States seek financial help as new fiscal year begins. State governments desperately need money. Congress is in no mood to spend it. And the reckoning will begin Thursday, when the new fiscal year will start for most states. Nothing less than the nation's nascent economic recovery hangs in the balance. States say that if they do not find financial rescue they will have to cut services and workers. That would deliver a potentially crippling blow to the economy, which needs higher employment levels to fatten wallets, promote spending, bolster tax revenue and reduce dependence on expensive social services.
States face a combined deficit of $89 billion in the fiscal year that begins Thursday, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. All that cutting could mean the loss of 900,000 jobs -- in the public sector and in private companies that rely on state business, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research group. NV-Sen: Sharron Angle hits a grand slam for right-win. I just finished watching Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle's interview with Nevada political journalist Jon Ralston on his Face To Face television show and I'm still collecting my jaw from the floor. It was one of the most stunning displays of right-wing lunacy that I have ever seen in my entire life from a Republican candidate for Federal office (at least outside of the south).
Here's a highlight reel, followed by a point-by-point summary of Angle's lunatic claims. In order, Angle: Angle called for the privatization of Social Security and Medicare. (I didn't include this in the highlight reel as the section was too long to condense. Watch it here.) Bottom-line: I never could have imagined Sharron Angle would be a worse candidate than Sue "Chickens for Checkups" Lowden. Ann Jones, Strategies for "Success" in Afghanistan | To. US lawmakers call for end to Afghan war. US lawmakers call for end to Afghan war US-led forces in Afghanistan The Democratic and Republican lawmakers have called on President Barack Obama to provide Congress with a clear plan to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan. The lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum called Thursday for an end to the Afghan war.
A group of US lawmakers said the war was a drain on US "blood and treasure". "Every dollar spent and every life wasted in Vietnam was just that: A waste," said Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler. The revolt against Obama comes as Washington is expected to pump another 37 billion dollars into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief, Leon Panetta, recently admitted that the Afghan war has proven to be much harder and longer than anticipated. This is while Obama has promised to start withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan in July 2011.
How Goldsmith changed advice on legality of war - Home News, UK. The drafts of legal advice and letters sent to the Prime Minister by Lord Goldsmith had been kept secret despite repeated calls for them to be published. Yesterday they were released by the Chilcot Inquiry into the war, after the head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O'Donnell, stated that the "long-standing convention" for such documents to be kept confidential had to be waived because the issue of the legality of the Iraq war had a "unique status". It had been known that Lord Goldsmith had initially advised the government that an attack on Iraq would not be legal without a fresh United Nations resolution. However, just before the US-led invasion he presented a new set of opinions saying that a new resolution was not needed after all.
Tony Blair appeared to show his irritation with the warnings over military actions, saying in a handwritten note: "I just do not understand this. " In another note, a Downing Street aide said: "We do not need further advice on this matter. " ... and afterwards. Power Without Petroleum. Israel raid on Gaza flotilla was a premeditated 'terrorist attac. Apocalypse in the Gulf: Could a Sinkhole Swallow the Deepwater H. Last Updated Jun 29, 2010 11:36 AM EDT BP has confirmed that the failed blowout preventer (BOP) on its Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico is tilting sideways at an acute angle 12 to 15 degrees from perpendicular. Geologists and petroleum engineers are now debating the worst case scenario: growing evidence that the Macondo discovery well's casings beneath the ocean floor have been irreversibly damaged, possibly to such an extent that it may be impossible to cap the well. The Deepwater Horizon had recently completed promising exploratory drilling -- to a vertical depth of about 18,000 feet (3.4 miles as measured from the rig floor), not including vertical depth to canyon floor (about 5,000 feet) -- when it exploded as the rig crew prepped a temporary seal for the well on April 20.
BP spokesperson Toby Odone acknowledged to reporters last week that the 45-ton BOP was tilting, which the company attributed to a shift in the collapsed riser piping (from the rig accident). Related: Conspiracy Theories Behind BP Oil Spill in Gulf -- From Dick Che. U.S. opens criminal probe of oil spill - Josh Gerstein - POLITIC. The Justice Department has opened civil and criminal investigations into the events that led to the continuing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday. “The first and foremost goal of the entire government is stopping the leak, containing and cleaning up the oil, and helping the people in this region get back on their feet and return to their normal lives,” Holder told a news conference in New Orleans, according to a text of his prepared remarks.
“But as we have said all along, we must also ensure that anyone found responsible for this spill is held accountable. That means enforcing the appropriate civil — and if warranted, criminal — authorities to the full extent of the law.” Holder also suggested that a serious federal investigation was merited into the deaths of workers aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig when an explosion apparently fed by the blowout took place on April 22. NY police 'beat up' Iranian professor. NY police 'beat up' Iranian professor Iranian professor Kaveh Afrasiabi A US-based Iranian university professor and senior political analyst, Kaveh Afrasiabi, says he has been brutally beaten up by police officers in New York. Speaking to IRNA on Tuesday, professor Afrasiabi explained about the unusual manner in which he was arrested, saying that he was handcuffed and sent to jail under the pretext that he had not paid his traffic ticket.
"While handcuffed I was pushed to the front. After he was discharged from the hospital, the police took him to court where the judge ordered his release. Afrasiabi said his arrest came over a traffic ticket which he had to pay 25 years ago. Afrasiabi has taught political science at Tehran University, Boston University, and Bentley College. The Iranian professor, who is a former consultant to the UN program of Dialogue Among Civilizations, has appeared on numerous television talk shows, including Press TV, CNN, MSNBC and Al-Jazeera.
How the Feds and Goldman Sachs Used AIG to Hose U.S. Taxpayers | Last Updated Jul 1, 2010 4:44 PM EDT A critical question in the U.S. government's 2008 rescue of AIG is whether the deal amounted to a "back-door" bailout of Goldman Sachs (GS). Increasingly, the answer appears to be a resounding "yes. " That's important for several reasons. First, the $182 billion taxpayers have injected into AIG was to prop up the insurance giant, not certain companies with which it did business. For taxpayers, the issue comes down to this: Did we cover market losses Goldman would've suffered if not for the enormous, and highly unusual, pressure the feds put on AIG to pay its credit default obligations to the bank in full? Members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission zeroed in on this issue Thursday in pressing Goldman CFO David Viniar on whether the investment bank would've lost money if AIG had gone bust.
That story is now coming apart at the seams. Financial Crisis panelist Byron Georgiou picked at a particularly nigglesome thread for Goldman. Related: "Summer of rage": Obama Derangement Syndrome grips conservative. July 01, 2010 7:32 pm ET — 18 Comments In recent weeks, conservative media have been consumed by "Obama Derangement Syndrome," accusing President Obama of being insane, of colluding with Russian spies, of trying to create a civil war and implement one world government, among other things, while also claiming that his administration is trying to control everything under the sun, including the Internet and, inexplicably, your toilet.
Conservative media ratchet up anti-government speech On the June 10 edition of his Fox News show, Glenn Beck turned to his blackboard, on which he had outlined his theory that "the politicians [had] joined with the revolutionaries so they could gain power," and said that now is the "time to break apart" that conspiracy. He then warned his viewers that the "summer of rage is about to begin. " Conservative media: Obama is "trying to create a civil war" Geller: Obama "is itching for a civil war.
And at the rate he is going, he is going to get one" "Sabotage! " War Budget - Defense Budget, We Can't Afford War - Mad Mad World. The following is an article by Amy Goodman, daily host for Democracy Now. Amy covers the real news and deserves the publics support and ear. We Can’t Afford War By Amy Goodman “General Petraeus is a military man constantly at war with the facts,” began the MoveOn.org attack ad against Gen. David Petraeus back in 2007, after he had delivered a report to Congress on the status of the war in Iraq. Three years later, Barack Obama is president, Petraeus has become his man in Afghanistan, and MoveOn pulls the critical Web content. Petraeus’ confirmation to become the military commander in Afghanistan was never in question. The statistics for Afghanistan, Obama’s Vietnam, are surging.
U.S. troops, expected to rise to 98,000 this year, far outnumber those from other nations. Journalist Michael Hastings, who wrote the Rolling Stone piece, was in Paris with McChrystal to profile him. I just returned from Toronto, covering the G-20 summit and the protests. We can’t afford war. Good Luck. The NYT: We Changed Reality Because Cheney Wanted Us To - The Da. An amazing admission from a NYT spokesman: “As the debate over interrogation of terror suspects grew post-9/11, defenders of the practice (including senior officials of the Bush administration) insisted that it did not constitute torture.
When using a word amounts to taking sides in a political dispute, our general practice is to supply the readers with the information to decide for themselves. Thus we describe the practice vividly, and we point out that it is denounced by international covenants and in American tradition as a form of torture.” The Times spokesman added that outside of the news pages, editorials and columnists “regard waterboarding as torture and believe that it fits all of the moral and legal definitions of torture.” But it is not an opinion that waterboarding is torture; it is a fact, recognized by everyone on the planet as such - and by the NYT in its news pages as such - for centuries.
So their journalism is dictated by whatever any government says. White House reporters see the other side while campaigning for b. Bloomberg reporter Hans Nichols used his time in the White House briefing room before press secretary Robert Gibbs's Tuesday afternoon spin session to do some politicking of his own. "The basic issue for me is access," Nichols said as he crouched down next to Victoria Jones, a correspondent for Talk Radio News Service, and, of great consequence, an uncommitted voter in the White House Correspondents' Association.
Nichols, dressed in crisp white shirt and blue power tie, spoke in confiding and confident terms about the injustice of White House correspondents' dinner seating arrangements, the need for "newsy" background meetings and early-morning gaggles, the disrespect shown toward the press by interminable delays. "This is all in my statement," Nichols said.
"I liked your statement," Jones said. "That's why you should vote for me," Nichols said, rising to his feet. At 4 p.m. A precarious point. Headline News Stories. Congresswoman Fears Hizbullah ‘Israel-Like Bombings’ in US - Def. 15. To number 12: Your comment is a threat! You are the type of person who really personifies the TRUE liberal mindset. Somebody to should report you! Gop, Los Angeles (1/7/10) Reply to comment Delete Report comment 0 14. It is apparent that the US does not want the border crossings closed because of the North American Treaty that our government created by by-passing American citizens who would never had agreed with it. Logicon, GA USA (1/7/10) 13. Rep Myrick has hit it on the head of the nail.Going back to WWII, Mexico gave safe haven to Nazi spies and sympathizers. TR Bender, Los Angeles (1/7/10) 12. I volunteer to paint a bullseye on the roof of Ms. MK Ultra, Tent City (30/6/10) 11.
It's time to say Praise the Lord and pass the amunition, well there's a reason these sales have sky rocketed. Tyra , Lebanon, USA (30/6/10) 10. Afghanistan. Linda Rivera, New York (30/6/10) 9. I think the time is fast approaching for "Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition. " Simcha, So.Cal.USA (29/6/10) 7. 6. 5. Constitution Project > Home. Tell John Boehner: Keep Your Hands Off Social. Take a picture of yourself holding the sign If you're using template #1, fill in the year you'll turn 70. Then hold up the sign and take a photo. Here's an example: Petitions and Surveys For petitions and surveys you've signed or completed, we treat your name, city, state, and comments as public information - for example, we may provide compilations of petitions, with your comments, to the President and legislators, other targets, or to the press.
We will not make your street address publicly available, but we may transmit it to members of Congress and to the President as part of a petition. Under circumstances where we determine that members may be misusing our systems for malicious purposes (for example, using the numbers we provide to make harassing phone calls), such activities may be reported to law enforcement agencies. For our complete privacy policy, click here. BP is burning endangered sea turtles alive. Facebook Twitter Email BP is burning endangered sea turtles alive News has emerged from the Gulf Coast that BP is burning endangered sea turtles alive. That's right. BP is using "controlled burns" to contain the oil spill, and any turtles that are not removed from the area before the fire is lit are literally burned alive.
With BP already facing so much public outrage, we can step in and stop this from continuing. A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to BP. Sign the Petition Full petition text: "BP: Stop blocking the rescue of endangered sea turtles before you burn them alive in your 'controlled burns.'" Privacy Policy (the basics): We do not share the information you’ve given us with unaffiliated groups without your explicit permission. Brave New Foundation. Right-wing Kagan coverage: Franken blinked | Media Matters for A. The Nation. Banks Financing Mexico Gangs Admitted in Wells Fargo Deal - Bloo. NASA Flight Director Confirms 9/11 Aircraft Speed As The "Elepha. June Marks Deadliest Month in Afghanistan War - CBS Evening News. Afghan Hawalas Transfer Billions Out of Country.
White House to let McChrystal retire with 4 stars. The Toronto G20 Riot Fraud: Undercover Police engaged in Purpose. Sultry red-head sensationalizes spy story - latimes.com.