Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Saturday 11 May 2013


Daily Headlines


The hard-liners in the Republican Party say that it isn't the government's job to coddle people that can't make it in today's society. They have nurtured and reinforced the meme that everyone in America has an equal chance at grabbing that big brass ring, and if they can't, then it is their own fault, any other reason that is given is just an excuse.

the former Junta leader was convicted and sentenced for killing thousands. Perhaps he will be the first of many such former national leaders

By j dial
Frackonomics
An economist guides us gently through economic facets of fracking fever.

I grew up with the story of Our Lady of Angels fire all around me. It was more than an event, it was a sunset on the bright stable way people saw their world. That fire blew that neighborhood up. There was no one who didn't know someone who'd died in OLA. I was struck by how surviving an event could be just as paralyzing as dying in that event -- that the survivors were changed forever.

The Florida legislature passed HB 87 which gives huge advantages to banks in foreclosure hearings. It may well cause a new wave of lost homes to the banks.

The Silk Road nation of Kazakhstan is an excellent place to encounter the dervishes of the Great Game for control of the camel-and-pipeline routes of the Central Asian steppes. Here we can witness the diplomatic-military idiocies of new empires pathetically attempting to ignore the dried skeletons of the imperial forces that went before them.

Republicans and their news outline Fox news have short memories. Or do they have something else up their sleeves?

In our postmodern, fact-free democracy my ignorance is as good as your knowledge and I can prove it. Just check the wealth of those who purvey their fear as fact.

The American Empire, as the neoconservatives have made clear, is what keeps you free from terrorism. We have to kill them over there before they come over here. And those who are over here will be killed too. We tolerate no dissent. That part of the Constitution is gone, along with the rest of it.

In celebration of National Short Story Month I have asked several writers to answer five questions for me. For fun, I answered them myself. The first installment includes: Alan Heathcock, Lydia Millet, Eddie Chuculate and Shann Ray.

60 Minutes was once a shining light of independent journalism. Now it's a covert mouthpiece for the far-right, anti-government values crowd. Once it spoke to, and for, a majority whose interests it fought to defend. Now it represents an atavistically self-centered billionaire class which expects flattery from its subjects whenever it deigns to take notice of their misery.

Women representatives of the Safe Climate Caucus on why they are pro-active on Climate Change.

By Kamala B. Sarup
Raped Victims: His Daughter who was raped
It's not a new incident, because the loss of grown up girls is quite common in the Dhading village (Nepal).
Researchers from IMDEA-Nanociencia Institute and from Autonoma and Complutense Universities of Madrid (Spain) have managed to give graphene magnetic properties. The breakthrough, published in the journal 'Nature Physics', opens the door to the development of graphene-based spintronic devices, that is, devices based on the spin or rotation of the electron, and could transform the electronics industry.

By Danny Schechter
"Rot Within The Ranks:" How Deep Does It GO
When military officers were fired because of "rot," You have to ask how deeply it has spread says News Dissector Danny Schechter.
The London government has at long last been forced into recognizing compensation payments for as many as 50,000 Kenyan nationals who were victims of torture and other crimes against humanity during that country's independence struggle in the 1950s.

The USPS cannot take many more cuts. Nor can it shoulder the financial burden that's been imposed on it. This is a time for urgency. And Peter DeFazio, with his White House petition, has figured out how to focus the energy that is needed to beat the proponents of privatization and to save an essential public service.

This topic questions the dismissing of ideas as "conspiracy theories" so as to deny factual support for unpopular thoughts. Many examples are provided that were once tagged as wild-eyed theories, which have since been shown to be quite real.

A woman trapped for 17 days beneath the rubble of a collapsed building on the outskirts of Dhaka was discovered alive on Friday and then rushed to a nearby military hospital after rescuers pulled her free. Rescuers, speaking live on national television from the wreckage site in Savar, said they were clearing debris on Friday afternoon when they saw a pipe moving. It turned out to be Reshma, shaking the pipe from below, trying to gain attention. "Save me!" rescuers say they heard her shouting.

Israeli writer Noam Sheizaf points out that the event from which Hawking withdrew is not really an academic one but rather "an annual celebration of the Israeli business, political and military elites," and he rebuts the principal attacks on Hawking.

Official Washington's "tough-guy-ism" -- no one wanting to look "weak" on "terror" -- has stopped sane and humane policies toward Guantanamo. Members of Congress have blocked President Obama's efforts to close the prison and he has shied away from a political battle to do so.

Five days after an explosion at a fertilizer plant leveled a wide swath of this town, Gov. Rick Perry tried to woo Illinois business officials by trumpeting his state's low taxes and limited regulations. Asked about the disaster, Mr. Perry responded that more government intervention and increased spending on safety inspections would not have prevented what has become one of the nation's worst industrial accidents in decades. Even in West, last month's devastating blast did little to shake local skepticism of government regulations.

By Jonathan Cook
The Samson complex
Once the US formally abandons the peace process, the current status quo intensifies: a single state ruled over apartheid-style by Israel, with a Palestinian Authority consigned to irrelevance or oblivion. Another round of failed peacemaking will do far more damage to the Palestinians and Washington's reputation than to an Israel that never intended to pick up the phone in the first place.

Bill Black: Brown-Vitter Will Not and Cannot Work but it is Criminogenic
Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) have introduced a bill entitled "Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act of 2013." It is a miracle of modern staffing that Vitter, who loves polluters as much as his prostitutes, was able to pull himself away from demanding that President Obama's nominee to run the EPA answer over 600 questions and join Brown in proposing the bill. Under Obama, bipartisan bills have a dismal fate because the Democrats negotiate away key elements necessary to create a good bill and add provisions that make parts of the bill harmful -- just to pick up a few token co-sponsors -- and then the Republicans kill good parts of the bill anyway and try to enact the bad parts.
We are creating more Jihadists in the Muslim world w/our killing of innocents. Al over the world people object to our military bases (over a 1000) in their communities. Okinawa has suffered rapes & assaults by American military personnel creating bitter resentment toward the American military base presence. W/our drones killing innocents we will have more people taking revenge against us. Hatred of U.S. policies is rampant.

Official Washington is obsessing over the Benghazi "scandal," proof that the Republicans and their right-wing media can make the smallest things big and the biggest things small. It is a disparity that has distorted how Americans understand their recent history.

Our world is a mess. We are constantly at war. Our civil rights are being violated. And, we are alienated from our home while facing possible extinction. Is there any hope for us hairless apes that are so maladapted to this planet? In this article, the work of Robert Wolff, the author of "Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing" and OpEd contributor will be explored. Yes, perhaps there is hope. Or not.



Latest Articles

Earlier this week, on Wednesday, May 8, lawyers for Russell "Maroon' Shoatz filed a federal lawsuit regarding his placement in solitary confinement for over 22 consecutive years. The written complaint, directed at Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel and the Superintendents of SCI-Greene, where Shoatz was last held, and SCI-Mahanoy, where he was transferred to on March 28, 2013.

Lebanon greets the Special Rapporteur for Palestine with an ear full
Mousab Kerwat, Islamic Relief's Middle East institutional funding manager, said: "It's better for countries to stay away from donor conferences than to attend and make pledges they don't intent to keep. As a minimum, they should communicate where their pledges have gone in a transparent process.
Climate Change: Governments Must Act to Reduce CO2 Emissions
If we, as a society, deem climate change the greatest threat facing humanity and that urgent action is needed to limit our CO2 emissions, then printing money to achieve that aim need not be inflationary because there is corresponding work associated with it, creating sustainable growth and boosting GDP. Systems will be manufactured, people will be employed, and opportunities for export will open up.
Salt is Good for You in Moderation
Salt intake is a highly controversial subject, thought by some to be highly detrimental and by others to be a minor consideration for health. The inconsistencies in studies on salt are explainable by the quality of the salt and other dietary factors that protect heart health.
Just as, about 40 years ago, Alvin Toffler's Future Shock described the way our rush into the future was changing and shocking us, Douglas Rushkoff's book, Present Shock offers a guide an explanations to the ways that the new technologies and media have drastically changed the way we relate with time, narrative, story, multitasking, relating to others, work and a lot more. He describes Presentism, Presentists, Fractalnoia....

Will the final result of Obama's charm offensive be impeachment proceedings?

The country is getting crazier says TCHB! journalist Dave Lindorff. How much crazier can it get?

Who's to Blame for Long-Term Unemployment?
May 3 rd brought news that the unemployment rate has dipped to 7.5 percent and there's been an alarming rise in the suicide rate for middle-aged Americans. According to the Center for Disease Control, "The [suicide] increase does coincide with a decrease in financial standing for a lot of families"" 4.35 million Americans have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks. Whose fault is this?
Reversing Citizens United would reverse some portions of corporate 1st Amendment free speech "rights," but it won't address the many other Bill of Rights (including other types of free speech "rights") and other Constitutional protections that corporations have high jacked for 127 years used to acquire and expand their power and control. They would all remain.

If their real concern was to quell "radicalization," shouldn't they be sending in people to talk up peace, tolerance, non-violence? It's almost as if they want to foment scarifying plots, keeping the public scared, obedient -- even slavishly grateful. I wonder who radicalized them into such violent extremism?

Republicans are refusing to do their part in governing the country. They say "do it our way or we won't let anything get done at all." As a result We the People are on our own. We get no jobs programs, and no infrastructure: no dams, roads, bridges, high-speed rail or even highways. It's "My way and no highways."

The newest target of the crazed gun-huggers is Neil Hesslin. His first-grader was among the murdered in Newtown, Conneticut, just days before last Christmas. A local gun right's group "Connecticut Carry" is attacking this grieving dad in the most vindictive way because he dares to advocate for sensible gun regulation.

Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst at The Cornucopia Institute, testified on May 8 before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats regarding concerns being raised about imports of food from China that are entering the U.S.

After last year's aborted effort, Congress begins anew the effort to reauthorize the federal Food and Farm Bill. Unfortunately, fundamental reform is off the table, as agribusiness dominates in Congress. Family farms fail to receive the support they need, anti-hunger and conservation programs are under attack, and the need for healthy food gets lip service.

Of course the Republican economic program is worse, and President Romney's policies would have been even more corporate-driven. That doesn't in the slightest make acceptable what Obama is doing. His latest high-level appointments -- boosting corporate power and shafting the public -- are despicable.

Hillary Clinton's Middle East Peace Save
The difficulty of President Obama's options in Syria would be far greater if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had not taken major steps toward Middle East peace before she left office.
The House GOP is obviously playing along with the corporate-owned spin machine's game of smoke and mirrors. It's largely a frantic attempt by the corporations running our government to steer attention away from the populist resistance to corporate rule that's slowly and steadily sweeping all over the country.


Best News Links from the Web

Biometric Database of All Adult Americans Hidden in Immigration Reform
The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system.
The Ethics Reform On the table | CitiReport
Chiu, Herrera Put Ethics on the Agenda Board President David Chiu and City Attorney Dennis Herrera's proposed ethics reforms would force into the open a flow of money aimed at influencing City Hall that has been hidden by custom and law, identifying how play-to-pay politics tips the scale on decisions that cost taxpayers in swollen contracts, preferential approval of permits and ensnares even do-gooder nonprofits as allies. In opting for heightened disclosure, the two city leaders laid aside for now adding new prohibitions such as enacting bans on contributions by lobbyists, fundraising by city commissioners or stretching the current ban on contractor contributions to include bundling of money contractors collect from others. Those are all features of ethics laws in force in other jurisdictions, notably Los Angeles and in Sacramento.
US drone strikes on Al Qaeda and Taliban elements in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt are illegal, a top court declared on Thursday and directed the Foreign Ministry to move a resolution in the UN against such attacks.

The Republican Party's obsession with turning the attack against the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi into a Watergate-level scandal may not have paid any dividends in the 2012 presidential election, but that won't stop them from trying again in 2016. Karl Rove's SuperPAC, American Crossroads, has released an inflammatory attack ad targeting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in what will surely be the first of many misleading attempts to ground Clinton's hypothetical presidential campaign before it even begins.

Political Intelligence: Transparency or Insider Trading? | Money & Politics, What Matters Today | BillMoyers.com
There are many ways corporations and financial interests can exercise influence in Washington. Some donate money to political campaigns while others hire lobbyists to be their megaphones to legislator ears. But information flows the other way, too. And since the financial crisis, details about the laws and regulations being hashed out behind closed doors is more valuable than ever. A story from the Washington Post this week looks at the growing popularity of "political intelligence" firms that sell analysis of federal actions, and the likely policy ramifications of those actions, to interested parties. Oftentimes, the clients are investors in a company that will be affected by a policy decision or a proposed regulation. Some firms even coordinate meetings and conference calls with congressional staff members in which they share what they know about relevant legislation.
Bernie Buzz: Young and Unemployed in America
The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year old workers was 16.2 percent in April. That's more than double the national rate of unemployment. For teenagers, the overall unemployment rate is 25.1 percent. For black teens the number is a distressing 43.1 percent. The United States has surpassed much of Europe in the percentage of young adults without jobs, according to The New York Times. What has Congress done? It cut $1 billion from youth jobs programs over the past decade. Bernie is working on legislation to change that.
A California father of four died Wednesday shortly after a group of police allegedly beat him with batons as he lay defenseless on the sidewalk. Cops, before confiscating witness' cameras, also reportedly unleashed a canine unit on him. Witnesses who had recorded the events on their cell phone cameras had the devices confiscated by officers, who claimed the footage was part of a police investigation that could yield evidence. The Sheriff's Department has released the names of seven officers who were on the scene, but the identities of the California Highway Patrol police who were also there have not yet been made public.

Those who are trying to make the Benghazi tragedy into a scandal for the Obama administration really ought to decide what story line they want to sell. Actually, by "those" I mean Republicans, and by "the Obama administration" I mean Hillary Clinton. The only coherent purpose I can discern in all of this is to sully Clinton's record as secretary of state in case she runs for president in 2016.

In a courageous and outspoken article, Desmond Tutu calls for South Africans to create a functioning democracy as a living monument to Nelson Mandela. My South African friend who alerted me to the article says, "It is classic Tutu writing and gives us a overview of South Africa since the coming into power of the African National Congress. Please read it carefully and share it with others who will pray and might even have connections with people who might be in a position to bring pressure to upon the South African government. And, please pray for Desmond as he endures the inevitable vitriol that will ladled out against him by the spin doctors of the ANC."

Massachusetts investigators have developed what they call "mounting evidence," bolstered by "forensic hits," that point to the possible involvement of both Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother Dzhokhar in a gruesome, unsolved triple homicide in 2011, law enforcement officials told ABC News. The officials cautioned that until more definitive DNA testing is complete, it is still too early to consider bringing an indictment against the younger of the two brothers... In the wake of the Marathon bombings, Middlesex County began to probe a link between the elder Tsarnaev and Brendan Mess, one of the three men killed in the gruesome slaying on Sept. 11, 2011. Officials said Mess and two men were found in a Waltham residence with their throats slit and their bodies covered with marijuana. Tamerlan and Mess were once roommates and did boxing and martial arts training together.

A Pakistani court has declared that US drone strikes in the country's tribal belt are illegal and has directed the government to move a resolution against the attacks in the United Nations. "The government of Pakistan must ensure that no drone strike takes place in the future," the court said, according to the Press Trust of India. It asked Pakistan's foreign ministry to table a resolution against the American attacks in the UN. "If the US vetoes the resolution, then the country should think about breaking diplomatic ties with the US," the judgment said.

Paperless Future Has Arrived!
The paperless future has arrived. I have always liked the idea, but I do see one or two downsides. Humorous video shows one. Worth the watch and one you are not likely to forget.
A knit-and-run fan, this Hockessin, DE, needleworker blankets the city with cheer, giving people a good yarn to take home. Bombing the world with art might be the path to peace.

here's a lot of bubble talk out there right now. Much of it is about an alleged bond bubble that is supposedly keeping bond prices unrealistically high and interest rates -- which move in the opposite direction from bond prices -- unrealistically low. But the rising Dow has raised fears of a stock bubble, too. What is a bubble, anyway? Surprisingly, there's no standard definition. But I'd define it as a situation in which asset prices appear to be based on implausible or inconsistent views about the future. Dot-com prices in 1999 made sense only if you believed that many companies would all turn out to be a Microsoft; housing prices in 2006 only made sense if you believed that home prices could keep rising much faster than buyers' incomes for years to come.

Banks Still Behaving Badly on Mortgages - NYTimes.com
"Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of New York announced this week that he plans to sue Bank of America and Wells Fargo for failure to adhere to the terms of a $26 billion settlement that was supposed to provide relief to homeowners and end foreclosure abuses.From data that have been compiled so far, it appears that banks are directing much of the required relief toward large mortgages, presumably for higher-income borrowers. It also appears as though banks may be urging borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth to sell their homes at a loss via short sales when those borrowers could qualify for loan modifications instead. In addition, there is evidence that banks may be structuring the mortgage aid so that they get credit under the settlement for taking action, even when the relief is insufficient to prevent foreclosures."
Jeffrey Skilling, the convicted former Enron Corp. chief executive officer, may get out of prison in as little as four years if a judge approves a deal with prosecutors over objections by victims of one of the biggest corporate frauds in U.S. history. In exchange for getting as many as 10 years cut from his 24-year sentence, Skilling will drop his bid for a new trial and end litigation over his conviction. A jury found he spearheaded a fraud of as much as $40 billion that destroyed the world's largest energy trader in 2001.

World Wide Web Consortium takes next step with controversial DRM proposal, Defective
BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, May 9, 2013 -- The HTML Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) today released a First Public Working Draft of the controversial Encrypted Media Extension (EME) specification, despite massive opposition from public interest organizations and members of the public. W3C CEO Jeff Jaffe also released a statement justifying the Working Group's decision. The proposal, which is supported by the entertainment industry and giants like Netflix, Google, and Microsoft, would endorse and facilitate use of proprietary Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) in HTML, and would have a dramatic impact on streaming audio and video on the Web. Defective by Design (a project of the Free Software Foundation devoted to fighting DRM) and a coalition of 26 other organizations publicly opposed the proposal in an April letter to the W3C.
Any event where Sarah Palin still gets a standing ovation, where not a single respected celebrity, politician, spiritual leader or intellectual pundit would ever dare show his face, where they want to arm children and compare Michael Bloomberg to a Nazi, these are surefire signs you're among the most lost and desperate in America.