners.


Addressing Inequity in Education
By Laine Alison Zalac
December 15, 2008


Transcending Trauma
By Victor Lopez
December 13, 2008

Tomgram: Alfred McCoy, Back to the Future in Torture Policy

posted June 07, 2009 5:32 pm

When the Abu Ghraib photos were released in 2004, it seemed that most Americans were shocked by such novel and horrific images, but at least one was not. I'm talking about Alfred McCoy, who had been following the Central Intelligence Agency since the early 1970s, when it unsuccessfully tried to stop the publication of his book, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade.


119 Million Americans Want a Public Health Option -- Why Aren't Politicians Listening?
By Robert Parry, Consortium News. Posted June 8, 2009.

Shamanaqua gives us a few ugly supporting facts.

Monday, June 08, 2009
Politics, a game for fools, clowns and scalawags

IAEA on Iran. Israel, US editoral reaction to Cairo speech

Safeguards Reports Circulated to IAEA Board for June Meetings
Staff Report
5 June 2009
IAEA Board of Governors

...IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has circulated his latest report on nuclear safeguards in Iran to the Agency´s Board of Governors, the 35-member policymaking body, in advance of their meetings this month. The report outlines developments since the Director General´s report of 19 February 2009....

The IAEA Board of Governors will discuss the report when it next convenes in Vienna on 15 June. The report is entitled Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and relevant provisions of Security Council resolutions 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008) and 1835 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Also circulated to the Board was the Director General´s latest report entitled Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic, a topic also before the Board in June.

Circulation of the reports is restricted; they cannot be released to the public unless the IAEA Board decides otherwise.


June 7, 2009
Tehran Times Political Desk
IAEA reaffirms non-diversion in Iran’s nuclear program
TEHRAN - In its latest report released on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency reconfirmed that there has been no diversion of Iran’s nuclear material.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by the Tehran Times, also stated that Iran’s enrichment activities at the Natanz facility “remain under agency containment and surveillance.”

"..and will continue its cooperation with the IAEA. ..."

* Posted on Friday, June 5, 2009
UN: Iran expands uranium efforts, is blocking monitoring
By Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers



Date: 19 February 2009 IAEA board of Governors report

"9. Iran’s refusal to grant the Agency access to IR-40 could adversely impact the Agency’s ability to carry out effective safeguards at that facility, and has made it difficult for the Agency to report further on the construction of the reactor, as requested by the Security Council. In addition to the roofing having already been completed for the other buildings on the site, construction of the reactor building’s domed containment structure has also been completed, as observed in images taken on 30 December 2008, rendering impossible the continued use of satellite imagery to monitor further construction inside the reactor building or any of the other buildings."

Former Ambassador Indyk Tells Israelis Some Unpleasant Truths
By M.J. Rosenberg - May 28, 2009, 11:34AM

...On attacking Iran: "An Israeli attack on Iran will postpone the project for two, three years. No more."...

Commentators in Israeli papers interpreted US President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim world


Commentary: Editorials on President Obama's speech in Cairo
Compiled by McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Friday, June 5:



Lebanon Election Results: Pro-Western Majority Declares Victory
Huffpost - Lebanon Election Results: Pro-Western Majority Declares Victory
SAM F. GHATTAS | June 7, 2009 07:51 PM EST

OTV, the television station of one of Hezbollah's key Christian allies, former army chief Michel Aoun, conceded that the party's candidates who challenged pro-Western competitors in several Christian districts had been defeated, preventing a victory for the Hezbollah coalition. But Aoun was able to hang on to his representation in other districts.

Obama speech to Muslims "deceptive", Taliban says

Sun Jun 7, 2009 4:56am IST

Fuck the Taliban.

Susie Linfield on How to Think About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

(click on title link)

This is a long article on a book written by Benny Morris.

It is hard to take a side on the issue of Israel/Palestine if you look closely at the modern and ancient history of the place. I suppose the way I would sum up my true feelings on the subject is to repeat what my blogger buddy "Blue Girl" wrote one time that struck me deep in my soul. She said "I want Israel to exist, but I want it to deserve to exist."

This part of Obama's Cairo speech was particularly striking to me because I swear the President said things that I have thought and spoken and probably written before.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy filings rise to 6,000 a day as job losses take toll

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) (Pub.L. 109-8, 119 Stat. 23, enacted April 20, 2005), was a law enacting several significant changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. It was passed by the 109th United States Congress on April 14, 2005 and signed into law by President George W. Bush on April 20, 2005.

Totally unrelated, but Oh. My. God. I gotta get cable. I hate this bitch. Why do all the networks think that some British twit (or dork) will help them sell some crappy reality tv show? I'm watching American television, and I'm sick of hearing AussieSouthAfricanBritish accents. It's not exotic or unusual anymore, it has become tediously annoying to me.

I love this song. I like No Doubt.