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USA: Analysis Of Economic And Social Indicators Over Time  Misfits Going to Jail

Nat'l Police Misconduct Reporting Project News Feed  "Injustice News"

“In the long and gloomy history of man, more hideous crimes have been committed
 in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion."
  - C.P. Snow, English physicist and novelist. 

Documentary: "Cop Watch: These Streets Are Watching" [05/16/12] [53:22]  "Copwatch (also Cop Watch) is a network of United States and Canadian volunteer organizations that “police the police”. Copwatch groups usually engage in monitoring of the police, videotaping police activity, educating the public about police misconduct, and advocating for more accountable law enforcement practices” [...]" 

Documentary: "A Life in Japan" [05/16/12] [78:17] "Japan through foreign eyes. Interviews with nineteen foreign residents in Japan. Personal experiences and opinions, both the good and the bad .. [...]" 

Commentary:  "US Supreme Court: Citizens Must Be Permitted To Use Handguns For Self-Defense: Treaties Do Not Supercede 2nd Amendment" [05/15/12] "In June of 2010, when the Supreme Court ruled in McDonald v. Chicago that the Second Amendment is “fully applicable to states,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote a majority opinion that provides a rare and educational glimpse into the historical meaning of the right to keep and bear arms. Intentionally or not, Justice Alito has provided us with such a chance with his majority opinion in McDonald v. Chicago. Even a glancing look at it provides us with insights that neither academia nor the mainstream media would dare communicate to us. For example, in his opinion Justice Alito points back to the Heller decision (2008) to highlight the fact the “the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of  self- defense.” He also highlights how the right to keep and bear arms has long been viewed as one of the “fundamental rights necessary to our system of orderly liberty.” In just these two snippets from his decision we see that we have guns not primarily for the purpose of plinking or hunting or shooting sporting clays, but for defending our lives. Moreover, we learn that the private ownership of guns in this country is “necessary” to the system of liberty we enjoy: or to put it as the Founding Fathers did, the right to keep and bear arms is “necessary to the security of a free State.” [...] Justice Alito also focused on the Heller decision to add a third and crucial point for Americans living in the 21st century: “[Since] ‘the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute’ in the home … we found that this right applies to handguns because they are ‘the most preferred firearm in the nation to “keep” and use for protection of one’s home and family.’” Yes, you read that correctly: Justice Alito reminded us that the Supreme Court not only held that we keep and bear arms for self-defense but that a handgun is the most preferred firearm for exercising that right. “Thus,” added Justice Alito, “citizens must be permitted ‘to use [handguns] for the core lawful purpose of self-defense.’” "  

Commentary: "Profits: Louisiana is the World’s Prison Capital" [05/15/12] "Louisiana is the world’s prison capital. The state imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts. First among Americans means first in the world. Louisiana’s incarceration rate is nearly triple Iran’s, seven times China’s and 10 times Germany’s. The hidden engine behind the state’s well-oiled prison machine is cold, hard cash. A majority of Louisiana inmates are housed in for-profit facilities, which must be supplied with a constant influx of human beings or a $182 million industry will go bankrupt. [...]"  

Commentary: "Florida Farm Workers Tell How Drugs, Debt Bind Them in Modern Slavery" [05/15/12] "LeRoy Smith thought he had hit rock bottom when he found himself trolling Atlanta’s gay district, looking to exchange sex acts for a hot hit off a crack pipe. Then he wound up on a Florida farm near the small town of Hastings, being bilked blind, he says, by a man with a fifth-grade education, sweating all day for a few dirty dollars, with no way to escape from the middle-of-nowhere camp. He did not think slavery existed in modern America. He knows better now. [...]" 

Commentary: "Student Loans Cripple Entire Generation" [05/14/12] "Wannabe college students have a lot to prepare for: all-night study binges, grueling exams, and the three jobs they'll need to pay off their crippling student debt. And that financial burden is only growing worse, the New York Times reports. Today, just 38% of the nation's $1 trillion student loan debt is being paid off, and the default rate has recently doubled, effective July 1. “ [...]"  Note: The system is just too greedy to do something altruistic, like Iceland, such as forgive all student loan debt currently existing, and let them live life without the debt burden .... after all, it WAS the generation that was 'supposed' to form the 'future' of the society ... shows how little higher self presence the reincarnated retreads have ... their short-term goals don't include creative and progressive infrastructure support for the very society on whom they are parasites ..... even dogs don't shit in their own bed. 

Commentary: "Germany Sees Increase in Crimes With Political or Racist Motives" [05/14/12] "Politically motivated violent crimes in Germany increased by nearly 18 percent in 2011, a year in which two U.S. airmen were killed by an Islamist extremist and a neo-Nazi cell identified as carrying out a series of previously unsolved murders of immigrants was uncovered. Numbers released by the Interior Ministry on Friday showed an 11.2 percent overall increase to 30,216 of crimes carried out for political or ideological reasons across the country. More than 70 percent of the crimes involved groups on the extreme left or extreme right, and many were acts of vandalism during regional elections in several states last year.  [...]"  

Commentary: "More People With PhDs Going on Food Stamps" [05/14/12] " ... the lion's share of the 44 million people receiving public aid in 2010 was less educated. But the number of advanced degree holders on the rolls has been skyrocketing, from 101,682 to 293,029 for people with their master degree, and from 9,776 to 33,655 for those with PhDs—and groups representing adjunct faculty suspect those numbers are underreported. "It's gone beyond the joke of impoverished grad students to becoming something really dire and urgent," says one academic career counselor. [...]"  

MSM: "Thousands Of Israelis Protest Against Social Inequalities" [05/13/12] "About 5,000 protesters gathered at central Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening in the largest demonstration held since last summer. At least nine people were arrested for blocking roads in Tel Aviv. Similar demonstrations were also held in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), Haifa, Eilat, and other major cities. Some 1,000 protesters converged in an intersection near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official residence in East al-Quds, marched toward his residence and protested in front of the gate of the compound. Some of the protesters called for the departure of the premier, accusing Netanyahu of failing to reduce the social gaps. Last summer, a protest movement swept Israel when hundreds of thousands of people marched and set up protest camps in city centers. [...]"  

MSM: "Drought Hits Spain’s Wheat Crop" [05/13/12] "Spain has faced the driest winter ever recorded has raised red flags in Spain, where farmers face the threat of extreme drought. Grain crops in Spain are suffering after an unusually dry autumn and winter. The amount of rainfall has been just half of normal in key grain producing regions. n an analysis released on May 10, 2012, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, projected Spain’s wheat production would drop by 20 percent, oats by 18 percent, and barley by 14 percent in comparison to last year. Overall, the USDA expects Spain will need to import 11 million metric tons of grain from other European countries because of the drought. In late April, increasing rainfall has started to improve the situation, particularly in the northern half of the country. If rain continues to fall regularly throughout May, there’s a chance that barley and wheat yields could rebound. [...]"  

Commentary: "Over 200,000 To Lose Unemployment Benefits In US This Weekend" [05/12/12] "The systematic elimination of minimal assistance for hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers is a deliberate consequence of legislation signed by Obama earlier this year. [...]"  

Commentary: "Indentured Servitude for Seniors: Social Security Garnished for Student Debts" [05/12/12] "... It seems that Congress has removed nearly every consumer protection from student loans, including not only standard bankruptcy protections, statutes of limitations, and truth in lending requirements, but protection from usury (excessive interest). Lenders can vary the interest rates, and some borrowers are reporting rates as high as 18-20%. At 20%, debt doubles in just 3-1/2 years; and in 7 years, it quadruples. Congress has also given lenders draconian collection powers to extort not just the original principal and interest on student loans but huge sums in penalties, fees, and collection costs. A sizeable chunk of U.S. student loan debt is held by senior citizens, many of whom are not only unemployed but unemployable. According to the New York Federal Reserve, two million U.S. seniors age 60 and over have student loan debt, on which they owe a collective $36.5 billion; and 11.2 percent of this debt is in default. Almost a third of all student loan debt is held by people aged 40 and over, and 4.2% is held by people over the age of 60. The total student debt is now over $1 trillion, more even than credit card debt. The sum is unsustainable and threatens to be the next debt tsunami. Some of this debt is for loans taken out years earlier on their own schooling, and some is from co-signing student loans for children or grandchildren. But much of it has been incurred by middle-aged people going back to school in the hope of finding employment in a bad job market. What they have wound up with is something much worse: no job, an exponentially mounting debt that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and the prospect of old age without a social security check adequate to survive on. Gone is the promise of earlier presidents of a “commitment to the belief that workers should not live in dread that a disability, death, or old age could leave them or their families destitute.” The plight of the indebted elderly is reminiscent of the Irish immigrants who came to America after a potato famine in the 19th century, who were looked upon in some places as actually lower than slaves. Plantation owners kept their slaves fed, clothed and cared for, because they were valuable property. The Irish were expendable, and they were on their own. [...] Congress cannot agree on $6 billion to save the students, yet they managed to agree in a matter of days in September 2008 to come up with $700 billion to save the banks; and the Federal Reserve found many trillions more. Estimates are that tuition could be provided free to students for a mere $30 billion annually. The government has the power to find $30 billion — or $300 billion or $3 trillion — in the same place the Federal Reserve found it: it can simply issue the money."  

US Politics: "House Votes To Replace Pentagon Cuts Mandated By Debt Deal With Cuts To Social Programs" [05/11/12] "The House voted Thursday to override steep cuts to the Pentagon’s budget mandated by last summer's debt deal and replace them with spending reductions to food stamps and other mandatory social programs. While doomed in the Senate and opposed by the White House, the legislation, which would reduce the deficit by $243 billion, is a Republican marker for post-election budget talks with the White House.  [...]"  Note: They're unable to break the experiential loop ... reincarnated retreads ... more 'death, profit and greed in the short term' as an existential strategy ... instead of progression on an individual level ... which will come later, for them .. .on some other world.

Commentary: "Americans Consume 80% Of World's Pain Pills" [05/11/12] "Americans consume 80 percent of the world's supply of painkillers -- more than 110 tons of pure, addictive opiates every year -- as the country's prescription drug abuse epidemic explodes. That's enough drugs to give every single American 64 Percocets or Vicodin. And pain pill prescriptions continue to surge, up 600 percent in ten year, thanks to doctors who are more and more willing to hand out drugs to patients who are suffering. As more people get their hands on these potentially-dangerous drugs, more are taking them to get high. Their drug abuse leads to 14,800 deaths a year -- more than from heroin and cocaine combined. 'We've become a society of wusses,' Long Island, New York, pharmacist Howard Levine told the BBC. Mr Levine stopped carrying all of the major addictive prescription drugs after he was robbed twice by addicts looking to get high. Nationwide, police are reporting increases in robberies and other crimes by people who are addicted to oxycodone and hydrocodone, the key ingredient in most prescription pain pills. [...]"  Note: Perhaps America creates more than 80% of the world's pain, too.

Trends: "Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Sued By U.S. As Standoff Escalates" [05/11/12] "Department of justice files lawsuit against Arpaio over claims his immigration patrols in Arizona amounted to racial profiling [...]" Related: "Why the Feds Want to Remove or Compromise the Office of the County Sheriff In The States" | "South Carolina County Moves to Eliminate Constitutional Sheriff's Dept" |

Legal Case: "Jury Nullification Remains Perfectly Lawful In The United States, According To Ruling By Federal Judge" [05/11/12] "Jury nullification, a legal concept that dates back to 17th century England, remains perfectly lawful in the United States, according to a ruling by a federal judge last month. U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood said 80-year-old Julian Heicklin, who was arrested by FBI agents for passing out pamphlets marked "Jury Info" from an organization known as the Fully Informed Jury Association to an undercover agent, was within his legal rights under law to do so. Prosecutors had argued that Heicklin was in violation of U.S. law, which prohibits influencing jurors through written communication. "The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy." - John Jay (1794); "To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy." - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) [...]" 

Commentary: "Court Orders Ban On Enforcement Of Illinois Eavesdropping Law" [05/11/12] "A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the controversial Illinois law prohibiting people from making audio recordings of police officers in public "likely violates" the First Amendment and ordered that Cook County prosecutors be prevented from enforcing it. ... The law makes it a felony to record audio of any conversation without the consent of all parties. It carries stiffer sentences — up to 15 years in prison — if a police officer is recorded without his or her knowledge, but it does not prevent people from recording silent video of police. In its ruling, the appeals court said the law is "the broadest of its kind" in the country and "likely violates the First Amendment's free-speech and free-press guarantees." The law "restricts far more speech than necessary to protect legitimate privacy interests," wrote Judge Diane S. Sykes, who was joined in the decision by Judge David F. Hamilton. Judge Richard A. Posner dissented.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Ecuador Law Would Forgive Debt On Defaulted Mortgages Of First-Time Buyers" [05/10/12] "Ecuador’s legislature has passed a law that would oblige banks to forgive any outstanding debt on mortgages to first-time home buyers of properties worth up to $146,000 if they default and forfeit the home. The law would also apply to loans by banks to first-time purchasers of automobiles that cost up to $29,200. President Rafael Correa praised the law after it passed 68-21 on Tuesday evening. He did not say whether he would sign it or possibly seek amendments. The bill’s sponsor says that if Spain had passed a similar law a decade ago it could have avoided the housing bubble that has caused so many to lose homes.  [...]" 

Commentary: "Argentina Approves Transgender Rights: ID Changes, Sex-Change Operations And Hormone Therapy" [05/10/12] "Adults who want sex-change surgery or hormone therapy in Argentina will be able to get it as part of their public or private health care plans under a gender rights law approved Wednesday. Senators approved the Gender Identity law by a vote of 55 to zero with one abstention and more than a dozen senators declaring themselves absent — the same margin that approved a “death with dignity” law earlier in the day. Argentina became Latin America’s first nation to legalize gay marriage two years ago, enabling thousands of same-sex couples to marry and enjoy the same legal rights that apply to married heterosexual couples. For many, this gender rights law was the next step. “This law is going to enable many of us to have light, to come out of the darkness, to appear,” said Sen. Osvaldo Lopez of Tierra del Fuego, who was appointed to his seat after the previous senator’s sudden death, thus becoming the only openly gay national lawmaker in Argentina. [...]" 

Commentary: "Chile Approves Hate-Crime Law After Gay Bashing" [05/10/12] "Chile's congress passed a hate-crimes law Wednesday night, months after a group of alleged neo-Nazis were arrested in the brutal murder of a young gay man. The law enables people to file anti-discrimination lawsuits and adds hate-crime sentences for violent crimes. Gay activists waved Chilean flags when it passed by a vote of 25-to-3. The law was stuck in Congress for seven years, but President Sebastian Pinera put it on the fast track after the death of Daniel Zamudio in March prompted people all across Chile to discuss hate crimes. He was found beaten and mutilated in a city park, with swastikas carved into his body. Lawmakers also are preparing to debate the president's proposed civil union law granting inheritance and other rights to same-sex couples. "It's an enormous culture change for our country," said Sen. Alberto Espina, with the center-right ruling coalition. "Chile is a country that discriminates against Mapuche (Indians), homosexuals, that discriminates against people for their nationality and for having disabilities," he added. "We have to assume this as a reality instead of hiding it under the rug."  [...]"  

Commentary: "License Plate Tracking Spreads beyond Criminal Suspects" [05/10/12] "From Tennessee to the District of Columbia, police are using mobile and stationary surveillance cameras to collect and store license plates of residents who have committed no crime—so that they can be found if they ever do. In Tennessee, police utilize cameras mounted atop patrol cars that can capture thousands of license numbers each day. The information is then loaded into an ever-expanding database, which can help officers locate a vehicle in the event its owner is suspected of criminal behavior. The program is now expanding to include stationary camera mounted next to busy roads. “I’m sure that there’s going to be people out there that say this is an invasion of privacy,” Detective James Kemp of Gallatin County told The Tennessean. But “the possibilities are endless there for solving crimes. It’s just a multitude of information out there—to not tap into it to better protect your citizens, that’s ludicrous.” In Washington, DC, local police make use of 250 cameras set up around the city that can capture license plates. Last year they claimed that the cameras led to an average of one arrest a day. DC reportedly has the highest concentration of cameras per square mile in the United States for spotting criminals on the move or just ordinary citizens going about their lives. Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union’s technology and liberty program, expressed concern over DC’s “large database of innocent people’s comings and goings.” He told The Washington Post: “The government has no business collecting that kind of information on people without a warrant.” Others predict that the technology will be declared constitutional because license plates are displayed in public, so there is no invasion of privacy. [...]"  

Commentary: "Two California Policemen Ordered To Trial Over Videotaped Beating Death" [05/10/12] "A judge ordered two California policemen on Tuesday to stand trial on homicide charges in the death of a schizophrenic homeless man who was beaten and repeatedly shocked with a stun gun by a group of officers last July. The fatal confrontation between police in Fullerton, southeast of Los Angeles, and 37-year-old Kelly Thomas was caught on videotape and touched off a series of protests in the city. One clip of the beating, released by prosecutors this week and shown repeatedly on cable television, showed Thomas lying on the ground screaming, "They're killing me," as several officers swarmed over him, delivering multiple blows and Taser shocks. Officer Manuel Ramos, 38, is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years to life in prison if found guilty. The second officer, Corporal Jay Cicinelli, 40, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and the use of excessive force. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted. Both policemen have pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said the pair, who approached Thomas to question him about reports of vandalized cars near a bus depot, turned a routine police encounter into an unnecessary and savage beating that cost the unarmed drifter his life in what represented a flagrant abuse of authority. [...]" 

Commentary: "Farage: We Face The Prospect Of Mass Civil Unrest, Even Revolution" [05/10/12]   [3:07] " Speaker: Nigel Farage MEP, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Co-President of the 'Europe of Freedom and Democracy' (EFD) Group in the European Parliament • Debate: Statement by the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz MEP, on the occasion of Europe Day [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. Drops Plan To Close Rural Post Offices" [05/10/12] "The Postal Service said it is abandoning for now its plan to close thousands of post offices in rural locations and instead will shorten their hours of operation. The cash-strapped agency faced significant backlash from Congress and communities last summer when it began considering more than 3,600 post offices for closure this year. Now the plan is to cut the opening hours of 13,000 post offices with little traffic to between two and six hours a day. "We've listened to our customers in rural America and we've heard them loud and clear - they want to keep their post offices open," said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. "There's no plan for closings at this point." [...]"  

UK: "Warning Over 'Busybodies' Given Legal Right To Fine And Demand Information As Numbers Surge" [05/09/12] "Thousands of civilians are part of a growing busybody army with police-style powers to fine and to demand personal information. Civil liberties group the Manifesto Club yesterday warned that the ‘extremely dangerous trend’ is resulting in police powers being handed out ‘like sweets’. There were 1,406 official ‘snoopers’ in 2008 but their ranks – which include traffic marshals, private security guards and street wardens – have swollen to 2,647. [...] The Manifesto Club submitted requests under the Freedom of Information Act to the 43 police forces in England and Wales and discovered that 28 operate Community Safety Accreditation Schemes. Under the schemes, introduced by the Police Reform Act 2002, a chief constable can give employees of councils and private security firms powers to carry out specific, approved roles." These include the right to hand out fixed penalty notices for dog fouling, littering, cycling on a footpath, fly-posting; and to request the name and address of people acting in an anti-social manner. Some can also confiscate alcohol and cigarettes from young people and issue penalty notices of up to £80 for disorder, which are recorded on the Police National Computer. Simon Reed, of the Police Federation, said: ‘The public should be concerned we have these people out there who are enforcing the law, and there doesn’t seem to be any public debate around this.[...] "  

MSM: "Bill to Lower Student Loan Rates Fails in Senate" [05/09/12] "Senate Republicans derailed a Democratic bill on Tuesday aimed at keeping interest rates on federal college loans from doubling July 1 in an election-year battle aimed at the hearts — and votes — of millions of students and their parents. Republicans said they favor preventing the interest rate increase but blocked the Senate from debating the $6 billion measure because they oppose how Democrats would pay for it: Boosting Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on high-earning stockholders of some privately owned corporations. [...]"  Related: "Consumer Credit Soars As US Government Encourages Student, Car Loan Bubbles" "That US consumer credit soared by $21.4 billion in March on expectations of $9.8 billion rise, or the fastest monthly expansion since March 2001 would have been commendable and memorable if one did not dig through the actual components. Which sadly are atrocious: of the entire surge, a modest $5.1 billion was from real credit, or revolving, credit-card type debt. This brought the total revolving debt to $804 billion or to a level first crossed in January 2005. The balance, or $16.2 billion, was non-revolving debt, or the type of debt used to fund GM car purchases by subprime borrowers and push the student loan bubble well into its $1+ trillion record territory. The total non-revolving debt is now $1.739 trillion: an all time record. [...]" 

Trends: "Deaths Exceed Births in One Third of U.S. Counties" [05/08/12] " ... It seems increasingly true that for a rapidly increasing portion of the American landscape, deaths will routinely exceed births. Indeed, total births in the USA peaked at 4,316,000 in 2007, before dropping in the last four years. Recently released provisional birth data by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) show that births in 2011 are preliminarily estimated to be 3,961,000, the lowest figure since 1999. Reviewing the data month by month, we seem to be experiencing continued downward momentum this year. With deaths hitting an all time high of 2,507,000 in 2011, the natural rate of increase for 2011 looks to have dropped to .0047 percent (slightly less than half a percent per year). With the expectation that the world’s population will stabilize mid-century, eventually every country’s population – with few exceptions in Africa and elsewhere – will stop increasing. Deaths will exceed births in most countries, and future growth may become more a function of shifting migration patterns.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Americans: Too Broke to Go Bankrupt" [05/08/12] "This year, hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to be too broke to file for bankruptcy. The average cost to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, the most common form of consumer bankruptcy, is more than $1,500, according to recent research submitted to the National Bureau of Economic Research. As a result, anywhere between 200,000 and one million consumers are estimated to be unable to afford that steep cost this year. [...]"  

Commentary: "Australia: Collapse in Service Sector; Unrelenting Discount Wars; Catastrophic Decline in Profits; Stranded Merchandise in Warehouses" [05/08/12] "Australia in in grim shape. Retailers are going under, home prices are sinking, and there is an enormous collapse in the entire service sector. [...]" 

Trends: "News Gathering HD Cameras Installed in Tucson, AZ" [05/08/12] "In a move that signifies a private surveillance war between news networks, Arizona station KVOA has installed a network of remote-controlled, high-definition cameras around Tucson, AZ to "scan the streets for pretty much whatever's out there." The system, named Skynet (yes, they are aware that the name has an evil connotation from the movie Terminator), went online April 25th. It is unknown how many cameras have been put in place to observe the public, or how much was invested to do so, but it is an investment that management feels is a good one in order to gain instant access to potential news, as opposed to physically sending out reporters, or using helicopters. While at first it was believed that the camera network was unique to KVOA, rival station manager Debbie Bush from KOLD-Channel 13 stated "We now both have camera systems," Bush said via email. "It's a significant investment for both of us. … And it's great for the viewers of Southern Arizona." The combination of an unknown number of news surveillance networks added to government systems in large cities like New York and Chicago, as well as small towns like Kings Point, Long Island, leave the public open to observation down to the tiniest detail. The following is a vision of what to expect around town in the very near future, as Skynet-type systems move from data collection to perception management. [...]" Related: "Intellistreets" Population Surveillance System Debuts in Michigan" "They are being used for 'entertainment and safety'. But, some critics say this is nothing more than the watchful eye of big brother keeping track of your every moment.  This high tech system called ‘Intellistreets' is being made right here in Farmington Hills. “In each lighting fixture or each lighting pole, there is processor very much like an iPhone. And it takes inputs and outputs and talks back and forth. And the poles actually talk to each other,” said Ron Harwood. Inventor Ron Harwood unveiled the intelligent light in a ribbon cutting ceremony. With funding help from the Department of Energy, Harwood’s Farmington Hills  company, Illuminating Concepts, started designing the wireless communication system after the ' horrors of September 11th' and Hurricane Katrina.  “It became really obvious to myself, and my staff that we could do something that would make people more informed, make them safer,” said Harwood. LED video screens and cameras add to the wireless infrastructure that is remotely controlled. It can provide entertainment, save energy, make announcements, and even counts people for police. When you step come into view of the street light, there is a camera that spots you, and the person on the other side sees you by white specs on a black screen. The camera senses that somebody is there, and if wants, it can even take your picture. The system is also capable of recording conversations making critics cry invasion of privacy. “This is not a system with spook technology. It’s much more transparent. It can just talk to you and say, don’t fall over Niagara Falls,” said Harwood. Basic light starts at $3,000 dollars. By Spring of 2013 there is a good chance you could see them pop up in your city. The first of these light poles sit on 10 mile Road just East of Orchard Lake Road. Harwood already has orders from cities across Metro Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh and he's working with Homeland Security.  [...]" 

Commentary: "Georgia Opens First Jail Devoted To U.S. Veterans" [05/07/12]   [0:00] "The problem of US military veterans falling into a life of crime after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has reached such levels that a law enforcer in Georgia has opened what is believed to be America’s first county jail devoted to veteran inmates. John Darr, the sheriff of Muscogee County in Columbus, Georgia, has created the new facility in an attempt to break the cycle of recidivism by providing them with specialist services to help them deal with the problems they carry with them when they decamp. Up-to-date figures on the number of imprisoned veterans are hard to come by, but the problem is known to be extensive. A report from 2004 calculated there were about 140,000 veterans in US federal and state prisons but that might be a small fraction of the total as many more are held at county jail level. [...]"  

Commentary: "Hundreds Arrested As Violence Spreads In Egypt" [05/07/12] "Egypt’s ruling military council has arrested 300 people and introduced an overnight curfew for the second night in a row following violent clashes in Cairo. Meanwhile, public anger has overflowed from Cairo into the city of Suez. Military prosecutors say 300 demonstrators, including nine journalists, will be held for 15 days pending investigation into the clashes in the Abbasiya district on Friday.After hours of questioning, the arrested were charged with assaulting army officers, assembling in a military zone and preventing members of the security forces from carrying out their work. The accused denied all charges. The clashes erupted on Friday during an anti-military demonstration in Cairo’s Abbasiya district and resulted in one death and almost 400 injured. The military government has deployed extra troops in Cairo to try and curtail any spread in the violence that has gripped the city over the last week. An overnight curfew has also been introduced for a second consecutive night in the area surrounding the Defense Ministry. Following the clashes in Cairo, a similar anti-military demonstration in Suez attempted to storm the governor’s office late on Friday. Eyewitnesses say violence erupted in the center of the port city when anti-military protesters began to pelt the local governor’s building with stones. The subsequent skirmishes between police and activists led to the seven arrests. [...]"  

Commentary: "France Faces 40 Percent Housing Price Slump" [05/06/12] "France faces a property slump of Anglo-Saxon proportions as the frothiest boom in French history finally tips over, threatening the country with an economic shock just as austerity hits.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Mass Arrests In Egypt After Deadly Cairo Clashes" [05/06/12] "Egypt’s military on Saturday ordered 300 people detained afterdeadly clashes between troops and anti-army protesters in Cairo and imposed a new curfew, as tensions spiral ahead of a key presidential poll. The arrests were announced as the country’s ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi attended an unprecedented public funeral for a soldier killed in the clashes. Military prosecutors said the 300, including nine journalists, “will be held for 15 days pending investigation” into clashes in the Abbassiya district on Friday that left two people including a soldier dead and at least 300 injured. [...]"  

MSM: "Chicago: Security Plan Shuts Down Roads, South Loop For NATO Summit Weekend" [05/05/12] "A large security zone around McCormick Place will be off limits to Chicagoans, and the Museum Campus, Lake Shore Drive and several major expressways and streets will be shut down before or during the NATO Summit, under a plan revealed on Friday. All of this comes on top of a large restricted air space zone above the city. Anybody violating that airspace could be shot down. “There will be some inconveniences, but they will be minor inconveniences,” said Gary Schnekel, director of the Chicago Office of Emergency Management. “Every effort has been made to minimize the impact.” [...] Starting midnight May 19 though May 21, The Department Of Homeland Security plans to shut down access in a security perimeter around McCormick Place, where leaders from several countries, including President Obama, will be holding their meetings. That zone’s boundary includes 21st Street on the north, 25th Street on the south, Indiana on the west and the lakefront to the east."  Note: On May 20, there is a Solar Eclipse in Gemini 0 degrees.

Commentary: "Federal Court To Consider Legality Of NYPD’s "Stop And Frisk" [05/05/12] "The controversial stop-and-frisk technique used on hundreds of thousands of minorities in New York City could soon be brought before a federal judge to decide on the constitutionality of the NYPD’s popular practice. A federal lawsuit filed against the New York Police Department all the way back in 2008 has cleared some serious legal hurdles, the UK’s Guardian reports, and now it look as though the court will consider if the NYPD can continue to stop people on the streets of the Big Apple and subject them to random searches can continue. The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy has come under major scrutiny for the last decade, but a recent analysis of statistics related to the searches suggest that not only has the practice not necessarily led to a decrease in crime, but that in the vast majority of cases police officers are singling out minorities, often searching them on a suspicion and ending up unable to find a reason to charge them with a crime. In her 86-page ruling that decides the future of the case, US District Judge Shira Scheindlin writes that not only is a correlation between stop-and-frisks and crime “not clear” but that “the policing policies that the city has implemented over the past decade and half have led to a dramatic increase in the number of pedestrian stops, to the point of now reaching almost 600,000 a year.” Last year, the NYPD stopped 685,724 New Yorkers, reports the American Civil Liberties Union. In all, 89 percent of those stopped were either black or Latino. Of the nearly 700,000 cases in just 2011, 88 percent of the people stopped were found innocent. [...]"  

MSM: "Colo. Civil Unions Bill Passes Biggest Test Yet" [05/05/12] "Gay couples campaigning for civil unions in Colorado have claimed their biggest victory yet as a key Republican-led House committee advanced a bill Thursday that it had previously opposed. The newfound support means Colorado is likely to become the latest of more than a dozen states to provide legal protections to gay couples similar to marriage. Rep. Mark Ferrandino, the Democrats' leader in the House and a gay lawmaker who sponsored the bill, said before the vote that he and other people just want equal rights. He noted the law books behind the Republican chairman overseeing the House Judiciary Committee's hearing.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Draconian Security Bill Passed By Malaysian Parliament" [05/04/12] "... The new security bill grants far reaching powers to the police. According to the US-based Human Rights Watch, the legislation allows “an arrest without a warrant if the officer merely ‘has reason to believe’ that the person may be involved in security offenses, many of which are vaguely defined. It would give the police broad powers to conduct searches and intercept communications without judicial warrant. And it would permit the police unilaterally to impose electronic monitoring devices on individuals released from detention, a serious infringement of personal liberty.” The legislation denies bail to those arrested under its provisions and “sets the stage for trials with secret witnesses, unlawfully obtained evidence, and continued detention of those found not guilty.” As aptly described by the Malaysian human rights organisation, Lawyers for Liberty, the preventive detention without a trial under the ISA has been replaced with preventive detention with a sham trial under the new security bill. The Najib government has also tabled amendments to the Penal Code, the Evidence Act and the Criminal Procedure Code. The amendments to the Penal Code define as crimes “activities or attempts to conduct activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy”—a sweeping definition that could be used against virtually any political opposition. The provision in the ISA against the publication of dissent and possession of dissident publications is now in the Penal Code. Punishment for these “crimes” ranges from a minimum of five years’ jail, to a maximum of life imprisonment. Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code will provide the police with expanded powers to intercept communications and seize electronic data without warrants. An amendment to the Evidence Act is directed at forcing internet websites to divulge the identity of anonymous writers and bloggers accused of security offenses. A Freedom of Assembly Act was also approved last year. It bans street protests and allows security forces to forcibly disperse any assembly that “disturbs public tranquillity.” [...]" 

MSM: "US Military-Industrial Giant KBR In Bidding To Privatize British Police Forces" [05/04/12] "Giant US military-industrial company Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is in the running to win a slice of a controversial £1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) contract to transform the West Midlands and Surrey police forces in Britain, The (London) Times reported. Hailed as the largest police privatization scheme in the UK, it has been suggested the private companies who win the contract will be tasked to perform several police functions -- including patrols, detention and criminal investigation. KBR, a former subsidiary of the Halliburton group, has attracted its share of criticism over the large contracts it won with the US government during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The corporation also helped to build the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. The Times reported that it was among four groups short- listed to win the British police contract, a number whittled down from more than 200.  [...]"  

Trends: "USA: The Invisible 86 Million Unemployed" [05/04/12] "There are far more jobless people in the United States than you might think. A person is counted as part of the labor force if they have a job or have looked for one in the last four weeks. Only about 64% of Americans over the age of 16 currently fall into that category, according to the Labor Department. That's the lowest labor force participation rate since 1984. Only people looking for work are considered ' officially' unemployed. Last year there were 86 million people who didn't have a job and weren't consistently looking for one, according to Labor Department data. Older people, ages 65 and over, account for more than a third. Young people between 16 and 24 make up another fifth. More than half don't have a college degree and more than two thirds are white. Many of the teens and 20-somethings may be enrolled in either high school or college full-time. And many of the over 65 crowd are probably retired. But what about the other 36 million folks who fall in between? The truth is, the Labor Department simply doesn't know why they're not in the labor force. Many may be staying home with children or other relatives. Some may have gone back to school or retraining programs. Others could be disabled and unable to work, and some may have retired early. "Even in the best of times, there are millions of people who don't want to work for a variety for reasons," Hall said. [...]"  

Commentary: "Cops Caught Mass Drugging Teens And Dropping Them At Occupy Minnesota" [05/03/12] "Police in Minnesota have been caught on video picking up teenagers, doing drug experiments on them, and the dropping them off at the local Occupy protest to discredit the movement. It’s the CIA’s famed MK Ultra mind control drug program all over again, but this time the drug experiments are being conducted on teenage volunteers who are dropped off at the local Occupy protest after being drugged up by the cops. [...]"  Related: "MK Occupy Minnesota: Drugs & the DRE Program at Peavey Plaza" Link Restored [35:37] "Video documentation by local activists and independent media shows that police officers and county deputies from across Minnesota have been picking up young people near Peavey Plaza for a training program to recognize drug-impaired drivers. Multiple participants say officers gave them illicit drugs and provided other incentives to take the drugs. The Occupy movement, present at Peavey Plaza since April 7th, appears to be targeted as impaired people are dropped off at the Plaza, and others say they've been rewarded for offering to snitch on the movement. Local independent media activists and members of Communities United Against Police Brutality began investigating police conduct around the Plaza after witnessing police dropping off impaired people at the plaza and hearing rumors that they were offering people drugs. We videotaped police conduct and interviewed participants, learning some very disturbing information about the DRE program. Officers stated on record the DRE program, run by the Minnesota State Patrol, has no Institutional Review Board or independent oversight. They agreed no ambulances or EMTs were on site at the Richfield MnDOT facility near the airport where most subjects were taken. Multiple times, participants left Peavey Plaza sober, returned intoxicated, and said they'd been given free drugs by law enforcement. We documented on more than one occasion, someone being told they were sober by one officer, and then picked up by a different officer, and returning intoxicated. Given the dangers of impaired driving, there is value in training law enforcement officers to distinguish between the effects of various drugs and several common medical conditions. However, we have captured video footage of instances in which DRE trainees recruited subjects who are not already impaired, and those participants say they were given drugs by the officers. [...]"  

MSM: "Oakland Police May Face Sanctions Over Handling Of Occupy Protests" [05/03/12] "A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the city of Oakland and its police department to submit a plan within a week to address a backlog of complaints stemming from their handling of Occupy protests, threatening sanctions if they fail to do so. The mandate by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson follows the release of a report by an outside monitor that said Oakland police used "an overwhelming military-type response" to the demonstrations. The report also confirmed, for the first time from an official source, that an Oakland police SWAT team member fired a beanbag round at an Iraq war veteran during clashes in October. Former U.S. Marine Scott Olsen was critically wounded by what protesters said at the time was a tear gas canister fired by police.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Department of Homeland Security Set to Release Bacteria Into Boston Subways" [05/03/12] "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be releasing bacteria into the MBTA tunnels to test the safety of the subway. The DHS has installed sensors in the MBTA system to detect biological agents and they’ve been testing to see how the air moves. Now they want to release particles in the tunnels to see how well the sensors work. The tests will be held at stations in Cambridge and Somerville. Federal officials say they test the subway sensors by releasing dead bacteria called B-subtilis. They say it is used in food supplements, has been rigorously tested and has no adverse health effects for low exposure in healthy people. [...]"  

Commentary: "Feds To Investigate Controversial Debt Collection Tactics At Hospitals" [05/03/12] "Government regulators are looking into reports of aggressive debt collectors hassling patients at hospitals. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Wednesday that her department is "looking into" allegations that "aggressive contractors were confronting patients in the hospital setting, not making it clear that they were actually bill collectors and not part of the hospital system." Sebelius was speaking at a press conference with Attorney General Eric Holder announcing the arrest of more than 100 people in major health care fraud busts. Democrats in Congress are also demanding answers about hospital debt collection. Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), the most senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as Democratic Reps. Diana DeGette (Colo.) and G.K. Butterfield (N.C.), sent a letter Wednesday to Mary Tolan, CEO of Accretive Health, asking her to attend a briefing with them on Friday. Accretive Health, the debt-collection company that reportedly embedded employees inside hospitals and allegedly hassled patients at their bedsides and in emergency rooms, was not mentioned by Sebelius in her speech. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) previously called for investigations into Accretive Health. Franken also wants a response from Tolan by Friday, The Hill reported. Representatives from Accretive Health will attend Friday's briefing with Waxman, company spokeswoman Rhonda Barnat said. [...]" Related: See article below: "Debt Collectors In Hospitals" [04/27/12] 

Commentary: "NYPD Raids Activists’ Homes Before May Day Protests" [05/03/12] "A day before Occupy Wall Street hopes to shut down New York and cities across the country in massive May Day protests, the NYPD visited at least three activist homes in New York and interrogated residents about plans for tomorrow's protest. National Lawyer's Guild is aware of at least five instances of NYPD paying activists visits, including one where the FBI was involved in questioning. (He wouldn't elaborate.) We spoke to three of these activists. In the first case: activist Zachary Dempster said that six NYPD officers broke down the door of his Bushwick, Brooklyn apartment at around 6:15am this morning. Dempster said they were armed with a warrant for the arrest of his roommate, musician Joe Crow Ryan, for a six-year-old open container violation. But Dempster believes this was an excuse to check in on him, as he'd been arrested in February at an Occupy Wall Street Party that was broken up by cops, and charged with assaulting a police office and inciting a riot. [...]"  

Trends: "One Quarter Of Millennials Can't Cover Cost Of Basic Needs: Survey" [05/02/12] "One quarter of the generation aged 18 to 34, aren’t making enough money to cover basic needs, according to a survey of nearly 2,000 adults of various ages by retail trend research firm WSL Strategic Retail (h/t Chicago Tribune). By comparison, only 17 percent of adults between the ages of 35 to 54, and 13 percent of those 55 and older reported having the same problem. The results are hardly surprising considering the financial challenges young adults now face. At 54 percent, the employment rate for Americans aged 18 to 24 is at its lowest in more than 60 years, according to the Pew Research Center. On top of that, some estimates say the current value of student loan debt is more than $1 trillion, while the Federal Reserve Bank of New York pegs it at about $870 billion. The New York Fed estimates that two-thirds of that debt is held by people under 30. As a result of such finacial strain, many millennials are being forced to make lifestyle changes. When it comes to retail, 60 percent said they now choose a cheaper brand over their preferred one. Likewise, most millennials now go online to check for the lowest price before making a purchase. In addition to shopping choices, millenials have also had to make changes when it comes to their living standards. Last year, 5.9 million people aged 18 to 34 lived with their parents, according to U.S. Census Bureau data cited by the Wall Street Journal. [...]" 

Commentary: "Study: Atheists More Driven By Compassion Than Highly Religious People" [05/02/12] "Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not,” UC Berkeley social psychologist and study co-author Robb Willer explained. “The more religious, on the other hand, may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns.” These findings indicate that although compassion is associated with pro-sociality among both less religious and more religious individuals, this relationship is particularly robust for less religious individuals,” the study said. Overall, this research suggests that although less religious people tend to be less trusted in the U.S., when feeling compassionate, they may actually be more inclined to help their fellow citizens than more religious people,” Willer concluded. [...]"  

Commentary: "Thousands Of Occupy Activists Descend On Dozens Of U.S. Cities For Biggest May Day Protests In Nation's History" [05/02/12] "Thousands of Occupy Wall Street activists have clashed with police after swarming banks and businesses in New York as part of the movement's massive May Day protests across the country. In a deliberate attempt to bring large-scale European-style May 1 protests to America for the first time, Occupy called for a general strike, urging workers to attend marches rather than work. The biggest swell of defiance was in New York, where protesters had planned to bring the city to a halt by blockading major arteries like the Brooklyn Bridge - and where at least 30 were arrested. [...]"  

Commentary: "Photos Show What the World Really Eats" [05/02/12] "What do you and your family eat each week? You may be shocked to see the significant variation even between relatively ‘similar’ nations when it comes to diet. While many families within the United States and Mexico include fast food and soda into the core of their nutritional program, families from nations like Bhutan survive off of traditional base food items like vegetables and grains. It is easy to see why disease rates are skyrocketing in many developed countries, where nutrition is not held to a very high regard. [...]"  Note: Interesting.

Investigations: "UK: Calls For Inquiry As Parts Of Country 'Needlessly' Run Short Of Water" [05/01/12]   "A union representing water workers has called for an inquiry into the closure of more than 20 reservoirs in recent years in parts of the country most affected by the drought. The GMB said 25 water storage facilities had closed in the South East, mostly since the industry was privatised in the late 1980s. Rainfall is left to run into the sea rather than be collected while the region is hit by drought orders, said the union. The GMB called on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee to launch an inquiry into water companies, the Environment Agency and the regulator Ofwat to establish why parts of the country were "needlessly" running short of water, the Press Association reported. National officer Gary Smith said: "The mission of a water undertaking is to deliver the water needed for human purposes and for industry. That requires proper direction and management. Both have been sadly missing in Britain for the past 20 years [...]"  

Society and Culture: "May Day 2012: Unite Workers Around The World Against Austerity And War" [05/01/12] "As the Socialist Equality Party’s candidate for president in the 2012 US elections, I want to express my solidarity with workers throughout the world on May Day. The marking of this holiday—which has its origins in the bitter struggle by American workers to win the eight-hour day in the 1880s—takes on a special relevance this year. On May Day 2012, the international working class is confronting an unprecedented crisis of the world capitalist system. Workers around the world are beginning to enter struggles that pose the need for a revolutionary transformation of society. Nearly four years after the failure of the Wall Street investment house Lehman Brothers set off a global financial panic, the world remains mired in the worst economic breakdown since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The measures taken by big business governments around the world to bail out the financial speculators have not resolved any of the contradictions that prompted the Crash of 2008. The distribution of unlimited and virtually free money to the banks has bankrupted governments around the world. The austerity measures they instituted to satisfy the global financial markets have only exacerbated the crisis. [...]" 

MSM: "Oklahoma High Court Strikes Down Embryonic 'Personhood' Amendment" [05/01/12] "The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that an initiative petition that would grant "personhood" rights to human embryos is unconstitutional. The state's highest court handed down the decision Monday on a proposed constitutional amendment that would define a fertilized human egg as a person. The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights filed a protest with the Supreme Court on behalf of several Oklahoma doctors and residents. The protest says the measure would have far-reaching implications that trump the rights of women. The Supreme Court's decision says the proposal "is clearly unconstitutional," citing a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right to an abortion. The court says the petition is void and ordered it stricken  [...]"  Note: More 'you are your body' bullshit programming from ignorant, immature fools, put aside by the court.

MSM: "Czech Metal Thieves Dismantle 10 Ton Bridge" [05/01/12] "The gang reportedly arrived at a depot in Slavkov, in the east of the country, with forged paperwork claiming that the footbridge over the disused railway track had to come down. A Railways spokesman, Pavel Halla, said the cost of the theft was worth millions. "The thieves said they had been hired to demolish the bridge, and remove the unwanted railway track to make way for a new cycle route," he said. "It was only after they had gone that checks were made and we realised we'd been had. The cost of replacing the bridge will run into millions." Scrap metal theft has can cost millions to the victims.  [...]"  

MSM: "More Singles Living Alone And Loving It, Despite The Economy" [04/30/12] "Census data released this week says 31 million households in 2010 consisted of just one person, 4 million more than 2000. According to the new data, singles make up 27% of U.S. households; in several large cities, including New York, San Francisco, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., it's more than 40%. For the first time ever, Census found, less than half of all U.S. homes — 48% — were husband-wife households. [...]"  

MSM: "California: Scammer of Homeowners Gets Life in Prison" [04/30/12] " California's three-strikes law has produced an unusual result in Orange County: A non-violent, white-collar criminal has been sentenced to 25 years to life, reports the Los Angeles Times. But Timothy Barnett may not be getting much sympathy, given that he was convicted of swindling the elderly out of their homes. When they got into trouble during the housing crash, he swooped in with promises to help, prayed with them, and got them to unknowingly hand over their titles. "Instead of helping people, he stripped the equity from their homes and left five people homeless," the judge said. "Even Bernie Madoff didn't take people's homes from them." Barnett's bigger problem is that he pleaded guilty to two similar charges back in the 1990s, and the recent felony conviction doomed him under state law. "Three strikes should never be used in a case like this," said his attorney, promising an appeal. "It's another reason the law should be amended." [...]"  

MSM: "Mensa Accepts 4-Year-Old Girl From England With Genius I.Q." [04/30/12] "Heidi Hankins is smarter than you. Well, unless you happen to be Stephen Hawking. The four-year-old from Winchester, England was recently admitted to Mensa with an IQ of 159. Heidi’s father, Matthew, said that he noticed his daughter’s intelligence from a young age. By age 1 Heidi was booting up the family computer. At 18 months she was playing chess. At 2-years-old she was reading at the level of an 8-year-old. Hankins, a lecturer at the University of Southampton, said:.[...]"  Note: Here we have another sequential reincarnation ... a childs body with an adult mind .... they always seem to spout one-world verbiage at some point. They always go for the 'status quo' of the civilization they're born into - not things catering to the individual.

Commentary: "Spain Plunges Towards The Abyss: Unemployment Rate 25%, Like U.S. During The Great Depression" [04/29/12] "Spanish unemployment has hit a new record high, official figures have shown. The number of unemployed people reached 5,639,500 at the end of March, with the unemployment rate hitting 24.4%, the national statistics agency said. The figures came hours after rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spanish sovereign debt. Official figures due out on Monday are expected to confirm that Spain has fallen back into recession. Earlier this week, the Bank of Spain said the economy contracted by 0.4% in first three months of this year, after shrinking by 0.3% in the final quarter of last year. Other figures released on Friday showed that Spanish retail sales were down 3.7% in March from the same point a year ago, the 21st month in row sales have fallen. In the first three months of the year, 365,900 people in Spain lost their jobs. The country has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union and it is expected to rise further this year. The rate has risen sharply since April 2007, when it stood at 7.9%. “The figures are terrible for everyone and terrible for the government…Spain is in a crisis of huge proportions,” Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said. The new government has announced reforms to the labour market, including cutting back on severance pay and restricting inflation-linked salary increases, that it hopes will ease the problem. These measures have angered unions, which have organized widespread general strikes in protest. The government has also introduced drastic spending cuts designed to reduce its debt levels and meet deficit targets agreed with the European Union. These cuts are contributing to Spain’s economic contraction. “In Spain today, a cycle similar to Greece is starting to develop,” said HSBC chief economist Stephen King. “The recession is so deep that when you take one step forward on austerity, it takes you two steps back.” [...]"  

Trends: "In NM, Unpaid Tickets Could Get Utilities Shut Off" [04/28/12] "Officials were apparently desperate to come up with a way to collect unpaid fines, which have amounted to $2 million in just over three years. The city is owed $600,000 of that; the rest is divvied up between the state and the camera company, ABC News reports. "We can’t go through the courts; it’s not that type of citation," an official explains. "We don’t have legal enforcement authority." What they do have, however, is the authority to cut off utility service to anyone who is in debt to the city, per its municipal code. First, a letter is sent out; if payment still is not received, water, sewage, and gas may be shut off (violators needn't worry about their electricity; the city does not provide that). Says the official, "What we are seeing is that people who have received these letters are taking care of it." [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Debt Collectors In Hospitals" [04/27/12] "Hospital patients waiting in an emergency room or convalescing after surgery are being confronted by an unexpected visitor: a debt collector at bedside. This and other aggressive tactics by one of the nation’s largest collectors of medical debts, Accretive Health, were revealed on Tuesday by the Minnesota attorney general, raising concerns that such practices have become common at hospitals across the country. The tactics, like embedding debt collectors as employees in emergency rooms and demanding that patients pay before receiving treatment, were outlined in hundreds of company documents released by the attorney general. And they cast a spotlight on the increasingly desperate strategies among hospitals to recoup payments as their unpaid debts mount. To patients, the debt collectors may look indistinguishable from hospital employees, may demand they pay outstanding bills and may discourage them from seeking emergency care at all, even using scripts like those in collection boiler rooms, according to the documents and employees interviewed by The New York Times. In some cases, the company’s workers had access to health information while persuading patients to pay overdue bills, possibly in violation of federal privacy laws, the documents indicate. The attorney general, Lori Swanson, also said that Accretive employees may have broken the law by not clearly identifying themselves as debt collectors. [...]"  

MSM: "Student Loan Bubble About to Burst" [04/27/12] "... Students are already suffering from having to paying back massive principal balances because the cost of attending college has increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007, and even more since then. Meanwhile, during that same period, median family income only rose 147 percent. If those numbers weren't ugly enough, CNBC reports that the total student loan debt in the U.S. is $870 billion, surpassing credit card debt, with two-thirds of it being owed by citizens under 30 years old. What's more, this interest-rate increase comes just when it was reported that over half (53%) of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. All of these numbers seem to ensure that all recent grads face a lifetime of debt servitude, especially since student loans cannot be canceled in bankruptcy. Through no fault of their own, students have been lulled into believing that they must attend college to be successful. This myth is the engine of the college bubble, while cheap, easy, low-interest money from the government has been the fuel that has caused the cost to soar far beyond the rate of inflation. An increase in interest payments would be even more catastrophic for already over-burdened college graduates. Yet, unfortunately, it may be just what is needed to slow down the growth of the bubble and save a few young people from the prison of debt. As such, it is just one more of the many reasons not to attend college.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Homeless Health Care Costs Prompt Experiments On The Margins" [04/27/12] "Radical poverty puts enormous stress on the U.S. health care system, which often struggles to address poor patients' most basic needs. People who live in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls "low socioeconomic circumstances" are far more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors, have limited access to health care, get poorer quality of care and, not least, simply wither and die. For overworked emergency rooms and underfunded safety-net hospitals, chronic conditions are particularly hard to treat. In many cases, preventative care is all but a fantasy. As a result, low-income Americans are much more prone to preventable hospitalizations, to the tune of $6.7 billion and 1 million hospital visits per year, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Once extreme poverty leads to homelessness, things get even worse. Homeless patients are less likely to seek out or have access to follow-up care or fill critical prescriptions, resulting in numerous return visits for the same problems. Research in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that homeless hospital patients generally stay at least four days longer per visit, which can mean thousands a pop to a safety-net hospital teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. "It's a horrible mess," says John Lozier, executive director of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, "and it all becomes more pronounced with the longevity of homelessness." Though precise data on the U.S. homeless population is fuzzy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development states that of the 636,000 Americans it estimates spent a night homeless last January, roughly 1 in 6 were chronically homeless, beginning another cycle from the street to a shelter, an emergency room or jail.  [...]" 

Trends: "For U.S. Renters Who Need Affordable Housing, Choices Are Few" [04/27/12] "Everyone knows the economy has been rough on homeowners lately. But for people who rent -- especially for people who rent and don't make very much money -- things may be even worse. For Americans of modest income, it's "incredibly difficult" to afford rental housing right now, according to Megan Bolton, a senior research analyst at the National Low Income Housing Coalition. That's because more and more people are entering the rental market -- driven out of their homes by foreclosure, or just shying away from buying a house until prices improve. And rents are climbing higher as a result. The average renter makes just $14.15 an hour, according to a report released Tuesday by the NLIHC. With real estate prices the way they are, though, you'd need to earn at least $18.25 an hour to be able to rent a typical two-bedroom apartment and still have cash left over for other expenses. So, $4.10 an hour -- that's what stands between many renters and an affordable place to live. It's a small sum. But at a time when poverty is at an all-time high, and more and more people report not having enough money to put food on the table, it's also a serious problem. And it seems to be growing more pronounced, according to Bolton. Renters have responded in a number of ways, though "none of them are ideal," she said. Young adults are moving back in with their parents, and more families are living doubled up with friends or relatives -- a condition that often precedes a period of living on the streets or in a shelter. "That's our real concern here," Bolton said, "is that these folks are going to end up homeless if we don't take action." For the moment, though, Bolton said that most low-income renters are simply moving into places they can't really afford -- and "spending huge amounts of their paycheck on housing." "They don't have enough money left to do the basic things," Crowley told HuffPost. "They have to skimp on food, or they have to skimp on medicine, or they don't have enough money left for transportation." Such deprivations are a concern for millions of people now.[...]"  Related: "Unemployed To Lose Benefits In Several States " [03/19/12] "People receiving long-term unemployment insurance will get fewer weeks of benefits as a federal program is phased out early next month in several states. The federal Extended Benefits program, which in states with high-unemployment rates grants claimants out of work for a long period of time a final 13 to 20 weeks of benefits, will be phased out on April 7 in Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group. [...]" | "Child Care Program Cuts Leave Working Poor Parents Struggling" [04/06/12] "Across the country, states are slashing funding for subsidized child care programs while tightening eligibility requirements, leaving millions of low-income parents scrambling to secure care in order to maintain their jobs. In 37 states, subsidized child care programs were less generous in February 2011 than in the previous year, according to data compiled by the National Women's Law Center. Twenty-two states were putting eligible families on waiting lists, among them Texas, Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, Maryland, Minnesota and Virginia. California, Illinois, Louisiana and Ohio have in recent years tightened eligibility requirements for child care programs, and other states are now pursuing similar courses as they grapple with the red ink left from a sustained slump in housing and elevated unemployment. The cuts have imposed profound costs, albeit those not easily calculated using traditional ledger books. The toll is reflected in the individual experiences of families encountered here. [...]"  

MSM: "Milwaukee Red Cross Told To Prep For Chicago Evacuation During NATO Summit" [04/27/12] "Is there a secret plan to evacuate some residents of Chicago in the event of major trouble during the NATO summit next month? CBS 2 has uncovered some evidence that there is. It comes from the Milwaukee area branch of the American Red Cross. CBS 2 News has obtained a copy of a Red Cross e-mail sent to volunteers in the Milwaukee area. It said the NATO summit “may create unrest or another national security incident. The American Red Cross in southeastern Wisconsin has been asked to place a number of shelters on standby in the event of evacuation of Chicago.” According to a chapter spokesperson, the evacuation plan is not theirs alone. “Our direction has come from the City of Chicago and the Secret Service,” she said. [...]"  Note: If the Secret Service will be in town, some people will certainly want to make themselves scarce. Related: See also, below: "Chicagoans Warned to Evacuate Before NATO Summit" [04/23/12]

Beyond 2012: "UK: Over-50s To Be Forced To Work To 77" [04/26/12] "Nearly half of the over-50s will be forced to work until they are at least 77 to enjoy a comfortable old age, a report warns today. The findings, from the respected Pensions Policy Institute, highlight the crisis facing millions of workers simply too poor to retire. It warns that 45 per cent of workers aged 50 and above will have no option but to stay in their jobs for 11 years or more beyond state pension age – or see their standard of living collapse. The age at which people stop working has barely changed over the past 30 years, according to the report. In 1984, a man typically retired at 64. Today it’s 65. But the report heralds a social revolution, with workers retiring years, or even decades, after their parents and grandparents. The state pension age is 61 and one month for women and 65 for a man, but they are both being increased to 66 by 2020 and 67 by 2028. If the 11 years prediction from the institute is correct, retirement at 77 could become the norm for around 45 per cent of the population. [...]"  

UK: "Say Hello To Your Corporate Police" [04/26/12] "Police staff throughout the county of Lincolnshire are now proudly wearing the logo of their corporate bosses, as Government cuts force privatization of the nation’s peacekeepers. G4S, a controversial multi-national security corporation has now virtually taken over all civilian positions in the region, including front counter staff at police stations, control room operators, custodians at local holding cells, and even inquiry officers. In total 550 employees who previously worked for Lincolnshire Police Authority are now considered private sector workers, essentially accountable only to company policy, with 200 or so already sporting the G4S stamp. [...]"  

Beyond 2012: "Social Security Disability Benefits To Run Dry By 2016" [04/25/12] [1:38] "The FED is set to meet but Interest rates are expected to remain unchanged and Social Security disability benefits may run out by 2016. Ashley Morrison reports. [...]"   Related: "Bloomberg: Social Security will Run Out in 2035 " [1:57] "The Social Security program will exhaust its trust fund in 2035 and have to start reducing benefits to senior citizens unless Congress intervenes, its trustees said.  [...]"  Note: The bottom line is that Social Security will NOT run out before we're out of here.

UK: "London Council Accused Of 'Social Cleansing'" [04/25/12] "A London council has been accused of 'social cleansing' after it asked a housing association in Stoke-on-Trent to take in 500 families it could 'not afford' to house in London. Newham council said the cost of renting private accommodation for the families was too high, and would not be covered by housing benefit. Its officers approached the Stoke housing association 170 miles away because the market was starting to "overheat", it said - partly due to the "onset of the Olympic Games and the buoyant young professionals market". A letter Newham wrote to Stoke-on-Trent's Brighter Futures Housing Association, published by the BBC, added that it had been "forced to look further afield for alternative supply". Gill Brown, the CEO of Brighter Futures, told the BBC that "there is a real issue of social cleansing going on". [...]"  

MSM: "The Most (And Least) Violent U.S. States: Report" [04/25/12] "Violence and its aftermath cost the U.S. economy some $460 billion last year, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace's second annual United States Peace Index, released on Tuesday. Those costs - which include direct burdens like medical care for victims and the prison system and indirect factors like lost productivity - vary widely by state, with the most peaceful states bearing the lowest burden and the most violent spending far more. A state's level of peacefulness is not the only factor that determines the economic toll of violence; its population and level of overall economic activity also has a strong influence. Below, a look at the cost of violence to the ten most peaceful and ten most violent U.S. states in 2012:  [...]"  Note: Most peaceful states: Iowa, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Washington, North Dakota, Utah, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Least peaceful states: Mississippi, North Carolina, Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Tennessee and Louisiana.

Commentary: "53 Percent Of All Young College Graduates In America Are Either Unemployed Or Underemployed" [04/24/12] "If you are in college right now, you will most likely either be unemployed or working a job that only requires a high school degree when you graduate. The truth is that the U.S. economy is not coming anywhere close to producing enough jobs for the hordes of new college graduates that are entering the workforce every year. In 2011, 53 percent of all Americans with a bachelor's degree under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed. Millions upon millions of young college graduates feel like the system has totally failed them. They worked hard in school all their lives, they went into huge amounts of debt in order to get the college education that they were told they "must have" in order to get a good job, but after graduation they found that there were only a handful of good jobs for the huge waves of college graduates that were entering the "real world". All over America, college graduates can be found waiting tables, flipping burgers and working behind the register at retail stores. Unfortunately, the employment picture in America is not going to get significantly better any time soon. [...]"  Note: Well, if they paid attention four years ago to the previous graduates and their problems finding jobs, they wouldn't be in the same position. Ignoring the state of reality in society doesn't pay.

 Legal Case: "Chicagoans Challenge Red Light Cameras" [04/24/12] "Chicagoans say in a state class action that tickets issued by the city's red light cameras are unconstitutional, and want the city to refund the millions it has collected since the cameras were installed in 2003. Lead plaintiffs Terie Kata and Maureen Sullivan sued Chicago in Cook County Court. Chicago in 2003 installed cameras with sensors that detect when cars cross an intersection during a red light. When triggered, the cameras record a video clip showing the traffic signal and the car moving in the intersection. The city then sends a violation notice by mail to the vehicle's owner - not necessarily the driver - demanding payment of a $100 fine. Chicago issues more 500,000 red light violation notices per year, according to the complaint. If a ticket recipient does not pay on time, the fine is doubled with an automatic $100 late fee, and the car may be booted, the plaintiffs say. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Debt Collection CFO Going To Prison" [04/24/12] "The CFO of a debt collection agency was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for tax evasion and ordered to pay $159,000 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Leslie Jean McIntosh, 58, of Columbia Falls, Mont., was chief financial officer of FITEC LLC, a Kalispell-based collection agency that specialized in commercial collections and accounts receivable. She also had access to accounts with associated companies FITEC Inc. and Lazare Inc., prosecutors said. The owners of the companies discovered financial irregularities in 2008 and ordered an audit, which discovered that from 2006 to 2008 more than $131,000 had been deposited from the companies into McIntosh's personal account and the account of another person without authorization, according to an offer of proof. Prosecutors said McIntosh failed to declare the money on her W-2 forms for those years, and said the other person told authorities that McIntosh told him the checks to him were to be hidden from the IRS. In December of 2006, McIntosh's CPA license was revoked after she was convicted of a previous federal felony, according to the U.S. attorney. [...]"  

MSM: "Chicagoans Warned to Evacuate Before NATO Summit" [04/23/12] "Residents of a Chicago condo received a letter from management last week informing them that they should move out of their homes during the upcoming NATO confab to be held in the Windy City next month. If the residents decide to remain, they will be subjected to a lockdown. “In the event of a riot or the potential of one near the building,” the letter states, “all access doors will be locked including the garage door. For everyone’s safety we will be instructing anyone in the building to stay in his or her unit.” Aaron Klein, writing for WorldNetDaily on Saturday, said radicals with ties to Obama plan to riot during the NATO summit. In August of 2011, Klein said the founders of a “radical group that teaches tactics of direct action, confrontation and intimidation” were among a “slew of extremist organizations, some tied to President Obama, preparing protests to coincide with major NATO and G-8 summits in Chicago.” [...]  plans to protest during the NATO and G8 summit in May. Code Pink’s co-founder, Jodie Evans, was an Obama fundraiser. She sits on the leadership board of Warburg’s IPS. [...]" 

Beyond 2012: "100% Certainty of Total Catastrophic Failure of Entire Power Infrastructure Within 3 Years" [04/22/12] [8:16] "As smart grid metering systems expand across the developed world, many are starting to ask whether the threats posed by the new devices, which officials promise will save energy and reduce end user utility costs, outweigh their benefits. In addition to documented health concerns resulting from radiation emissions and no cost savings being apparent, opponents of the technology argue that smart meters are violative of basic privacy rights and give the government yet another digital node of unfettered access to monitor and control personal electricity consumption. Now, an alarming new documentary suggests that security problems with the inter-connected and seemingly convenient smart grid may be so serious that they could lead to a catastrophic failure of our nation’s entire power infrastructure. [...]" Note: Cyber security expert David Chalk weighs in on the smart grid and its outright lack of security. The situation will be evident with a coronal mass ejection from the Sun or other case  ... EMP cascade.

Legal Case: "Man Who Resisted Police Wins Supreme Court Case" [04/22/12] "The Michigan Supreme Court says people can resist police officers who unlawfully enter their homes. In a 5-2 decision, the court ordered that charges be dropped against Angel Moreno Junior, a western Michigan man who was accused of obstructing officers at his home in Holland. The officers were looking for someone and tried to enter the home without a warrant. Lower courts had upheld charges of resisting police, based on a 2004 Supreme Court decision, but justices on Friday said that case was wrongly decided. The opinion PDF was written by Justice Diane Hathaway. She and two other Democrats on the court were joined by two Republican justices, a rare alliance. The dissenters were Republican justices Stephen Markman and Robert Young Junior. [...]"   

Beyond 2012: " How Close Is The UK To An Apocalyptic Water Shortage? " [04/22/12] "For those with an apocalyptic imagination and a tabloid subscription, the future of drought-stricken Britain seems increasingly bleak. The statistics alone read like the introduction to a sci-fi film: more than 35m people in England are currently living under drought conditions; two of the driest winters in history, and the driest March in 59 years, mean that underground water and reservoir levels are falling at the fastest rate for two decades; the Met Office says there is a good chance this spring could see the least rainwater since (in that dreaded phrase) "records began" - and there is no end on the forecasted horizon. Now some are thirstily reporting the terrifying possibility that "specially imported foreign water" might have to be brought to the UK using giant ships to quench our demand, while water bosses are threatening to sell water from region to region "like oil".  [...] "International trade and the globalisation of the supply chain contribute to making water scarcity a global issue." Related: "Huge" Water Resource Exists Under Africa" "What it comes down to is war is an agenda to take a sovereign nations resources. There is no argument, Africa is a natural resource “Holy Grail”. They argue that the total volume of water in aquifers underground is 100 times the amount found on the surface. The team have produced the most detailed map yet of the scale and potential of this hidden resource. [...]"  Note: Amazing amount of fresh water under Africa. Another resource targeted by non-African nations with current military operations.

Trends: "No Vacancies: Squatters Move In" [04/21/12] "... The term “squatter” conjures images of the predominantly young, urban hipsters who in decades past claimed vacant property in areas such as New York City’s Lower East Side. But with five times as many vacant homes as homeless people in the U.S. today, a new wave of squatters – just as likely to be hard-hit families like Smith’s as young activists making a political statement – is moving into vacant foreclosed properties in cities like Chicago, New York and Minneapolis. Today’s housing movement has yet to approach the pace of its predecessors – historians Richard Boyer and Herbert Morais estimate that in 1932, unemployed workers’ councils moved 77,000 evicted families back into their homes in New York City alone. But buoyed by the support of the Occupy movement, housing rights groups have stepped up their efforts. With more than 1 billion people worldwide now living in informal settlements, journalist Robert Neuwirth argues that squatters’ communities are among the primary creators of housing in the developing world. Now, in the context of a global foreclosure crisis, a squatters’ movement is emerging across the developed world to claim otherwise vacant buildings as homes. In Spain, established squatters’ networks have converged with the M-15 movement of “indignados.” “Squatting is more connected to radical politics and autonomist movements in Spain,” explains Miguel Ángel Mart’nez, a sociologist at Madrid’s Complutense University, “but it was adopted by M-15 because they experienced the tragedy of so many people attending the assemblies and asking for help while they were living on the streets or under threat of being put there.” [...]" 

Beyond 2012: "Food Stamp Rolls to Grow Through 2014, CBO Says" [04/21/12] "The Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that 45 million people in 2011 received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, a 70% increase from 2007. It said the number of people receiving the benefits, commonly known as food stamps, would continue growing until 2014. [...]"  Related: "5.4 Million Join Disability Rolls Under Obama" "A record 5.4 million workers and their dependents have signed up to collect federal disability checks since President Obama took office, according to the latest official government data, as discouraged workers increasingly give up looking for jobs and take advantage of the federal program. This is straining already-stretched government finances while posing a long-term economic threat by creating an ever-growing pool of permanently dependent working-age Americans. The main causes of this broader trend, according to a study by economists David Autor and Mark Duggan, are the loosening of eligibility rules by Congress in 1984, the rise in disability benefits relative to wages, and the fact that more women have entered the workforce, making them eligible for disability. [...]"  

Commentary: "The American Who Quit Money To Live In A Cave" [04/19/12] [3:34] "Daniel Suelo lives in caves in the canyonlands of Utah. He survives by harvesting wild foods and eating roadkill. He has no job, no bank account and does not accept government welfare. In fact, Suelo has no money at all. Suelo may have shunned all the trappings of modern American life, but he is not an isolationist. Since abandoning money in 2000, the former cook from Moab, Utah has remained an active member of his community and avid blogger. Mark Sundeen, author of The Man Who Quit Money, admits many people would regard Suelo's alternative lifestyle as bizarre. But the 2008 financial crash has led many to question the value of money. He explains some of the lessons found in Suelo's philosophy. [...]"  

Commentary: "Georgia Signs Welfare Drug-Testing Bill Into Law" [04/18/12] "Georgia’s Governor Nathan Deal has signed House Bill 861 into law, a controversial measure which will require drug testing of all applicants for public assistance, according to the Associated Press. The Social Responsibility and Accountability Act was passed by the state’s deliberative bodies in votes that broke down along party lines, then signed by Governor Deal on Monday night. Similar bills in other states have been struck down by judges as unconstitutional. Georgia state legislator John Albers (R-Roswell), one of the original sponsors of the bill that became The Social Responsibility and Accountability Act, said the he crafted the legislation specifically to elide constitutional concerns such as the ones raised in a Florida challenge to that state’s drug testing law. “Drug testing is so commonplace,” he said, “We worked very closely with folks in other states and attorneys’ general offices to address all of the concerns.” When contacted by email, Georgia’s Department of Human Services told Raw Story, “The Department is aware that Governor Deal signed HB 861 into law. Policy and program experts are currently reviewing the legislation to understand the full impact of the law on the Department of Human Services.”  [...]"  Related: "Welfare Drug Tests Cost Florida $46K"   "Remember that controversial Florida law requiring welfare seekers to submit to drug tests? Turns out it didn't save taxpayers any money, didn't affect the number of applications, and didn't even ferret out very many drug users, the New York Times reports. During the four months the tests were given, just 2.6% of applicants failed, mostly for marijuana use. Everyone who passed was reimbursed for the cost of the test—which totaled $118,140, or more than the state would have paid in benefits to those who failed, according to an ACLU director. That means the program actually cost the government $45,780. The tests were only given from July through October; at that point, following an ACLU lawsuit against the state, a judge issued a temporary injunction halting the tests. The recently released state data comes on the heels of Georgia installing a practically identical law and 23 other states considering doing the same. Of course, supporters of the Florida law still back it, and some insist that the law will deter drug users who would normally apply for assistance. “Not only is it unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy, but it doesn’t save money, as was proposed," says the ACLU director. [...]"  

UK: "Officer To Be Charged With Racial Abuse During London Riots" [04/18/12] "Scotland Yard Pc Alex MacFarlane is to be charged with a racially aggravated public order offence after the alleged abuse of a suspect during the London riots, the Crown Prosecution Service has said. Alison Saunders, chief prosecutor for London, said she had advised the Independent Police Complaints Commission to charge Pc MacFarlane despite the CPS's decision not to charge him in January. Saunders said the original CPS decision was "regrettable", adding that a prosecution was necessary to maintain public confidence. Pc MacFarlane was stripped of his duties in relation to mobile phone footage which appeared to show him telling the 21-year-old black man: “The problem with you is you will always be a nigger, yeah? That’s your problem, yeah.” [...]"  

MSM: "Millions Are Hungry While Food Supplies Rot In India" [04/18/12] "India is struggling with too much wheat while the rest of the world is anticipating a shortage. Thanks to the virtual banning of exports since 2007, India is producing more wheat than it can properly store and now the Indian government does not know where to store the bumper grains to be harvested for the third year in a row. Fears are rising that the grains would be out in the open, rot and be eaten by rodents even as millions go hungry in the country which is planning to enact a right to food law. According to one estimate, up to seven percent of the country’s annual grain production goes waste due to insufficient storage space and inefficient transport and distribution networks. Government admitted that there is a lack of enough grain storage and distribution infrastructure in the major grain-producing areas of the country when an overwhelming majority of the population is wallowing in extreme poverty, famine and hunger has resulted in untimely deaths and widespread devastation. To top it, food prices are skyrocketing, owing to shortage of food supplies. [...]"  

Cultural Studies: "How America Spends Money: 100 Years in the Life of the Family Budget" [04/17/12] "This is our story today: It is a story about how spending on food and clothing went from half the family budget in 1900 to less than a fifth in 2000.It is a story about how a nation that feels poor got so rich. Here's the big picture in one chart showing the share of family spending per category over the 20th century. The big story is that spending on food and clothes has fallen massively while spending on housing and services has gone up. [...] The year is 1900. The United States is a different country. We are near the end of the Millennium, but in the "warp and woof of life," we are living closer to the 1600s than the 2000s, as Brad DeLong memorably put it. A quarter of households have running water. Even fewer own the home they lived in. Fewer still have flush toilets. One-twelfth of households have gas or electric lights, one-twentieth have telephones, one-in-ninety own a car, and nobody owns a television. So where are we spending all our money?[...]"

MSM: "No Gays Allowed: Saudi Arabia Bans Homosexuals From Schools" [04/17/12] "Gays and “tomboys” can no long enter public schools and universities in Saudi Arabia, until they change their appearance and behavior. That’s how the country chose to tackle the spread of the two “phenomena”. ­The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the country’s the most feared law enforcement agency, has received high-leveled orders to enforce new orders on homosexuality and girls who adopt masculine appearances, the Arabic-language daily Sharq reported. “Instructions have been issued to all public schools and universities to ban the entry of gays and tom boys and to intensify their efforts to fight this phenomenon, which has been promoted by some websites,” the announcement read. However, the source did not make clear who issued the instructions. Banned teenagers will be allowed back to school only if they “stop such practices” and “unacceptable behavior” in public places. Saudi Arabia operates under Shariah, or Islamic law, and punishes homosexuality with sentences of corporal and capital punishment. Two years ago, Saudi authorities toughened a law banning the hiring of gays and lesbians. [...]"  

MSM: "Study: Consumerism Makes People Depressed And Anti-Social" [04/17/12] "All that spending encouraged by our capitalistic society is making us really depressed, a new study finds. Northwestern University found that anyone placing great value on wealth, status and material possessions is more like to be depressed and anti-social than the rest of us. So what we think makes us happy does just the opposite.  [...] In another experiment, students were presented with a hypothetical water shortage with a well shared by them and three other people. Asked to identify themselves as either "consumer" or "individual", the "consumers" said they felt less trusting of others, less responsible for the shortage and less likely to help solve the problem. "Consumer status did not unite, it divided," the study concluded."  Note: I have always despised the term "consumer'.

Commentary: "Florida Town Bans Nightclubs And Other Social Venues "To Keep Crime Low" [04/17/12] "Weston, Fla. residents can no longer "cut loose" at nightclubs. After nine shootings outside nightclubs in 2011, the Weston, Fla. city council permanently banned nightclubs, skating rinks, and dance halls because of "safety concerns," according to The Daily Mail. Since 2002, five people have been killed in shootings outside these "social venues." The Weston city council members have said that this "raucous" just doesn't fit with planned community of 65,000 people in the suburbs of Fort Lauderdale. It's impossible not to think of the 1984 film "Footloose," in which Kevin Bacon starred, where rock music and dancing were banned in an Oklahoma town called Elmore City. [...]"  

MSM: "Republicans To Slash Food Stamps" [04/17/12] "From food stamps to child tax credits and Social Service block grants, House Republicans began rolling out a new wave of domestic budget cuts Monday but less for debt reduction — and more to sustain future Pentagon spending without relying on new taxes. Going into November’s election, President Barack Obama’s signature health care and financial market reforms are again favorite targets. And with as many as six House committees involved, the whole budget drill can resemble “Casablanca” with Claude Rains’s Captain Renault ordering his men: “Round up the usual suspects!” [...] what’s also driving the latest cuts is a newer narrative, voiced by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), that the social safety net is at risk of becoming a “hammock.” And even as the unemployment rate has begun to fall, conservatives are alarmed that the level of income-related government benefits continues to rise. Nothing better illustrates this perhaps than the renewed focus on food stamps — now titled SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). And the estimated $33.2 billion in 10-year savings there could have an immediate impact on the farm bill debate and come November, the 2012 elections." National enrollment reached 46.4 million people in January 2012, a nearly two-thirds increase from the average monthly participation in fiscal 2008. The annual costs — now running in excess of $80 billion — have more than doubled in the same period. And even the most ardent food stamp proponents will sometimes say SNAP is a program “asked to do too much.” The Recovery Act boost in benefits is already phasing out and will be gone entirely by November 2013. But the GOP package now would cut them off this summer, hitting families Sept. 1, and saving about $5.9 billion in 2012 and 2013. The White House has estimated that as many as 234,000 Floridians could lose their access to food stamps in the coming year under the Republican budget plan. At the same time, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) let out a cry recently, protesting what he saw as a rush by gas stations and restaurants to cash in on food sales paid for under the program. “This program has expanded well beyond its original intent and expanded to a far greater percentage of Americans,” West said. “Now we see a growing number of businesses in this country, including sit-down and fast-food restaurants, standalone and gas station convenience markets, and even pharmacies eager to accept SNAP benefits. … This is a highly disturbing trend.[...]"

Commentary: "Homeless Children Highest In American History" [04/16/12] [3:18] "Despite their growing numbers, homeless children are invisible to most of us; they have no voice and no constituency," the report says. "Without a bed to call their own, these children have lost safety, privacy, and the comforts of home, as well as their friends, possessions, pets, reassuring routines and communities." Children experiencing homelessness also tend to struggle with hunger, poor health, and missed educational opportunities. A majority of homeless children have limited proficiency in math and reading, according to the report. The study, a state-by-state report card, looks at four years' worth of Education Department data. It assesses how homeless children fare based on factors including the state's wages, poverty and foreclosure rates, cost of housing and its programs for homeless families. The states where homeless children fare the best are Vermont, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Maine. It finds the worst states for homeless children are Southern states where poverty is high, including Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas, and states decimated by foreclosures and job losses, such as Arizona, California and Nevada. [...]" Related: Documentary: "What It Means To Be Poor In America" BBC Panorama [29:13]    

MSM: "UAE Signs Deal to Integrate National IDs Into Mobile Phones" [04/16/12] "The United Arab Emirates signed a deal with telecommunications company, Etisalat, to embed citizens' national ID information into mobile phones. They will now be exploring a system that would utilize an NFC or Near Field Communication application, which allows cell phones to communicate data via radio frequency within very close range. The UAE has had a national ID system since 2004, with IDs carrying a chip similar to one on a credit card and holding a person's name, birthday, gender, photograph, fingerprint, and ID number. Etisalat, based in the UAE, has had a history working with the Emirati government on various initiatives. Notably, the company helped the government develop surveillance malware to be installed on Blackberry devices. However, it was quickly revealed that the "network upgrade" in disguise was in fact meant to spy on its mobile users. EFF has long opposed national ID systems because they are fraught with potential abuse in every aspect of their creation and operation. Not only is it extremely costly to implement, the risk of fraudulent and flawed identification cards is very serious: these cards needs to distributed on such a scale that even a small percentage of errors could cause major social disruption. Moreover, such a mass collection of data leaves a high potential for abuse by both private and public actors. Since carrying an ID card is mandatory in the UAE, this may mean that Emirati citizens may begin to be required to carry their phones on them at all times. Their objectives for working towards implementing this system currently unknown. However, integrating personal data with mobile phones can only bring trouble. [...]" 

Commentary: "UK Govt. Savings Raid Hits Pensioners" [04/16/12] "At least 100,000 British pensioners are to face “a second Granny Tax” and lose up to £897 a year under the UK government’s move to remove the savings credit, warns Labour. According to the figures from the House of Commons library, scrapping savings credit, which is a benefit to reward those who save money for their retirement, would also cost 105,000 new pensioners up to £897 per year, as the British Chancellor George Osborne implements reforms to create single tier, flat state pension. [...]"  

Trends: "Tax Refunds Being Used To Pay For Bankruptcy Filings" [04/15/12] "Some Americans spend their tax refunds on high-tech gadgets and long-awaited vacations. Others use the cash to file for bankruptcy. More than 200,000 money-strapped households will use their tax refunds this year to pay for bankruptcy filing and legal fees, says a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The NBER research confirms what bankruptcy lawyers have long known: At the first part of the year, when Americans receive their tax refunds, there almost always is a spike in personal bankruptcy filings. But that has been especially true since the cost of bankruptcy soared after U.S. bankruptcy laws changed in 2005. And many more families have been forced to delay filing until they can afford to pay the fees, the NBER study says. “If people are expecting a big refund, they go as fast as they can to a tax preparer,” says Henry Sommer, a bankruptcy lawyer in Philadelphia. “They need the money so they can afford to file for bankruptcy.” [...]" 

MSM: "Los Angeles: More Evidence U.S. Police Brutality Is Out Of Control" [04/15/12] [3:01] Related: See also, below: "Torture: America’s Brutal Prisons" [50:08] Part 2 [9:37]| [04/05/12] "...The programme suggests that the cause is not a few bad apples, but a pervasive culture of dehumanization and brutality.; and "Home of America's Cruelest Prisons: Arizona" [04/04/12] Note: It would be interesting see the sadistic jailers put in jail ....not going to happen ...  The same thing happened in Germany and the Soviet Union, run by paranoid psychopathic narcissist's Hitler and Stalin ....  Obama is the same kind of individual, and the so-called Neo-Cons who high-jacked the US government are the same genre .... self-hating people, projecting their own warped psyche on the outside world, trying to keep an infuriated population from killing them for what they've done by creating a 'national security apparatus' staffed by sadistic psychopaths. Reincarnated retreads from the past, still up to no good. Pathetic fools and cowards.

Concepts and Practices: "Sweden’s New Gender-Neutral Pronoun: Hen" [04/14/12] "By most people’s standards, Sweden is a paradise for liberated women. It has the highest proportion of working women in the world, and women earn about two-thirds of all degrees. Standard parental leave runs at 480 days, and 60 of those days are reserved exclusively for dads, causing some to credit the country with forging the way for a new kind of nurturing masculinity. In 2010, the World Economic Forum designated Sweden as the most gender-equal country in the world. But for many Swedes, gender equality is not enough. Many are pushing for the Nordic nation to be not simply gender-equal but gender-neutral. The idea is that the government and society should tolerate no distinctions at all between the sexes. This means on the narrow level that society should show sensitivity to people who don't identify themselves as either male or female, including allowing any type of couple to marry. But that’s the least radical part of the project. What many gender-neutral activists are after is a society that entirely erases traditional gender roles and stereotypes at even the most mundane levels. [...] But not everyone is keen on this political meddling with the Swedish language. In a recent interview for Vice magazine, Jan Guillou, one of Sweden's most well-known authors, referred to proponents of hen as "feminist activists who want to destroy our language." Other critics believe it can be psychologically and socially damaging, especially for children. Elise Claeson, a columnist and a former equality expert at the Swedish Confederation of Professions, has said that young children can become confused by the suggestion that there is a third, "in-between" gender at a time when their brains and bodies are developing. Adults should not interrupt children's discovery of their gender and sexuality, argues Claeson. She told the Swedish daily, Dagens Nyheter, that "gender ideologues" have managed to change the curriculum to establish that schools should actively counter gender roles. Claeson might have a point. [...]"   Note: Very sequential 'everyone is the same' perspective.

Commentary: "Average IQ Is Falling In Britain And Beyond" [04/14/12] "Average IQ is falling in Britain and beyond, explains Philip Hunter Intelligence quotients (IQs) have risen in developed nations for almost a century. This phenomenon, named the "Flynn effect" after the New Zealand intelligence researcher James Flynn, was first identified in 1984 in the United States. It has been found to occur in all developed nations, and some others as well. The received wisdom became: IQs always go up. But this trend seems to be stopping and even reversing in some countries, research in Britain, Denmark and Norway has shown. It is discomfiting to find intelligence in decline. There is a strong association between a nation's IQ, its prosperity and health. IQ testing is contentious and regarded by some as a crude indicator of ability or potential. When comparing nations, measured average IQ tends to be affected by class, nutrition, and cultural factors including education. There is also disagreement over the influences of nature and nurture. [...]"  

Commentary: "Suicide Flourishes In The Nevada Desert" [04/14/12] "Long before the recession saddled Nevada with the country's top foreclosure and unemployment rates, the Silver State wrestled with another measure of despair. For about three decades, the state's suicide rate — most recently 19.1 deaths per 100,000 residents — has been among the nation's highest. The national average is 12 per 100,000. Most of Nevada's suicides occur around Las Vegas, where nearly three-fourths of the state's population lives. A study by sociologist Matt Wray and his colleagues found that between 1979 and 2004, the odds of suicide among Vegas residents were about 50% greater than in other large metropolitan areas. [...]"  

MSM: "Pennsylvania Town Seeks to Squash "Scourge of Garage Sales" [04/13/12] "The small town of South Greensburg, PA is considering limiting the number of yard sales residents can conduct. Local TV station KTKA reports: We decided, with the warmer weather coming up, we would sort of define what a garage sale was,” Borough Council President Clentin Martin said. He has proposed an ordinance, which he says would prevent “people going to flea markets, buying junk that they collect in these flea markets bringing it home, then putting it into their garage, and then calling it a ‘garage sale.’" Residents would be limited to two two-day garage sales a year, permits for which would cost $5. Katherine Mangu-Ward’s written about garage sales coming under the purview of the feds after the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 went into effect. [...]" Note: Control freaks.

Commentary: "First New 'Concentration Camps' in Europe Set to Sprout on Greek Soil" [04/13/12] "As if the current circumstances of austerity-riven Greece were not bad enough already, it seems that the country is set to have a dozen or so concentration camps dotted around the country. In language that might have been lifted straight from the Nazi lexicon, these establishments will be known as ‘closed-hospitality’ centers. The incarcerates will be undocumented – meaning unwanted – refugees flooding in from North Africa, particularly the once prosperous and richest country in the Maghreb belt, namely Libya. [...]"  

Legal Case: "KC Police Will Pay $1 Million For Shooting" [04/13/12] "The Kansas City Police Department will pay $1 million to a man who was shot by a police officer who was having a diabetic reaction. Officer Joel Ritchie shot David Gardner in September 2007. Ritchie had gone to a store while on duty to get something to eat after realizing he was having a reaction from his type 1 diabetes, the Kansas City Star reported. After eating, Ritchie left the store and started firing his weapon. One bullet hit Gardner, who was delivering food to the store. Officers found a disoriented Ritchie walking down a nearby street. Ritchie is no longer a police officer. [...]" 

Commentary: "Pokies And The Australian Addiction To Gambling" [04/12/12] "Australians lose more money betting than citizens of any other country and slot machines are powering the problem. 'There, look! That is classic problem gambling behaviour right there," says Paul Bendat, pointing to a middle-aged man perched precariously on a stool between two slot machines, which is he playing at the same time, transfixed by the blinking lights. The wiry-haired lawyer turned anti-gambling activist is standing in the gaming room of the Meadow Inn hotel, situated in Fawkner, an unremarkable northern suburb of Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Lines of slot machines – commonly called poker or "pokie" machines, 73 in total – are coiled within the room. Despite it being a weekday mid-afternoon, the venue is virtually full of silent patrons, many of them elderly women. Incongruously, a dining area serving the local delicacy of chicken parmigiana adjoins the gaming room, alongside a children's play area. Both spaces are completely deserted. Australia has more than 4,000 such licensed clubs. Some are affiliated with sports teams, with facilities ranging from cinemas and golf courses to car washes and hairdressers. However, their financial backbone is gambling. In a typical year Australians lose AU$19bn (£12.3bn) betting, with $12bn of that poured into nearly 200,000 poker machines. According to the Economist, Australian adults lose an average of US$1,300 each a year gambling, easily the highest in the world. The UK, by comparison, has a per capita loss of under US$400. While a typical British fruit machine has a £50 jackpot, Australian pokies dangle AU$10,000 top prizes. The government estimates that 600,000 people hit the pokies weekly, around 40% of them considered hooked, or at risk of addiction. [...]" 

MSM: "Major Canadian Retailers Sued Over Gas Price-Fixing" [04/11/12] "A class-action lawsuit is seeking millions in damages for the alleged victims of a gas price-fixing scheme five years ago in eastern Ontario. The suit stems from a Competition Bureau case that saw Canadian Tire (TSX:CTC) and others plead guilty last month to colluding to fix the price of gas sold in Kingston and Brockville. In a notice of action filed with the court, Law firm Siskinds says it wants the pump operators to refund any profits from the scheme to consumers. Competition Bureau investigators found that gas retailers, or their representatives, phoned each other and agreed on the price they would charge. Pioneer Energy LP, Canadian Tire Corp., and Mr. Gas Ltd. pleaded guilty to price fixing between May and November 2007 and were fined a total of more than $2 million. However, Siskinds it will continue to investigate and could amend the suit to expand the scope of the allegations to other gas stations, or for a longer period of time. [...]"  

Commentary: "Trayvon Martin: Disinformation, Fake Reporting Fuelling The Illusion Of An ‘American Race War’" [04/11/12] "On Saturday April 7th, journalist Michael Miller’s Miami New Times blog clumsily ran with a report entitled, “Armed Neo-Nazis Now Patrolling Sanford, Say They Are “Prepared” for Post-Trayvon Martin”. The Miami New Times report claims that National Socialist Movement’s mascot, Jeff Schoep, dubbed “The Hollywood Nazi” because of his adherence to TV stereotypes, is leading armed Neo-Nazi patrols of Sanford, Florida to protect white residents from black violence. But there’s only one problem – it isn’t actually happening. Infowars.com contacted the Sanford Police Department on Sunday, looking for confirmation on the Miami News Times story, but according to the department’s office of public information, “We can confirm there have been no reports of any Neo-Nazi, or armed Neo-Nazi patrols in Sanford.” [...] Where there are racial extremists, expect to find the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC) nearby. In this instance, the SPLC seemed to be perfectly synchronized with the release of the Miami New Times claims, running their own story touting this latest news, warning Florida residents that: “The neo-Nazi, National Socialist Movement (NSM) has announced that it will be conducting patrols in Seminole County, Fla., to protect “local citizens from the area who are concerned for the safety of their families.” The group says it is prepared for “racial violence” in the Sanford area, where the Martin shooting occurred, and that is has been “contacted by dozens of local citizens” supposedly seeking protection…"   Related: See below.

Legal Case Update: "Zimmerman To Be Charged In Killing Of Trayvon Martin" [04/11/12] "A prosecutor for the state of Florida says that charges against George Zimmerman, the killer of Trayvon Martin, will be brought as early as Wednesday afternoon, reports the Washington Post. According to the Post, special prosecutor Angela Corey will announce charges against Zimmerman, who had initially admitted to shooting and killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin during an altercation on February 26. Zimmerman has escaped prosecution in the weeks since, having insisted that the shooting was conducted in self defense. International outrage over law enforcement’s handling of the teen’s death has spawned protests and rallies since the killing, and authorities are now expected to take Zimmerman to court for his role. The announcement that charges will be filed comes only one day after Zimmerman’s attorneys held an impromptu press conference to announce that they would no longer be representing him. Lawyers Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner addressed the media on Tuesday afternoon and said that the “good working relationship” they had with Zimmerman had deteriorated in recent days as the former Sanford, Florida neighborhood watch member stopped answering his attorneys’ attempts at reaching him. A day earlier, Zimmerman had unveiled a website where supporters could donate towards his living expenses and legal funds, a move that his attorneys said they were not aware of until after the fact. Zimmerman could be charged with either manslaughter or second degree murder, among other charges, reports Fox News. [...]"  See also, below: "Bill Clinton 'Cites Trayvon Martin' in Effort to Kill "Stand Your Ground" [04/03/12] ; "New U.S Domestic Spy Program Takes ‘Neighborhood Watch’ to Scary New Level"[04/03/12]; FBI Questions People In Trayvon Martin Case, Begins 'Parallel Investigation'"[04/03/12]; "The Zionist Media Plot and the Treyvon Martin Tragedy" [04/03/12]; "Trayvon Martin Case Spotlights Florida Town's History Of 'Sloppy' Police Work" [04/10/12] and related background stories below. For more background info, see "New Witness Confirms Trayvon Martin Was The Victim" "CNN Video" [03/29/12] below, with related stories.

Commentary: "10 Unbelievably Shitty Things America Does to Homeless People" [04/10/12] "No population has their human and civil rights so casually and routinely trampled as do homeless Americans. For decades, cities all over the country have worked to essentially criminalize homelessness, instituting measures that outlaw holding a sign, sleeping, sitting, lying (or weirdly, telling a lie in Orlando) if you live on the street.  Where the law does not mandate outright harassment, police come up with clever work-arounds, like destroying or confiscating tents, blankets and other property in raids of camps. A veteran I talked to, his eye bloody from when some teenagers beat him up to steal 60 cents, said police routinely extracted the poles from his tent and kept them so he couldn't rebuild it. (Where are all the pissed-off libertarians and conservatives at such flagrant disrespect for private property?) In the heady '80s, Reagan slashed federal housing subsidies even as a tough economy threw more and more people out on the street. Instead of resolving itself through the magic of the markets, the homelessness problem increasingly fell to local governments.  "When the federal government created the homelessness crisis, local governments did not have the means of addressing the issue. So they use the police to manage homeless people's presence," Jennifer Fredienrich told AlterNet last year. At about the same time, the arrest-happy "broken windows theory," which encourages law enforcement to bust people for "quality of life" crimes, offered ideological support for finding novel ways to legally harass people on the street.  Many of the policies end up being wildly counterproductive: a criminal record bars people from the very programs designed to get them off the street, while defending unconstitutional measures in court ends up costing cities money that could be used to fund homeless services.  Here is an incomplete list of laws, ordinances and law enforcement and government tactics that violate homeless people's civil liberties. [...]" 

Commentary:  "Trayvon Martin Case Spotlights Florida Town's History Of 'Sloppy' Police Work" [04/10/12] " ... The 911 call lasts just over four minutes. Toward the end, Zimmerman says Martin is running and the sounds of Zimmerman breathing hard can be heard as he describes the location to the dispatcher. Some hear what sounds like Zimmerman muttering a racial slur. "These assholes always get away," he then says. The dispatcher asks Zimmerman if he's chasing the individual. Zimmerman says yes. "We don't need you to do that," the dispatcher responds. At roughly 7:14 p.m., Zimmerman ends the call. Less than three minutes later, Trayvon Martin was dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest from Zimmerman's Kal-Tec 9 mm pistol, which he carried in a holster on his belt. Police arrived almost immediately and found Martin face-down and motionless in a patch of grass about 70 yards from the back porch of his father's girlfriend's house. Zimmerman told police that he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by Martin and said he shot the teen in self-defense, according to Bill Lee, the Sanford police chief who has since taken a leave from his job. [...]"  Related: See the following stories below on this panel: "Trayvon Martin Case: Armed Neo-Nazis Patrolling Sanford" [04/07/12] ; Bill Clinton 'Cites Trayvon Martin' in Effort to Kill "Stand Your Ground" [04/03/12] and related stores "New U.S Domestic Spy Program Takes ‘Neighborhood Watch’ to Scary New Level" ;"FBI Questions People In Trayvon Martin Case, Begins 'Parallel Investigation"; "The Zionist Media Plot and the Treyvon Martin Tragedy" as well as "DNC Chair: Repeal ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law" [03/25/12] and related stories "How The Tragic Death Of Trayvon Martin Is Being Hijacked For Political Gains";"The 23 States That Have Sweeping Self-Defense Laws Just Like Florida’s"

MSM: "UK Schools Being 'Run Like Totalitarian Regimes' Say Teachers" [04/10/12] "Pupils are being ‘actively recruited’ by schools to spy on their teachers in the classroom, a union has warned. They are being used as ‘management tools’ to carry out covert – and even open – surveillance of members of staff, it was claimed. Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, condemned the practice as a ‘form of abuse’ of children. She told the union’s annual conference in Birmingham on Saturday that ‘debilitating’ monitoring ‘erodes teachers’ self-esteem and gnaws away at their professional confidence’. She said: ‘Children and teachers are diminished and abused by the use of pupils as management tools to carry out surveillance on their teachers. ‘Schools are being run like totalitarian regimes where children are being actively recruited to spy and report on adults.’ Afterwards, Mrs Keates said she had been horrified to discover that secondary schools in some areas have been taking pupils out of lessons to put them through a form of ‘formalised Ofsted training’. [...]"  Related: "You're Not Welcome': Teachers Vote To Ban Ofsted Inspectors" "Ofsted inspectors could be barred from classrooms across the country after teachers voted overwhelmingly to boycott the inspection body.
The executive of the National Union of Teachers will now examine the proposals after teachers spoke out about the stress and damage to morale caused by the inspection regime, at the union's annual conference in Torquay. Teachers' leaders are especially angry at changes being introduced by the new Chief Inspector of Schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, which seem to make it harder for schools to make the grade. [...]"  

Commentary: "Federal Funds to Train Jobless Are Drying Up" [04/09/12] "Across the country, work force centers that assist the unemployed are being asked to do more with less as federal funds dwindle for job training and related services. In Seattle, for example, the region’s seven centers provided training for less than 5 percent of the 120,000 people who came in last year seeking to burnish their skills. And in Dallas, officials say they have annual funds left to support only 43 people in training programs, nowhere near enough to help the 23,500 people who have lost their jobs in the last 10 weeks alone.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Feeding The Homeless Banned In Major Cities All Over America" [04/09/12] "What would you do if you came across someone on the street that had not had anything to eat for several days? Would you give that person some food? Well, the next time you get that impulse you might want to check if it is still legal to feed the homeless where you live. Sadly, feeding the homeless has been banned in major cities all over America. Other cities that have not banned it outright have put so many requirements on those that want to feed the homeless (acquiring expensive permits, taking food preparation courses, etc.) that feeding the homeless has become "out of reach" for most average people. Some cities are doing these things because they are concerned about the "health risks" of the food being distributed by ordinary "do-gooders". Other cities are passing these laws because they do not want homeless people congregating in city centers where they know that they will be fed. But at a time when poverty and government dependence are soaring to unprecedented levels, is it really a good idea to ban people from helping those that are hurting? This is just another example that shows that our country is being taken over by control freaks. There seems to be this idea out there that it is the job of the government to take care of everyone and that nobody else should even try. The following are some of the major U.S. cities that have attempted to ban feeding the homeless....[...]"  

Concepts and Practices: " Brothels, Sex Trafficking Booming in Spain" [04/09/12] " Spain's economy may be on the verge of imploding, but one area remains more lucrative than ever—prostitution. Especially in border areas close to France, thousands of women line countryside roads, offering sex for $40 or so. Of the up to 400,000 prostitutes working in Spain, about 90% are trafficked from other countries, with 30% coming from the Balkans and many others from Africa and China, reports the New York Times. “The young used to go to discos,” says Barcelona’s councilor for women and civil rights. “But now they go to brothels. It’s just another form of entertainment to them.” The EU's open borders and cheap travel is fueling the boom in Spain, along with a legal and unregulated sex industry there, say experts. One small border town just opened a 101-room brothel, one of the largest in Europe. “For me, life is finished,” says a woman smuggled into Spain from Romania and forced to work as a prostitute. “I will never forget that I have done this.” [...]"  

Commentary: "Poor People Turned To Desperate Measures When Welfare Failed Them" [04/09/12] "Perhaps no law in the past generation has drawn more praise than the drive to “end welfare as we know it,” which joined the late-’90s economic boom to send caseloads plunging, employment rates rising and officials of both parties hailing the virtues of tough love. But the distress of the last four years has added a cautionary postscript: much as overlooked critics of the restrictions once warned, a program that built its reputation when times were good offered little help when jobs disappeared. Despite the worst economy in decades, the cash welfare rolls have barely budged. Faced with flat federal financing and rising need, Arizona is one of 16 states that have cut their welfare caseloads further since the start of the recession — in its case, by half. Even as it turned away the needy, Arizona spent most of its federal welfare dollars on other programs, using permissive rules to plug state budget gaps. The poor people who were dropped from cash assistance here, mostly single mothers, talk with surprising openness about the desperate, and sometimes illegal, ways they make ends meet. They have sold food stamps, sold blood, skipped meals, shoplifted, doubled up with friends, scavenged trash bins for bottles and cans and returned to relationships with violent partners — all with children in tow. [...]"  

Commentary: "US Would Need To Generate 262K Jobs Each Month To Get To Breakeven" [04/09/12]   "... So what has to happen for 10 million to get promptly put back into jobs, and for America to get back to the ~5% unemployment rate it boasted just as the credit bubble peaked? Nothing too crazy: the country just has to create 262,000 jobs every month for the next four or five years.  [...]"  Note: They would have to magically create a new employment infrastructure with long-term jobs, and that's not going to happen. Having jobs for 10 million, isn't enough anyway: Related: "Record 87,897,000 Americans Not in the Labor Force" "This figure explains why overall unemployment dropped from 8.3% to 8.2%, as the Department of Labor's unemployment figure does not include people who have given up hope and are not actively seeking employment. When the number of individuals who have stopped looking for a job and/or who are working part-time but desire full-time employment is included--a figure known as the "underemployment rate"--real unemployment stands at 19.1%. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Police Can Arrest for Minor Offenses" [04/08/12] "Police can arrest and handcuff people even for minor offenses punishable only by a fine, the Supreme Court said today in the case of a motorist arrested and jailed for not wearing a seat belt. Ruling 5-4 in a case that could affect anyone who drives a car, the justices said such an arrest does not violate the Constitution's Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable seizures.  [...] The states have widely varying policies on whether police can arrest people for minor offenses. Some states allow officers to arrest people for offenses punishable only by a fine, while others prohibit it. Some states let officers arrest someone they witness committing a misdemeanor offense only if the offense is considered a breach of peace. During arguments at the Supreme Court last December, Atwater's lawyer said the Fourth Amendment restricts the use of arrest for minor offenses. The case is Atwater vs. Lago Vista, 99-1408.  "  

Commentary: "Pentagon Gifts Local Cops with “Cast Off” Military Hardware" [04/08/12] "An article posted on The Modesto Bee website earlier this week provides a snapshot of the militarization of police, thanks to the Pentagon. A “California Watch” article details how Stanislaus County police have received $4.2 million in surplus war equipment from the Department of Defense. In 2011 alone, according to the article, “Stanislaus County agencies collected more than 2,400 pieces, their highest total ever.” Stanislaus County is not alone. “Public agencies around the state have grabbed cast-off military goods that become available on a weekly basis” and used to “arm and equip its officers.” Modesto Police Chief Mike Harden told The Modesto Bee that much of the surplus military equipment is not “applicable to municipal use,” including an “inert rocket launcher” and other “nonoperational weaponry the Stanislaus County sheriff’s bomb squad displays to educate children about dangerous explosives,” according to Sheriff Adam Christianson. Other, more useful equipment the police received from U.S. taxpayers include flashlights, bed sheets, a cargo parachute and an OH-58 helicopter. The department also acquired a “guided-missile trailer” that was repurposed to haul heavy equipment. “The Department of Defense’s equipment bazaar is another sign of how some police departments increasingly resemble small armies. Civilian law enforcement agencies have equipped themselves with assault-style weapons and even tanks, first as part of the war on drugs and later in the name of fighting terrorism,” write G.W. Schulz and Andrew Becker. [...]"  

MSM: "Hunger: Britain’s Silent, Scandalous Epidemic" [04/08/12] "... The problem is perhaps most visible in schools. Kids Company cites five inner London schools where staff say between 70 and 80 per cent of pupils are affected by food insecurity – not always having food at home, nor knowing where the next meal is coming from. But it is not just in the capital. A poll conducted in February by Netmums, the largest web forum for parents, found that one in five mothers was regularly missing a meal so her children could eat. Meanwhile, evidence from Trussell Trust, which supports food banks that give meals to 120,000 people nationwide, also suggests that the problem is growing. Its executive chairman, Chris Mould, said there had been a "huge increase" in demand in recent months – and among the hungry were 36,000 children. Even though the service is expanding, the charity is discovering more and more people in food poverty, who increasingly rely on the charity sector. "What we have seen suggests there are thousands of people in this country going hungry – making hard choices between, fuel, warmth, transport and food," he said. "The pressure falls hardest on mothers and children." For those on the front line, the problem is clear. "It's all down to money," said Charlotte Williams, who runs Station House, a community group providing childcare services in Thurnscoe, near Barnsley. "We are in a perfect storm. Working parents are having their hours cut and many are losing their jobs. Even where incomes are steady, the cost of living – gas, water, clothes – has gone up to the point that people are having to squeeze their food budget to afford other basics. Next week it will get even worse when working tax credits are cut. [...]"  Note: It used to be said that the UK is about 18 months ahead of the US in dissolution, socially and otherwise. We shall see.

Commentary: "UK: Casino-Gulag State" [04/08/12]   [4:05]  "It's a craze that pushes people to the edge and turns many into addicts. The gambling disease is spreading faster than ever in the UK, and the multi-billion dollar industry is doing little to help. RT's Ivor Bennet spoke to those, whose lives have been crushed by their compulsion. [...]" 

MSM: "Racism Endemic Within UK Police" [04/08/12] "A former member of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry panel has blamed racism within the British police on senior officials as he says racism is more endemic than the police admit. [...]"  

Commentary: "Unemployment Insurance Faces Changes Across The United States" [04/07/12] " ... All across America, unemployment insurance is changing, and in most cases, it's becoming more stingy. More than a dozen states this month will lose eligibility for the second of two federal unemployment programs, subtracting as many as 20 weeks of benefits from the amount previously available to the long-term jobless. The shortened compensation period represents a compromise between congressional Republicans, who wanted even fewer weeks of federal benefits, and Democrats, who wanted to preserve federal programs in their entirety for the rest of the year. Furthermore, unemployment claimants receiving federal benefits -- which kick in after a worker uses up the standard 26 weeks of state benefits -- now face stricter rules requiring them to keep a paper trail of their job search, thanks to the compromise law Congress enacted in February. And at the same time federal programs are changing, state lawmakers are making changes of their own. Arizona and South Carolina are currently mulling drug test bills, while Georgia recently slashed the duration of state benefits. [...]"  

UK: "32 Die A Week After Failing Test For New Incapacity Benefit" [04/07/12] "More than a thousand ­sickness benefit claimants died last year after being told to get a job, we can reveal. We’ve highlighted worries about the controversial medical tests for people claiming Employment Support Allowance which are being used to slash the country’s welfare bill. The Government has boasted that more than half of new ­claimants are found “fit to work” – failing to mention that over 300,000 have appealed the decision and almost 40% have won. We’ve used the Freedom of Information Act to discover that, between January and August last year, 1,100 claimants died after they were put in the “work-related activity group”. This group – which accounted for 21% of all claimants at the last count – get a lower rate of benefit for one year and are expected to go out and find work. This compares to 5,300 deaths of people who were put in the “support group” – which accounts for 22% of claimants – for the most unwell, who get the full, no-strings benefit of up to £99.85 a week.[...]"  

Commentary: "How The US Uses Sexual Humiliation As A Political Tool To Control The Masses" Naomi Wolf [04/07/12] "... Our surveillance state shown considerable determination to intrude on citizens sexually. There's the sexual abuse of prisoners at Bagram – der Spiegel reports that "former inmates report incidents of … various forms of sexual humiliation. In some cases, an interrogator would place his penis along the face of the detainee while he was being questioned. Other inmates were raped with sticks or threatened with anal sex". There was the stripping of Bradley Manning is solitary confinement. And there's the policy set up after the story of the "underwear bomber" to grope US travelers genitally or else force them to go through a machine – made by a company, Rapiscan, owned by terror profiteer and former DHA czar Michael Chertoff – with images so vivid that it has been called the "pornoscanner". [...]"  

Commentary: "NY Cops Break Into Marine Vet’s Home, Taser Him, Shoot Him, And Then Lie About The Circumstances" [04/07/12] "Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., a former US Marine, was killed on November 19, 2011 after police officers broke down the door of his White Plains, New York apartment. Chamberlain, who suffered from a heart condition, had accidently triggered a medical alert system on his person and then failed to respond to calls for help. Police were dispatched to his apartment, where Chamberlain greeted them by insisting he was okay and ensured them that no one was in any harm. The cops refused to take the vet’s word, however, and shot him with a both a Taser stun-gun and non-lethal projectiles, but only after breaking into his home and entering on their own accord. Shortly after being fired at by the responding officers, Chamberlain was transported to an area hospital where he later died. [...] In the four months since Chamberlain’s death, outraged opponents of the police department’s mishandling have asked for charges against the cops that attacked the veteran. The officers had earlier on insisted that Chamberlain was wielding both a hatchet and a knife when they came to his aid, and attacked him while exercising self defense. New evidence, however, suggests otherwise. According to recently released audio and video recording from the day of the incident, investigators say they have reason to believe that, despite the police officer’s insistence, Chamberlain was unarmed during the incident. [...] Since authorities now know that Chamberlain was unarmed, being able to see what the officers saw last November could open up a whole other side to the case. Mayo Bartlett tells The Daily White Plains newspaper now that the district attorney’s office will present the new evidence to a grand jury which, in turn, could bring charges against the police department. [...] "  

Legal Case: "Texas Officials Challenge Open Meetings Law" [04/07/12] "The 5th Circuit on Thursday heard a challenge to part of the Texas Open Meetings Act that makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $500 fine for government officials to knowingly participate in closed meetings. [...]"  

Commentary: "Australian Government Boosts Police And Parole Powers" [04/06/12] "Without any public discussion or media coverage, the Australian government has pushed through legislation that enhances a range of police and parole powers, strengthening the apparatus established in the “war on terrorism” since 2001. Backed by the Greens, as well as the Liberal National Coalition opposition, the Gillard Labor government secured the passage of several measures that go beyond those imposed by the previous Howard government. Attorney-General Nicola Roxon last month welcomed the outcome of the final Senate vote on the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Powers and Offences) Act 2012, saying it showed that “this government takes very seriously” the task of “providing law enforcement agencies with the necessary tools to combat crime.” The most far-reaching provisions allow the Australian Crime Commission (ACC), a body with unprecedented interrogation powers created in 2002, to share its information with other federal and state policing and intelligence forces, overseas spy and law enforcement agencies, and major corporate entities such as banks and telecommunications providers. The ACC was established as a result of a “security summit” of federal, state and territory leaders convened by the Howard government in 2002. At that gathering, Liberal-National and Labor governments approved the introduction of anti-terrorism laws to give the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) police-state powers, including secretly detaining and interrogating people without charge or trial. Similar powers, officially referred to as “coercive powers,” were also handed to the ACC, in the name of combatting other “serious” or “organised” crime, including corruption, narcotics and money laundering. The ACC can secretly examine people behind closed doors. Witnesses can be compelled to answer questions, and hand over documents, abolishing the centuries-old protection against self-incrimination. [...] The latest legislation, the bipartisan line-up behind it, and the lack of any media criticism are warnings of the readiness of the ruling elite to resort to repressive measures to counter opposition to the ongoing dismantling of social conditions, without regard for basic democratic rights. [...] "   Note: The Australian equivalent to the American "Patriot Act", plus more insidious immature impositions on individuals ... 

UK: "The Surveillance State: Growing Under A Coalition That Pledged To Reverse It" [04/06/12] "The Terrorism Act was introduced by Tony Blair with the promise that it would be used only in the gravest of cases. Less than five years later it was used to bar an elderly man [Walter Wolfgang, pictured above] from the Labour party conference for heckling.' Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian If the government were to suggest monitoring every building that each person in the UK visits, and making a note of every conversation they had, the policy would be seen as electoral suicide. Assurances that the actual content of conversations wouldn't be recorded would be unlikely to help. It's a telling sign of how many real-world freedoms have been sacrificed online, then, that a government that just two years ago pledged to "reverse the rise of the surveillance state" feels able to propose real-time monitoring of all email and social media communications. The information stored would include the sender and recipient of an email, the time it was sent, and details of the computer it was sent from. This would build a profile of who contacts whom, with what frequency, and from where. The government says such measures are essential to counter organised crime and terrorism, citing that 95% of organised crime investigations and "every" major counter-terrorism investigation use communications data. However, this statistic does not show if such information was essential or even useful to these investigations – merely that investigators chose to get hold of communications records on almost every occasion, usually via warrant or use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa). This kind of surveillance is nothing new: it's been gradually expanding in the UK over the past decade, from measures that make it easier to obtain permission to monitor communications, to requiring internet service providers to store information on email communications to all their users. Under Ripa, state employees as junior as Royal Mail officers are allowed to "ping" mobile phones for location information on the basis of a simple, unrecorded, verbal request. [...]"  

MSM: "Federal Judge: Denying Benefits To Same-Sex Couples Is Discrimination" [04/06/12] " A federal judge in San Francisco says the denial of insurance benefits to same-sex spouses is discriminatory. The ruling Tuesday involves 38-year-old federal court law clerk Christopher Nathan and 39-year-old Thomas Alexander, who were married in 2008 when same-sex marriages were legal in California. Voters later approved Proposition 8, overturning the state Supreme Court ruling that had legalized same-sex marriages. Nathan was turned down when he tried last year to enroll Alexander in the federal government's health insurance plan. A 1996 law bars federal recognition of same-sex unions. [...]"  

Commentary: "World Food Prices Rise Further, Raising Fears Of Unrest" [04/06/12]   "Global food prices rose in March for a third straight month with more hikes to come, the UN's food agency said on Thursday, adding to fears of hunger and a new wave of social unrest in poor countries. Record high prices for staple foods last year were one of the main factors that contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as bread riots in other parts of the world. The cost of food has risen again this year after coming down from a February 2011 record peak. The FAO index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 215.9 points in March, up from a revised 215.4 points in February, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Unsustainability Of Incarceration" [04/06/12] "At the Being Human conference last week, David Eagleman laid out the scientific case that ‘human behavior cannot be separated from human biology.’ His argument, which he brilliantly summarizes in a 2011 Atlantic article, applies directly to his work in neurobiology and its role in our current justice system. The complex interactions of genes and environment mean that all citizens — equal before the law — possess different perspectives, dissimilar personalities, and varied capacities for decision-making. The unique patterns of neurobiology inside each of our heads cannot qualify as choices; these are the cards we’re dealt. [...] From a purely economic standpoint, keeping millions of citizens behind bars raises taxes on individuals and business – money that could be spent funding our indebted education system – to the benefit of future business. It also means millions of Americans are sitting idle and unproductive, most often on drug charges, and very often suffering from mental illness that, if addressed, would put them on the road to being productive citizens.[...]" 

MSM: "Connecticut Votes To Abolish The Death Penalty" [04/06/12] "The state Senate voted Thursday to repeal the death penalty in Connecticut. After more than 10 hours of debate, the Senate approved legislation that would set life imprisonment as the maximum punishment for all future cases. The bill, expected to be passed by the state's Democratic governor, will now go to the House of Representatives. "For everyone, it's a vote of conscience," said Senate President Donald Williams Jr., a Democrat who says he's long supported a repeal. "We have a majority of legislators in Connecticut in favor of this so that the energies of our criminal justice system can be focused in a more appropriate manner." [...]" Related: "Conn. On Track To Be 17th State Sans Death Penalty"  

Commentary: "As Unemployment Soars, Child Labour Returns To Europe" [04/06/12] "The latest figures released by the official European Union statistics agency Eurostat reveal that unemployment across the euro zone rose for the 10th consecutive month and topped 17 million, or 10.8 per cent of the workforce, in February. The official jobless rate is the highest since the introduction of the euro 15 years ago and represents an increase of 1.5 million unemployed compared to one year ago. The overall estimate of 17.1 million unemployed conceals considerable differences between individual European countries. The highest level of unemployment was registered in Spain, at 23.6 percent overall and more than 50 percent of those under 25 out of work. In second place was Greece at 21 percent. At the bottom of the list are a number of northern European countries such as Austria, with just over 4 percent, and Germany, with an official unemployment rate of 5.7 percent. There is good reason to believe that the Eurostat figures grossly underestimate the real unemployment problem in Europe. While Eurostat reports 5.7 percent unemployment in Germany, the German Labour Agency estimates unemployment in the country at 7.2 percent. An extrapolation on the basis of the discrepancy between the official German figure and the EU evaluation puts the total number of unemployed throughout the euro zone at well over 21 million. Neither the national nor the European unemployment statistics take into account the rapidly growing problem of the underemployed in Europe, i.e., those workers who have a low-paid, part-time job and are seeking a regular job at adequate wages. This problem of underemployment is particularly pronounced in Germany, where 7.5 million people are currently employed in jobs for which they receive the fixed sum of 400 euros per month. [...]" 

MSM: "Bill Would Suspend Passport Rights For Delinquent Taxpayers" [04/05/12] "A bill authored by a Southland lawmaker that could potentially allow the federal government to prevent any Americans who owe back taxes from traveling outside the U.S. is one step closer to becoming law. Senate Bill 1813 was introduced back in November by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Los Angeles) to “reauthorize Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs, and for other purposes” . After clearing the Senate on a 74 – 22 vote on March 14, SB 1813 is now headed for a vote in the House of Representatives, where it’s expected to encounter stiffer opposition among the GOP majority. In addition to authorizing appropriations for federal transportation and infrastructure programs, the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” or “MAP-21″ includes a provision that would allow for the “revocation or denial” of a passport for anyone with “certain unpaid taxes” or “tax delinquencies”. [...]" 

MSM: "Torture: America’s Brutal Prisons" [50:08] Part 2 [9:37]| [04/05/12] "This programme shows that abuses like those documented in Abu Ghraib are commonplace in the USA’s overcrowded and understaffed prisons. Prisoners are shackled and hooded for their own protection; pepper spray is used as an alternative to physical force, but in sufficient quantities to cause second-degree burns; beatings are frequent and sometimes fatal. The programme suggests that the cause is not a few bad apples, but a pervasive culture of dehumanization and brutality. [...]"   Related: Home of America's Cruelest Prisons: Arizona" [04/04/12] "Of all the places to commit a crime, you may want to avoid Arizona. Amnesty International today released a report blasting the state's "cruel isolation" practices. It claims that Arizona's state prisons overuse solitary confinement, with prisoners spending as long as 15 years alone in a windowless cell for 22 to 24 hours a day. According to the state's figures, 8% of its prison population is jailed in maximum-security units, most alone. What's more, Amnesty says those figures also reveal that 35% of those 3,130 inmates committed non-violent crimes. The Arizona Republic notes that only 1% of federal inmates and 1% to 3% of most state inmates are subjected to similar conditions. Other damning findings:  [...]"  | "Small Child Pepper Sprayed By Cops At Santa Monica College" [3:42] |  Flashback: "John Yoo Says Bush Can Legally Torture Children : Crushing Child’s Testicles Part of War on Terror."   Note: This is what happens when the local game being played is in a darkside polarity immaturity phase ... very sadistic. The lightside polarity immaturity phase, on the other hand, means they'll crush testicles for your apparent benefit, and make you believe it, and appreciate it. You join the rest of the 'high talkers' on the prison block who, as life would have it, also have no balls.

MSM: "Americans Brace For Next Foreclosure Wave" [04/05/12] "Half a decade into the deepest U.S. housing crisis since the 1930s, many Americans are hoping the crisis is finally nearing its end. House sales are picking up across most of the country, the plunge in prices is slowing and attempts by lenders to claim back properties from struggling borrowers dropped by more than a third in 2011, hitting a four-year low. But a painful part two of the slump looks set to unfold: Many more U.S. homeowners face the prospect of losing their homes this year as banks pick up the pace of foreclosures. "We are right back where we were two years ago. I would put money on 2012 being a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010," said Mark Seifert, executive director of Empowering & Strengthening Ohio's People (ESOP), a counseling group with 10 offices in Ohio. [...]" 

MSM: "Majority Of Food Retailers In Detroit Are Selling Rotten, Expired Groceries" [04/04/12] "A shocking study by a food task force finds Detroit severely lacking in quality food retailers. The majority carry inventory that just might make you gag: rotten produce (18 percent), expired food (38 percent) and expired meat (22 percent). Others are notorious for dirty conditions, including the presence of mold. Clearly, food safety and sanitation pose a health risk to consumers. But there's also the issue of how much this is hurting the city's economy and low-income inhabitants. As the study point outs, Detroiters spend roughly $200 million per year purchasing groceries outside the city—"lost revenues that if spent inside the city could result in increased local tax revenues and economic growth." And the repeated inspections and enforcement measures are putting a strain on taxpayer resources. As for consumers, the poor, minorities and children unsurprisingly get the short end of the stick. Noting a disparity among retailers and the growing wealth divide, the study finds anyone on the wrong side of the tracks has limited access to non-toxic food. Their only hope for a decent meal would come by moving to a better neighborhood.  [...]" 

Commentary: "Organic Food Industry Bought Up by Corporations Like Coca-Cola" [04/04/12] "You may be wondering why some supposedly ‘healthy’ and ‘environmentally conscious’ companies deceive unknowing consumers into purchasing products with hidden additives and fillers. Perhaps one of the main reasons is that a large number of these pseudo-organic brands are owned by their very unhealthy ‘competitors’, such as Coca-Cola and General Mills. In fact, some of your favorite “All Natural” and organic companies may be owned by a corporate giant. Companies like Honest Tea and Odwalla may appeal to health conscious shoppers, but they are actually owned by Coca-Cola — the very same company that is currently fuming over the requirement to change their recipes in order to avoid a cancer warning label. Another popular ‘health’ brand is Kashi, owned by the Kellogg corporation. It should come as no surprise that Kashi cereals have been found to contain a copious amount of GMOs and pesticides, according to an explosive report from the Cornucopia Institute. Kashi’s ’Heart to Heart Blueberry cereal’ was found to contain grains coated in the residue of many pesticides such as phosmet, carbaryl, azinphos methyl, malathion, chlorpyrifos methyl, chlorpyrifos. What’s more, the company’s products were found to oftentimes contain 100% genetically modified ingredients. This information has been known for quite some time. Here’s a really revealing image from Michigan State University that reveals who really owns your favorite company. See if yours is owned by a corporate giant (click for full size): [...]"  

MSM: "The Secret Powers Of Time: Professor Philip Zimbardo’s Lecture On How Time Affects People" [04/03/12] [10:99] "Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Conceptual 'time' influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world. [...]"   Note: Always interesting and informative.

MSM: "Indiana Governor Signs Bill Into Law Allowing Citizens To Use Deadly Force Against Police Officers" [04/03/12] "Republican Governor Mitch Daniels has signed Senate Enrolled Act 1 into law in Indiana. The new law allows citizens to use deadly force against police officers they think are illegally entering their homes. Earlier this month, Addicting Info reported that the bill had passed the Senate. Republicans say the bill is designed to keep police safe. The new law reverses a state Supreme Court ruling that homeowners do not have the right to use force against law enforcement officials who they believe are illegally entering their homes. [...]" 

MSM: "Bill Clinton 'Cites Trayvon Martin' in Effort to Kill "Stand Your Ground" [04/03/12] "Former president Bill Clinton has joined the Obama administration in exploiting the Trayvon Martin case in what is now obviously a concerted effort to roll back the Second Amendment. [...]"  Note: This is a case that has been totally turned around upside down to promote withdrawal of the right to protect yourself from attack. In the case, Zimmerman, son of a judge, who has three arrests, deliberately and wantonly killed a child. The media and the judge are trying to make it appear that the child attacked Zimmerman, when evidence, and eyewitnesses, say the opposite. Clinton is being foolish to support a stance which has no relevance except in the case of Travvon, the child who was shot. Jewish congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz is taking same stance. They are misdirecting issues and the truth for obvious political purposes. Let's hope 'neighborhood watch' power and control freak Zimmerman gets what he deserves. Related: Commentary: "New U.S Domestic Spy Program Takes ‘Neighborhood Watch’ to Scary New Level"  "Crime in Los Angeles is a gritty enterprise, and donning an LAPD badge has historically involved getting your hands dirty. Long before the New York Police Department was spying on Muslim students, the LAPD was running a large-scale domestic spy operation in the 1970s and ’80s, snooping on and infiltrating more than 200 political, labor and civic organizations including the office of then Mayor Tom Bradley. Today, the LAPD isn’t quite so aggressive, but it still employs a directive titled Special Order 1, which permits police officers to deem what is “suspicious” and then act on it. [...] The SAR program’s broad reach extends into every level of the security hierarchy, from citizen policing to federal intelligence agencies. "  Note: Political theatre and propaganda designed to foster more control and manipulation. "FBI Questions People In Trayvon Martin Case, Begins 'Parallel Investigation'" "FBI agents on Monday were questioning potential witnesses in the Trayvon Martin shooting, confirming to NBC News that the agency had begun a "parallel investigation" that focuses on whether the teen's civil rights were violated. Agents are seeking information on George Zimmerman's background and whether he was racially motivated when he pursued Martin after calling a 911 police dispatcher about his presence in the community, an FBI official told NBC. The agents were at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, where Martin was shot dead by Zimmerman, the gated community's ' neighborhood watch' captain. The state of Florida is conducting its own investigation in the shooting and that one is being overseen by a special prosecutor. [...]"| Commentary: "The Zionist Media Plot and the Treyvon Martin Tragedy"   "Press TV in Tehran contacted me today for a phone interview on the Treyvon Martin case. In a nutshell, the Treyvon Martin case is a classic manipulation of the American public, and a diversionary tactic par excellence on the part of a Zionist-controlled American Corporate Media for reasons classically obvious only to those in this country who can still think, and exercise dispassionate judgment accordingly. Irresponsible, racially oriented demagoguery comes to us via electronic barrage from the usual Establishment shills in the African-American community, evidenced by the inflammatory rhetoric and self-serving actions of Jesse Jackson, Maxine Waters, and Chicago Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL), among others. [...]" 

MSM: "Unemployment Across EU Hits 15 Year High" [04/03/12] "Unemployment in the euro zone reached its highest level in almost 15 years in February, with more than 17 million people out of work, and economists said they expected job office queues to grow even longer later this year. Joblessness in the 17-nation currency zone rose to 10.8 percent – in line with a Reuters poll of economists – and 0.1 points worse than in January, Eurostat said on Monday. Economists are divided over the wisdom of European governments’ drive to bring down fiscal deficits so aggressively as economic troubles hit tax revenues, consumers’ spending power and business confidence which collapsed late last year. February’s unemployment level – last hit in June 1997 – marked the 10th straight monthly rise and contrasts sharply with the United States where the economy has been adding jobs since late last year. “We expect it to go higher, to reach 11 percent by the end of the year,” said Raphael Brun-Aguerre, an economist at JP Morgan in London. “You have public sector job cuts, income going down, weak consumption. The economic growth outlook is negative and is going to worsen unemployment.” Separate data released on Monday showed manufacturing activity in the euro zone shrank for an eighth successive month in March, providing further evidence for Brussels’ forecast that euro zone output will shrink 0.3 percent this year. The European Commission, which along with Berlin is a driving force behind the EU’s debt reduction strategy, said joblessness showed countries must enact difficult reforms. Public resistance is rising in Italy to Prime Minister Mario Monti’s labor market reforms, while Spain’s premier, Mariano Rajoy, faced his first general strike last week. “This is why, more than ever, it is important to carry out structural reforms in countries where the growth potential remains low and where we don’t see the creation of new and better jobs,” Amadeu Altafaj, the spokesman for the EU’s top economic official Olli Rehn, told reporters. Despite the economic vista, the European Central Bank is expected to hold interest rates at 1 percent at its monthly meeting on Wednesday, as rising oil prices keep inflation above its 2 percent target. “With inflation remaining stubbornly high throughout the euro zone, there is very little hope of a consumer recovery,” said Jennifer McKeown, an economist at Capital Markets. [...]"  

MSM: "ICE Arrests More Than 3,100 Convicted Criminal Aliens And Immigration Fugitives" [04/03/12] "As part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, the agency announced today the results of a six-day national "Cross Check" enforcement operation-which led to the arrest of more than 3,100 convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators.  [...] This six-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 1,900 ICE officers and agents from all of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations' (ERO) 24 field offices, assistance from ICE Homeland Security Investigations as well as coordination with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners throughout the United States. Arrests occurred in all 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, three U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. ERO officers arrested 2,834 individuals that had prior criminal convictions including at least 1,063 aliens who had multiple criminal convictions. Of those arrested, 1,477 had felony convictions including murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, terroristic threats, drug trafficking, child abuse, battery on a child, sexual crimes against minors, and aggravated assault. Of the total 2,834 criminal aliens arrested, 50 were gang members and 149 were convicted sex offenders."  

Commentary: "The Public Entrapment to Pay for Credit Agency Services" [04/03/12] "This is a tale of two personal identity theft instances over an eighteen month period. Over the years, I have maintained near perfect credit scores and use only two credit cards, American Express and Visa. Eighteen months ago, I let my guard down and opened a department store account, seduced by a discount that would apply to an expensive wedding gift my wife and I were purchasing for a friend’s daughter. I could never have imagined the long term nightmare that would start unfolding in a week’s time. The following week after the wedding gift purchase, I received a call from a bank to verify that I had opened a new credit card account using their internet on-line services. I knew immediately that my identity had been compromised during the department store credit application process. I called Equifax right away to request a fraud alert on my credit history and subsequently discovered a student loan and two other credit card accounts recently opened in my name. Every account had been opened using the internet without any person to person contact. I was able to access my credit history without charge and began the process of contacting the financial institutions that had allowed a fraudulent account to be opened using my identity. When you contact one of these financial institutions or the credit agency itself, you should not expect any cooperation from either party to clear your credit history of a fraudulent credit inquiry. You will be asked to sign an affidavit that the account in question is not yours and that is basically all the personal contact you will be afforded. And finally, don’t expect an apology for your inconvenience. [...]"  

MSM: "Investors Aim to Buy Thousands of Homes to Rent to Tenants" [04/03/12] "With home prices down more than a third from their peak and the market swamped with foreclosures, large investors are salivating at the opportunity to buy perhaps thousands of homes at deep discounts and fill them with tenants. Nobody has ever tried this on such a large scale, and critics worry these new investors could face big challenges managing large portfolios of dispersed rental houses. Typically, landlords tend to be individuals or small firms that own just a handful of homes. But the new investors believe the rental income can deliver returns well above those offered by Treasury securities or stock dividends. At the same time, economists say, they could help areas hardest hit by the housing crash reach a bottom of the market.  [...]" 

MSM: "Lawmakers In 5 States Tell Feds To Back Off Medical Marijuana" [04/03/12] "Elected lawmakers in five states have a message for the federal government: Don't interfere with state medical marijuana laws. In an open letter to the federal government, lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle called on the government to stop using scarce law enforcement resources on taking pot away from medical marijuana patients. "States with medical marijuana laws have chosen to embrace an approach that is based on science, reason, and compassion. We are lawmakers from these states," the lawmakers explained in their letter. "Our state medical marijuana laws differ from one another in their details, such as which patients qualify for medical use; how much marijuana patients may possess; whether patients and caregivers may grow marijuana; and whether regulated entities may grow and sell marijuana to patients. Each of our laws, however, is motivated by a desire to protect seriously ill patients from criminal penalties under state law." The letter -- signed by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-Calif.), Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-Wash.), Rep. Antonio Maestas (D-N.M.), Sen. Cisco McSorley (D-N.M.), Assemblyman Chris Norby (R-Calif.), Rep. Deborah Sanderson (R-Maine) and Sen. Pat Steadman (D-Colo.) -- comes directly on the heels of a federal raid in the heart of California's pot legalization movement: medical marijuana training school Oaksterdam University in downtown Oakland, where U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials on Monday blocked off doors with yellow tape and carried off trash bags full of unknown substances to a nearby van. An IRS spokeswoman could not comment on the raid except to say the agents had a federal search warrant. [...]"  

UK: "Email Surveillance Plans Face Lib Dem Rebellion" [04/03/12] "Senior MPs concerned at government proposals to extend powers of security services to monitor public communications. Senior Liberal Democrat MPs are threatening to rebel over the coalition government's plans to extend the powers of the security services to monitor the public's email, telephone calls and social media communications. Some were in talks with Nick Clegg's office on Monday as they sought "clarification" over whether the legislation, expected to be presented in the Queen's Speech in May, would enable the government's interception agency, GCHQ, to access the content of communications without a warrant. The concerns emerged as the data protection watchdog pressed for new safeguards to protect individuals' privacy from the proposals. Internet companies have told the Guardian that the government's plans to monitor email and social media use by the British public could be used by autocratic regimes to justify state surveillance. Whitehall sources confirmed that the legislation may well enable GCHQ to access some information "on demand" and in "real time" and it remained unclear whether a warrant would be necessary. Downing Street insisted only data – times, dates, numbers and addresses – not content would be accessible as it sought to quell fears about the proposals. But some Lib Dems and civil liberties groups were adamant the plan would indeed give the security services access to the content and details of people's communications. [...]" Related: See below.

MSM: "Britain Set for Sweeping Internet, Phone Monitoring" [04/02/12] "Britain is to allow one of its intelligence agencies to monitor all phone calls, texts, emails and online activities in the country to help tackle crime and militant attacks, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday. "It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public," a Home Office spokesman said. The proposed law already has drawn strong criticism, from within the ruling Conservative Party's own ranks, as an invasion of privacy and personal rights. "What the government hasn't explained is precisely why they intend to eavesdrop on all of us without even going to a judge for a warrant, which is what always used to happen," Member of Parliament David Davis told BBC News.  [...]"  

MSM: "Poor Spend 9% of Income on Lottery Tickets" [04/02/12] "The Mega Millions jackpot has inspired much media babble about lottery winners, losers, and what to do if you actually win. But how about the effect of lotteries on the poor? Apparently, it's a killer "hidden tax"—because households banking less than $13,000 a year spend 9% of their annual income on lottery tickets. Business Insider found the shocking statistic in a PBS interview, and says it raises serious questions—like, are the poor too dumb to avoid odds 17 times worse than your chance of being hit by falling airplane parts? The likely answer: No, they're just grabbing at any chance to improve their circumstances. Looking behind the numbers, Business Insider also asks: If the poor are receiving tax breaks, welfare, etc., is that money going straight into lottery tickets? Wouldn't it be better just to tax them? Or, in this tax-averse nation, is it better to raise all tax revenue through lotteries? While you chew on that, consider that some experts disagree with the 9% estimate, and say the poor only throw away 2% to 3% of their income on lottery tickets. [...]"  

Commentary: "New Round Of Mass Layoffs In North America" [04/01/12] "The US electronics retail chain Best Buy on Thursday announced it would close 50 stores this year and lay off 400 corporate and support workers as part of a plan to cut $800 million in costs and restructure its business. The Minnesota-based firm was one of a series of American and Canadian companies that announced major layoffs this week. Best Buy announced the downsizing and cost-cutting plan on the same day it reported a $1.7 billion loss for its fourth quarter, which ended March 3. The company, which has 1,450 locations nationwide and 2,900 globally, is seeking to avoid the fate of its former rival Circuit City, which went out of business in 2009, wiping out tens of thousands of jobs. Best Buy’s announcement follows last month’s announcement by the retail giant Sears Holdings of plans to sell off 1,250 of its Sears and K-Mart stores in a bid to raise $770 million, following a $2.4 billion quarterly loss. Sears did not give an estimate of job losses, but the scale of the downsizing suggests the elimination of between 10,000 and 20,000 positions. The crisis of these retail giants is indicative of the deepening impact of economic slump and mass unemployment three-and-a half years after the Wall Street crash of September 2008. It underscores the fragile and marginal character of the jobs “recovery” of which President Barack Obama has boasted over the past several months. Obama is seeking to boost his reelection chances by presenting himself as a job creator. [...] Nearly 13 million Americans are without a job, long-term unemployment is at post-World War II highs, and the uptick in employment has been largely based on a nationwide campaign of wage- and benefit-cutting, spearheaded by the administration’s imposition of a 50 percent wage cut on all newly hired General Motors and Chrysler workers.[...]" 

MSM: "Ireland Revolts Over New Property Taxes" [04/01/12] "Debt-mired Ireland is facing a revolt over its new property tax. The government said less than half of the country's 1.6 million households paid the charge by Saturday's deadline to avoid penalties. And about 5,000 marched in protest against the annual conference of Prime Minister Enda Kenny's Fine Gael party. The charge this year is a flat-fee €100 ($130) per dwelling, but is expected to rise dramatically next year once Ireland starts to vary the charge based on a property's estimated value. Anti-tax campaigners have urged the public to ignore the tax demand, arguing that the government doesn't have the power to collect it. [...]"  

MSM: "Millions Join General Strike In Spain" [04/01/12] "The two main union federations, the Socialist Party (PSOE)-aligned General Workers Union (Union General de Trabajadores, UGT), and the Communist Party (PCE)-led Workers Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO) estimated that the stoppages were supported by 77-80 percent of the workforce. Many more people, unemployed, school children, housewives and students used it as a vehicle to protest government cuts and austerity measures. Mass stoppages took place in industry, transport and services. The walkout hit road, rail and air service with barely any domestic or European flights in operation. [...]"  Related: "The Spanish Riotcam Has Arrived"  

Commentary: "German Riot Police Clash With Occupy Wall Street Protestors" [04/01/12] "Protests in Germany inspired by the Occupy Wall Street calling for “an end to the dictatorship of financial markets” have bee the target of a Police crackdown. There is limited information on the crackdown, but Press TV is reporting that riot police have attacked the protestors. A video originally posted by Reuters originally reported the violence broke out after stones, flares and bags full of paint were thrown by protestors. [...] About 3,000 demonstrators took to the streets in Frankfurt Saturday in a Europe-wide day of protest against capitalism. According to the organizers, the M31 network of left-wing groups from different European countries, similar demonstrations took part in 15 other European countries. Angry protesters, waving flags and shouting obscenities at the watching police, marched through Frankfurt city towards the ECB (European Central bank) and further on to the construction site of the new ECB building in the eastern part of the city. The first scuffles between the police and the demonstrators started already in downtown Frankfurt. Stones were thrown and as well as flares and bags with paint. One person was injured and a shop window smashed according to the police. But the situation calmed down soon afterwards, when the police surrounded the demonstrators and checked their identities.[...]" 

Commentary: "Illinois Traffic Stop Of Star Trek Fans Raises Concerns About Drug Searches, Police Dogs, Bad Cops" [04/01/12] [17:35] "Last December, filmmaker Terrance Huff and his friend Jon Seaton were returning to Ohio after attending a "Star Trek" convention in St. Louis. As they passed through a small town in Illinois, a police officer, Michael Reichert, pulled Huff's red PT Cruiser over to the side of the road, allegedly for an unsafe lane change. Over the next hour, Reichert interrogated the two men, employing a variety of police tactics civil rights attorneys say were aimed at tricking them into giving up their Fourth Amendment rights. Reichert conducted a sweep of Huff's car with a K-9 dog, then searched Huff's car by hand. Ultimately, he sent Huff and Seaton on their way with a warning. Earlier this month, Huff posted to YouTube audio and video footage of the stop taken from Reichert's dashboard camera. No shots were fired in the incident. No one was beaten, arrested or even handcuffed. Reichert found no measurable amount of contraband in Huff's car. But Huff's 17-and-a-half minute video raises important questions about law enforcement and the criminal justice system, including the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, the drug war, profiling and why it's so difficult to take problematic cops out of the police force. [...]"  Related: "Illinois State Police Drug Dog Unit Analysis Shows Error Rate Between 28 and 74 Percent"   "In the course of reporting on the traffic stop of Terrance Huff, HuffPost was able to obtain the reports of an Illinois State Police K-9 unit over an 11-month period in 2007 and 2008. An analysis of those reports shows that only 25.7 percent of the drug dog "alerts" resulted in police finding a measurable quantity of illicit drugs. Just 13 percent resulted in the recovery of more than 10 grams of marijuana, generally considered an amount for personal use, and 10.4 percent turned up enough drugs to charge the motorists or their passengers with at least one felony. In all, the police dog conducted 252 "sniffs" over the 11-month period, resulting in 136 alerts. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a drug dog's alert is enough to establish probable cause for a warrantless search of a vehicle. Of the 136 alerts, 35 turned up a large enough quantity of drugs to merit an arrest, and 63 turned up what the police officer refers to as "shake," or "residue." The officer didn't send any of those cases to a lab, so it's difficult to know if what the officer found was actually drug residue or, as appears to have been the case in the search of Terrance Huff, likely something else. In 38 cases, or 27.9 percent of the times a dog alert gave cause for a more thorough search, the officer recorded finding no drugs at all. Still, in most of these cases, the officer still notes in the report that the driver or passengers looked to be under the influence of drugs or, somewhat improbably, admitted to him that they were regular drug users. Obviously, there's no way to verify those claims. [...]" 

UK: "Chronic Lack Of Sleep Affects One In Three British Workers" [04/01/12] "Exhausted UK staff are putting their jobs before their health, warns study. One in three British workers suffers from poor sleep, research shows, with stress, computers and taking work home blamed for the lack of quality slumber. Some employees get less than five hours sleep a night, only one in seven feels completely refreshed when they wake and more women have poor shuteye than men. The alarming findings emerged from a study of self-assessments completed by 38,784 staff working in the UK for firms such as telecoms firm O2, drugs developer Quintiles and medical technology manufacturer Medtronic. A third were dissatisfied with the amount and quality of their sleep, with 8.4% saying they were "very unhappy" with it and another 24.4% describing themselves as "unhappy". When asked how they felt 30 minutes after getting up, only 15.5% said "refreshed". Of the others, 3.3% said they were "exhausted", 24% said "unrefreshed" and 57.2% were still "a little tired". While experts say that everyone should ideally get seven to eight hours sleep a night, only 38.5% of the 38,784 respondents did so. More had between five and seven hours (45%) and 5.4% existed on less than five hours, though a lucky 10% reported sleeping for eight to nine hours and one in 100 enjoyed more than nine hours. When researchers combined those results to give each respondent an overall "sleep score" out of 100, some 33.8% got a mark of less than 30 – the lowest category. That means someone either has, or is at high risk of developing, a sleeping problem. "This research is telling us that a large number of working adults, one in three in the UK, has a sleeping problem," said Dr Tony Massey, medical director of Vielife, the health and productivity firm that carried out the assessments between 2009 and 2011. "A very concerning number of British workers get too little sleep." The problems faced by at least half and up to 80% of these one in three are so acute that their GP could diagnose them with a sleep disorder, he said. He had expected to find about one in 10 employees suffering such chronic sleep problems "but this widespread lack of sleep is beyond what I'd imagined". Britain is near the top of an international league table for lack of sleep. A Vielife study of 116,452 staff in America found that 23.4% scored poorly for sleep. [...]"  

MSM: "Cash-Strapped NJ Town To Charge For Emergency Calls" [03/31/12] "When the Passaic City Council meets next Tuesday, Mayor Alex Blanco said what they will not decide to do is levy fees against people in car accidents or building owners whose structures catch fire. What they will do is go after the insurance companies. “If you are a policy owner, you are already paying for it — this fire department service charge provision,” the mayor told WCBS 880 reporter Levon Putney on Friday. He said the fees would only be applied if claims are made, and no fees would be levied for those without insurance. There would be a $1,000 fee to respond to fires in buildings over four stories high. Single, two, and three-family homes would be exempt. As for car fires, auto insurance would be billed $600. Of course, a concern is that insurance companies will simply jack up their premiums. “I feel that it would be unethical on their part,” Blanco said. This is just the latest way the city is trying to deal with its budget woes, including elimination of free Sunday parking and charging for designated handicapped parking. “We have lost $2 million in [state] aide,” said Blanco. He said he believes these fees would raise about $200,000 a year. [...]" 

MSM: "Cash-Strapped Americans' No. 1 Priority: Car Payment" [03/30/12] "Americans really don't want to lose their rides. A study finds that the cash-strapped among us are paying off their car loans before they pay credit card bills and make mortgage payments. It used to be that Americans would pay their home loans first, then their credit card and car loans. After all, homes have been the most valuable possession for most people for decades, and nobody wanted to jeopardize that. But TransUnion, a credit information company, studied the payment patterns of 4 million Americans with at least one car loan, one credit card, and a mortgage and found a clear priority for staying current on the car loan. Among Americans who were late on payments last year, 39% were delinquent on the mortgage while current on the car loan and credit cards, and 17% were late on credit cards while current on the other two. Only 10% were late on the car loan while current on the other two. "Today, most people need a car to get to a job or to look for a job, and that has made cars a priority," says a TransUnion VP. And there is also more leeway on the mortgage. Foreclosure can take two to three years; cars can be repossessed 90 days after people stop paying. [...]"  

MSM: "Texas Governor Defends Pink Slime by Eating It" [03/30/12] "Pink slime is perfectly safe to eat, but it has a bit of a PR problem, according to federal authorities and a coalition of at least four governors. Department of Agriculture officials say the "slime"—leftover beef trimmings sometimes treated with ammonium hydroxide—is actually a low-cost way of making ground beef leaner, and has been unfairly labeled, reports the Wall Street Journal. The additive has been used for nearly 20 years, but supermarkets have started taking it off their shelves under pressure from the public. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad are among the governors who plan to eat the stuff the meat industry calls "lean, finely textured beef" themselves after touring a plant in Nebraska today, BusinessWeek reports. "You effectively need to kill 1.5 million more head of cattle a year to replace the meat that would go off the market from this unwarranted, unmerited food scare," Branstad says. "That's why we're pushing back on it." [...]"  Note: Texas, the drone-star state. Related: See also "Work Halted At 75% Of 'Pink Slime' Maker's Plants" [03/27/12] below.

Buffoonery: "More Details Revealed In Anti-Gay Group' Secret Plans" [03/29/12] "The fallout from yesterday's revelations regarding the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) continues at full force. Now, yet another new wrinkle has emerged. In their previously confidential plans, NOM says they are hoping to "recruit glamorous" but "noncognitive" celebrities as part of their effort to thwart the national campaign for marriage equality. "We are looking for a new set of messengers," one document declares. "Here's the bottom line: Hollywood with its cultural biases is far bigger than we can hope to be. We recognize this." It goes on to note, "But we also recognize the opportunity -- the disproportionate potential impact of proactively seeking to gather and connect a community of artists, athletes, writers, beauty queens and other glamorous non-cognitive elites across national boundaries." As the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and other outlets have noted, the only celebrity to work with NOM so far is Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California who infamously spoke out against same-sex marriage during the Miss America pageant in 2009.  [...]"  Note: Non-cognitive elites ... that says it all ... dull-witted mid-level perspective buffoons.

Legal Case: "NYPD Conducting Illegal Stops In Private Buildings" [03/29/12] "The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) filed a lawsuit against the New York City Police Department (NYPD) Wednesday, alleging that in addition to stopping primarily black and Latino residents in public spaces as part of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program, officers are illegally searching people in private buildings. According to a press release, the NYCLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of residents whose buildings are apart of “Operation Clean Halls,” an agreement by the NYPD and a landlord that grants officers permission to patrol inside a building at any time. NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman cited how minorities have been largely affected by the NYPD’s program. “Operation Clean Halls has placed hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, mostly black and Latino, under siege in their own homes,” Lieberman said. “For residents of Clean Halls buildings, taking the garbage out or checking the mail can result in being thrown against the wall and humiliated by police.”  [...]" 

Legal Case: "Oklahoma Mandatory Ultrasound Law Is Ruled Unconstitutional " [03/29/12] "An Oklahoma state judge on Wednesday permanently blocked enforcement of a law that would have required doctors to give a woman an ultrasound and describe the fetus to her in detail before performing an abortion. The ultrasound law, which the Oklahoma Legislature passed in April 2010, had been temporary blocked since the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit against it the following month. The Oklahoma County district court judge found the law unconstitutional, agreeing with the plaintiffs' arguments that it violates medical ethics by forcing doctors to perform medically unnecessary procedures and discounting women's ability to make personal health decisions without the government's interference. "The court has resoundingly affirmed what should not be a matter of controversy at all -- that women have both a fundamental right to make their own choices about their reproductive health, and that government has no place in their decisions," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, in a statement. [...]"  Note: Meddling sequentials can't leave people alone.

Commentary: "Businesses Mobilize Against Jobless Drug Testing Bill In Arizona" [03/29/12] "Arizona's business community has mobilized against an effort in the state legislature to make jobless Arizonans pee in cups in order to receive unemployment insurance. A bill to drug test the jobless passed the state Senate last month and is up for consideration in the state House. The Republicans pushing the legislation seem unconcerned that if it were to become law, the drug testing bill would trigger a massive tax hike for Arizona businesses. Smith and his colleagues in the state Senate may have been unaware when they voted that the bill would jack up business taxes, even though the U.S. Department of Labor had notified the state that the measure's drug testing scheme would be against federal rules, resulting in a loss of federal unemployment tax credits. "I believe in my heart of hearts that lawmakers in the Senate were not aware of the consequences," Michelle Bolton, a lobbyist for the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview. But members of the state House Appropriations Committee were definitely on notice, both that the bill wouldn't fly under federal law and that it was all but guaranteed to trigger a successful court challenge on constitutional grounds.  [...]"  

Legal Case: "New Witness Confirms Trayvon Martin Was The Victim" "CNN Video" [03/29/12] | " Eyewitness: As I said it was dark, but after the shot, obviously someone, one man got up and it was kind of like that period of him – I can’t say I actually watched him get up – but maybe it was only in a couple seconds or so that he was walking towards where I was watching. And I could see him a little bit clearer, and see that he was a Hispanic man and he was, you know, he didn’t appear hurt or anything else, he just kind of seemed very, worried or whatever, walked on the sidewalk at that point, with his hand up to his forehead and then another man came out with a flashlight.  [...]"  Note: If so, it means the father of Zimmerman, a Judge, lied: "George Zimmerman’s Dad: "Trayvon Martin Threatened To Kill My Son" "Trayvon Martin threatened to kill George Zimmerman the moments before the neighborhood watch captain took out a handgun and shot him, Zimmerman’s father told a local television station.  Speaking out for the first time, Robert Zimmerman gave an interview to the Orlando Fox affiliate, telling the station that his son had no choice but to kill Trayvon or risk being beaten to death. “Things were not going to go well. One of them was not going to walk away,” he said. “I hope at one point everyone will go beyond the hate. At some point when all this settles, they’ll say, ‘George Zimmerman is a pretty nice guy.” George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Feb. 26 in a case that has triggered protests nationwide. The college criminal justice student was not charged, leading attorneys to believe that police and prosecutors conspired to protect him.  [...]"  | "Trayvon Martin Video Shows No Blood or Bruises on George Zimmerman" [03/29/12] "A police surveillance video taken the night that Trayvon Martin was shot dead shows no blood or bruises on George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who says he shot Martin "after he was punched in the nose, knocked down and had his head slammed into the ground." The surveillance video, which was obtained exclusively by ABC News, shows Zimmerman arriving in a police cruiser. As he exits the car, his hands are cuffed behind his back. Zimmerman is frisked and then led down a series of hallways, still cuffed. Zimmerman, 28, is wearing a red and black fleece and his face and head are cleanly shaven. He appears well built, hardly the portly young man depicted in a 2005 mug shot that until a two days ago was the single image the media had of Zimmerman.  [...]"| "Lead Cop Wanted Zimmerman Arrested" "Another twist in the Trayvon Martin case: The chief homicide investigator probing the teenager's shooting wanted to charge George Zimmerman with manslaughter, but was overruled, sources tell ABC. Investigator Chris Serino filed an affidavit on the night of the shooting saying he was not convinced by Zimmerman's claims of self-defense, but the state attorney's office decided there was not enough evidence to make an arrest, the sources say.  [...]" | "George Zimmerman, Son of a Retired Judge, Has 3 Closed Arrests" | "Trayvon Martin Case: Department Of Justice To Investigate Entire Sanford Police Department" "The Trayvon Martin case is bringing more scrutiny on the Sanford Police Department. The Department of Justice will now investigate all cases handled by the police department, after receiving complaints from Sanford citizens. [...]"   Note 2:  Remember that this case involves an inversion designed to pair down the ability of an individual to invoke self-defense without running away .... Zimmerman, a psychopath already in trouble, murdered the young kid, falsely claiming self-defense. Democratic Jewish Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz is curiously using this case in an attempt to roll back the "Stand Your Ground" provisions already on the books in many states which allow people to defend themselves against violent attack. 

MSM: "Hackers Turn Credit Report Websites Against Consumers" [03/28/12] "The most important tool consumers have to fight against ID theft has been turned against them by hackers, msnbc.com has learned. Websites that offer consumers a chance to see their credit reports are being brazenly used by hackers to steal victims' information. The prices of the reports rise and fall depending on the credit score of the victim. For consumers with credit scores in the 750s, report data might fetch $80; reports from victims with scores in the low 600s sell for about half that, according to "for sale" pages viewed by msnbc.com. "It shows how people with good credit and a net worth now have a bull’s-eye on their backs," said Dan Clements, who operates the Internet security firm CloudEyez.com. Clements gave msnbc.com a virtual tour of the marketplaces, which he has been observing for months. The most troubling part of these markets however – many hosted in the .su domain, which stands for the now-defunct Soviet Union – is the ready availability of credit reports and the hackers' bragging about how easy it is to infiltrate websites like AnnualCreditReport.com or CreditReport.com. [...]"  Note: I detest the word 'consumer' and all that it represents.

MSM: "Report: Children 51 Times More Likely To Have Identity Stolen" [03/27/12] "[$29 a Month to Protect Kids From ID Theft?]  "Axton Betz had just rented her first off-campus apartment in West Lafayette, Ind. when the power company told her she needed to pay a $100 deposit to turn on the electricity. Betz, who was 19 at the time, assumed they required the large deposit because she had no credit history. But, for safe measure, she requested a copy of her credit report. “I thought it would be just one page on student loans,” Betz says. Instead, she found 10 pages of defaulted credit cards – showing someone had been using her identity since she was 11 years old. Stealing social security numbers to buy cars, apply for credit and obtain driver’s licenses has now shifted to a new demographic: those under the age of 18. Credit companies and other firms are responding offering monthly services promising identity-theft protection for children. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there is a market for this: 19,000 child identity theft complaints were reported in 2009, the most recent data available, up 217 percent since 2003. What’s more, a study done by the Carnegie Mellon CyLab showed children are 51 times more likely to have their identity stolen than adults. And while most of these stolen IDs are used by undocumented immigrants or organized crime rings, there’s also the chance a child’s own parents could use their kid’s digits, says Bo Holland, CEO of AllClear ID, an identity protection company. Prompted by those numbers, on Monday Equifax launched a family plan that keeps tabs on the identities of two adults and up to four children. [...]"  Related: "Amazon Lets Thieves Shop With Stolen Credit Card Numbers, Says Report" "Amazon has been publicly outed for letting thieves shop with stolen credit card numbers. The retailer doesn't ask for the security code on a credit card when setting up a new account, reports U.K. journalist Benjamin Cohen in an investigative report. [...]" 

MSM: "Work Halted At 75% Of 'Pink Slime' Maker's Plants" [03/27/12] "The company that makes "pink slime" is suspending operations at three of four plants where the low-cost beef filler is made amid a public outcry over concern about the ingredient. A Beef Products Inc. rep today told the AP about the operations suspensions at plants in Texas, Kansas, and Iowa ahead of a public announcement about the plan. The company's plant at its Dakota Dunes, SD, headquarters will continue operations. The ammonia-treated ingredient known by the industry as "lean, finely textured beef" has been used for years but recently became a target of activists seeking to have it banned from supermarkets and school lunches. The US Department of Agriculture decided to allow school districts to stop using it, and some retail chains have pulled products containing it. [...]"  

UK: "Panic At The Pumps? Fuel Tankers Vote To Strike" [03/27/12] "Fuel tanker drivers have voted overwhelmingly to go in strike on a row over terms and conditions and safety, union Unite said on Monday. Around 2,000 members of Unite at seven companies were balloted for the first national campaign of action for over a decade. Unite drivers supply fuel to 90% of the UK's forecourts and the union said a strike could close up to 7,900 petrol stations. Workers in seven major distribution companies have been balloted for industrial action - Wincanton, DHL, Hoyer, BP, J.W Suckling, Norbert Dentressangle and Turners. Soldiers are poised to take control at the pumps as part of contingency plans for a strike. [...]"  

Commentary: "Who Is Normal? The Case For "Universal Standards Of Civilized Normality" [03/26/12] "The vast majority of people in any given society are "locally normal”. By this I mean that they conform to the accepted outlooks and behaviours of their local society. They fit comfortably with their neighbours who fit comfortably with them. Their opinions are majority opinions that reflect local societal norms. Those norms may or may not espouse racism and a wide variety of other prejudices. It does not matter. They will be adhered to just the same because the are culturally imbedded. The "locally normal" will also adhere to their country’s standard history and mythology. Collectively, all these traits are what produce "good" citizens and so act as the glue that maintains social solidarity. The fact that most people are "normal" in this fashion is not a mistake. There is probably a genetic inclination for such behaviour. After all, if most people did not behave this way you could not maintain stable societies. Still, there are drawbacks to being "locally normal”. For one thing, the more "normal" you are the less independent (at least in socio-political terms) a thinker you are. The strange thing is that the "locally normal" would not agree that thinking outside the community box is a legitimate act of independence. Such a stance would appear, from inside the box, as not being independent so much as being anti-social and perhaps unpatriotic. And, such behaviour is going to make "normal" folks suspicious and fearful. That is the genetic impulse again. Stay with the group and you stay safe. Safe from what? Safe from people on the outside, of course. If you are really looking for a "locally normal" definition of independence it is going to be an economic one: having a good job, paying your own bills, and not living with their parents. [...]" 

MSM: "DNC Chair: Repeal ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law" [03/25/12] "Democratic National Committee chairperson and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman- Schultz has called publicly for the repeal of the so-called “Stand Your Ground” law, according to a post at Talking Points Memo’s Livewire blog. The controversial law broadened the definition of what is considered acceptable force for private citizens to use when defending themselves and their property. It has been cited in defense of George Zimmerman, the Sanford, Florida man who shot and killed teenager Trayvon Martin in February. Wasserman-Schultz posted on Twitter earlier today that the Martin case “is further evidence that Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground Law,’ which passed in 2005, needs to be repealed. The failure of the Sanford police to further investigate this crime as a result of their interpretation of this law is an injustice to Trayvon’s family and to all Floridians.” [...]"  Note: The "Stand Your Ground" principle really has nothing to do with this case. The attitude of the 'authorities' regarding this case smacks of a deliberately allowed event geared to prompt further removal of just principles. Despicable putz. Related: "How The Tragic Death Of Trayvon Martin Is Being Hijacked For Political Gains" [45:15] | "Trayvon Martin Case: George Zimmerman, Mystery Gunman" " ...George Zimmerman, who shot a black teenager in Florida, is in hiding after receiving death threats. A full portrait has yet to emerge of the 28-year-old, one of the characters at the center of the drama that has turned questions about race and guns into a national debate. Since the fateful rainy night of Feb. 26 when Zimmerman, on patrol as a neighborhood watch volunteer, crossed paths in Sanford, Fla., with an unarmed Trayvon Martin, 17, the older man has been the subject of speculation. His friends and family have tried to defend him, have given a few interviews. But it has been the media -– principally, the Orlando Sentinel –- that has to fill in the outlines of the life of Zimmerman, variously described as white or a Latino. [...]"   "The 23 States That Have Sweeping Self-Defense Laws Just Like Florida’s" [03/23/12]

Society and Culture:  "More Evidence Cops Believe They're Above The Law" [03/25/12] [3:27] "A case in Florida reveals hundreds of police break the law while driving their vehicles. [...]"  

Commentary: "A Burger, an Order of Fries, and Your Credit Card Number" [03/25/12] "Why it’s so easy for hackers to steal financial information from restaurants. [...] Restaurants were easily the most-targeted businesses, accounting for over half of all reported attacks. Retail stores were second, at about 20 percent. The findings are consistent with those of a similar report released earlier this year by Trustwave, an information security company, which found that the food and beverage, retail, and hospitality industries combine to account for 80 percent of data breaches. Why are small businesses such frequent targets? Because they offer hackers the easiest path to your financial information. In fact, security consultants say, there’s an entire underground industry built around extracting customers’ credit card numbers from retailers’ point-of-sale systems. ... Many of the companies that install point-of-sale systems for small businesses neglect to set up unique passwords. When hackers find one that works at a particular franchise of a chain restaurant, they add it to the list, and often find it works at dozens or hundreds of others as well. In one of the few cases that registered on the national news radar, a Romanian gang allegedly poached credit card information from 200 Subway sandwich outlets in the United States over three years. Once they tap into the servers, hackers often install programs to log credit card numbers. After they get the numbers, the shrewder criminals don’t use them right away. Instead, they bundle and sell them on the black market. Verified numbers fetch more than unverified ones; those with names attached fetch more still." 

MSM: "Hundreds Of Israelis March In Tel Aviv To Protest War With Iran" [03/25/12] "Hundreds of Israelis marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday to protest against a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The protest came amid a recent Facebook campaign linking Israeli and Iranian citizens in their opposition to war between the two nations. Campaign leaders, however, made it clear on their Facebook page that they had nothing to do with the Tel Aviv protest march. Last week, graphic designers Ronny Edry and his wife, Michal Tamir, unknowingly began a Facebook phenomenon when they uploaded a poster depicting Edry and his daughter with the words, "Iranians, we will never bomb your country, we you." That one image sparked a movement of sorts, with hundreds, if not thousands, of images sent from Israel, Iran, and elsewhere in the world, in support of exposing what participants consider to be the human side of the conflict between Iran and Israel.  [...]"  

MSM: "Student-Loan Debt Tops $1 Trillion" [03/25/12] "The amount Americans owe on student loans is far higher than earlier estimates and could lead some consumers to postpone buying homes, potentially slowing the housing recovery, U.S. officials said Wednesday. Total student debt outstanding appears to have surpassed $1 trillion late last year, said officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency created in the wake of the financial crisis. That would be roughly 16% higher than an estimate earlier this year by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [...]" 

Canada: "Quebec: Mammoth Demonstration In Support Of Strike Against University Fee Hikes" [03/25/12] "Two hundred thousand people took to the streets of downtown Montreal Thursday to demand that the Quebec Liberal government rescind its plan to raise university tuition fees by 75 percent over the next five years. [...]"  Note: Tuition hikes is not even the main issue .... they should be demonstrating that the educational system is broken and not connected to the job market. No point in going to college if society has no prospect of a job in your chosen field.

Commentary: "Notes On The Social Crisis In America" [03/25/12] "This week, tornado-stricken states are denied federal aid, Philadelphia criminalizes feeding the homeless, Missouri moves to end a health care program for the blind, and other signs of social distress across the US. [...]"  

Canada: "Demanding Facebook Passwords A Human Rights Violation: Commission" [03/25/12] "The Ontario Human Rights Commission has weighed in on whether employers can request a job applicant's Facebook password. The verdict? In a Facebook post, the Commission said Friday that doing so violates the province's human rights code. ``(E)mployers should not ask job applicants for access to information stored on social media or other online sites and that doing so could leave an employer open to a claim of discrimination under the Code,'' it said. The Commission referred to Section 23(2) of the Ontario Human Rights Code, which prohibits direct or indirect questions on discriminatory grounds such as race, marital status, age, religion, disability or receipt of public assistance. [...]"  

Commentary: "Long Arm Of Law On A Hunt To Grab Privacy" [03/24/12] "[Twitter Sticks Together With OWS Protesters] Cause for concern, it would seem, is how the United States is allowing law enforcement to question how its citizens engage in legitimate, democratic and constitutionally-allowed demonstrations. “Dangers of terrorism” has become a usual pretext to interfere into citizens’ privacy, outraging both digital privacy advocates and civil libertarians. In 2003, citing those “dangers”, a US federal judge granted expanded surveillance powers to the New York police, who had previously faced restrictions in monitoring political groups. During the US investigation of WikiLeaks, requests for data from companies like Google and Twitter have been also made. Twitter and Facebook are constantly and thoroughly monitored. The recent notorious case of British tourists who were imprisoned and deported from the US for Twitter jokes about digging up the body of famed Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe, might seem funny to some. But the prison terms in the UK for people accused of rioting in London last August based on their Facebook posts remind us of the danger approaching. US activists rage at the authorities not only because of privacy harassment. As the US is the first nation to criticize other countries for what it calls freedom oppression, it acts tougher and tougher at home.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Train Your Brain for Monk-Like Focus" [03/24/12] "The moment you get effortlessly lost in work goes by any number of names: focus, concentration, escapism, flow, and countless others. It's the point where you're able to blur the world around you and calibrate your brain to pay attention to one single task. It's your sweet spot. It's when you Get Things Done. Your entire cognitive effort is concentrated on one task and when you're in that moment the outside world disappears. We all struggle to maintain focus in our daily lives. Endless distractions keep our brains from focusing on a task as we struggle to get things done at work and complete projects around the house. But what's actually happening in your brain when you're lost in a project? And more importantly, how can you train to induce that focused state in yourself? To get a better understanding of how focus and concentration work, I talked with Susan Perry, Ph.D, a social psychologist and writer for of the Creating in Flow Blog at Psychology Today. It's important to know what's happening in your brain when you're focused on something and what happens when you get distracted.  From there we can look at minimizing those distractions and training your brain to focus better. After all, focusing is a skill and takes practice to develop. To start, let's look at what's happening in the brain when you start to focus on something and then what causes you to break that focus. It turns, both processes are intertwined.[...]"  

MSM: "Public Outcry Just Forced A Major Grocery Distributor To Stop Buying 'Pink Slime'" [03/24/12] " National supermarket operator Supervalu Inc. says it will stop buying ground beef that contains the filler now known as "pink slime" due to customer concerns. The company owns stores under the Acme, Albertsons, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher's, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw's/Star Market, Shop 'n Save and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy banners. Federal regulators say the filler meets food safety standards. But critics say the product could be unsafe and is an unappetizing example of industrialized food production. Supervalu said Wednesday that customer concern prompted it to stop carrying products containing the filler. Public outcry over "pink slime" has grown sharply as images, media reports and online petitions about it have spread. The low-cost additive, which has been used for years, is made from fatty bits of meat left over from other cuts. The bits of meat are heated, spun to remove the fat, compressed into blocks and exposed to ammonia to kill bacteria. Producers often mix the filler into fattier meat to produce an overall leaner product and reduce their costs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this month that, beginning in the fall, the National School Lunch Program will let school districts decide whether to buy ground beef that contains the filler. Previously, it was difficult for schools to know whether beef they bought from the feds had it or not. As a result, a number of schools have said they will stop using meat with the controversial filler. [...]" 

MSM: "NH Gay Marriage Upheld" [03/23/12] "The New Hampshire House voted yesterday to keep gay marriage legal, soundly defeating an attempt to make the state the first to legislatively repeal same-sex marriage. The Republican-controlled House voted 202-133 to reject a repeal of the 2009 law allowing gay couples to marry here. The House then voted 211-116 to officially kill House Bill 437, which was first introduced over a year ago and became the subject of intense lobbying and debate.  [...]" 

UK: "High Street Gloom As Empty Shops Reach All-Time High" [03/23/12]   "The number of empty shops hit an all-time high last month amid a post-Christmas series of retail failures, according to a new survey. [...]"  

Commentary: "The 23 States That Have Sweeping Self-Defense Laws Just Like Florida’s" [03/23/12] "In Florida, once self-defense is invoked, the burden is on the prosecution to disprove the claim. Most states have long allowed the use of reasonable force, sometimes including deadly force, to protect oneself inside one’s home — the so-called Castle Doctrine. Outside the home, people generally still have a “duty to retreat” from an attacker, if possible, to avoid confrontation. In other words, if you can get away and you shoot anyway, you can be prosecuted. In Florida, there is no duty to retreat. You can “stand your ground” outside your home, too. Florida is not alone. Twenty-three other states now allow people to stand their ground. Most of these laws were passed after Florida’s. (A few states never had a duty to retreat to begin with.) Here’s a rundown of the states with laws mirroring the one in Florida, where there’s no duty to retreat in public places and where, in most cases, self-defense claims have some degree of immunity in court. (The specifics of what kind of immunity, and when the burden of proof lies on the prosecution, vary from state to state.) Many of the laws were originally advocated as a way to address domestic abuse cases — how could a battered wife retreat if she was attacked in her own home? Such legislation also has been recently pushed by the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups. Click on the state to see its law. [...]"  

Commentary: "Forced Warrantless DNA Collection Violates Fourth Amendment" [03/23/12] "Over the last few years, we’ve beenbattlinglaws that require a person arrested to give a DNA sample as part of the routine booking process. The law makes this DNA collection automatic and mandatory; law enforcement do not need a reason to collect the DNA and they can do so without a search warrant. Given the incredibly sensitive information that DNA can reveal about a person – details like a person’s medical history, predisposition to disease and even sexual orientation – government access to this information must be strictly limited. But a recent decision (PDF) by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found no constitutional problems with the government’s ability to collect DNA from recent arrestees without a search warrant. [...]"  

Beyond 2012: "Water Shortages To Spark Global Unrest, US Privatizing Supplies" [03/23/12] "US will begin to privatize water supplies following a classified intelligence report that warns water shortages will spark global unrest within 10 years or so. An intelligence report based on classified information warns water shortages will soon lead to global unrest and threaten the National Security of the United States. [...]"  

Commentary: "Feeding The Homeless Banned In Major Cities All Over America" [03/23/12] "Other cities that have not banned it outright have put so many requirements on those that want to feed the homeless (acquiring expensive permits, taking food preparation courses, etc.) that feeding the homeless has become "out of reach" for most average people. Some cities are doing these things because they are concerned about the "health risks" of the food being distributed by ordinary "do-gooders". Other cities are passing these laws because they do not want homeless people congregating in city centers where they know that they will be fed. But at a time when poverty and government dependence are soaring to unprecedented levels, is it really a good idea to ban people from helping those that are hurting? But do we really want to have a nation where you have to get the permission of the government before you do good to your fellow man? [...]"   

MSM: "More US Drilling Doesn't Drop Gas Price" [03/23/12] "It's the political cure-all for high gas prices: Drill here, drill now. But more U.S. drilling has not changed how deeply the gas pump drills into your wallet, math and history show. A statistical analysis of 36 years of monthly, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production by The Associated Press shows no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump. [...]"  

MSM: "Threat of Refinery Strike Could Push Gas Prices Higher" [03/22/12] "Union workers at Tesoro’s Anacortes, Washington refinery have authorized their representatives to call for a strike, one month after rejecting a new contract over benefit issues. While no strike deadline has been set, the threat of a walk out by the facility’s 190 union workers comes as gasoline prices in the Pacific Northwest hover above $4 a gallon, due in part due to a production outage at one of the region’s biggest refineries. “We clearly consider all the impacts that a labor dispute would have, “ said United Steelworker representative Gaylan Prescott, of the potential impact on area gas prices which could result from a strike. “I think that those considerations are why we didn’t see a strike occur on February 21.” Union workers at Tesoro’s three west coast refineries in Washington, Hawaii and California rejected a three year contract agreed to by union leaders, in January, in a dispute over benefits and safety issues. Workers at the Martinez, California refinery voted in favor of strike authorization earlier this month.   [...]"  

Legal Case: "Supreme Court Backs Landowners, Limits Power Of EPA" [03/22/12] "The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that landowners can sue to challenge a federal government compliance order under the clean water law, a decision that sides with corporate groups and puts new limits on a key Environmental Protection Agency power. [...] The EPA issues nearly 3,000 compliance orders a year that require accused violators of environmental laws to stop alleged harmful actions and repair any damage that was caused. The justices overturned a U.S. appeals court ruling that a compliance order was not subject to judicial review until later when the EPA has brought an enforcement action and seeks to have a judge rule in its favor." 

Commentary: "China Faces 'Time Bomb' Of Ageing Population" [03/21/12] "China faces a soaring number of old people and a shrinking number of young adults, who are also less able – and sometimes less willing – to support their elders. Life expectancy has soared in China, while fertility has plummeted due to strict birth control policies. In 2009 there were 167 million over-60s, about an eighth of the population. By 2050 there will be 480 million, while the number of young people will have fallen. "It's a timebomb," warned Wang Feng of the Brookings-Tsinghua Centre for Public Policy in Beijing. China's economic miracle has been fuelled by its "demographic dividend": an unusually high proportion of working age citizens. That population bulge is becoming a problem as it ages. In 2000 there were six workers for every over-60. By 2030, there will be barely two. Other countries are also ageing and have far lower birth rates. But China is the first to face the issue before it has developed – and the shift is two to three times as fast. "China is unique: she is getting older before she has got rich," said Wang Dewen, of the World Bank's China social protection team. Tens of millions of workers have migrated to the cities, creating an even worse imbalance in rural areas which already suffer low incomes, poor public services and minimal social security. [...]"  

Commentary: "Hush-Hush Congressional Research Report: The Myth of Social Mobility ... Not" [03/21/12] " Here's a big myth: US social mobility is fungible and anyone can grow rich. Now a report from the Congressional Research Service has found that income inequality in the US is extreme and growing worse. Also, that where you're born, socially speaking, is where you stay. [...]"  

MSM: "Dutch Roman Catholic Church Castrated Boys As 'Treatment' For Homosexuality" [03/21/12] "Dutch journalist Joep Dohmen, reporting for the NRC Handelsblad uncovered ten cases of the castrations, one of which was suffered by Henk Heithuis, who was castrated as a minor for reporting to police sexual abuse by a priest that he endured while in the boarding home. Although the priests were convicted of the abuses, Heithuis was still transported to a Catholic hospital, and underwent a surgical castration as a treatment for homosexuality and, according to the report, a punishment for tattling on the clergy. [...]" 

MSM: "Florida State Workers Face Random Drug Tests Under New Law" [03/21/12] "Florida Governor Rick Scott has signed a law allowing state employees to be randomly tested for drugs, a measure likely to draw a legal challenge over its constitutionality. The Republican governor signed the Drug-free Workplace Act, which will permit state agencies to randomly test up to 10 percent of their employees, his office said on Monday. Tests could be conducted once every 90 days under the measure, which takes effect July 1. It would allow agencies to fire or discipline employees the first time they test positive for drugs. Employers could choose to refer such employees to an alcohol and drug rehabilitation program. [...] "Governor Scott signed this law in clear defiance of constitutional principles," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. An ACLU spokesman would not confirm whether the organization intended to file a constitutional challenge, but Simon indicated in his statement legal action was likely. Florida legislators last year voted to require applicants for federal public assistance to pass a drug test, but a federal judge barred enforcement of the law pending resolution of a challenge to its constitutionality. "When this matter lands in the courts, we expect they will make it clear once again that government cannot subject people to suspicionless searches just because it wants to," Simon said. "People do not lose their constitutional rights just because they work for the state of Florida.[...]" 

Study: "Wielding A Gun? You're More Likely To Think Others Are" [03/21/12] "The University of Notre Dame study asked subjects to look at images and determine whether the person depicted was holding a gun or something neutral, like a soda can. As they looked, the subjects were themselves holding either a toy gun or a foam ball, and those who were holding the toy guns were more likely to report the presence of a gun. The images shown to subjects were varied: Some people were depicted in ski masks, and various races were included, but the results remained the same. "Beliefs, expectations, and emotions can all influence an observer’s ability to detect and to categorize objects as guns," says one of the researchers. "Now we know that a person’s ability to act in certain ways," such as by holding a gun, "can bias their recognition of objects as well, and in dramatic ways." [...]" 

Commentary: "Social Fear As An Obstacle To Freedom In The West" [03/20/12] "In a previous article, I discussed the concept of freedom with regards to the banking system and argued that its principles of lending lead to an unjust dynamic between citizens and banks, mirroring a master-slave relationship. Here, I intend to show how crime and the national conditioning of fear are also largely inhibiting our sense of freedom. [...]" Related: "The Not-So-Hidden Limits To Freedom In The West"  

Commentary: "Stockton's Poor Mired In Violence After Police Cuts, Recession" Link Fixed [03/20/12] 5 Pg "Stockton, a California city of nearly 300,000 with a heavily agricultural economy, saw home construction soar during the housing frenzy that swept through here and the rest of the country several years ago, and became a foreclosure epicenter when the boom turned to bust. The pain of the housing and economic meltdown feels more apparent here, if only because Stockton has long been home to deep pockets of poverty and rampant street crime. It is hardly alone in its struggles. Despite clear success reining in crime nationally in recent decades, pockets of extremely high crime rates can still be found in almost every American city. These areas, virtually without exception, are populated by people at the very bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. With a median income just two-thirds of the California average, Stockton has struggled for decades with some of the state’s highest crime rates. Public safety improved during the flush years of the housing boom, and in 2008, homicides fell to just 24, the lowest level in nearly 30 years. But those gains quickly slipped away with the collapse of the housing market and the recession.  [...]" 

Society and Culture: "Gay Canadian Teen Jock Documents Coming Out On YouTube" [03/19/12] 12 "Coming out can be a difficult process for any teenager. According to Scott Heggart, it's even harder when you're an athlete. The Canadian-born Heggart, now 21 and a first-year communications student at the University of Ottawa, told the Ottawa Citizen he began to understand his sexuality in 7th grade, but feared that he would have to stop playing football, basketball, softball and hockey if he came out. "I’d started to understand who I was, what it meant,” he recalled. "The worst thing, from my teammates’ perspective, was to be gay." [...] In the video series, Heggart speaks poignantly about the process, and takes on other topics like religion, same-sex marriage, the so-called "ex-gay" movement and other topics. When he finally did come out to teammates and classmates by posting a photo of himself with his new boyfriend, Brock, on Facebook and changing his relationship status, Heggart says he received "respect and support." He now says the 2011 suicide of Jamie Hubley, a 15-year-old gay Canadian teen, inspired him to go public about his YouTube identity. [...]"  Note: Good for him. It's a body experience that simultaneous incarnations can have ... which is just another reason why the ignorant sequentials are so afraid and try to 'stamp it out' ... for example: Related: "Rick Santorum Protest: 2 Men Kiss During Rally, Crowd Jeers " "...Two men interrupted a Rick Santorum event in Illinois with a same-sex kiss, and were promptly ejected by security when the crowd turned on them. The fracas began in the middle of Santorum's remarks (at the 3:38 mark in the above video clip), when two protesters, identified as Timothy Tross and Ben Clifford, began yelling "mic check!," then embraced before bowing showily to the crowd. When the crowd realizes what was happening, they began to boo and chant "U-S-A!" in unison. The duo would would not reveal whether they were gay to Palatine Patch reporter Savannah Ziegelbauer, emphasizing Santorum's oft-divisive gay-rights policy, not their sexuality, as the important issue. "“I don’t think the message should be about what my sexuality is,” Tross said. “It’s the message that he’s saying about sexuality that matters.” [...]" Note: Santorum ... archaic putz.

Society and Culture: "Survey Reveals Many Models Exposed To Sexual Harassment, Cocaine" [03/19/12] "... Almost 80% say they've been exposed to drugs on the job, with 50% saying they've been exposed to cocaine. 29% say they've experienced unwanted sexual harassment. [...]"  Related: "Cocaine Laced With Veterinary Drug Levamisole Eats Away at Flesh" "Cocaine cut with the veterinary drug levamisole could be the culprit in a flurry of flesh-eating disease in New York and Los Angeles. ... It's in the cocaine supply of the entire U.S. ... The drug, used to deworm cattle, pigs and sheep, can rot the skin off noses, ears and cheeks. And over 80 percent of the country's coke supply contains it. Note: That won't help their 'modeling' career ... it will, however, take care of the sexual harassment problem. See the pictures on the link.

Society and Culture: "China: 30 Million People Live in Caves" [03/19/12] "Like many peasants from the outskirts of Yanan, China, Ren Shouhua was born in a cave and lived there until he got a job in the city and moved into a concrete-block house. His progression made sense as he strove to improve his life. But there’s a twist: The 46-year-old Ren plans to move back to a cave when he retires. “It’s cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It’s quiet and safe,” said Ren, a ruddy-faced man with salt-and-pepper hair who moved to the Shaanxi provincial capital, Xian, in his 20s. “When I get old, I’d like to go back to my roots.” More than 30 million Chinese people live in caves, many of them in Shaanxi province where the Loess plateau, with its distinctive cliffs of yellow, porous soil, makes digging easy and cave dwelling a reasonable option. Each of the province’s caves, yaodong, in Chinese, typically has a long vaulted room dug into the side of a mountain with a semicircular entrance covered with rice paper or colorful quilts. People hang decorations on the walls, often a portrait of Mao Tse-tung or a photograph of a movie star torn out of a glossy magazine. The better caves protrude from the mountain and are reinforced with brick masonry. Some are connected laterally so a family can have several chambers. Electricity and even running water can be brought in. “Most aren’t so fancy, but I’ve seen some really beautiful caves: high ceilings and spacious with a nice yard out front where you can exercise and sit in the sun,” said Ren, who works as a driver and is the son of a wheat and millet farmer. [...]"  

UK: "Shoplifters Are Stealing Food 'To Support Families' During Economic Downturn" [03/18/12] "Shoplifters are targeting food items to “feed their families” as a result of the economic downturn, according to latest police crime statistics. Meat and cheese have found their way onto a thief’s shopping list as the current financial situation forces criminals to change their tactics, according to Avon and Somerset Police. And it is the bigger supermarkets that are being hit hardest, chief superintendent Nikki Watson told Yeovil Town councillors last week. She said: “In previous years people would have stolen razor blades because you can sell them, but at the moment people are stealing groceries to feed their families. “It’s an indication of the current financial climate.” Although the number of shoplifting offences in Yeovil town centre has fallen by 24.2 per cent from last year, the town is bearing the biggest brunt of criminal activity across the whole district of South Somerset and Mendip. It accounts for seven of 15 stores where the majority of shoplifting occurs. [...]" 

UK: "Psychiatrist Faces Extraordinary Claims He Deliberately Misdiagnosed Parents With Mental Disorders" [03/18/12] "A leading psychiatrist faces extraordinary claims he deliberately misdiagnosed parents with mental disorders – decisions which meant their children were taken away from them. Dr George Hibbert faces being struck off over his conclusions that hundreds had ‘personality disorders’ after assessing them at his private family centre. He was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by social services for the reports which tore children from their parents – many of them young mothers. He is now being investigated over shocking suggestions he distorted the assessments to fit the view of social services. In one case, he is alleged to have wrongly diagnosed a ‘caring’ new mother – named only as Miss A – with bipolar disorder because her local authority wanted the baby adopted. [...]" 

MSM: "Children Forced To Wear ‘HIV-Positive’ Ribbons In Tanzania" [03/18/12] "At least seven schools in Tanzania have taken to forcing schoolchildren with HIV to wear a red ribbon on their clothing that announces their health status, according to BBC News. Critics say that the decision stigmatizes children whose lives are often already complicated by the disease, whereas some school officials say that the measure has been taken to ensure the students’ safety. Headmaster Mohammed Lukema of Kihaba Primary School insists that parents of the HIV-positive children have asked for the policy so that their children may be excused from heavy work like sweeping school compounds or hauling water. ”Our school has pupils who are suffering from various diseases,” he said, ”The school and the society at large have decided to label pupils’ uniforms.” Rebecca Mshumbusi, chairperson of the Kibaha Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, called the ribbons an invasion of privacy. ”The information of one’s sickness is confidential unless if one decides to share it with others. There are laws that can punish those revealing other’s health status.” [...]" 

Commentary: "Some States Begin Seizing Drivers Licenses For Unpaid Taxes" [03/17/12] [6:06] " California is taking a hard line on unpaid tickets, fees, fines and taxes. The Franchise Tax Board is taking the first steps to consolidate all "debts" and hold people hostage if they have their Driver Licence suspended. It has also been reported that after paying all fines and fees cash, there is an 2 month wait to reissue your license. More and more Americans are being forced to drive "illegally" (no licence, no insurance) [...]" 

Commentary: "Greece Develops Cashless, Euro-Free Currency In Tight Economy" [03/17/12] "In recent weeks, Theodoros Mavridis has bought fresh eggs, tsipourou (the local brandy: beware), fruit, olives, olive oil, jam, and soap. He has also had some legal advice, and enjoyed the services of an accountant to help fill in his tax return. None of it has cost him a euro, because he had previously done a spot of electrical work – repairing a TV, sorting out a dodgy light – for some of the 800-odd members of a fast-growing exchange network in the port town of Volos, midway between Athens and Thessaloniki. In return for his expert labour, Mavridis received a number of Local Alternative Units (known as tems in Greek) in his online network account. In return for the eggs, olive oil, tax advice and the rest, he transferred tems into other people’s accounts. [...]"  

MSM: "AP Runs A Food Test, And The Slime Doesn't Do Well" [03/17/12] "Pink slime, now available in schools, certainly sounds disgusting—but does it actually affect a burger's taste? Writing for the AP, a food critic conducted a taste test to find out. In the process, JM Hirsch learned that unless your meat is organic—which guarantees no slime—it's very difficult to tell from a burger's label whether it contains the stuff. Because pink slime is, in industry terms, just "lean, finely textured beef," there's no need for producers to mention it as an ingredient. Hirsch's grocers didn't even know whether most of their ground beef contained the slime. Still, he was able to pin down an organic variety that definitely didn't have it and another brand that definitely did. After cooking them under precise conditions, he sampled each one and found a clear difference. The non-slime version was juicy, "savory, and meaty" with "just the right texture." The pink slime burger, while tolerable, lacked much flavor and contained "unpleasantly chewy bits."  [...]"  

MSM: "Three In 10 Young Adults Live With Parents, Highest Level Since 1950s" [03/17/12] "Unable to find well-paying work in a weak economy, escalating numbers of young adults – as many as 3 in 10 – are returning home to the family nest, resulting in the highest share of young adults living in multigenerational households since the 1950s, according to a Pew Research Center report released Thursday. [...]"  

Beyond 2012: "Americans Will Need “Black Markets” To Survive" [03/17/12] "As Americans, we live in two worlds; the world of mainstream fantasy, and the world of day- to- day reality right outside our front doors. One disappears the moment we shut off our television. The other, does not… When dealing with the economy, it is the foundation blocks that remain when the proverbial house of cards flutters away in the wind, and these basic roots are what we should be most concerned about. While much of what we see in terms of economic news is awash in a sticky gray cloud of disinformation and uneducated opinion, there are still certain constants that we can always rely on to give us a sense of our general financial environment. Two of these constants are supply and demand. Central banks like the private Federal Reserve may have the ability to flood markets with fiat liquidity to skew indexes and stocks, and our government certainly has the ability to interpret employment numbers in such a way as to paint the rosiest picture possible, but ultimately, these entities cannot artificially manipulate the public into a state of demand when they are, for all intents and purposes, dead broke.  In contrast, the establishment does have the ability to make specific demands or necessities illegal to possess, and can even attempt to restrict their supply. Though, in most cases this leads not to the control they seek, but a sudden and sharp loss of regulation through the growth of covert trade. The people need what the people need, and no government, no matter how titanic, can stop them from getting these commodities when demand is strong enough. [...]" 

Commentary: "5 Reasons Why American Riots Will Be The Worst In The World" [03/17/12] [9:56] When the 'American Dream' would become a nightmare ...

MSM: "Britain Pushes For Mass Surveillance Society - Police State UK" [03/16/12]   [2:53] "Soon youcan be watched everywhere you go in the UK. All your emails, texts and phonecalls will be monitored and you can even be seen where cameras can't. Thiscould all be possible with a new anti-terrorism spy plan. Security companieswill have real time access to all your personal happenings at the click of abutton. Here is our report. [...]"  

UK: "Government Will Legalise Gay Marriage Despite Religious Opposition" [03/16/12] "The government will legalise gay marriage, in spite of vocal opposition from Christian movements, Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone has said as she prepared to publish details plans of the policy. Ms Featherstone hit out at the "inflammatory" language used by senior religious figures and urged them not to "fan the flames of homophobia". And she insisted that the consultation she will launch today will invite comments only on the practical implementation of marriages for same-sex couples by 2015 and not on the policy itself. "There is no rolling back whatsoever. The essential question is not whether we are going to introduce same-sex civil marriage but how," she told The Independent. Ms Featherstone appealed for calm in the mounting storm over the move - which has been forcefully championed by Prime Minister David Cameron in the teeth of significant Conservative opposition. [...]" 

MSM: "Detroit Police Policies Changed In First Amendment Settlement With ACLU" [03/15/12] "The Detroit Police Department has adopted new policies to settle a lawsuit involving two men who claimed they were ticketed after challenging why police officers were wrongfully questioning them. The 2010 lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of the two men by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. The ACLU claimed Detroit Police violated the constitutional rights of the men, who were ticketed and charged with misdemeanors for questioning officers who had approached them. The men, Ken Anderson and Phil Letten, were ticketed and charged in separate instances with "loitering in a known drug area" and "distributing flyers without a permit," even though neither is against the law, said ACLU attorney Dan Korobkin. [...] "These new policies represent a solid step forward for civil liberties in the City of Detroit," Korobkin said in a statement. "Police departments across the state should follow Detroit's lead and institute similar policies to ensure that innocent people aren't harassed when they stand up for their rights. It's not a crime to ask police questions or to criticize their actions."[...]" 

MSM: "Ugandan Gay Rights Group Sues American Evangelist" [03/15/12] "A Ugandan gay rights group filed suit against an American evangelist, Scott Lively, in federal court in Massachusetts on Wednesday, accusing him of violating international law by inciting the persecution of homosexuals in Uganda. The lawsuit alleges that beginning in 2002, Mr. Lively conspired with religious and political leaders in Uganda to whip up anti-gay hysteria with warnings that homosexuals would sodomize African children and corrupt their culture. The Ugandan legislature considered a bill in 2009, proposed by one of Mr. Lively’s Ugandan contacts, that would have imposed the death sentence for homosexual behavior. That bill was at first withdrawn after an outcry from the United States and European nations that are among major aid donors to Uganda, but a revised bill was reintroduced last month. Mr. Lively is being sued by the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda under the alien tort statute, which allows foreigners to sue in American courts in situations alleging the violation of international law. The suit claims that Mr. Lively’s actions resulted in the persecution, arrest, torture and murder of homosexuals in Uganda. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Dad Can Sue For Fatal Sedation Reversal" [03/15/12] "A doctor and a nurse and others must face claims that they killed a man's son by unnecessarily and fatally reversing his sedation at the request of state troopers, a federal judge ruled. Naji Muhammed claimed that Pennsylvania state troopers assaulted his son, Hakim Jackson, after a traffic stop of a car in which Jackson was riding, then took him to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where medical professionals "acted in concert with law enforcement officials to reverse decedent's medically induced sedation for the purpose of effectuating an arraignment." Muhammed says the decision to reverse his son's sedation "offered no medical benefit and ultimately led to decedent's preventable death." He sued in August 2011 and amended the complaint in September, Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Dr. Kristin Varacalli of civil rights violations, professional liability, and wrongful death. [...]"  

Commentary: "Vanishing Pensions: All Over America Old Age Pensions Are Being Slashed Or Eliminated" [03/15/12] "How would you feel if you worked for a state or local government for 20 or 30 years only to have your pension slashed dramatically or taken away entirely? Well, this exact scenario is playing out from coast to coast and in the years ahead millions of elderly Americans are going to be affected by broken promises and vanishing pensions. In the old days, things were much different. You would get hired by a big company or a government institution and you knew that the retirement benefits that they were promising you would be there when you retired in a few decades. Unfortunately, we have now arrived at a time when government institutions and big companies have promised far more than they are able to deliver, and "pension reform" has become one of the hot button issues all over the nation. Many Americans that have been basing their financial futures on their pensions are waking up one day and finding that their pensions are either gone or have been cut back dramatically. According to Northwestern University Professor John Rauh, the latest estimate of the total amount of unfunded pension and healthcare obligations for state and local governments across the United States is 4.4 trillion dollars.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Florida Man Still Caught in Legal Limbo for Filming Police" [03/15/12]   "Police sirens and flashing lights caused a commotion near Steve Horrigan's Emerald Oaks condominium in North Port on Jan. 25, so Horrigan grabbed his smartphone and stepped out for a look. Horrigan, who had videotaped traffic stops before without incident, jabbed the record button as he approached five or six North Port Police cars surrounding a red Toyota. Although the 57-year-old computer technician assumed he had a legal right to document the incident, Horrigan was arrested, handcuffed and taken away for a night in jail. He was charged with obstruction, but also with the rare crime of eavesdropping, a third-degree felony in Florida that carries a punishment of up to five years in prison. With his arrest, Horrigan stepped into a growing national debate between law enforcement and everyday citizens who record officers performing their duties in public. The issue exploded onto the national scene in 1991, when four white Los Angeles Police Department officers were videotaped beating black motorist Rodney King. [...] North Port police officials say Horrigan was not arrested over the videotaping, but rather because he refused to back away from the crime scene as ordered, hampered their investigation and audiotaped an interrogation without permission. They stand by the legality of the arrest. Still, the jailing of Horrigan, along with his ongoing court battle to fight the charges, offers a window into the growing national debate."  Horrigan says he was not told to cease recording, but rather to go back to the east side of Biscayne. Horrigan says he obeyed, watching and taping from beneath an oak tree across the street. Horrigan, like others arrested in Florida for allegedly filming on-duty police officers, was charged under Florida Statute 934.03(1A), which was designed to prevent illegal wiretapping. Law enforcement agencies around the U.S. employ variations of the same argument to justify their arrests and seizure of recording devices. [...]"

Commentary: "Arizona Birth Control Bill Penalizes Women For Using Contraception For Non-Medical Reasons " [03/15/12] "Arizona legislators have advanced an unprecedented bill that would require women who wish to have their contraception covered by their health insurance plans to prove to their employers that they are taking it to treat medical conditions. The bill also makes it easier for Arizona employers to fire a woman for using birth control to prevent pregnancy despite the employer's moral objection. Under current law, health plans in Arizona that cover other prescription medications must also cover contraception. House Bill 2625, which the state House of Representatives passed earlier this month and the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed on Monday, repeals that law and allows any employer to refuse to cover contraception that will be used "for contraceptive, abortifacient, abortion or sterilization purposes." If a woman wants the cost of her contraception covered, she has to "submit a claim" to her employer providing evidence of a medical condition, such as endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome, that can be treated with birth control. Moreover, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the law would give Arizona employers the green light to fire a woman upon finding out that she took birth control for the purpose of preventing pregnancy. "The bill goes beyond guaranteeing a person's rights to express and practice their faith," Anjali Abraham, a lobbyist for the ACLU, told the Senate panel, "and instead lets employers prioritize their beliefs over the beliefs, the interests, the needs of their employees, in this case, particularly, female employees." [...]"  Note:  Another legislature composed of reincarnated retread control freaks with nothing better to do than come up with unwarranted 'laws' to limit and control the population for no other reason other than they can do it.

UK: "British Teen Arrested for Anti-War Comments on Facebook" [03/14/12] "A teenager has been arrested for allegedly making comments on Facebook about the deaths of six British soldiers in Afghanistan last week. According to Sky News, Azhar Ahmed of Ravensthorpe (19) posted comments on his profile page, criticizing the level of attention British soldiers who died in a bomb blast received, compared to that received by Afghan civilians killed in the war. He was arrested on Friday and charged over the weekend. A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “He didn’t make his point very well and that is why he has landed himself in bother.” Ahmed has been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence and will appear at Dewsbury Magistrates Court on 20 March 2011. The soldiers were killed on March 6 in the deadliest single attack on British forces in Afghanistan since 2001 when their Warrior armoured vehicle was blown up by a massive improvised explosive device (IED). The deaths take the number of UK troops who have died since the Afghanistan campaign began in 2001 to 404. It seems you have to be careful if you have an opinion on Facebook these days. [...]"  

Buffoonery: "FBI Urges Coffee Shops To Report Cash-Paying Customers To Authorities" [03/14/12] "According to a set of guidelines sent out by the FBI as part of its Communities Against Terror program, ordinary citizens need to be on the lookout for suspicious characters who follow patterns of behavior of a covert operative. The latest revelation from the FBI files? Paying in cash for coffee. The most recent update asks coffee shop owners, baristas and other customer-service specialists to lookout for the enemy who walks among us…Using cash for small purchases like a cup of coffee, gum and other items is a good indication that a person is trying to pass for normal without leaving the kind of paper trail created using a debit or credit card for small purchases. [...]"  Note: The absolute stupidity of these people is monumental, trying to cast 'normal' behavior as something else. This confirms their diagnosis of paranoid psychopathy ... on its face ... very dangerous, paranoid people who we've seen before .... in Germany and the USSR during WWII ... more reincarnated retreads who are hopeless losers.

MSM: "Strikes By German Public-Sector Workers" [03/14/12] "Last week more than 100,000 government employees took part in one-day strikes throughout Germany. Germany’s biggest public sector union, Verdi, which is currently negotiating a new contract for some 2 million federal and municipal employees, called the actions. Verdi is demanding a wage increase of 6.5 percent, or at least €200 a month, and the employment of all trainee workers. The employers’ side refrained from making an offer in the first round of negotiations held last week. Verdi responded with the call to strike. The limited strikes began March 5 in the states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. A day later, Verdi members stopped work for a day in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Baden-Württemberg. Last Wednesday, workers went on strike in North Rhine-Westphalia. The states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony were the focus on Thursday. Numerous kindergartens, day nurseries and crèches closed due to the strikes. Refuse workers also participated, together with workers at parks, environmental works, hospitals, public savings banks and local governments. [...]"  

MSM: "Athens Steel Strike Enters Fifth Month" [03/14/12] "This month the workers entered the fifth month of their bitter strike. Hellenic Steel is owned by John Manessis and is one of three firms that control steel production in Greece. The strike began on October 31, when workers at the plant, employing 400, rejected plans to cut the work day from eight to five hours and slash wages by 40 percent. [...]"  Related: "Greece On The Breadline: The Children Of Athens Too Hungry To Do PE" " ... There are direct producer-to- consumer markets, collective bargaining schemes at supermarkets, organised boycotts of motorway tolls, and book fairs. In Rethimno, Crete, regular free markets take place where products and services are exchanged without money – and, consequently, without VAT. Some local councils in Athens are helping their citizens avoid paying the new special property tax that was slapped onto electricity bills. The borough of Peristeri specifically has an entire service to collect the bills and file appeals on behalf of its citizens. They are also organising direct producer to consumer markets for staple products.  [...]"  

MSM: "Alabama Prison Guards Indicted in Fatal Beating of Handcuffed Inmate" [03/14/12] "FBI agents arrested three former Alabama prison guards on Monday after a federal grand jury indicted them on charges of beating a handcuffed prisoner to death and lying to investigators about the attack. Michael Smith, 37, Matthew Davidson 43, and Joseph Sanders, 31, former guards at Ventress Correctional Facility in Clayton, Ala., are accused of assaulting Rocrast Mack, a 24-year-old Ventress inmate, and making false statements to state and federal investigators about the attack after his death. [...] State authorities initially described Mack's death as an "isolated incident" but ultimately acknowledged that Smith had been accused of brutality by numerous inmates. The Huffington Post investigation of Mack's death uncovered allegations of repeated brutality by Smith and other guards at Ventress that had gone unchecked. Monday's indictments come as Alabama authorities struggle with the management of one of the most overcrowded and understaffed prison systems in the country. The state's prisons are at 193 percent capacity, the highest rate in the country, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections. Some Alabama lawmakers warn that the state risks a mass release of inmates if conditions do not improve. In 2010, the Supreme Court ordered California to release about 30,000 inmates after its prisons reached 170 percent capacity."  

Commentary: "No Jobs For Americans" Paul Craig Roberts [03/13/12] "On March 9, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that 227,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs were created by the economy during February. Is the government’s claim true? No. Statistician John Williams (shadowstats.com) reports that 44,000 of these jobs, or 19%, consist of an add-on factor derived from the BLS’s estimate that 44,000 more unreported jobs from new business start-ups were created than were lost by unreported business failures. The BLS’s estimate comes from the bureau’s “birth-death model,” which works better during normal times, but delivers erroneous results during troubled times such as the economy has been experiencing during the past four years. [...]"  

UK: "CCTV At Petrol Stations Will Automatically Stop Uninsured Cars Being Filled With Fuel" [03/13/12] "Downing Street officials hope the hi-tech system will crack down on the 1.4million motorists who drive without insurance. Cameras at petrol stations will automatically stop uninsured or untaxed vehicles from being filled with fuel, under new government plans. Downing Street officials hope the hi-tech system will crack down on the 1.4million motorists who drive without insurance. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras are already fitted in thousands of petrol station forecourts. Drivers can only fill their cars with fuel once the camera has captured and logged the vehicle’s number plate. When a car is flagged as being uninsured or untaxed, the system will prevent the fuel pump being used on that vehicle. [...]"  Note: More fascism and control freakism.

Trends: "Next Debt Bomb: Student Loans" [03/13/12] "With student loan debts soaring to $867 billion last year, student debt is a "bomb" waiting to explode, bankruptcy lawyers tell the Washington Post. The figure is bigger than the $704 billion owed by all Americans on their credit cards, and of the 37 million borrowers, 14.4% have at least one past-due account. “This could very well be the next debt bomb for the US economy,” said the head of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys—a potential bomb the Post compares to the "housing mortgage loan crisis." Of course, the lawyer clarifies that "student loan defaults are not going to have the same ripple effect through the economy that mortgage defaults did." His belief: "Our best and brightest won’t necessarily get the education that they need to move us forward" because they'll decide not to take loans in the first place.  [...]" Note:  A stupid position to take. There is no longer any "education that can move anyone forward", because there is nothing linking education directly with jobs worth having in a society where most people are too blind to see that this civilization is defunct due to lack of capability to change paradigms.

UK: "Tenth Of British Women Raped: Survey" [03/13/12] "A survey of 1,600 women by the Mumsnet Insight team online between February and March has found one in ten British women had been raped, indicating the scale of sexual violence against women in the UK. [...]"  

MSM: "Mayor Suspends Entire Police Force Over Tasing of 9 Year Old Child" [03/13/12] "The mayor of Mount Sterling, Ohio has suspended the entire police force for 3 days after an officer tased a 9 year old child and the police subsequently covered it up. The small town, with a population just under 2,000, is now being policed by the Sheriffs department while a state investigation into the police chief and the five part time police officers takes place. “At some point, the visit became hostile and the part-time officer allegedly used a taser to subdue the boy. The police chief is accused of hiding the incident from village leaders,” reported The Huffington Post. “6 different marks on his back, and you know in three different places, they looked like burns.” The tasing of a 9 year old boy is absolutely unacceptable and a disgusting display of police brutality that must not go unpunished. [...] The closure isn't the first for the Mount Sterling police force. The village laid off all its officers except for the chief in September due to budget cuts, the station reported. It's yet unclear when the department will be reformed. Mount Sterling had a population of just under 2,000 in 2010, according to Census data."  

MSM: "Couple Wins $2.9M for 'Wrongful Birth'" [03/13/12] "An Oregon couple has been awarded $2.9 million in a case centered not around wrongful death, but wrongful birth. Ariel and Deborah Levy said they would have terminated their pregnancy had they known their daughter would have Down syndrome—but they were continually told the child would not. On Friday, a jury agreed Legacy Health System was negligent, citing five instances. Among them: The doctor took an incorrect tissue sample in order to determine the chromosomal profile; it was apparently analyzed incorrectly as well. Lawyers for the hospital said they were "disappointed" in the verdict and looking into their options. The couple had originally asked for $7 million, and will use the money to care for their child, now four. "These are parents who love this little girl very, very much," said the couple's lawyer. "Their mission since the beginning was to provide for her and that’s what this is all about." The Oregonian notes that the Levys mouthed the words "thank you" to the jury as they filed out. [...]"  Related:  Buffoonery: "Arizona Senate Approves Bill Withholding Critical Information About Prenatal Problems To Prevent Abortions" [03/09/12] "The Arizona Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would allow doctors withhold information about prenatal problems if it could make the decision to have an abortion more likely. Republican state Sen. Nancy Barto introduced the measure to protect doctors from so-called “wrongful birth” lawsuits. Such lawsuits are sometimes filed by parents of children with disabilities who believe that doctors withheld information that could have led to the decision to have an abortion.  [...] This 'malpractice shield' is the latest in attacks on a woman’s right to access reliable, unbiased health care information and represents yet another effort by Republican legislators to interfere in doctor-patient relationship,” Care2′s Jessica Pieklo wrote. “But even worse, the law presumes that it is the state’s role to dictate what information a woman should have access to and what information she needs to be ‘protected’ from in accessing routine health care. Note: Now we see how people can stand to make a lot of money because they are NOT informed of a problem, just for some hair brained political reason drummed up by control freaks.  

Legal Case: "Honor Students Punished for Their Website" [03/13/12] "Twin-brother honor students claim in Federal Court that their public school "callously" suspended them for 180 days for setting up and running a nonviolent website on their own time and on their own computers. Public school districts have been sued repeatedly for punishing students for nonviolent statements they make on their Facebook pages, sometimes for criticizing or lampooning teachers. Employers too have been sued on similar allegations. [...] At issue is a blog one of the boys created called northpress.tk, a satirical site about high school life. The boys say they set up the blog on their personal computer on their own time, and used a Dutch domain name so it would be difficult for peers to see it unless they told them about it. On Friday December 16, 2011, LSNHS [Lee's Summit North High School] administration became aware of the website and restricted access to it from all school computers." The twins were suspended for 180 days. They say defendant Lee's Summit Superintendent David McGehee told them they were suspended because they were "involved with" North Press. At the appeals hearing, the district levied new charges against the plaintiffs for misuse of school computer equipment, charges not brought against the plaintiffs during their initial suspension hearing," the complaint states. "Plaintiffs were subsequently convicted of the new charges at the appellate hearing.""  Note: Since the twins used their own computers, not the schools, and gave their opinions on their own time, the schools charges have no merit and the twins were unlawfully charges at the appellate hearing .... a travesty conducted by irrational school officials.

Commentary: "65-Year-Old California Man Tortured in L.A. County Jail" [03/12/12] "Natural News can now report that 65-year-old senior citizen James Stewart, a raw milk farmer with no criminal history, was nearly tortured to death in the LA County jail this past week. He survived a “week of torturous Hell” at the hands of LA County jail keepers who subjected him to starvation, sleep deprivation, hypothermia, loss of blood circulation to extremities, verbal intimidation, involuntary medical testing and even subjected him to over 30 hours of raw biological sewage filth containing dangerous pathogens. [...] All along, the LA County prison guards gloated over their treatment of prisoners while laughing and joking about their power to subject prisoners to such abuse. This behavior openly mimics that of Gitmo guards who took pictures gloating over their torture and murder of prisoners of war. At no point was James notified of what he was being charged with. He was never presented with an arrest warrant nor were any charges explained to him. James was mysteriously “lost” in the system and LA County officials claimed they did not know where he was. This was apparently a deliberate attempt to subject an individual to drawn-out torture without legal representation and make sure no one could locate them to check on their health or arrest status. [...]"  

MSM: "NYPD Officer Held in Psychiatric Ward of Hospital for Six Days After Reporting Corruption" [03/11/12] "For more than two years, Adrian Schoolcraft secretly recorded every roll call at the 81st Precinct in Brooklyn and captured his superiors urging police officers to do two things in order to manipulate the “stats” that the department is under pressure to produce: Officers were told to arrest people who were doing little more than standing on the street, but they were also encouraged to disregard actual victims of serious crimes who wanted to file reports. Arresting bystanders made it look like the department was efficient, while artificially reducing the amount of serious crime made the commander look good. In October 2009, Schoolcraft met with NYPD investigators for three hours and detailed more than a dozen cases of crime reports being manipulated in the district. Three weeks after that meeting—which was supposed to have been kept secret from Schoolcraft’s superiors—his precinct commander and a deputy chief ordered Schoolcraft to be dragged from his apartment and forced into the Jamaica Hospital psychiatric ward for six days. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Girl, ACLU Sue School Over Facebook Flap" [03/11/12] " Maybe this kind of thing will start sounding familiar soon? A 12-year-old girl in Minnesota is suing her school with the help of the ACLU because she says administrators made her hand over her Facebook password and pored over her account, reports CNN. The move came after the girl got into trouble for some posts: In one, she wrote that she hated one of the school's adult hall monitors; in another, a mother complained to the school that the girl was talking about sex on the site with her son, notes Courthouse News Service. At that point, the girl says she was pulled out of class and forced to divulge her password. "R.S. was intimidated, frightened, humiliated and sobbing while she was detained in the small school room" as three employees looked at her page, says the lawsuit. She's alleging a violation of her First Amendment right to free speech and her Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. The school disagrees: "The district did not violate R.S.'s civil rights, and disputes the one-sided version of events set forth in the complaint written by the ACLU," it says in a statement. [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "14 Iraqi Youths Killed For Wearing Emo Clothes" [03/11/12] " At least 14 youths in Baghdad have been stoned or beaten to death in the past month for the crime of dressing like teenagers, reports Reuters. Specifically, they favored emo-syle black clothes and haircuts, which the nation's interior ministry branded as "Satanism" just before the killings began. Apparently, Shiite militias have begun policing the edict. What's more, Reuters has seen leaflets distributed warning specific teens to "get back to sanity" or they'd be killed, too. "Last week I signed the death certificates of three of those young people, and the reason for death I wrote in my own hand was severe skull fractures," says one doctor. [...]"  

Society and Culture:  "Suicide the Answer for Russian Teens" [03/11/12] " For many Russian teenagers, the only way out is death. Experts there are familiar with the nation's high teen suicide rate (about five a day) and know the causes all too well—but say solutions are hampered by prejudice and social conformity, the Washington Post reports. The common causes are alcoholism, rigid parenting, domestic violence, and a profound prejudice against psychiatry that dates back to the Soviet era. “At home, you order, you enforce, you punish your kids instead of trying to understand them,” says a child psychiatrist. The Post looks at two teens, Liza and Nastya, who committed suicide together after Liza couldn't afford singing lessons for the school glee club. Liza, the more complex and introverted of the two, posted online that she would “respect to the end the person who stayed with her to the end.” But "when you’re 14, you don’t clearly understand what suicide is,” says the singing teacher that only Nastya could afford. "'How pretty I’ll be at my funeral!’ They don’t understand they can’t watch the reaction. It’s the end.” [...]"  

MSM: "Indiana Passes Statewide Smoking Ban, Exempts Bars" [03/11/12] "The Indiana Assembly has passed a statewide smoking ban that prohibits lighting up in most public spaces and workplaces but exempts bars and casinos, and the measure now heads to Governor Mitch Daniels' desk for signature. The state Senate passed the compromise bill on Friday by a vote of 28-22. The House of Representatives approved the bill on Thursday 60-33. Daniels, who made a smoking bill part of his legislative agenda, was expected to sign the legislation. The measure would go into effect July 1. At least half of all U.S. states have already banned smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars, and more states have placed lesser restrictions on smoking, according to the Centers for Disease Control. State Representative Eric Turner, a Republican who authored a more restrictive bill, said he was satisfied with the compromise but said, "It's not everything I wanted."  [...]" 

Concepts and Practices: "Over 10,000 Mentally Ill Michigan Inmates Face Tasers And Torture" [03/11/12]   [0:00] "The recent authorization of the use of Tasers in Michigan prisons has focused attention on the inhuman conditions inflicted on mentally ill inmates. Civil rights organizations have questioned their use in the prison system, noting special danger to the large percentage of mentally ill inmates. A 2010 University of Michigan study found that more than 20 percent of the state’s prisoners, or about 10,000 inmates of a total of 45,000, had severe mental disabilities. The same study found that 65 percent of those with severe mental disabilities in the state’s prison system had had no treatment for their illness in the past year. A Taser uses electrical current to incapacitate its victim through uncontrolled muscle contraction. Their use in prison amounts to a torture device to subdue and control inmates who are unarmed and cannot escape. The World Socialist Web Site spoke to Natalie Holbrook of the Michigan Criminal Justice Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The program is run by The American Friends Service Committee. She said, “We are very skeptical about the use of Tasers in the Department of Corrections. We are trying to get numbers from the different facilities about how often they are using the Tasers and under what conditions. “They have been denying our FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] requests saying it is a security issue. One thing we asked for was the training manual related to their use. That request was denied saying it would be a breach of security. We’re going to have to reframe our request and keep trying in order to find out the details. “We have gotten some complaints from prisoners about officers not shouting commands before Tasers were deployed. We hope that the use of Tasers would in every case generate critical incidence reports. “As to the mentally ill in Michigan prisons, [Dan] Heyns, the new director has been very open about this. He has been saying something to the effect that ‘we can’t do anything about who gets sent to us and once someone comes to us with a mental condition we’re charged with caring for them.’ What I think he is getting at is that the prisons are not supposed to be mental institutions. We have written about this problem in a major report we did. (See the report, “Tolerating Failure: The State of Health Care and Mental Health Care Delivery in the Michigan Department of Corrections PDF. Civil rights organizations have documented over 700 deaths since the early 1980s after victims were shocked by the device. Though outlawed in Michigan in the mid-1970s, electric stun devices are now pervasive among police agencies in cities and jurisdictions across the state. Across the US they are deployed with regularity against the public. Taser devices were first authorized for use by guards in five of 31 Michigan prisons last December by the newly appointed Michigan Department of Corrections Director Dan Heyns..) [...]"  

MSM: "Corrections Corporation Of America Sues Florida Town For Blocking New Detention Center " [03/10/12] "The nation's largest private prison corporation sued a South Florida town this week, arguing that city officials are trying to "disrupt and derail" plans to build one of nation's largest immigrant-detention centers northwest of Miami. Corrections Corporation of America's federal lawsuit claims that city officials in Pembroke Pines, Fla., are interfering with the company's "advantageous business relationship" with federal immigration authorities. Corrections Corp. reached a tentative deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last summer to build a 1,500-bed detention facility in Southwest Ranches, a quiet suburban enclave near the Everglades. But residents and immigrant-rights groups have waged a battle against the company and elected officials who support construction of the jail. Money is on the line for both Corrections Corp. and the town of Southwest Ranches, which has an agreement to receive up to 4 percent of the compensation from the company's potential deal with the federal government. Over the past decade, the federal government has embarked on an unprecedented campaign to round up and detain undocumented immigrants, leading to a major development of detention centers. Between 2005 and 2010, the amount of money appropriated for immigrant detention and removal more than doubled, from $1.2 billion to more than $2.5 billion. Private contractors like Corrections Corp. and GEO Group have benefited: Nearly half of all immigrants detained by the federal government were housed in private facilities, according to an analysis of data by advocacy group Detention Watch Network. [...] After public opposition swelled in both communities over the past year, commissioners in Pembroke Pines began looking at ways to pull out of the agreement to provide services for the jail site. The City Commission nixed the deal earlier this week, which led Corrections Corp. to file lawsuit in federal court seeking damages and a reversal of the city's decision.[...]"  

Commentary: "Demand For ‘Survival Services’ Rises In US Cities" [03/10/12] "Many cities across the United States are still scrambling to help their residents overcome the economic recession that officially ended more than two years ago, according to a survey released on Friday by the National League of Cities. The league, which represents hundreds of civic officials, found that demand for “survival services,” such as food banks and housing shelters, had increased in 31 percent of cities over the last six months. It had fallen in only 8 percent of cities over that time. Meanwhile, residential property values have declined in more than a third of cities, and commercial property values have dropped in 30 percent. [...]"  

Commentary: "Greeks In Despair: Suicide Rate Record High" [03/10/12]   [2:49] "Athens has clinched a critical bond-swap deal with private creditors allowing Greece to narrowly escape default, opening the door for a bailout injection. Eurozone members were quick to rejoice what they called a major step to rescuing the debt-ridden country. But the parachute provides little optimism for the Greeks whose financial woes continue to snowball, as Tom Barton reports. [...]" 

Legal Case: "Honor Students Punished for Their Website" [03/10/12] "Twin-brother honor students claim in Federal Court that their public school "callously" suspended them for 180 days for setting up and running a nonviolent website on their own time and on their own computers. Public school districts have been sued repeatedly for punishing students for nonviolent statements they make on their Facebook pages, sometimes for criticizing or lampooning teachers. Employers too have been sued on similar allegations. In the most recent case, Brian and Linda Wilson, the parents of the twin honor roll students, say Lee's Summit School District's harsh discipline violates their sons' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The Wilsons ask a federal judge to reinstate their 17-year-old sons and wipe out any reference to the suspension from their records. At issue is a blog one of the boys created called northpress.tk, a satirical site about high school life. The boys say they set up the blog on their personal computer on their own time, and used a Dutch domain name so it would be difficult for peers to see it unless they told them about it. "Late in the evening on December 16th, 2011 a third student, not a plaintiff in this action, posted a comment which employed a racial epithet as a title of the post," the complaint states. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Resistance Rises: Reinstating the "Castle Doctrine"  [03/09/12] "As the lower house of the Indiana State Legislature approved Senate Bill 1 on March 1, Representative Linda Lawson lamented that if it were passed the measure would signal that it’s “open season on law enforcement.” “You have men and women in your community who are willing to die for you, willing to die for your family,” insisted Lawson, who – as a former police officer herself –spoke on behalf of 15,000 members of the police union. The only suitable way to display proper gratitude to the heroic paladins of public order, according to Lawson, is to protect their purported authority to invade your home and kill you with impunity – a privilege that would be undermined by SB 1.  The text of SB 1 states that its legislative purpose “is to protect citizens from unlawful entry into their homes by law enforcement officers or persons pretending to be law enforcement officers. Both citizens and law enforcement officers benefit from clear guidance about the parameters of lawful home entry, which will reduce the potential for violence and respect the privacy and property of citizens.”  To that end, the bill recognizes that an individual “may use force … to prevent or terminate a law enforcement officer’s unlawful entry.”  [...] Although Lawson’s hunting metaphor was probably used because it was a convenient cliché, it contains a deeper significance that should not be ignored: Like the rest of the State’s exalted brotherhood of coercion, she assumes that the privacy of the individual’s home falls within the police officer’s natural habitat.  SB1 is not an innovation; it simply restores an explicit understanding of Indiana’s “castle doctrine,” which was subverted last year in the Indiana State Supreme Court’s Barnes v. State ruling. As a wire service report observed at the time, that ruling effectively nullified the core protections contained in the Fourth Amendment and the equivalent provision in the Indiana constitution, as well as protections and immunities recognized by "common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215.” The 3–2 decision last May 12 held that Indiana residents have no right to obstruct unlawful police incursions into their homes. [...]"  

UK: "Homelessness Rise Of 14% 'Just Tip Of Iceberg'" [03/09/12] "Charities have warned that official figures showing a 14% rise in people classed as homeless are just the "tip of the iceberg", because they fail to capture huge numbers who have been displaced from their home and are living with friends, in hostels or on the streets. The latest homelessness figures also indicated local authorities are housing homeless families in bed-and-breakfast hotels because of a chronic shortage of suitable private temporary accommodation, a discredited practice that was almost eradicated by the Labour government. The latest government figures, published on Thursday, showed 48,510 applications for homelessness assistance were approved by councils in England in 2011, up from 42,390 in the previous year, the biggest increase for nine years. Campaigners warned that the problem would worsen in the coming months as the impact of housing benefit cuts took effect, forcing tens of thousands of families and vulnerable young people out of private rented homes. There was a 44% increase in households who were accepted as homeless after having their homes repossessed, and a 39% year-on-year increase in the numbers of people seeking help from the council after having their short-term tenancy terminated. The figures come days after official statistics showed the number of rough sleepers in England had gone up by a fifth. [...]"  

UK: "Far Right Hardcore 'Willing To Prepare For Armed Conflict'" [03/09/12] "A hardcore of far-right supporters in the UK appears to believe violent conflict between different ethnic, racial and religious groups is inevitable, and that it is legitimate to prepare even for armed conflict, according to a new report. [...]"  

Commentary: "State Power Can Hold Corporate Monopolies Accountable" [03/08/12] "Corporate monopolies can only exist through government intervention. Government ‘assistance’ can include corporate welfare subsidies, tax breaks, insider contract deals that eliminate competition, crooked kangaroo court rulings and government regulations. An example of government regulations that exclude competition are contracts that have very narrow requirements so only the favored corporations fit the criteria. Another trick that is used to prop up corporate monopolies is the federal permitting process that may absolve corporations from accountability. The commerce clause is the most common excuse that the federal government uses to foist unsafe or unnecessary regulations on the States and the People. Simply put, the commerce clause was created to keep trade flowing and to prevent tariffs on trade between the states. Over time, the federal government usurped power from the states and and now controls commerce, which means that they have control over everything that may cross state lines. You can view a full constitutional explanation from Judge Napolitano about how the commerce clause has been distorted. [...]"  

MSM: "Former N.J. Governor, Disguises Self As Homeless To Expose System Shortcomings" [03/08/12] "Covered with a fake beard and touches of makeup, former New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey, became Jimmy Peters, a homeless Newark man. Accompanied by a social worker to get him into an emergency one-night stay, Codey -- now serving as a state senator -- showed up to the Goodwill Mission just before 9 p.m. Monday to survey the conditions of the homeless shelter where he would spend the night, MSNBC reports. He slept on the mattress on the floor, a luxury many homeless weren't afforded that night. "To find a place to take you if you're homeless was impossible essentially," Codey told the news source, "unless you're on some government entitlement program." Codey found the most trouble came from telling the shelters he had just been released from a psychiatric ward of a local hospital. In those instances he was almost immediately denied -- as is the case for real mentally ill homeless men. [...] Robert Davidson, executive director of the Essex County Mental Health Association cited a study from the Corporation of Supportive Housing which showed that nearly 90 percent of the New Jersey's homeless population suffer from a mental illness, NJ.com reports. "The system does everything it can to divert that person from getting service," Davidson told MSNBC. "It's absurd."[...]"  

Commentary: "Government Buying 7 Million Pounds Of Ammonia-Treated Meat For School Lunch Program" [03/08/12] "Pink slime -- that ammonia-treated meat in a bright Pepto-bismol shade -- may have been rejected by fast food joints like McDonald's, Taco Bell and Burger King, but is being brought in by the tons for the nation's school lunch program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is purchasing 7 million pounds of the "slime" for school lunches, The Daily reports. Officially termed "Lean Beef Trimmings," the product is a ground-up combination of beef scraps, cow connective tissues and other beef trimmings that are treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill pathogens like salmonella and E. coli. It's then blended into traditional meat products like ground beef and hamburger patties. "We originally called it soylent pink," microbiologist Carl Custer, who worked at the Food Safety Inspection Service for 35 years, told The Daily. "We looked at the product and we objected to it because it used connective tissues instead of muscle. It was simply not nutritionally equivalent [to ground beef]. My main objection was that it was not meat." Custer and microbiologist Gerald Zernstein concluded in a study that the trimmings are a "high risk product," but Zernstein tells The Daily that "scientists in D.C. were pressured to approve this stuff with minimal safety approval" under President George H.W. Bush's administration. The USDA asserts that its ground beef purchases "meet the highest standard for food safety." [...]"  

Commentary: "15 Potentially Massive Threats To The U.S. Economy Over The Next 12 Months " [03/08/12] "We live in a world that is becoming increasingly unstable, and the potential for an event that could cause “sudden change” to the U.S. economy is greater than ever. There are dozens of potentially massive threats that could easily push the U.S. economy over the edge during the next 12 months. A war in the Middle East, a financial collapse in Europe, a major derivatives crisis or a horrific natural disaster could all change our economic situation very rapidly. Most of the time I write about the long-term economic trends that are slowly but surely ripping the U.S. economy to pieces, but the truth is that just a single really bad “black swan event” over the next 12 months could accelerate our economic problems dramatically. If oil was cut off from the Middle East or a really bad natural disaster suddenly destroyed a major U.S. city, the U.S. economy would be thrown into a state of chaos. Considering how bad the U.S. economy is currently performing, it would be easy to see how a major “shock to the system” could push us into the “next Great Depression” very easily. Let us hope that none of these things actually happen over the next 12 months, but let us also understand that we live in a world that has become extremely chaotic and extremely unstable. In the list below, you will find some “sudden change” events that are somewhat likely and some that are quite unlikely. I have tried to include a broad range of potential “black swan events”, but there are certainly dozens more massive threats that could potentially be listed. The following are 15 potentially massive threats to the U.S. economy over the next 12 months…. [...]"  

Commentary: "The Dumbest Credit Card Crimes Of 2011" [03/07/12] "As far as criminal genius goes, physically stealing a credit card ranks somewhere between attempting to rob an armored car and stealing ice cream from kids in the park. It’s extraordinarily risky, but the payoff is usually about as rewarding as brain freeze. Often, a stolen credit card will be canceled before a thief even has a chance to use it. Other times, it’ll record every single purchase a thief makes and leave a nice little trail for the cops. Either way, when you steal a credit card, you’re putting your life on the line for a very minimal reward. But the overwhelming likelihood of failure doesn’t stop some of America’s dumbest and most desperate criminals from trying. Since the turn of the century, thieves with brass balls and no foresight have been trying to make pick pocketing credit cards pay off for them– and last year was no different. Let’s take a look at some hilariously bad attempts at credit card theft, all of which occurred within the past 12 months. [...]"  

MSM: "Australia Muslim Veil Law" [03/06/12] "Muslim women in Australia's most populous state will have to remove veils to have their signatures officially witnessed under the latest laws giving New South Wales officials authority to look under religious face coverings. New South Wales state Attorney General Greg Smith said in a statement Monday that beginning April 30, officials such as justices of the peace and lawyers who witness statutory declarations or affidavits without making identity checks will be fined 220 Australian dollars ($236). "If a person is wearing a face covering, an authorized witness should politely and respectfully ask them to show their face," Smith said. The face coverings also include motorcycle helmets and masks. The government on Monday began an information campaign to ensure the public and officials are aware of the new penalties before they come into force. [...]"  

UK: "Britain: Millions Of Shoppers Borrow Just To Stay Alive As They Use Credit For Groceries" [03/05/12] "More than half of Britons cannot cope on their current salaries with one in five forced to borrow money to buy groceries and other household essentials because of the soaring cost of living, a new survey revealed today. One in four people revealed they've had to use their savings to buy food or other daily essentials while one in five have gone into debt to do this. Another 10 per cent said they could envisage needing to borrow buy food in the future. Only 43 per cent currently feel they can afford to live on their current income while 36 per cent have admitted to finding things difficult - twice the proportion who were struggling in 2006. It comes off the back of soaring food costs with the price of supermarket staples up across the board. Carrots and cucumbers, for example, are up 20 per cent more this year while the key elements of a good bolognese, beef mince and tomato sauce, are up a third in a year. [...] Since 2010, more people have started shopping around for groceries, buying things second hand, cutting their annual holiday, switching energy supplier and avoiding taking out personal credit. The recession has led to 29 per cent of people looking for bargains in second-hand shops or charity shops and to forgo their annual holiday. More consumers are using the internet to find lower prices – 37 per cent of people have started to look for deals online in response to the economic crisis. But the most common change people have made recently, as a direct response to current financial pressures, is socialising at home rather than going to the pub – with 38 per cent now doing this as a result of the downturn. " 

MSM: "MN GOP Lawmaker Compares Food Stamp Recipients To Wild Animals" [03/04/12] "One Republican lawmaker in Minnesota expressed a peculiar but existing belief in GOP circles Friday afternoon, claiming that food stamps recipients are virtually similar to feeding wild animals. State Rep. Mary Franson released a Youtube video describing her hopes of reducing the amount of time residents in Minnesota could stay on food stamps from five years to three. “And here, it’s kind of ironic, I’ll read you this little funny clip that we got from a friend,” she said. “It says, ‘Isn’t it ironic that the food stamp program, part of the Department of Agriculture, is pleased to be distributing the greatest amount of food stamps ever. Meanwhile, the Park Service, also part of the Department of Agriculture, asks us to please not feed the animals, because the animals may grow dependent and not learn to take care of themselves.” [...]"  Note: This individual reincarnated retread is oblivious to the lack of functioning of the very society in which she operates, and doesn't recognize the social necessity of a 'safety net' to balance off the failings of her own paradigm. Let her 'provide a wide selection of good jobs for people', instead of running her mouth.

Trends: "Netherlands Now Has Traveling Euthanasia Squads" [03/03/12] "It has just become easier for the Dutch to get fatal house calls. The Right to Die-NL group yesterday launched a mobile euthanasia service, the AFP reports. Six doctor-and-nurse teams will crisscross the country performing mercy killings for patients whose doctors refuse to do so—provided they meet the Netherlands' strict criteria for euthanasia eligibility. Patients wishing to die in the Netherlands must undergo a rigorous process including having their case reviewed by a special commission consisting of a doctor, jurist, and ethicist. But even with those safeguards in place, the Royal Dutch Society of Doctors, one of the country's largest medical lobbies, has qualms about the mobile mercy killers. "We are not against euthanasia if there is no other alternative," a spokesman tells Sky. "But euthanasia is a complicated process. It comes from the long-time treatment of a patient based on a relationship of trust . …We have serious doubts whether this can be done by a doctor who is only focused on performing euthanasia."  [...]"  Note: Why not ... there are plenty of sadistic people out there who would get a kick out of it. Just because someone has a medical degree, it doesn't mean they couldn't be a psychopath. We've seen it so many times before.

UK: "Government Plans For Police Privatisation" [03/03/12] "Private companies could take responsibility for investigating crimes, patrolling neighbourhoods and even detaining suspects under a radical privatisation plan being put forward by two of the largest police forces in the country. The contract is the largest on police privatisation so far, with a potential value of £1.5bn over seven years, rising to a possible £3.5bn depending on how many other forces get involved. The home secretary, Theresa May, who has imposed a 20% cut in Whitehall grants on forces, has said frontline policing can be protected by using the private sector to transform services provided to the public, but this is the first clear indication of what that will mean in practice. May said on Thursday that she hoped the "business partnership" programme would be in place next spring. The breathtaking list of policing activities up for grabs includes investigating crimes, detaining suspects, developing cases, responding to and investigating incidents, supporting victims and witnesses, managing high-risk individuals, patrolling neighbourhoods, managing intelligence, managing engagement with the public, as well as more traditional back-office functions, such as managing forensics, providing legal services, managing the vehicle fleet, finance and human resources. [...]"  

MSM: "The World’s Most Confusing Body Language" [03/03/12] "Ever suffered from a bout of foot-in-mouth disease whilst in a foreign country? Well, get some common hand gestures wrong while you travel, and you may end up putting your foot in it without ever opening your mouth. We’ve devised a list of the most misunderstood and confusing hand gestures to make sure you don’t end up offending someone when you wish to compliment them, or vice-versa. Thumbs up With the overwhelming amount of American movies circulating the world, it is peculiar to learn that a ‘thumbs up’ can still be misunderstood in some countries. Do it in South America and some regions of Africa and you may well get punched in the face; do it in the Middle East and you’ll get lynched, this is about as insulting as you can get. Funnily enough in Germany it just means the number one, so unless you’re about to order one of something, it’s bound to be a little awkward. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Judge Rules (Illinois) Eavesdropping Law Unconstitutional" [03/03/12] "A Cook County judge today ruled the state’s controversial eavesdropping law unconstitutional. The law makes it a felony offense to make audio recordings of police officers without their consent even when they’re performing their public duties. Judge Stanley Sacks, who is assigned to the Criminal Courts Building, found the eavesdropping law unconstitutional because it potentially criminalizes “wholly innocent conduct.” The decision came in the case of Christopher Drew, an artist who was arrested in December 2009 for selling art on a Loop street without a permit. Drew was charged with a felony violation of the eavesdropping law after he used an audio recorder in his pocket to capture his conversations with police during his arrest. [...]"  Note: Also, if someone is right in front of you, you can't be 'eavesdropping" because they know you're there, so the derivative principle was stupid to begin with.

MSM: "23 States Considering Welfare Drug Tests" [03/02/12] "Lawmakers in 22 states think Florida had the right idea with its law requiring welfare recipients to pass a drug test. States like Wyoming, Illinois, Maryland, and Colorado are all considering similar laws that would make a clean drug test a prerequisite for food stamps, welfare, and other forms of government aid, USA Today reports. Ohio and Tennessee are even considering restricting or eliminating eligibility for those convicted of drug felonies. Another proposed law would mandate substance abuse training for anyone receiving housing assistance. "If you have enough money to be able to buy drugs, then you don't need the public assistance," reasoned one Colorado legislator. Of course, the Florida law has caught very few offenders, while drawing a fierce—and so far successful—legal challenge from the ACLU, which says the law unfairly stigmatizes welfare recipients. "This exemplifies the extent to which folks are willing to scapegoat poor people when it suits political interests," a lawyer for the group says. [...]"  

MSM: "Court Approves Warrantless Searches Of Cell Phones " [03/02/12] "Officers in Indiana found a number of cell phones at the scene of a drug bust, and searched each phone for its telephone number. Having the numbers allowed the government to subpoena the owners’ call histories, linking them to the drug-selling scheme. One of the suspects, Abel Flores-Lopez, who was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, argued on appeal that the police had no right to search the phone’s contents without a warrant. The U.S. Court of Appeal for the 7th Circuit rejected that argument, finding that the invasion of privacy was so slight that the police’s actions did not violate the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches. [...] The case gave the 7th Circuit an occasion to examine just how far police can go when it comes to searching electronic gadgets. “Lurking behind this issue is the question whether and when a laptop or desktop computer, tablet, or other type of computer (whether called a ‘computer’ or not) can be searched without a warrant,” Judge Richard Posner wrote for the three-judge panel. He raised the example of the iCam, which allows someone to use a phone to connect to a home-computer web camera, enabling someone to search a house interior remotely. “At the touch of a button, a cell phone search becomes a house search,” he wrote. Posner compared the cell phone to a diary. Just as police are entitled to open a pocket diary to copy an owner’s address, they should be able to turn on a cell phone to learn its number, he wrote. But just as they’re forbidden from examining love letters tucked between the pages of an address book, so are they forbidden from exploring letters in the files of a phone. The court left the question of just how far police can go in searching a phone’s contents for another day."  

Commentary: "Courts Legalize Forced DNA Extraction With No Warrant" [03/01/12] "For a state that claims to be the nation’s most enlightened defender of civil rights, California’s regular dismissal of even the most basic constitutional protections is an exercise in hypocrisy — at a minimum — and in ideology over rule of law in the worst case. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation’s most liberal, ruled recently that California cops can continue collecting DNA samples to put in a national database from everyone they arrest on a felony, even before that suspect has been proven guilty in a court of law and, worse, without a warrant or court order directing them to be collected. “DNA analysis is an extraordinarily effective tool for law enforcement to identify arrestees, solve past crimes, and exonerate innocent suspects,” U.S. District Judge Milan Smith wrote for the three-judge majority. Moreover, the court said the government had a more compelling interest in collecting the genetic information than yet-to-be-convicted suspects did in protecting their privacy, let alone their right to assert they’re innocent until proven guilty. [...]" 

Commentary: "Growing Number Of Americans Can't Afford Food, Study Finds" [03/01/12] "Here in the United States, growing numbers of people can't afford that most basic of necessities: food. More Americans said they struggled to buy food in 2011 than in any year since the financial crisis, according to a recent report from the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit research group. About 18.6 percent of people -- almost one out of every five -- told Gallup pollsters that they couldn't always afford to feed everyone in their family in 2011. One might assume that number got smaller wrapped up with the national unemployment rate falling for several consecutive months. In actuality, the reverse proved true: the number of people who said they couldn't afford food just kept rising and rising. The findings from FRAC highlight what many people already know: The economic recovery, in theory now more than two years old, has done little to keep millions of Americans out of poverty and deprivation. Incomes for many haven't kept pace with the cost of living, and for a large swath of the country, things today are as bad as ever, or worse. Forty-six million people lived below the poverty line as of 2010, a record number, according to the Census Bureau, and one that's not even as high as some other estimates would have it. Take a further step back and the situation appears even more dire. About 45 percent of people in the U.S. have reported not being able to cover their basic living expenses, including food, shelter and transportation, according to the group Wider Opportunities for Women. The official poverty rate is about 15 percent, but over two-fifths of Americans have so little saved that one financial emergency is all it would take to put them in poverty, according to the Corporation for Enterprise Development. These high rates of financial insecurity -- a consequence of the weak job market, and the prevalence of jobs that don't pay very well -- are making themselves felt at the level of everyday spending. [...]"  

Commentary: "New York State Keeps Death Files of Abused Children Secret" [03/01/12] " ... For the last five years, the state’s Office of Children and Family Services has been working quietly and persistently to limit access to those case reports, which in most instances are the only record of the circumstances leading up to the deaths. In 2007, the office tried to have the law changed. When that failed, it made its own rule. According to a policy enacted by the office in September 2008, it will not release the fatality reports mandated by Elisa’s Law if there are siblings or other children in the home and officials decide that revealing the family’s abuse and investigative history is not in their “best interests.” “This is like back to the future,” said Jeffrey Binder, who was press secretary for former State Senator Roy M. Goodman, Republican of Manhattan, when he sponsored Elisa’s Law. “We were trying very hard to remove the veil of secrecy.” After The New York Times began asking about the policy on withholding reports, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the governor’s office would review the change.  [...]" 

Commentary: "Social Unrest on the Rise in Southern Chile" [03/01/12] "The police have cracked down hard on demonstrators in the southern Chilean region of Aysén, who have been protesting the area's isolation and high local prices of fuel and food for the past two weeks. "We were being exploited," Henry Angulo, leader of the artisanal fisherfolk of Puerto Aysén, told IPS, describing decades of absence of public policies that would reduce the high prices of food and fuel in the region. Puerto Aysén, on the Aysén river, is one of several towns where protests are occurring in the region, which is 1,640 km from the capital. The region, which has a very cold climate, is far from areas producing food and fuel. [...]"  

Commentary: "Violence In Western China Underscores Uptick In Minority Unrest " [03/01/12] "China on Wednesday accused terrorists in a Muslim Uighur region of attacking civilians, but an exiled Uighur group said the violence that killed at least 12 people mainly targeted armed Chinese personnel. The bloodshed late Tuesday in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang came at a sensitive time, ahead of next week's opening of China's national legislature, when authorities tighten security nationwide to prevent anything that would mar the annual session. Officials and state media said the bloodshed started when assailants attacked civilians with knives on a commercial street in Yecheng city, killing 10 people; police fatally shot two of the attackers, the official accounts said. [...]" 

UK: "Welfare Reform Bill Passed Into Law After Lords Back Down" [03/01/12] "The House of Lords has passed the Welfare Reform Bill, having withdrawn its only remaining objection to the government's flagship piece of legislation. David Cameron hailed "an historic step in the biggest welfare revolution in over 60 years" after the Government's controversial reforms cleared Parliament. Writing on HuffPost UK on Wednesday night, the PM said it would take people out of dependency, saying it was an example of "compassionate government in action". The legislation brings in a £26,000-a-year household benefits cap and sets up the universal credit.  The Bill had a stormy passage through the Lords, with peers inflicting seven defeats on the Government when the legislation was first considered and a further one after MPs had overturned all the setbacks. The government is clearly delighted that the Bill has now completed its passage through Parliament - ministers had been keen to see all stages of it finished by the end of the financial year. But many will be upset that the Lords caved in over the so-called Bedroom Tax, which will see penalties for people living in council homes claiming benefits if they have a spare room. On Wednesday night independent crossbencher Lord Best withdrew without a vote an amendment on the Bedroom Tax. The Bill will now be sent for Royal Assent. [...]"  

Trends: "UN: Drug Gangs Controlling Parts Of British Cities" [02/29/12]   "Professor Hamid Ghodse, president of the UN's International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), said there was ''a vicious cycle of social exclusion and drugs problems and fractured communities'' in cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. The development of ''no-go areas'' was being fuelled by threats such as social inequality, migration and celebrities normalising drug abuse, he warned.  [...] 'In many societies around the world, whether developed or developing, there are communities within the societies which develop which become no-go areas. ''Drug traffickers, organised crime, drug users, they take over. [...]" 

MSM: "Durable Goods Orders in U.S. Slump 4%, Most in Three Years" [02/29/12] "Orders for U.S. durable goods fell in January by the most in three years, led by a slowdown in demand for commercial aircraft and business equipment. Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years slumped 4 percent, more than forecast, after a revised 3.2 percent gain the prior month, data from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 1 percent decline, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.  [...]"  

MSM: "California Bill Would Remove Felony Penalties For Drug Possession" [02/28/12]   "Legislation recently introduced to the California Senate would change simple drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor under state law. State Sen. Mark Leno (D), who introduced the bill, touted the revision as a way to alleviate overcrowding in state prisons and county jails, and save millions of dollars in the process. [...] The state is struggling with its massive prison population. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to release about 40,000 inmates because prison conditions caused by chronic overcrowding violated the constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, reducing penalties for drug possession would save counties about $159 million per year. The new legislation, SB 1506, would not apply to anyone involved in selling, manufacturing or possessing drugs for sale. Federal laws already treat drug possession as a misdemeanor.[...]"

Commentary: "U.S. Water Bills To Triple After 2012" [02/28/12] "First high gas prices, now water. A shocking new report about the nation's crumbling drinking water system says that Americans should expect their bills to double or triple to cover repairs just to keep their faucets pouring. That means adding up to $900 a year more for water, nearly equal the amount of the newly extended payroll tax cut. Fixing and expanding underground drinking water systems will cost over $1 trillion in the next 25 years and users will get socked with the bill, according to the American Water Works Association. As with most infrastructure investments, spending heavily now means less costs down the road. But with little appetite in the country for even trickling taxes now, a delayed and more expensive fix is almost guaranteed. The association figures that spending to fix leaky water systems will double from roughly $13 billion a year today to $30 billion annually by 2040. [...]"  Note: Of course, this dystopian 'future' is void.

Concepts and Practices: "Drug Testing Bill Targets Florida State Workers, Excludes Lawmakers " [02/28/12]   A Florida state lawmaker is pushing a bill requiring state agencies to test their workers for drugs. But the bill wouldn't mandate testing for all public sector employees; members of the Florida legislature would get a pass. Rep. Jimmie Smith (R-Lecanto), the bill's sponsor, said he supports drug testing for lawmakers, but requiring them to pee in cups like everyone else would violate their constitutional rights. In an email to The Huffington Post, Smith cited the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997 decision in Chandler v. Miller, which struck down tests for political candidates in Georgia. While he "strongly" supports drug testing for legislators, Smith said, "being elected to office is completely different from being hired by a company or agency." Some of Smith's Democratic colleagues think his bill would set a double standard. "I firmly believe we have to lead by example," Rep. Joe Abruzzo (D-Wellington) said last week, according to the Miami Herald. "The day that I have to go take a [drug] test as a state representative is the day that I'll support this legislation." In 2011, Republicans caught a fever, and the only prescription has been more drug testing. At least 36 state legislatures considered bills to drug test welfare applicants, and at least a dozen mulled drug tests for the recipients of unemployment benefits -- although lawmakers rarely cite evidence that either population has a drug problem. In several states, Democrats have countered with legislation to drug test the people writing the bills. Florida has already gone further than any other state. Last year, Gov. Rick Scott (R) issued an executive order directing some state agencies to test their workers for drugs, and he was the only governor to sign into law a bill requiring blanket drug testing of every welfare applicant. Lawsuits have beaten back both policies for now. The Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the executive order and the law in court. It won a temporary injunction that halted the welfare testing. Scott suspended the public worker testing in the wake of the suits, which are ongoing. [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Upper Class People Are More Likely To Behave Selfishly, Studies Suggest" [02/28/12] "A raft of studies into unethical behaviour across the social classes has delivered a withering verdict on the upper echelons of society. Privileged people behaved consistently worse than others in a range of situations, with a greater tendency to lie, cheat, take things meant for others, cut up other road users, not stop for pedestrians on crossings, and endorse unethical behaviour, researchers found. Psychologists at the University of California in Berkeley drew their unflattering conclusions after covertly observing people's behaviour in the open and in a series of follow-up studies in the laboratory. Describing their work in the US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, social psychologist Paul Piff and his colleagues at the Institute of Personality and Social Research claim that self-interest may be a "more fundamental motive among society's elite" that leads to more wrongdoing. They say selfishness may be "a shared cultural norm".  [...]" 

MSM: "Change On Federal Benefits Payments Could Leave Child Support Debtors With No Income" [02/27/12] "Thousands of poor and disabled men stand to lose their only income next year because of a change in government policy that will allow states to seize every dollar of federal benefits from people who owe back child support. Previously, states could capture only 65 percent of benefits from people who opted to be paid by paper check. Advocates estimate that 275,000 men could be left destitute as a result of the change. By allowing seizure of the remaining 35 percent of benefits, the rules could cause thousands of poor men to lose their only income. "It's kind of Orwellian, what's being set up here for a segment of the population," says Johnson Tyler, an attorney who represents poor and disabled people collecting federal benefits. "It's going to be a nightmare in about a year unless something changes." [...]"  Note: Fortunately, this isn't scheduled until 2013, after we're all out of here, so all these people don't have to worry. It goes to show you, however, how the people 'running things' are so incompetent and thoughtless .... except for things which mean more money for them.

Canada: "Syphilis Outbreak In New Brunswick Could Get Worse, Health Official Warns" [02/27/12] "An outbreak of syphilis in New Brunswick that has seen the number of cases rise tenfold in the last three years could get worse, a provincial health official warns. From 1993 to 2007, the province recorded an average of one syphilis case per year. In 2008, it recorded six. That jumped to nine the following year, 37 in 2010 and 57 last year. And that number could rise even further this year, with 10 cases of the sexually transmitted disease discovered so far, said New Brunswick's deputy chief medical officer of health. "We seem to unfortunately have a trend," Dr. Denis Allard said in an interview. "We hope we can have an effect on it, but for the time being it seems to be as high or higher than last year." Allard said most of those being infected are between the ages of 20 and 25, adding that some people are at particular risk because of their sexual behaviour. [...]"  

Canada: "Alberta Doctors Continue To Bill Province For Treating Homosexuality As A Mental Disorder Akin To Pedophilia" [02/27/12] "Alberta doctors continue to bill the province for treating homosexuality as a mental disorder akin to bestiality and pedophilia, despite assurances from the former health minister in 2010 that the “incorrect and unacceptable classification” would be removed immediately. “In December 2010, the minister of health agreed . . . that doctors’ diagnostic billing codes listing sexual orientation under mental illness was unacceptable,” Liberal Laurie Blakeman said in the provincial legislature this week. “But those billing codes are in use in exactly the same place and say the same things today.” In 2010, the last year for which figures are available, doctors billed the province for treating homosexuality as a mental disorder five times. The province has known about the outdated classification for more than a decade and the government first promised to change it in 1998. The issue was revived in December 2010 when human rights activist Rob Wells released government records showing doctors used the diagnostic code to bill the province for treating gays and lesbians more than 1,750 times between 1995 and 2004. “It has no place in Alberta,” former Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky said at the time. “It is simply an incorrect and unacceptable classification and I’ve ordered it to be removed immediately. ” [...] Alberta uses the ninth version of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases, which was written in 1975 and is known as the ICD-9. The code was updated in 1990, and the newer ICD-10 does not list homosexuality as a mental disorder.[...]"   Note: It is also true that electroshock therapy has been used on Canadians who demonstrate affinity for the same gender. A barbaric , ignorant practice. Related: "New Diagnostic Mental-Health Manual May Label Shy Children, Grieving Relatives As Ill"  

Commentary: "Saudi King To ‘His People’: Stay Quiet Or Go To Jail" [02/27/12] "Well, OK, given the huge rebuff Syrian President Bashar al-Assad handed the Arab League, maybe the king’s position is understandable. On the other hand, the King’s neighborhood is chock-a-block with calamity situations triggered by the so-called Arab Spring. The King should be a tad relieved. Ongoing violence in Syria and Bahrain, continuing post revolutionary conflict in Egypt and Yemen – all these situations have tended to draw media attention away from locales that don’t present journalists with enough blood-curdling visuals. And Saudi is one of those locales where brutality has always trumped justice and human rights – and still does. While far more highly-publicized transgressions are pervading the Middle East and North Africa, Saudi has quietly put in place a carrot and stick strategy in an effort to keep the country stable. The carrots have consisted of generous cash stipends for every Saudi family and the availability of more government jobs and more funds for job training. The sticks have come from the arsenal brutally used by every Middle East dictator in memory. In March, Saudi Arabia announced that it would not allow any demonstrations or sit-in protests in the country that the government said are aimed at undermining the Kingdom’s security and stability. “Laws and regulations in the Kingdom totally prohibit all kinds of demonstrations, marches and sit-in protests as well as calling for them as they go against the principles of Shariah and Saudi customs and traditions,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said such demonstrations not only breach the Kingdom’s law and order but also encroach on the rights of others. [...]"  

MSM: "Minnesota's Controversial Deadly Force Bill Advances" [02/27/12] "A Minnesota bill that could be sent to the governor next week would sharply expand the circumstances under which people can use deadly force when they feel threatened, a measure that law enforcement groups call a recipe for getting away with murder. Democratic Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has not said whether he will sign or veto the measure advanced by the Republican majority state Senate and House when it gets to him. Under the proposal, "If you are anywhere you can legally be, you can defend yourself against a criminal," said Republican Senator Gretchen Hoffman, the Senate sponsor. "If I am on the street ... and I feel imminent danger of physical harm, I should be able to act with equal or greater force." Several state law enforcement groups opposed the measure, including the vast majority of the 300-plus members of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.  [...]"  

Legal Case: "FBI Turns Off Thousands of GPS Devices After Supreme Court Ruling" [02/27/12] "The Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning the warrantless use of GPS tracking devices has caused a “sea change” inside the U.S. Justice Department, according to FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann. Mr. Weissmann, speaking at a University of San Francisco conference called “Big Brother in the 21st Century” on Friday, said that the court ruling prompted the FBI to turn off about 3,000 GPS tracking devices that were in use. These devices were often stuck underneath cars to track the movements of the car owners. In U.S. v. Jones, the Supreme Court ruled that using a device to track a car owner without a search warrant violated the law. After the ruling, the FBI had a problem collecting the devices that it had turned off, Mr. Weissmann said. In some cases, he said, the FBI sought court orders to obtain permission to turn the devices on briefly – only in order to locate and retrieve them. [...]"  

MSM: "10 Amazing Underground Homes" Link Fixed [02/27/12] "With the population growing more and more each year, it was only a matter of time before people started building their homes underground like Hobbits from the Tolkien tale. Mankind started off living in caves, and now we realize that "earth homes" are actually a very eco-friendly way to live.  [...]"  Note: By the end of December, they will be very nice mausoleums.

MSM: "Greek Farmers Bypass Thieving Middle Men To Sell Crops" [02/26/12]   "Hammered by the financial crisis that has led to ever diminishing income, a group of residents in northern Greece have joined forces with potato farmers to slash consumer prices and ensure producers can get their crop to markets by cutting out the middle man. Hundreds of families turned up Saturday in this northern Greek town to buy potatoes at massively reduced prices, sold directly by producers at cost price. They lined up in cars and with bicycles, on foot and with scooters to collect their bags of spuds from a truck that flung its doors wide open and was doing a roaring trade in the parking lot of a local courthouse. Farmers say it costs about 20 cents ($0.27) to produce a kilogram (2 pounds) of potatoes, but that wholesalers will only buy them for 10-12 cents to get the crop to supermarkets, where they sell for about 60-70 cents a kilogram. Faced with making a loss, many producers say they have been unable to even get their products to the market. Greece's severe financial crisis, now entering its third year, has seen pensions and salaries slashed and led to skyrocketing unemployment of over 20 percent. More and more people have been turning up at soup kitchens run by the church or local aid groups, and homelessness has been increasing. Faced with an ever deepening recession, some local groups have begun coming up with novel ways to beat the financial crunch.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Prisons, Privatization, and the Elusive Employee-Contractor Distinction" [02/25/12] "Critics of private prisons often argue that privatization is inappropriate because of inherent differences between the public and private sectors. There are, of course, plenty of arguments that focus on empirical issues—on the one hand, “mere accounting” concerns like whether private prisons are cheaper; on the other, larger questions like whether private prisons mistreat their inmates. But the “inherent” critics use a different sort of discourse, one that supposedly transcends contingent, empirical claims, instead staking out a position based on high-level political or moral theory, the purposes of criminal punishment, liberal legitimacy, liberty and dignity, symbolism and social meaning. [...] Thus, criminologist John DiIulio has written: [T]o remain legitimate and morally significant, the authority to govern behind bars, to deprive citizens of their liberty, to coerce (and even kill) them, must remain in the hands of government authorities. . . . The badge of the arresting policeman, the robes of the judge, and the state patch on the uniform of the corrections officer are symbols of the inherently public nature of crime and punishment. These concerns are echoed in the law as well. In 2009, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that prison privatization violates “the constitutional rights to personal liberty and human dignity of inmates who are supposed to serve their sentence in that prison. This is because of the actual transfer of powers of management and operation of the prison from the state to a private concessionaire that is a profit-making enterprise. [...]"

UK: "Rough Sleeping On The Rise In Britain" [02/25/12] "The number of people sleeping rough in England has increased by 23 percent in a year, according to new data provided by homelessness charity Crisis. The charity said it had collected the figures in a single night last autumn, and compared with an assessment 12 months earlier, the daily The Independent reported.  [...]" 

UK: "More Youngsters Seeking Counseling For Mental Health Problems And Depression" [02/24/12] "Young people are increasingly turning to professional help for mental health problems and anger management, according to new research with family issues, low self-esteem and social media all cited as problem areas. In a poll of 143 counsellors at Relate, the country's largest provider of relationship support and which sees around 15,000 youngsters each year, 64% said that mental health and depression was the most common new issue affecting young people, and that more young people were being referred for mental health problems. Other issues include an increase in family break-up (cited by 41% of counsellors), parents having mental health conditions (23%) and pressures of social media (21%). Other reasons include dealing with parents splitting up, low self-esteem and managing anger. [...]" 

UK: "Thirty-Five Percent Of British Adults Still Sleep With A Teddy Bear, According To New Survey" [02/24/12] "If you’ve been secretly holding on to childhood toys, you are not alone. Thirty-five percent of adults in Britain admitted they sleep with a teddy bear to de-stress, according to a survey of 6,000 Britons by hotel chain Travelodge, UPI reports. The company commissioned the survey after more than 75,000 bears were forgotten in its 452 hotels in England. “Interestingly the owners have not just been children, we have had a large number of frantic businessmen and women call us regarding their forgotten teddy bear," Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge Spokeswoman. And while not all of them may sleep with a teddy bear, 51 percent of respondents still owned a teddy bear from their childhood, making the average British teddy 27 years old. The most popular ‘bedtime bear’? The classic teddy, with Winnie the Pooh a close second. Twenty-five percent of male respondents took their bear with them on business trips as it reminded them of home, while 15 percent of men and 10 percent of women said they shared intimate secrets with their teddies. What’s more, 26 percent of men surveyed thought it was okay to own a teddy, regardless of one’s age. But one in 10 bachelors and 14 percent of married men said they hid their bears from family and friends. [...]" 

Legal Case: "Judge Strikes Down ‘Defense of Marriage’ Act" [02/24/12] " A federal judge has declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, ordering the federal government to provide health benefits to the wife of a lesbian court employee. It's the first ruling to come down on DOMA since the Obama administration decided to stop defending it in court, the LA Times points out. The law has instead been defended by the House's Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group—which, despite its name, is predominantly conservative.  [...]" 

MSM: "Maryland Governor to Sign Gay Marriage Into Law" [02/24/12] "Maryland is about to become the eighth state to legalize gay marriage. The state Senate today passed the measure as expected, sending it to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his promised signature, reports the Baltimore Sun. Gay rights supporters might hold off on the bubbly, though: The legislation doesn't go into effect until January 2013, and opponents vow to collect enough signatures to put it up for referendum in November. Public opinion looks to be about evenly split, notes the Sun.  [...]"  

Trends: "USPS Plans 27,000 Job Cuts As Plants Shut" [02/24/12] "The U.S. Postal Service, which predicts an annual loss of $18.2 billion by 2015, plans to eliminate 4.9 percent of its workforce by closing almost half of its mail-processing facilities to cut costs. The service plans to shut 223 of its 457 mail-processing plants by February 2013, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a telephone interview today. The Postal Service will cut about 27,000 jobs through attrition, he said. The closings will save the Washington-based service about $2.5 billion a year, Donahoe said. In September, the agency said it was seeking to save $3 billion a year by closing 252 plants and cutting 35,000 jobs. Shutting mail-processing facilities is part of a plan to consolidate work and slow mail delivery to save money. The service, which is seeking to end Saturday mail delivery, posted a loss of $3.3 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31.  [...]" 

MSM: "Indian Government Officials Denounce Homosexuality, Outraging Activists" [02/24/12] "A top lawyer for the Indian government on Thursday called homosexual sex an immoral act that threatens social order, a dramatic reversal that outraged activists in this country’s nascent gay rights movement. “Our constitution is different and our moral and social values are also different from other countries, so we cannot follow them,” Malhotra said, according to the Press Trust of India. “Gay sex is highly immoral and against social order and there is high chance of spreading of diseases through such acts.” The argument came just a day after a government-backed child rights commission told the court that legalizing homosexuality would promote child abuse. Taken together, the statements shocked activists who won a historic judgment just three years ago when the Delhi High Court overruled a colonial-era ban on gay sex. Since then tens of thousands of Indian gays have attended colorful annual parades on the streets of the Indian capital.  [...]"  

MSM: "Dish Network Closing 500 Blockbuster Stores" [02/24/12] "Well, in a fourth-quarter earnings call today, a Dish Network executive said the company is closing about 500 Blockbuster stores in the first quarter. That is about a third of its stores nationwide.  [...]"  

Commentary: "One Is the Quirkiest Number: The Freedom, and Perils, of Living Alone" [02/23/12] "If there is any doubt that we’re living in the age of the individual, a look at the housing data confirms it. For millenniums, people have huddled together, in caves, in mud huts, in split-levels and Cape Cods. But these days, 1 in every 4 American households is occupied by someone living alone; in Manhattan, mythic land of the singleton, the number is nearly 1 in 2.  [...] In a sense, living alone represents the self let loose. In the absence of what Mr. Klinenberg calls “surveilling eyes,” the solo dweller is free to indulge his or her odder habits — what is sometimes referred to as Secret Single Behavior. Feel like standing naked in your kitchen at 2 a.m., eating peanut butter from the jar? Who’s to know? [...] What emerges over time, for those who live alone, is an at-home self that is markedly different — in ways big and small — from the self they present to the world. We all have private selves, of course, but people who live alone spend a good deal more time exploring them. [...] "  

Chart: "The Geography Of Government Benefits In The United States" [02/23/12] "See the share of Americans’ income that comes from government benefit programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, veterans’ benefits and food stamps. [...]"  Related: "Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It"  

Society and Culture: "Israeli Court Invalidates a Military Exemption For The Ultra-Orthodox" [02/23/12] "The Israeli Supreme Court has invalidated a law that exempted from military service ultra-Orthodox Jews engaged in religious studies, adding a new urgency to the government’s negotiations with religious parties over a more equitable distribution of the burdens of citizenship.  The 6-to-3 decision, handed down late Tuesday, declared the so-called Tal Law unconstitutional at a time of growing tension in Israel over the place of the ultra-Orthodox. The law, in effect since 2002, granted exemptions to tens of thousands of religious academy students. It was widely viewed as a failure, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had already said it would not be renewed when it expired this summer. Still, the ruling will now force the government’s hand to come up with a new way forward, one that will be strongly resisted by religious party coalition members. Departing Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, writing for the court majority, said the law had failed to live up to its aim of increasing the number of ultra-Orthodox in the army. Using data presented by the army, the decision noted that last year fewer than 1,300 ultra-Orthodox youths enlisted out of a pool of 8,500, a rate of 15 percent. Among the rest of the Jewish population, the enlistment rate is 75 percent. [...]"  

MSM: "UK Surveillance Culture, ‘Runaway’" [02/22/12] "The UK’s leading privacy campaign group says the British government has developed an out-of-control ‘surveillance culture’ as it revealed the true cost of the country’s CCTV cameras. Big Brother Watch, Britain’s leading campaign group defending individual privacy and civil liberties, has revealed that the real cost of installing CCTV cameras in Britain over the past four years saying it stands at more than GBP 515 million. Despite the huge cost of the British government’s ‘haphazard and badly measured rush to spy on citizens,’ Big Brother Watch maintained that there is no evidence showing any decrease in crime due to the increase in surveillance. In an interview with Sky News, Big Brother Watch director Nick Pickles said the information was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Condemning the British government’s ‘out-of-control surveillance culture,’ Pickles said: “There is no sense in councils pouring taxpayers' money into CCTV if it is doing nothing to reduce crime.” Furthermore, Pickles said that the money spent on the CCTV could have been used for deploying four thousand police officers on the streets at a time when the number of police officers in Britain has fallen to its lowest level for a decade. The news follows reports about the British government’s plans to store the details of British public’s all online communications including every phone call, text message, and email. The all-out invasion on the British public’s privacy comes as predictions have been made about a recurrence of the unprecedented unrest in August considering the dire situation of the British economy and employment. [...]" 

Society and Culture: "California Hunger Striker Dies As Prison Conditions Deteriorate" [02/22/12] "... Corcoran Prison, in Kings County in the heart of California’s Central Valley, is the location of the latest in a series of hunger strikes that have swept across California’s notoriously overcrowded prison system. On July 1, 2011, a group of prisoners held in Pelican Bay State Prison’s Secure Housing Unit (SHU) began a hunger strike that spread across 13 California State Prisons and involved a total of 6,600 prisoners. Prisoners cancelled the strike in October to give the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (CDCR) time to re-evaluate policies that prisoners claim violate basic human rights. Prisoners and prison watch groups report that little to no changes have been made. In 2006, the bipartisan US Commission on Safety and Abuse in Prisons called for drastic reforms to the CDCR’s solitary confinement practices. Prisoners and watch groups have also called for reforms to prison segregation policies, the withholding of food from prisoners, a change in medical care availability for prisoners, and a reduction of overcrowding. California’s state prisons have been subject to heavy criticism for overcrowding. Last year, the United States Supreme Court ordered the state to reduce its prison population by 30,000 in Brown v. Plata. The court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that the total prison population in the state—which is roughly 140 percent of the system’s capacity—results in conditions that violate prisoners’ Eighth Amendment rights. Justice Kennedy, pointing at state prisoner suicide rates that are 80 percent above the national average, proclaimed that conditions for prisoners have resulted in “needless suffering and death”. More than forty percent of prisoners in California are incarcerated for non-violent crimes. [...]" 

Trends: "DHS Hires Security Guards To Protect Government Buildings" [02/22/12] "The Department of Homeland Security has hired hundreds of security guards to protect scores of government buildings across the country as the federal agency prepares for terror threats and potential civil disorder in the United States.  [...] The contracts were awarded by the DHS’ Federal Protective Service, which is tasked with securing over 9,000 federally owned and leased buildings. The FPS also stoked controversy last month when it posted agents armed with semiautomatic guns at a Social Security office in Florida. The armed agents checked identifications of locals as part of Operation Shield, an unannounced drill centered around “detecting the presence of unauthorized persons and potentially disruptive or dangerous activities.”"  

Society and Culture: "For Boomers, It's A New Era Of 'Work Til You Drop" [02/21/12] "Like 78 million other U.S. Baby Boomers, Symons and her husband had the misfortune of approaching retirement age at a time when stock market crashes diminished their 401(k) nest eggs, companies began eliminating defined benefit pensions in record numbers and previously unimagined technical advances all but eliminated entire job descriptions from travel agent to telephone operator. At the same time, companies began moving other jobs overseas, to be filled by people willing to work for far less and still able to connect to the U.S. market in real time. "The paradigm has truly shifted. Now when you're looking for a job you're competing in a world where the competition isn't just the guy down the street, but the guy sitting in a cafe in Hong Kong or Mumbai," says Bill Vick, a Dallas-based executive recruiter who started BoomersNextStep.com in an effort to help Baby Boomers who want to stay in the workforce. Not only has the paradigm shifted, but as it has the generation whose mantra used to be, "Don't trust anyone over 30," finds itself now being looked on with distrust by younger Generation X managers who question whether boomers have the high-tech skills or even the stamina to do what needs to be done. "I always have the feeling that I have to prove my value all the time. That I'm not some old relic who doesn't understand social media or can't learn some new technique," says Symons, who is active on Twitter and Facebook, loves every new time-saving software app that comes down the pike, and laughs at the idea of ever sending another fax. [...]" 

Concepts and Practices: "Atheist High School Student Gets Huge Scholarship Fund" [02/21/12] "A national association that says there's no proof for the existence of 'god' is managing a scholarship fund set up for a teenage atheist at the center of a dispute over a prayer banner at a Rhode Island school. The American Humanist Association says 16-year-old Jessica Ahlquist was targeted with online threats after she challenged the constitutionality of the display at Cranston High School West. It says she stood up against her critics "with class and style." A federal judge last month ordered the banner removed. A school committee on Thursday decided not to appeal. Blogger Hemant Mehta started a campaign at the Friendly Atheist website to raise money for Ahlquist. The Friendly Atheist says the fund has brought in more than $40,000. ...]" Related: "ACLU Sues Over High School Prayer Banner"   

MSM: "Spain Barter Economy Wins Followers In Grip Of Crisis" [02/21/12] "It's 10.30 on a chilly winter's morning in central Madrid and retailer Emanuela Scena is opening up for business. Her shop is one of several offering second-hand goods that have sprung up in Spain's capital during the economic crisis and is packed to the rafters with clothes, books, CDs and electrical equipment. But unlike the others, it doesn't take cash. It's part of a barter economy in goods and services that is gaining ground as the country tips into recession and already sky-high unemployment rates inch up. Finding different ways of generating business has also inspired stores in two towns to start accepting the peseta again, encouraging customers more than a hour's drive away to root through cupboards and drawers for a currency they thought they'd surrendered for good in 2002. [...]" 

Commentary: "British Government Considers Using Nerve Agents On Their Own People" [02/21/12] "British government may use nerve agents on their own people, leading neuroscientists have warned. The agents to be used by police would be banned under an international treaty on chemical weapons, however the government may use a loophole that means it can use the nerve agents against demonstrators within its own borders. Experts have asked the government whether it intends to develop chemical agents that would incapacitate and go beyond the chemical irritants already used such as CS gas. [...]" 

Trends: "Jobless Disability Claims Soar To Record $200B As Of January" [02/21/12] "Standing too many months on the unemployment line is driving Americans crazy — literally — and it’s costing taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. With their unemployment-insurance checks running out, some of the country’s long-term jobless are scrambling to fill the gap by filing claims for mental illness and other disabilities with Social Security — a surge that hobbles taxpayers and making the employment rate look healthier than it should as these people drop out of the job statistics. “It could be because their health really is getting worse from the stress of being out of work,” says Matthew Rutledge, a research economist at Boston College. “Or it could just be desperation — people trying to make ends meet when other safety nets just aren’t there.”  [...] As of January, the federal government was mailing out disability checks to more than 10.5 million individuals, including 2 million to spouses and children of disabled workers, at a cost of record $200 billion a year, recent research from JPMorgan Chase shows. The sputtering economy has fueled those ranks. Around 5.3 percent of the population between the ages of 25 and 64 is currently collecting federal disability payments, a jump from 4.5 percent since the economy slid into a recession. Mental-illness claims, in particular, are surging. During the recent economic boom, only 33 percent of applicants were claiming mental illness, but that figure has jumped to 43 percent, says Rutledge, citing preliminary results from his latest research. His research also shows a growing number of men, particularly older, former white-collar workers, instead of the typical blue-collar ones, are applying. The big concern about the swelling ranks is that once people get on disability, they’re unlikely to give it up and go back to work. “It’s not like other support programs, such as unemployment insurance, which you lose after a year or two,” says Michael Feroli, chief US economist with JPMorgan. Social Security’s disability fund, which has been operating short of cash since 2005, is forecast to run out of reserves by '2018'. "  Note: So there will be enough to cover a lot of people between now and the end of 2012. Related:"88 Million Out Of Work And Not Looking For A Job" "That's how many working-age Americans don't have a job and aren't trying to find one. The increase in people dropping out of the labor market altogether skews the otherwise-positive unemployment numbers released last week. While the jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent in January - a three-year low - it doesn't account for this army of nonworking Americans. The percentage of people participating in the labor market dropped to 63.7 percent last month, the lowest level since May 1983. [...]"  

Canada: "Online Surveillance Bill Would Give Orwellian Powers to Government-Appointed ‘Inspectors’" [02/21/12] "Among other things, the bill requires ISPs to install surveillance technology and software to enable monitoring of phone and internet traffic. Section 34 is there to make sure ISPs comply. So what, exactly, does it say? Essentially, it says that government agents may enter an ISP when they wish, without a warrant, and demand to see absolutely everything — including all data anywhere on the network — and to copy it all. If that seems hard to believe, let’s walk through it. [...]" Related: UK: "Every Phone Call, Text Message, Email and Websites Visited Will Be Stored in Vast Corporate Databases for the Government to Access" "Landline and mobile phone companies and broadband providers will be ordered to store the data for a year and make it available to the security services under the scheme. [...] The plan has been drawn up on the advice of MI5, the home security service, MI6, which operates abroad, and GCHQ, the Government’s “listening post” responsible for monitoring communications. Rather than the Government holding the information centrally, companies including BT, Sky, Virgin Media, Vodafone and O2 would have to keep the records themselves. Under the scheme the security services would be granted “real time” access to phone and internet records of people they want to put under surveillance, as well as the ability to reconstruct their movements through the information stored in the databases. The system would track “who, when and where” of each message, allowing extremely close surveillance. Mobile phone records of calls and texts show within yards where a call was made or a message was sent, while emails and internet browsing histories can be matched to a computer’s “IP address”, which can be used to locate where it was sent.[...]"  

Commentary: "500 U.S. Deaths From Police Tasers; Amnesty Calls For Strict Guidelines" [02/21/12] "On February 13, Johnnie Kamahi Warren died after a police officer used a Taser on him at least twice outside an Alabama bar. The police had been called when Warren became disorderly and combative at the bar. Warren's death raises the Taser-related death toll in the U.S. to at least 500. Warren was unarmed. And that is not uncommon. In fact, a 2008 report by Amnesty International (AI) examined data on hundreds of deaths related to police Taser use and found that an alarming number of those who died were unarmed.  [...]"  

MSM: "Chicago: Psychiatric Patients With No Place to Go but Jail" [02/20/12] "About 11,000 prisoners, a mix of suspects awaiting trial and those convicted of minor crimes, are housed at the jail at any one time, which is like stuffing the population of Palos Heights into an eight-block area on Chicago’s South Side. The Cook County sheriff, Tom Dart, estimated that about 2,000 of them suffer from some form of serious mental illness, far more than at the big state-owned Elgin Mental Health Center, which has 582 beds. Mr. Dart said the system “is so screwed up that I’ve become the largest mental health provider in the state of Illinois.” The situation is about to get worse, according to Mr. Dart and other criminal justice experts. The city plans to shut down 6 of its 12 mental health centers by the end of April, to save an estimated $2 million, potentially leaving many patients without adequate treatment — some of them likely to engage in conduct that will lead to arrests. “It will definitely have a negative impact on jail populations,” said Mr. Dart, who noted that the number of people coming into the jail with mental health problems was already increasing. “It will have direct consequences for us in my general jail population and some of the problems I have here, because a lot of the people with these issues act out more, as you would expect, so that’s a direct consequence.”  [...]" 

MSM: "Disturbing Complaint Against Private Prison" [02/20/12] "The nation's largest private prison company's "negligence, recklessness, and flagrant failure to protect" an inmate allowed other prisoners to stab him 140 times, killing him, the dead man's family claims in Hawaii state court. Hawaii has sent state prisoners to Corrections Corporation of America prisons in Arizona for years, for budget reasons. The family of the late Bronson Nunuha, who died at 26, sued Hawaii and its Department of Public Safety, the Corrections Corporation of America and numerous officials in the state and the private company, in Hawaii's First Circuit Court.[...]"   Related:  See "Corrections Corporation Of America (CCA) Offers To Buy 48 States’ Prisons" [02/15/12] and related stories, below.

MSM: "South Carolina Sheriff Adds Round-the-Clock Checkpoints to Growing Police State" [02/20/12] "Even after such negative publicity several months ago, it appears the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office is not backing down in its attempt to establish what could only be described as a police state.  [...] At issue is Sheriff Matthews’ new massive round-the-clock checkpoint program, which Mattox has consistently opposed as both a citizen and activist. Many suspect that it was this initial opposition to the Sheriff’s program that made Mattox a target to begin with. Nevertheless, in the midst of a world economic depression, and one which is being felt heavily in South Carolina, Matthews was able to procure $350,000 from the Kershaw County council as well as a $190,000 grant from the S.C. Department of Public Safety for the purchase of two new “police chase cars and [the ability to] hire and equip two more deputies to staff a full-time DUI unit.[...]"   Note: Senator Lindsay Graham's state.

MSM: "Staring Into The Abyss: Inside A Despairing Greek Nation" [02/19/12] "When Eleni Nikolaidou agreed to help a university research project, she was asked to plough through 6,000 newspapers from World War II. Life was so difficult for the Greeks under Nazi occupation, she discovered, that papers printed ‘Recipes for Hunger’ on their front pages to help readers survive the deprivations of a dark chapter in history. These included recipes for fried radishes and greens scavenged from parks, along with tips such as grating an aubergine on top of boiled rice to give the look of meat.  One item especially disturbed her: a suggestion that families collect the crumbs from their table after eating to make into a meal at the end of the week. ‘These were terrible times and thousands died of hunger, especially in Athens,’ said Nikolaidou, who is also a teacher. ‘But it struck me as outrageous that people were so hungry they had to keep the crumbs from their table to survive.’ She was so moved she turned her research into a book, reprinting many of the recipes and suggestions. To her surprise Starvation Recipes has become a big hit — a chilling symbol of the stark times confronting Greece once again. What is so shockingly evident as you walk around Athens are the awful parallels between that war-time era and today. The soup kitchens, the beggars, the pensioners picking up discarded vegetables after street markets close, the homeless scavenging for food in bins. These are the signs that can be seen. Less noticeable is the quiet desperation of dignified people who turn off heating despite the cold and share dwindling savings with jobless relatives. Or the workers unable to afford fares home and the children fainting in school from hunger. [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "U.S. Seismologist Testifies Against Scientists In Italy Quake Manslaughter Trial" [02/18/12] " The former chief seismologist for the state’s DOT criticized Italy’s top earthquake experts, saying they were conscious of the high risk in the area and failed to advise residents. The courthouse in L’Aquila, Italy, on February 15 hosted a highly anticipated hearing in the trial of six seismologists and one government official indicted for manslaughter over their reassurances to the public ahead of a deadly earthquake in 2009 (see “Scientists face trial over earthquake deaths” and “Scientists on trial: At fault?”). During the hearing, the former head of the Italian Department of Civil Protection turned from key witness into defendant, and a seismologist from California criticized Italy’s top earthquake experts. All those indicted took part in a meeting held in L’Aquila on March 30, 2009, during which they were asked to assess the risk of a major earthquake in view of the many shocks that had hit the city in the previous months. After the meeting, Bernardo De Bernardinis, deputy head of the Department of Civil Protection, said to the press: “The scientific community tells me there is no danger because there is an ongoing discharge of energy,” a statement that most seismologists consider to be scientifically incorrect. On April 6, 2009, a magnitude-6.3 quake hit the city, killing 309 people. De Bernardinis and the six members of the scientific panel have been indicted for manslaughter because their false reassurances prompted many people not to evacuate.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Foreclosure Abuse Rampant Across U.S., Experts Say " [02/18/12]   "A report this week showing rampant foreclosure abuse in San Francisco reflects similar levels of lender fraud and faulty documentation across the United States, say experts and officials who have done studies in other parts of the country. The audit of almost 400 foreclosures in San Francisco found that 84 percent of them appeared to be illegal, according to the study released by the California city on Wednesday. "The audit in San Francisco is the most detailed and comprehensive that has been done - but it's likely those numbers are comparable nationally," Diane Thompson, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, told Reuters. Across the country from California, Jeff Thingpen, register of deeds in Guildford County, North Carolina, examined 6,100 mortgage documents last year, from loan notes to foreclosure paperwork. Of those documents, created between January 2008 and December 2010, 4,500 showed signature irregularities, a telltale sign of the illegal practice of "robosigning" documents. Robosigning involves the use of bogus documents to force foreclosures without lenders having to scrutinize all the paperwork involved with mortgages. The practice was at the heart of the foreclosure scandal that led to a $25 billion settlement between the U.S. government and five major banks last week. [...]" Obama’s foreclosure settlement with the banks over their improper seizure of tax-paying US citizens’ homes will in fact be subsidized by those very same US taxpayers.

Canada: "Conservatives And Enthusiasts Cheer The End Of The Long-Gun Registry" [02/17/12] "The Conservative government says its MPs will celebrate after a historic vote to end the long-gun registry Wednesday evening, despite vehement opposition to the move in Quebec and much of urban Canada. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told reporters Wednesday, hours before the vote, that the government’s actions are long overdue. “It does nothing to help put an end to gun crimes, nor has it saved one Canadian life,” he said. “It criminalizes hard-working and law-abiding citizens such as farmers and sport shooters, and it has been a billion-dollar boondoggle left to us by the previous Liberal government.” Quebec MP Maxime Bernier said MPs and gun-rights advocates will celebrate together Parliament Hill after Wednesday evening’s vote. Meanwhile, opposition MPs and supporters of the registry are expected to say the government’s actions are a step backwards, because the registry has been useful in keeping the country’s streets safe. Bill C-19, the Ending the Long Gun Registry Act, is guaranteed to pass through the House of Commons, thanks to the Conservative government’s majority, but more political wrangling is expected to follow. [...]" 

MSM: "State Lawmakers Deliver Huge Blow To Prison Privatization" [02/16/12] "The Florida Senate narrowly defeated a bill this week that would have handed over management of more than two dozen state prisons to private corporations -- the largest-ever attempt at prison privatization in the nation. The contentious measure was defeated despite getting the endorsement of powerful state Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Rick Scott and a former chairman of the Florida Republican Party. The Wall Street corporations that own and operate for-profit prisons were closely attuned to the vote in Florida, hoping for a major expansion of management contracts in the nation's third-largest prison system. The policy implications were massive: the bill would have privatized every state prison south of Orlando, which represents about 20 percent of the entire correctional system. The GEO Group, one of the nation's largest private-prison corporations, has its corporate headquarters in the heart of South Florida and had expressed great interest in what its chief executive called "the largest single contract procurement in the history of our industry." [...]"  

Society and Culture: "Empire of Illusion: the End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle" [02/15/12] [60:00] "Journalist Chris Hedges discusses his recent book Empire of Illusion: the End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. In it, he charts the dramatic rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy, and illusion. Hedges argues we now live in two societies: one, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world and can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth; the other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic where serious film and theater, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins. [...]"  Note: Set to start at time reference 15:23. Related: "How Corporations Destroyed American Democracy " [65:00] "How Corporations Destroyed American Democracy - Chris Hedges.Filmed at Socialism 2010 in Chicago by Paul Hubbard [...]"  "Chris Hedges - Reality of Psychopaths" [ [5:50] "Chris Hedges talks on how spying and television allows the corporate state to take control of our minds and souls. The consequences of which resulted in a liberalism that has become profoundly bankrupted. Author of The Death of the Liberal Class and other great books. [...]" Interview: "Chris Hedges: Brace Yourself! The American Empire Is Over & The Descent Is Going To Be Horrifying" [180:00]  

MSM: "Corrections Corporation Of America (CCA) Offers To Buy 48 States’ Prisons" [02/15/12] "In exchange for keeping at least a 90 percent occupancy rate, the private prison company Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has sent a letter to 48 states offering to manage their prisons for the low price of $250 million per year. But reports indicate that private prisons do not actually save states money, since the average inmate costing more than in public prisons. Worse yet, for-profit prisons have been accused of heightened levels of violence toward prisoners and have limited incentives to reduce future crimes by current inmates, through education and training programs, counseling or drug and alcohol rehabilitation, according to a report from the American Civil Liberties Union. Last year, the CCA became the first for-profit prison company to buy outright a state-owned prison, under the auspices of the Administration of Ohio Governor John Kasich (R). [...]"  Note: Looks like Corrections Corporation of America is owned by hedge fund manager William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management LP. Bill Ackman usually donates to the Democrats. He certainly has or can raise the capital for this little venture and this being America it's guaranteed (via lobbying efforts) to be a really good investment. CCA, btw has a whole lobbying arm dedicated toward more strict laws and sentencing. So really, it's 'just good business' ... Also, the private prison now receives federal prisoner subsidies and has an incentive to never let you out since you are now a profit center and profits come first over your rights. That is perfectly legal since executive officers are FEDERALLY required to put their companies interests ahead of ANY other concern.  Related: "Police Officer Caught On Tape Saying He Can "Make Up" Evidence" [02/13/12] [1:10]  

MSM: "Off-Duty Policeman Shouts Executes Guy In Bar Over A Game Of Darts" [02/15/12] "Riverside County sheriff's deputy Dayle Long, 42, allegedly shot Samuel Vanettes, 36, three times, leaving him to die on the floor of the bar in Murrieta, California. An altercation allegedly broke out after the police officer told one of the friends 'I’m better at darts than you are', Chris Hull, 39, told Patch.com. 'My buddy says, "Aw, you suck at darts". (The man) says, "That’s why I’m a cop, I can do whatever I want to do".' [...]"   Note: See "National Police Misconduct Reporting Project" and "Injustice News" links at the top of this panel for related stories.

Commentary: "Greek Fire: Extremist Elites Gone Wild in Democracy's Cradle" [02/14/12] "What are seeing in Greece is not an" economic" program; it is -- most openly and brazenly -- a political program: a savagely destructive extremist ideology being imposed on ordinary people by force. In its all-pervasive brutality and tyrannical control of every aspect of life, it makes the "Shariah law" bogeyman of right-wing nightmares look like an anarchists' picnic. And make no mistake: the extremist doctrine being forced on Greece is, in every particular, the ruling ideology of the United States, Great Britain, and all the "great democracies" of the West. The aim of the doctrine is the "final solution" of the "problem" of democracy: i.e., the fact that the rabble keep seeking a decent life for themselves and trying to order their own affairs instead of staying in harness to enrich an all-powerful elite. There is black irony in the fact that these elites are literally strangling Western democracy in its cradle. But it is also apt; for as Whitney points out, one of the specific points of the new bailout "agreement" for Greece is, incredibly, "lifting constraints [i.e., safety regulations] on restricted product categories such as baby food."  [...]"  

Canada: "Omnibus Crime Bill: Court Rules Mandatory Minimum Sentence Unconstitutional" [02/14/12] "An Ontario Superior Court judge has struck down a mandatory minimum sentence for a first offence of possessing a loaded firearm. Judge Anne Molloy found a man guilty today of that offence, but ruled that the circumstances of this case don't warrant a three-year penitentiary sentence. She ruled that to impose such a sentence for what she called Leroy Smickle's "foolish act" would constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," and would breach the charter. Molloy declared that section of the Criminal Code of no force and effect. The Department of Justice couldn't immediately be reached for comment on whether they would appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. The decision comes as the federal Conservatives' controversial omnibus crime legislation, with a focus on mandatory minimum sentences, is being considered in the Senate. [...]"  

MSM: "Bullish On Jobs? These 10 U.S. Cities Are" [02/14/12] "Corpus Christi, Texas: +4.3 percent rise in jobs; Kankakee-Bradley, Ill.: +4.6 percent; Laredo, Texas: +4.7 percent; Holland-Grand Haven, Mich.: +4.8 percent; Peoria, Ill.: +4.8 percent; Lawrence, Kan.: +5.0 percent; Sandusky, Ohio: +5.1 percent; Blacksburg- Christiansburg- Radford, Va.: +5.2 percent; Casper, Wyo.: +5.9 percent; Columbus, Ind.: +6.4 percent "  Note: See the multi-page articles for specifics.

MSM: "10 States With the Highest Percentage of Government Workers: Includes Federal, State, Local" [02/14/12]   [0:00] "Hawaii, Alaska, D.C, Maryland, Virginia, New Mexico, W.Virginia, South Carolina [...]"  Note:  Senators and Representatives are for those states are telling ...

UK: "Occupy London Eviction 'Extreme And Draconian', Protesters Claim" [02/14/12] "The legal steps taken to evict anti-capitalist protesters camping outside St Paul's Cathedral were more "extreme and draconian" than necessary, the Court of Appeal heard today. Three judges headed by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, are considering applications for permission to appeal against Mr Justice Lindblom's ruling in the High Court last month. Granting orders for possession and injunctions against Occupy London, he said the proposed action by the City of London Corporation - which will not be enforced pending appeal - was "entirely lawful and justified", as well as necessary and proportionate. [...]The City said there was an "overwhelming" case for the court's intervention because of the impact on St Paul's Churchyard of the camp, which has been there since October 15 last year. Its lawyers told the judge - who made a private visit to the site before Christmas - that the camp had acted as a magnet for disorder and crime in the area, impacted on worshippers, affected trade, and caused waste and hygiene problems."  

MSM: "It's Only Getting Worse: Economists' Latest Dire Prediction" [02/14/12] "The economy that we had before the recession is gone," said Kenneth Goldstein, economist at the Conference Board. "It's not coming back." The U.S. economy is transitioning to a " new normal" in which businesses invest less and consumers spend less than before the recession, Goldstein told The Huffington Post in an interview last week. As a result, he said, economic growth and job growth will be slower than before. He said that businesses, consumers and the government would need to spend at least $1 trillion more than they are likely to spend in order for the economy to return to its pre-recession growth rate. But he added that no one is willing to spend the money necessary to jumpstart the economy, since the government is cutting spending, consumers are saving more, and businesses expect a lower return on their investments. "Where's the money?" Goldstein asked. [...] The Conference Board, which counts half of all Fortune 500 companies among its members, provides economic and business advice and research to its member companies. The main problem is that consumers' expectations for the future have plunged, Goldstein said. They suffered from such a large economic shock in 2008 and 2009 that many older people now do not expect to return to work, and many younger people no longer expect to make that much money, he continued. As a result, Americans have cut back on spending."  

MSM: "Pressure Mounts On Mortgage Giants To Address Hole In Foreclosure Deal" [02/14/12] "Top law enforcement officials in several states are signaling they will pressure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to correct what is widely seen as one of the biggest deficiencies of the $25 billion mortgage settlement announced on Thursday: It simply doesn't help that many homeowners. Borrowers whose loans are backed by the government-controlled mortgage giants -- nearly half of all outstanding mortgages in the United States -- are not eligible for payouts under the deal. State officials who negotiated the deal say they could not convince Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the loan giants, to join onto the settlement because they are steadfastly opposed to principal reductions -- loan write-downs for borrowers whose homes are at risk of foreclosure. "This is a glaring weakness of the overall settlement," said one state official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Fannie and Freddie were absolutely opposed to principal reduction. You'd ask why, and they'd say 'moral hazard to the taxpayer.'" So far, the mortgage giants and the FHFA have only said that they're avoiding principal reduction because of the cost to taxpayers. Principal reductions are hailed by many economists and housing experts as the most effective way to help homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages, owing more than the home is worth. About 1 in 5 homes in the U.S. are currently underwater. The attorneys general of New York, California and Massachusetts have all said in recent days that they are disappointed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not part of the settlement, and that they plan to continue pressuring the mortgage giants to write-down loans.  [...]"  

Trends: "America's Homeless Resort To Tent Cities" [02/13/12] [3:31] "Panorama's Hilary Andersson comes face to face with the reality of poverty in America and finds that, for some, the last resort has become life in a tented encampment. Just off the side of a motorway on the fringes of the picturesque town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a mismatched collection of 30 tents tucked in the woods has become home - home to those who are either unemployed, or whose wages are so low that they can no longer afford to pay rent. Conditions are unhygienic. There are no toilets and electricity is only available in the one communal tent where the campers huddle around a wood stove for warmth in the heart of winter. Ice weighs down the roofs of tents, and rain regularly drips onto the sleeping campers' faces as they sleep. Tent cities have sprung up in and around at least 55 American cities - they represent the bleak reality of America's poverty crisis.  According to census data, 47 million Americans now live below the poverty line - the most in half a century - fuelled by several years of high unemployment. One of the largest tented camps is in Florida and is now home to around 300 people. Others have sprung up in New Jersey and Portland.[...] These tent cities - and this level of poverty - are images that many Americans associate with the Great Depression. Unemployment in America today has not reached the astronomical levels of the 1930s, but barring a short spike in 1982, it has not been this high since the Depression era. There are now 13 million unemployed Americans, which is three million more than when Obama was first elected. The stark reality is that many of them are people who very recently lived comfortable middle-class lives. For them, the economic downturn came too fast and many have been forced to trade their middle-class homes for lives in shelters, motels and at the far extreme, tented encampments. " 

Society and Culture:  "Herd" Mentality Explained" [02/13/12] "A 2008 research study (Sheep In Human Clothing – Scientists Reveal Our Flock Mentality) shed light on a behavior that is consistent among many species – that is, making decisions based upon the actions of others. Scientists at the University of Leeds believe they may have found why humans flock like sheep and birds, subconsciously following a minority of individuals. Researchers discovered that it takes a minority of just five per cent to influence a crowd’s direction – and that the other 95 per cent follow without realizing it. The findings could have major implications for directing the flow of large crowds, in particular in disaster scenarios, where verbal communication may be difficult.  The findings show that in all cases, the ‘informed individuals’ were followed by others in the crowd, forming a self-organizing, snake-like structure. “We’ve all been in situations where we get swept along by the crowd,” says Professor Krause. “But what’s interesting about this research is that our participants ended up making a consensus decision despite the fact that they weren’t allowed to talk or gesture to one another. In most cases the participants didn’t realize they were being led by others.” ... “We initially started looking at consensus decision making in humans because we were interested in animal migration, particularly birds, where it can be difficult to identify the leaders of a flock,” says Professor Krause. “But it just goes to show that there are strong parallels between animal grouping behavior and human crowds.” The paper relating to this research, entitled Consensus Decision Making In Human Crowds PDF is published in the current issue of Animal Behavior Journal. [...]"  

Commentary: "Staying Single: A Valid Choice for Millions" [02/13/12] "The single life: Some people never find the love of their lives. And live to tell about it. Americans can sympathize with people who are alone because of divorce or the death of a partner—but what about the eternally single? In a society obsessed with romance, lifelong singles are often ostracized and thought to have a character flaw, the Washington Post reports.  [...] in a nation with 96 million unmarried adults, many have given up on finding "the one."  [...] the unmarried can get lonely, but it's time we salute their life choices, too: “Settling just never seemed like the right move,” says Wendy Braitman, author of the blog All Things Single. “Because that, I think, tears at your soul.”"  Note: 5-page article. Print icon link has it all on one page.

MSM: "Greek Government Passes Austerity Bill As Greek People Riot Over Austerity" [02/13/12] [1:23] Note: See RT On Air for live coverage of European News. For Greek Live News: Live from Syntagma Square

MSM: "Athens Burns: Historic Buildings Torched By Rioters As Austerity Vote Passes" [02/13/12] "Greek lawmakers on Monday approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the debt-crippled nation from bankruptcy, after rioters in central Athens torched buildings, looted shops and clashed with riot police. The historic vote paves the way for Greece's European partners and the International Monetary Fund to release $170 billion (euro130 billion) in new rescue loans, without which Greece would default on its mountain of debt next month and likely leave the eurozone – a scenario that would further roil global markets. Lawmakers voted 199-74 in favor of the cutbacks, despite strong dissent among the two main coalition members. A total 37 lawmakers from the majority Socialists and conservative New Democracy party either voted against the party line, abstained or voted present. Sunday's clashes erupted after more than 100,000 protesters marched to the parliament to rally against the drastic cuts, which will ax one in five civil service jobs and slash the minimum wage by more than a fifth. At least 45 businesses were damaged by fire, including several historic buildings, movie theaters, banks and a cafeteria, in the worst riot damage in Athens in years. Fifty police officers were injured and at least 55 protesters were hospitalized. Forty-five suspected rioters were arrested and a further 40 detained. [...]"  Related: "Greek Prime Minister Warns Of 'Uncontrolled Chaos' If Country Defaults" [02/12/12] "Greece's plans to avert bankruptcy were in chaos on Friday night as politicians, police and protesters formed a powerful and violent opposition to the internationally-imposed austerity measures.  [...]" | "Greece Plunged Into Political Turmoil Over Austerity Measures" [02/11/12] " Greece’s place in Europe once again hung in the balance on Friday, as the fragile interim coalition of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was plunged into turmoil and European leaders expressed doubts about the country’s commitment to remaking its economy and achieving solvency. Following a wave of defections from his cabinet, and as street protests turned violent in Athens amid a general strike, Mr. Papademos told lawmakers that they must approve the measures — including a 22 percent cut in the benchmark minimum wage and public sector layoffs — or the country would suffer a disorderly default with social dislocation and an eventual exit from the single currency. In a televised speech to his cabinet, Mr. Papademos also threatened to eject from his fragile interim coalition government any ministers who objected to the deal. Rejecting the measures “is not an option that we can allow as the country will pay a high price for the consequences,” he said. “Any other option would be catastrophic.” The prime minister’s comments kicked off what is expected to a long and chaotic weekend of brinkmanship, with Greek politicians fighting for their survival in the face of politically unpopular austerity measures and European leaders demanding more concessions in a climate of growing urgency — and mistrust — between Greece and its foreign lenders. Greece’s troika of foreign lenders — the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — have demanded sweeping austerity measures in exchange for $170 billion in bailout money Greece needs in order to avert default. The troika has also made passage of the measures a condition for sealing a deal in which private creditors will take voluntary losses of up to 70 percent of Greek debt. But nearly two years after Greece’s first bailout, both Athens and its lenders are at a dangerous impasse. Europe has lost confidence that the Greek government has the will or capacity to follow through on its commitments to structural changes. Greeks, whose standard of living is dropping precipitously with no end in sight, have lost confidence that the bailout money will actually save the country from default.  [...]"

Explorations: "Separate Critical Thinking Lessons for Children and Adults" [02/12/12] "The resource covers basic logic and faulty arguments, developing student’s critical thinking skills. Suitable for year 8-10, focused on science issues, the module can be adapted to suit classroom plans. The videos can also serve as an introduction to critical thinking for adults not familiar with the subject. [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Interpol Accused After Journalist Arrested Over Muhammad Tweet" [02/11/12] "Interpol has been accused of abusing its powers after Saudi Arabia used the organisation's red notice system to get a journalist arrested in Malaysia for 'insulting the Prophet Muhammad'. Police in Kuala Lumpur said Hamza Kashgari, 23, was detained at the airport "following a request made to us by Interpol" the international police cooperation agency, on behalf of the Saudi authorities. Kashgari, a newspaper columnist, fled Saudi Arabia after posting a tweet on the prophet's birthday that sparked more than 30,000 responses and several death threats. The posting, which was later deleted, read: "I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you … I will not pray for you." More than 13,000 people joined a Facebook page titled "The Saudi People Demand the Execution of Hamza Kashgari". Clerics in Saudi Arabia called for him to be charged with apostasy, a religious offence punishable by death. Reports suggest that the Malaysian authorities intend to return him to his native country. [...]" 

Concepts and Practices: "First Mobile Euthanasia Unit To Be Launched In Holland" [02/11/12] "Plans for a mobile euthanasia team to assist people to die at home have been given the go-ahead in Holland, according to reports. The mobile teams of doctors would be the first to carry out assisted suicides in borderline cases when family doctors refuse to administer patients with lethal drugs on ethical grounds. [...] "To say that there are certain conditions in which life is legally declared to be not worth living is a major shift in the moral and spiritual atmosphere in which we live. [...]" 

Concepts and Practices:  "Timeless: George Carlin On The Illusion Of "Freedom" [02/11/12]   [6:05]    

Concepts and Practices: "Shyness And Grieving To Be Classified As Mental Illnesses In Controversial New Reforms" [02/11/12] "The threat comes in the form of proposed changes to a U.S. manual of mental disorders, viewed as a bible by some in the field. Although the changes to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders would not directly affect clinical practice here – where doctors tend to use different guidelines – experts say it would eventually influence thinking. [...] ‘Back in 1840 the census of the United States included just one category for mental disorder. ‘By 1917 the American Psychiatric Association recognised 59, rising to 128 in 1959, 227 in 1980, and 347 in the last revision. "  Note: And what degree of mental illness would one have to have if one believes in the consensus reality as a viable approach to managing a civilization? Related: "CCHR: Psychiatry—Labeling Kids with Bogus ‘Mental Disorders’" [1:51]| "Psychiatric Disorders: The Facts Behind the Billion Dollar Marketing Campaign" "The psychiatric/pharmaceutical industry spends billions of dollars a year in order to convince the public, legislators and the press that psychiatric disorders such as Bi-Polar Disorder, Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, etc., are medical diseases on par with verifiable medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. This is simply a way to maintain their hold on a $84 billion dollar- a- year psychiatric drug industry that is based on marketing and not science. Unlike real medical disease, there are no scientific tests to verify the medical existence of any psychiatric disorder. Despite decades of trying to prove mental disorders are biological brain conditions, due to chemical imbalances or genetic factors, psychiatry has failed to prove even one of their hundreds of so-called mental disorders is due to a faulty or “chemically imbalanced” brain. To counter this obvious flaw in their push to medicalize behaviors, the psychiatric industry will claim that there are certain medical conditions that do not have a verifiable test so this is why there isn’t one for “mental illness.” This is frankly a lame argument; Whereas there may be rare medical conditions that do not have a verifiable medical test, there are virtually no psychiatric disorders that can be verified medically as a physical abnormality/disease. Not one. [...]" 

MSM: "Tomtom Tech To Set Driver Insurance Premiums" [02/10/12] "TomTom has signed a deal with an insurance company to use its satnav technology to measure driving ability to set premiums. [...]"  Note: "These new technologies to spy on us are always sold with the promise it will lower premiums. With progressive's "Snapshot" they are just checking your car for the manner in which it is being driven, but with Tom Tom, they know where you drive to! That is, if I recall correctly, "red lining" and is illegal in most states."

Concepts and Practices: "French Law Forbidding Denial Of Armenian Genocide Sent To Constitutional Council" [02/10/12] "On January 31a law penalising the denial of the Armenian genocide was referred to France’s Constitutional Council by 77 senators and 65 deputies, who aim to have the law pronounced unconstitutional. This would prevent the promulgation of the law, passed in both houses of France’s legislature. The law, which punishes denial of the Armenian genocide with a €45,000 fine and a year’s imprisonment, is strongly supported by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Ninety-seven UMP (the ruling Union for a Popular Movement) parliamentarians and 39 bourgeois “left” (Socialist Party - PS, Communist Party, and Greens) senators and deputies supported the referral to the Constitutional Council, which has a month to give a ruling. The law is a reactionary intervention by the state against democratic rights and freedom of historical enquiry, based on crass political calculations. The motivations of the legislators moving to challenge the law have the same basic character, however. The main concern of the French bourgeoisie driving the legislators is not the massacre of between 600,000 and 1.5 million Armenians by the Turkish state from 1915 to 1918. Rather, it is the conflict between President Nicolas Sarkozy’s desire to promote the law to support his re-election bid in the April-May presidential elections, and law’s impact on the geo-political interests of French imperialism. The referral to the Constitutional Court is a sign of considerable nervousness in sections of the French bourgeoisie about the harm the legislation is doing to Franco-Turkish relations. Turkey, which itself outlaws references to the Armenian genocide, plays a key role in advanced plans for armed intervention in Syria by NATO powers to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and impose a regime more amenable to their interests. The main NATO-backed armed “opposition” group, the Syrian Free Army (SFA), is based in Turkey. [...]"  

MSM: "Guide To The Horrible Youth Unemployment Mess In Europe" [02/10/12] "Earlier today, we learned that Greece's unemployment surged to 20.9 percent. However, the youth unemployment rate spiked to 48 percent. In fact, a colossal 5.493 million youth were unemployed in December, according to latest data from Eurostat. And the EU saw its overall youth unemployment rate at 22.1 percent. The European crisis has obviously hit the under-25 age group hard, since 3.29 million of these youth are in the euro area. We drew on the latest data from Eurostat to give a sense of Europe's massive unemployment problem. 16 countries on this list have a youth unemployment rate higher than the EU 27-country average. [...]" Related: "Fewer U.S. Young Adults Hold Jobs Than Ever Before"   "The share of young adults with jobs has hit its lowest level since the government started keeping records just after World War II. By the end of 2011, only 54.3% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 were employed, according to a Pew Research Center report released Thursday. And the gap in employment between the young and all working-age adults is roughly 15 percentage points — the widest on record. [...]"  

UK: "Food Bank Use Rises Dramatically In Britain" [02/10/12]   "Tens of thousands of Britons are struggling to make ends meet, forcing ever greater numbers to resort to the use of food banks. There are now 163 food banks in the UK. In 2011 alone there was one opening every week. Food banks were first launched in 2000 by the Trussell Trust to address the problem of providing emergency provisions of food to people who had no money. People are referred from Citizens Advice, GPs (doctors), social workers and school liaison officers. Each person is entitled to three vouchers at a time, with each voucher exchanged for an emergency bag of food that lasts approximately three days. Food banks have seen a rise in some cases of between 15 percent and 30 percent in traffic since the beginning of the recession. The level of generalised poverty in the UK has grown to 13 million people living below the poverty line. Chris Mould, executive chairman of the Trussell Trust, has estimated that 1,000 food banks are needed across the country. The charity is planning to expand its operation to 445 food banks by 2015 to be able to feed 450,000 people a year, but this will rely on receiving £1.6 million in funding. There has been a marked increase in the number of young people needing help since January, 2011 when the government scrapped the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) paid to working class youth to seek higher. The manager of the Salisbury Food Bank, Mark Ward, says, “We have kids at college coming in. They might live at home, but the parents have issues, or they may be sofa surfing—living at friends’ houses”. In September 2011, the Trussell Trust said that the numbers of young people using its food banks had risen from 41,000 to 65,500 in the previous 12 months. [...]" 

Trends: "Detroit Citizens No Longer Rely on Police as Self-Defense Killings Skyrocket" [02/10/12] "Justifiable homicide in the city shot up 79 percent in 2011 from the previous year, as citizens in the long-suffering city armed themselves and took matters into their own hands. The local rate of self-defense killings now stands 2,200 percent above the national average. Residents, unable to rely on a dwindling police force to keep them safe, are fighting back against the criminal scourge on their own. And they’re offering no apologies. “We got to have a little Old West up here in Detroit. That’s what it’s gonna take,” Detroit resident Julia Brown told The Daily. The last time Brown, 73, called the Detroit police, they didn’t show up until the next day. So she applied for a permit to carry a handgun and says she’s prepared to use it against the young thugs who have taken over her neighborhood, burglarizing entire blocks, opening fire at will and terrorizing the elderly with impunity. “I don’t intend to be one of their victims,” said Brown, who has lived in Detroit since the late 1950s. “I’m planning on taking one out.” [...]"  

Commentary: "Two Ways To Get More Time To Pay Off Student Loans" [02/10/12] "More people are facing bankruptcy because of student loan obligations, according to a survey by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. In fact, the student loan debt has passed $1 trillion, which is more than the nation's credit card debt. There are several things you can do to put off paying your loans, but it's advisable to pay them on schedule. Still, there may be times where you simply can't make ends meet and pay off your loans. Here are some of your options (which many of you may already be implementing): [...] Deferment: You have to meet certain qualifications for deferring, and those include being in school, having economic hardship, being unemployed, and more. Deferment is only temporary and only available for a limited period. When you defer, interest doesn't accrue on subsidized loans, but interest will still keep accumulating on your unsubsidized student loans. Forbearance: If you don't qualify for deferment, you might be granted a forbearance. Your lender will let you pause your payments or reduce them for a period of time, but interest will continue to accrue. Remember, there may be repayment plans that may work for you instead of deferment and forbearance, so be sure to assess all your options before making a decision." 

Commentary: "LAPD Pioneers High-Tech Crime-Fighting "War Room" [02/10/12] "The LAPD is fighting crime from a high-tech war room that gives it eyes all over the city. The surveillance hub is now a model for police forces around the world and KCAL9 got an exclusive tour inside from Chief Charlie Beck. [...]"  

Commentary:  "UK Government 'May Sanction Nerve-Agent Use On Rioters', Scientists Fear" [02/09/12] "Leading neuroscientists believe that the UK Government may be about to sanction the development of nerve agents for British police that would be banned in warfare under an international treaty on chemical weapons. A high-level group of experts has asked the Government to clarify its position on whether it intends to develop "incapacitating chemical agents" for a range of domestic uses that go beyond the limited use of chemical irritants such as CS gas for riot control. The experts were commissioned by the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of sciences, to investigate new developments in neuroscience that could be of use to the military. They concluded that the Government may be preparing to exploit a loophole in the Chemical Weapons Convention allowing the use of incapacitating chemical agents for domestic law enforcement. The 1993 convention bans the development, stockpiling and use of nerve agents and other toxic chemicals by the military but there is an exemption for certain chemical agents that could be used for "peaceful" domestic purposes such as policing and riot control. The British Government has traditionally taken the view that only a relatively mild class of irritant chemical agents that affect the eyes and respiratory tissues, such as CS gas, are exempt from the treaty, and then only strictly for use in riot control. [...]" 

Beyond 2012: "2 Billion Jobs To Disappear By 2030" [02/09/12] "...In these five industries alone there will be hundreds of millions of jobs disappearing. But many other sectors will also be affected. Certainly there’s a downside to all this. The more technology we rely on, the more breaking points we’ll have in our lives. Driverless drones can deliver people. These people can deliver bombs or illicit drugs as easily as pizza. Robots that can build building can also destroy buildings. All of this technology could make us fat, dumb, and lazy, and the problems we thought we were solving become far more complicated. We are not well-equipped culturally and emotionally to have this much technology entering into our lives. There will be backlashes, “destroy the robots” or “damn the driverless car” campaigns with proposed legislation attempting to limit its influence. [...]"  Note:  You can see how SLOW these sequential (reincarnated) incarnations progress ... they're like robots with wind-up keys in their backs, with their predispositions and cognitive hobbling. They are totally oblivious to what's going on in the reality around them, and are unable to change course when a paradigm is failing. Stupid incarnations, and very immature spirit in play. If time were to 'go on', this is where it would go, assuming reality stayed 'viable' ... but that isn't happening.

MSM: "Uganda Bill Punishes Homosexuality With Life In Prison" [02/08/12] "A Ugandan member of parliament has reintroduced a bill that increases criminal penalties for some homosexual acts, but dropped a provision that allows homosexuals to be executed by the state. Parliamentarian David Bahati on Tuesday reintroduced the so-called “kill the gays” bill that he had first introduced in 2009. It was later shelved in 2011 after an international outcry. Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, but under the original bill, some homosexual acts would have been punishable by death. The latest iteration of the bill increases current punishments for certain acts to life in prison. [...]"  Note: Astounding, isn't it? Related:Documentary: "Uganda: The World’s Worst Place to Be Gay" [12/15/11]   [15:01]   Part 2 [14:20]| Part 3 [15:26]| Part 4 [14:03] "Scott Mills travels to Uganda where the death penalty could soon be introduced for being gay. The gay Radio 1 DJ finds out what it’s like to live in a society which persecutes people like him and meets those who are leading the hate campaign. [...]"  

Commentary: "Prop 8, California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban, Declared Unconstitutional " [02/08/12] "Same-sex marriage moved one step closer to the Supreme Court on Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled California's ban unconstitutional, saying it serves no purpose other than to "lessen the status and human dignity" of gays. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave opponents of gay marriage time to appeal the 2-1 decision before ordering the state to allow same-sex weddings to resume. [...]"  

Commentary:  "The Economics of Incarceration" [02/07/12] "For anyone paying attention, there is no shortage of issues that fundamentally challenge the underpinning moral infrastructure of American society and the values it claims to uphold. Under the conceptual illusion of liberty, few things are more sobering than the amount of Americans who will spend the rest of their lives in an isolated correctional facility – ostensibly, being corrected. The United States of America has long held the highest incarceration rate in the world, far surpassing any other nation. For every 100,000 Americans, 743 citizens sit behind bars. Presently, the prison population in America consists of more than six million people, a number exceeding the amount of prisoners held in the gulags of the former Soviet Union at any point in its history. While miserable statistics illustrate some measure of the ongoing ethical calamity occurring in the detainment centers inside the land of the free, only a partial picture of the broader situation is painted. While the country faces an unprecedented economic and financial crisis, business is booming in other fields – namely, the private prison industry. Like any other business, these institutions are run for the purpose of turning a profit. State and federal prisons are contracted out to private companies who are paid a fixed amount to house each prisoner per day. Their profits result from spending the minimum amount of state or federal funds on each inmate, only to pocket the remaining capital. For the corrections conglomerates of America, prosperity depends on housing the maximum numbers of inmates for the longest potential time - as inexpensively as possible.  [...]"  Related: Flashback: "Study: 7.3 Million In U.S. Prison System In '07" [03/02/09] "A record number of Americans served time in corrections systems across the country in 2007, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Center on the States. The U.S. correctional population -- those in jail, prison, on probation or on parole -- totaled 7.3 million, or 1 in every 31 adults. The Pew Center on the States compiled the information from Justice Department and Census Bureau statistics. America's prison population has skyrocketed over the past quarter century. In 1982, 1 in 77 adults were in the correctional system in one form or another, totaling 2.2 million people. The United States has 5 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's prison inmates, the center said. [...]"  

MSM: "FBI Enlists Internet Café Owners To Spy On Customers" [02/07/12] "The US government has developed massive surveillance capabilities to monitor communications, travel and financial transactions in this country and abroad. But, even the government cannot monitor everything Americans do—not directly, anyway. Thus, it created the Communities Against Terrorism (CAT) program to enlist your friendly local businesses as spies for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). [...] The government’s flyer designates people as suspicious if they “always pay cash” at an internet café. That’s a jaw-dropping assumption considering that we’re talking about businesses that sell $2 cups of joe, not $600 airline tickets. Good luck paying with a credit card for a purchase under $10. [...]" 

MSM: "New Wave Of Job Losses In Australia" [02/07/12] "Backed by the Gillard government, the corporate elite is using the economic crisis to carry through wholesale cost-cutting to match the austerity measures being imposed on workers internationally. [...]"  

Commentary: "US Unemployment Rate At A Staggering 22.5%" [02/07/12] "John Williams, of Shadowstats, notes that manipulated government statistics are not changing the fact that the true SGS Unemployment Measure now sits at a staggering 22.5%. Williams can only use comparisons from the Great Depression to put things into proper perspective. Here is what Williams had to say: “The Economy Still Is Not Recovering. Even after the 2011 upside benchmark revisions, the January 2012 payroll employment level remains below the level that preceded the 2001 recession, more than a decade ago.” An unemployment rate above 22% might raise questions in terms of a comparison with the purported peak unemployment in the Great Depression (1933) of 25%. The SGS level likely is about as bad as the peak unemployment seen in the 1973 to 1975 recession. The Great Depression unemployment rate was estimated well after the fact, with 27% of those employed working on farms. Today, less that 2% work on farms. Accordingly, for purposes of Great Depression comparison, I would look at the estimated peak nonfarm unemployment rate in 1933 of 34% to 35%.” [...]"  

Commentary:  "The Surprising Appeal Of Living Alone" [02/06/12] "More people live alone than at any point in human history. But why? Today, a surprisingly high number of people are choosing to go solo because it facilitates the pursuit of good things that are otherwise hard to come by: Control of one's own time and space. Freedom to do what one wants, when one wants to do it. Privacy. Anonymity. Autonomy. And, paradoxically, the chance to reconnect with others. Living alone was once most prevalent in rural areas that attracted migrant workers. Today it's largely an urban phenomenon, because cities make living alone a profoundly social experience. Although many people assume that living alone is an American phenomenon (well, at least I once did), by international standards the United States is a laggard. Going solo is most common in Europe, particularly in the Scandinavian countries that have a robust market and strong welfare states. In recent years it has grown most quickly in countries with booming economies: China, India, and Brazil. I've been studying the rise of solo living for nearly a decade. With the help of a small research team, I interviewed more than 300 people who live alone and analyzed the emerging literature on the social lives of singles. My book, "Going Solo," recounts what I learned, and offers the first comprehensive assessment of this incredible social change. Here are some of the ways that people I interviewed explain the benefits of living alone: [...]"  

Commentary:  "Slab City: Living Off the Grid in California’s Badlands" [02/06/12]   [0:00] "Chicago” Joe Angio and his wife Anna did everything by the book to secure their slice of the American Dream. They earned college degrees, started a small business, bought a house and pair of cars, paid their taxes and credit-card bills on time. But when the economy tanked, so did the dream. Between two jobs they could barely pay their mortgage, reaching a point where they had to choose which creditor to shortchange at the end of the month in order to keep the lights on. With foreclosure no longer a matter of if, but of when, the couple looked on the Internet for the ideal place to lay low, spend less and experiment with solar power to “get more for our buck out of our environment.” They bought a used RV and went off the grid. Way off. Slab City, their home for the past three months, is a squatters’ camp deep in the badlands of California’s poorest county, where the road ends and the sun reigns, about 190 miles southeast of Los Angeles and hour’s drive from the Mexican border. The vast state-owned property gets its name from the concrete slabs spread out across the desert floor, the last remnants of a World War II–era military base. In the decades since it was decommissioned, dropouts and fugitives of all stripes have swelled its winter population to close to a thousand, though no one’s really counting. These days, their numbers are growing thanks to a modest influx of recession refugees like the Angios, attracted by do-it-yourself, rent-free living beyond the reach of electricity, running water and the law. And while the complexion of the Slabs, as the place is locally known, may be changing in some ways, the same old rule applies: respect your neighbor, or stay the hell away. [...]" Related: "New Mexico: Desert Autonomous Zone" | "Off The Grid: Life on the Mesa"

Concepts and Practices: " Imams Issue Fatwa Against Honour Killings, Domestic Violence" [02/06/12] "Ontario, Canada. Controversy surrounding the Shafia murder trial prompted imams from across Canada and the U.S. to issue a moral ruling Saturday officially condemning honour killings, domestic violence and misogyny as "un-Islamic." Thirty-four imams belonging to the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, including a handful of American members, signed the fatwa in an effort to counter misinterpretations of the Qur'an, they said. While it has no legal teeth, the fatwa is "morally binding" for all Muslims, said Syed Soharwardy, a Calgary-based imam who founded the council. The ruling comes after a verdict was delivered last weekend in the Shafia murder trial, in which a Montreal couple and their son were convicted of killing four female relatives. The Crown alleged three teenage Shafia sisters and their father's first wife in a polygamous marriage were killed in an effort to restore the family's honour. The trial captured worldwide attention and cast a shadow over Canada's Islamic community, prompting many religious and community leaders to speak out against domestic violence. [...]" 

MSM: "Scotland: ‘Anti-Social Tenant’ Moves Planned" [02/05/12] "The process of evicting anti-social tenants could be simplified under plans being put forward by the Scottish government. The proposal is among radical changes suggested in a consultation on how 600,000 houses in the social rented sector are allocated and managed. The consultation will ask whether the eviction process should be simplified for the worst offenders.  [...] Under the plans, social landlords could be given greater flexibility over housing allocations, and be allowed to take into account any previous history of anti-social behaviour which may affect the decision on who gets housing. "Feedback suggests that even low-level, persistent anti-social behaviour can harm communities. "The measures we are consulting on will also help good tenants who currently feel powerless to deal with bad neighbours, who make their lives a living hell." 

MSM: "Florida Republican Stripped Of Senate Chairmanship For Opposing Prison Privatization Scheme" [02/05/12] "The biggest critic of a massive prison privatization scheme in Florida was stripped of his chairmanship of the Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriation for opposing Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) plan to outsource prison oversight to the lowest bidder. Sen. Mike Fasano (R) is one of ten Senate Republicans who opposes the plan to give private, for-profit vendors control over 26 prisons, but his vocal criticism provoked retribution from one of the bill’s biggest supporters, Senate President Mike Haridopolos (R): Amid the mounting tension, Senate President Mike Haridopolos refused to bring up the bill for debate, a sign that it faced defeat. Ten of 28 Senate Republicans have voiced strong reservations or opposition to such a major policy shift, a serious rift in the GOP caucus. The drama intensified as Haridopolos stripped Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, of his chairmanship of a budget subcommittee overseeing prisons, saying Fasano “was not rowing in the same direction” as Senate leaders on budget decisions. “It’s become clear to me that Sen. Fasano was not willing to make these choices,” Haridopolos said. Fasano said Haridopolos told him he was being punished for his anti-privatization comments in an MSNBC interview Monday. [...]" Related: See below.

MSM: "The Cynical World Of America's Private Prisons" [02/04/12] "In 2010, two of the largest private prison companies in America, GEO Group, Inc and the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) generated over $4bn dollars in profit between them. Their respective CEOs, George Zoley and Damon Hininger, each earned well in excess of $3m in 2010. Although there have been some concerns that any relaxation of sentencing or drug laws might negatively impact their bottom line (profit), they remain confident in their ability to drum up new ways of generating their taxpayer-funded commodities (also known as inmates): lobbying California for their excess prisoners being one; caging juveniles on trivial charges another. But the favorite, by a long shot, is the accelerated drive to lock up America's immigrants. So far, these strategies seem to be working nicely. ... In a sane society, the purpose of a prison should be to keep the public safe. The goal should not be to encourage criminal behavior or to find new ways to incriminate people, so that certain private individuals can line their pockets. It's an added kick in the face that these corporations which profit from human misery are doing so at the taxpayers' expense and to the detriment of public safety. But until the public cries foul, there will be no stopping them.[...] "  Related: "U.S. Prison Business: Privatize Profits, Socialize Losses" "Well, it's nice work if you can get it. Florida is set to privatize all of its prisons south of Orlando -- 20% of its total -- according to a report issued by Chris Kirkham for Huffington Post. The for-profit prison scheme is a case study in crony capitalism, as it involves private prison corporations donating to the politicians best in position to grant them lucrative contracts. The U.S. prison population continues to explode, as America plunges headlong into becoming a bona fide police state. The federal policies of criminalizing just about everything, offer a built-in growth sector for any corporation that can capture it. No wonder, then, that companies like GE have gotten in on the action, while the nation's largest private contractors, Corrections Corporation of America and GEO (formerly Wackenhut), have combined revenues well into the billion of dollars per year. And they are international in scope. (Source) [...]" | "US Judges Tragic Kickback Greed Exposes Prison System Profiteering"   [4:19] "With well over 2 million people in jail - the U.S. has the world's biggest prison population. But some are seeing the inside of a cell because dodgy judges are getting payback from the private sector. RT's Gayane Chichakyan reports on those dishing out justice for a fee. [...]" | MSM: Feds Steal Children from Illegal Aliens" "The scars of childbirth were still healing on Amelia Reyes Jimenez’s stomach in 2008 when police came to her Phoenix apartment and took her three-month-old daughter from her arms. Three and a half years later, Reyes Jimenez and her four children have become statistics in the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration. Each year thousands of children of undocumented immigrants, like Amelia’s kids, wind up in foster care when their parents are arrested for immigration violations. Some are even adopted by U.S. citizens while their parents are held in federal detention centers or deported back to their native countries. A new study by the human rights group Applied Research Center estimates that as of summer 2011 there were at least 5,100 children of detained immigrants in foster care in 22 states.[...]" 

Commentary: "Expendable: Sacrificing Humanity For Corruption In Australia" Updated With Video [02/04/12] "A unique and extraordinary film has been released this week, free of charge, on the internet, via simultaneous upload to networks in territories as diverse as Russia, India, the United States, Japan, China, Vietnam, France, South Africa, and Germany. It is a film, however, which will certainly have long term implications for the state of Australia. 'Expendable', produced under conditions of strict secrecy in the US, demonstrates a lengthy series of corrupt and criminal acts by Australian politicians, sanctioned collectively by an Australian government. These involve not only activities at ministerial level, but central roles for Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers, and a number of prominent corporations. Demonstrate is the operative word, because these are not allegations. Every abuse of power covered in the film is supported by documented proof, usually in the form of cables and correspondence between government ministers. These were pre-published on the Expendable website for public scrutiny. Further, collectively, the movie and supporting dossiers are currently being collated for submission to the United Nations, and the International Criminal Court in The Hague. [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. Bridges, Roads Being Built By Chinese Firms" [02/04/12] [2:55] "Cities hire Chinese instead of American workers for building projects.  [...]" 

Commentary:  "USA: Over 1 Million Jobs Were Actually Lost In January, Contrary to Gov't (and Media) Claim of 243,000 Gained" [02/04/12] "While everyone is popping the champagne corks over the fact that the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that 243,000 jobs were created in January, the facts are slightly different. The seasonal adjustment fudge that the Gummit adds to the mix grossly overstated what the actual survey data showed. Here’s a picture. The red line is the actual survey numbers. The blue line is the fake seasonally adjusted number. The headline, fake, number was up by 243,000, purportedly the biggest increase since 2006. But what’s this? The actual survey number showed a decrease of 1.1 million jobs. In the world of seasonally adjusted government data, down can be up. [...]"  

MSM: "US Service Industry Growth Surges In January" [02/04/12] "U.S. service companies grew at the fastest pace in 11 months in January as companies started hiring to keep up with rising demand. The Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its index of non-manufacturing activity jumped to 56.8 percent in January from 53 percent in December. The survey's employment index soared to its highest level since February 2006. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. The trade group of purchasing managers surveys businesses including restaurants, hotels, retailers, financial services firms and construction companies. The service sector has been growing for two straight years. But hiring had stagnated, with the employment index falling below 50 in two of the past four months. Companies overcame their reluctance to hire in January, pushing the employment index up to 57.4 percent from 49.8 percent. [...]"  Note: Without production related companies, creating jobs for the population, there will be no funds to spend on services, at some point, and all will collapse, because the US was changed from a manufacturing and production based economy to a financial services economy, and the let the infrastructure go, deliberately, to suit their master plans, which contained the seeds of its own destruction ... these people, those who think they're 'in control', are conceptually hobbled reincarnated retreads.

MSM: "Canada’s Jobless Rate Rises To Nine-Month High" [02/04/12] "Canada’s unemployment rate rose to a nine-month high in January as the trend of sluggish job creation that began in the second half of last year continued. The jobless rate rose to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent as employment increased 2,300 last month, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast unemployment to stay at 7.5 percent and 22,000 jobs to be added. Consumers will account for more than half of Canada’s 2 percent economic growth this year, according to the Bank of Canada, as weak global demand and a high dollar curb exports. Most of the past year’s job growth came in the first six months of that period, Statistics Canada said, which suggests consumer spending growth may be restrained. “It will weigh against a Bank of Canada rate increase anytime soon, and suggests the Canadian consumer could continue to pull back, not just in the face of elevated debts but also because of weaker job growth,” said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto.  [...]"  

MSM: "Meeting The 'New Homeless' On Greece's Freezing Streets" [02/04/12] [2:12] "In the heart of central Athens, a stone's throw from the city's glorious ancient sites, another face of today's Greece is on show. Hundreds weave their way around the small, bare courtyard of the municipal soup kitchen, queuing patiently. Visitors have gone up by a quarter in the past few months as homelessness here reaches new heights. "This centre was founded years ago to face the problems that exist in every big city - people addicted to drugs, alcohol and so on," says Dimitra Nousi, the director of the project. "But suddenly it became somewhere that has to face the poverty of the crisis. "It's a completely different phenomenon - we're still shocked about it." Homelessness has soared by an estimated 25% since 2009 as Greece spirals further into its worst post-war economic crisis. The country is now in its fifth straight year of recession and the official unemployment rate is nudging 20%, exacerbated by the austerity measures being pushed through in return for more bail-out money.  Greeks now speak of another section of society: the "new homeless". "They don't have the 'traditional profile' of homeless people," says Ms Nousi. "They are well dressed and well educated. Until last year they had a good flat or a nice car - and now they have nothing. "So it's another kind of misery - another kind of poverty. We were not prepared for this poverty, but it exists." [...]" 

MSM: "Homeownership Rates Fall To 66% As Downturn Nears A Bottom" [02/03/12] "The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that the nation's homeownership rate fell to 66% in the fourth quarter, continuing a seven-year drop from a fourth-quarter peak of 69.2% in 2004. Falling homeownership — and prices — reflect the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression. And while there are signs that the housing industry's downturn may at least be nearing a bottom, the impact of the collapse will be evident for years to come, economists say. [...]"  

MSM: "Ten Cities Crushed by the Global Recession" [02/01/12] "The global recession officially ended in 2010. Since then many countries have begun experiencing economic growth again. However, North American and Western European nations are recovering at a much slower pace than the rest of the world. In fact, the slowest-growing metropolitan areas are located in the United States, Western Europe and earthquake-damaged Japan, according to Brookings Institute’s Global Metro Monitor 2011. 24/7 Wall St. has examined the Brookings report to identify the world’s largest cities that just cannot seem to recover. Brookings Institute’s Global Metro Monitor 2011 rated the recovery of the 200 largest metropolitan regions in the world. The rankings are based on a combination of the change in income and employment in each city between 2010 and 2011. According to the report, the fastest-growing cities are located outside North America and Western Europe, while all the slowest-growing ones are within those continents. [...]"  

MSM: "North Korea Warns Its Citizens, Cell Phone Users Will Be Treated As ‘War Criminals’" [02/01/12] "North Korea has warned its citizens against use of cell phones inside the country, saying anyone caught talking on mobiles would be branded as “war criminals” and punished accordingly, a media report said. North Korea has long relied on a total restriction of information to maintain control over its isolated citizenry, and in this crucial time of transition between late Kim Jong Il and his successor, Kim Jong Un, the state is clamping down on anyone using mobile phones, ‘The Daily Telegraph’ reported.  [...]" 

MSM: "Violent Turf War Over Ontario's Donated Clothing Bins" [02/01/12]   "The business of collecting donated clothes, selling them in local thrift stores and shipping them overseas has become so lucrative it has created a cut-throat turf war in Ontario. [...]"

MSM: "20 Signs That Europe Is Plunging Into A Full-Blown Economic Depression" [02/01/12]   "An economic nightmare is descending on Europe. With each passing month, the economic numbers across Europe get even worse. At this point it is becoming extremely difficult for anyone to deny that Europe is plunging into a full-blown economic depression. In fact, some parts of Europe are already there. The frightening thing is that we are just at the beginning of the process for most European nations. If you want to see where nations such as Portugal, Italy and Spain are headed, just take a look at Greece. Greece has been going down this road for several years, and there is still no light at the end of the tunnel for them. [...]" 

MSM: "Eurozone Unemployment: Region's Jobless Rate Highest Since Euro Launched, Spain At 22.9%" [02/01/12] "Unemployment across the 17 countries that use the euro ended 2011 at a record high of one person in every 10, official figures showed Tuesday, a day after EU leaders acknowledged that they would have to boost economic growth with the same urgency that they had shown in combating their nations' debts. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said the 10.4 per cent unemployment rate in December was unchanged at its highest level since the euro was launched in 1999, as November's was revised upward from a previous estimate of 10.3 per cent. Unemployment has been steadily rising over the past year — in December 2010, it stood at 9.5 per cent — largely because of Europe's debt crisis. [...]" 

MSM: "Japan Faces Crisis As Population Set To Shrink By One-Third" [02/01/12] "Japan's rapid aging means the national population of 128 million will shrink by one-third by 2060 and seniors will account for 40 per cent of people, placing a greater burden on the shrinking work force population to support the social security and tax systems. The population estimate released Monday by the Health and Welfare Ministry paints a grim future. In year 2060, Japan will have 87 million people. The number of people 65 or older will nearly double to 40 per cent, while the national work force of people between ages 15 and 65 will shrink to about half of the total population, according to the estimate, made by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. [...]"  

MSM: "Soaring Beef Prices Force Shoppers To Find Other Foods" [02/01/12] "Beef prices soared more than 10 percent last year according to the Department of Agriculture, and they will likely go up at least another 5 percent this year. “It bumps up a bit, comes down a tiny bit, then it bounces again, and when it bounces, it goes up another dime, 15, 20 cents,” said Crimi, “and sometimes that’s in a week.” A drought across Texas and Oklahoma has made food and water scarce for cattle, which has kept herds small. The Department of Agriculture says there are 91 million cattle nationally, the smallest herd since 1952. Add to that the rising cost of feed and rising beef exports, and the price of beef in the states is surging. [...]"  

MSM: "State Controller: California Is Running Out Of Cash" [02/01/12] "California will run out of cash by early March if the Legislature does not take immediate action, Controller John Chiang told budget leaders at the Capitol in a letter Tuesday. [...]"  Note: It should be interesting to watch ... a trend for other states in the near future.

MSM: "Blockbuster Deals Shake Up Canada's Drug Store Industry" [02/01/12] "Two major U.S. companies are looking to establish a substantial presence in Canada's drug store market. California-based health-care giant McKesson Corp. announced late Monday that it will pay $920 million to buy a big chunk of a retail network belonging to Edmonton pharmacy operator Katz Group of Canada. And discount retailer Target said earlier Monday it plans to have pharmacies in its Canadian stores operated by independent pharmacists under a franchise model when it opens its doors next year in former Zellers locations. In the bigger of the two developments, McKesson will gain control of 850 stores across Canada that operate mainly under the I.D.A. and Guardian brands. It's also buying Katz's franchise business, which provides services to 160 Medicine Shoppe outlets across the country. [...]"  

MSM: "Crédit Municipal de Paris, Cancels The Debts Of Its Poorest Customers" [02/01/12] "A 375-year-old French bank has decided to forgive the debts of its poorest customers, Good.is reports. The Crédit Municipal de Paris, a Parisian institution that offers small, low-interest loans against inexpensive valuables, has announced a one-time cancelation of the debts of some 3,500 customers who owed the bank 150 euros (about $190) or less. The announcement marks the bank's 375th anniversary. A PR stunt? Maybe. But that isn't stopping thousands of customers from celebrating an unexpected windfall. "It was nice, I have recovered it all," Lina, a young mother, told Europe1. In May, Lina had borrowed 120 euros by pawning her jewelry.  [...]" 

MSM: "Greek Court Writes Off Employed Bank Customer's Debt" [02/01/12] "Think filing for bankruptcy is the only way to get debt discharge? Think again, at least in Greece. While previously we have reported that Greek courts had written off "untenable" debts of unemployed Greeks owed to local banks, Kathimerini describes a landmark case which may have profound implications for the indebted country, in which a fully employed woman has had the bulk of her debt written off. From Kathimerini: "In what could turn out to be a significant ruling for Greeks suffering from the economic crisis, a court in Hania, Crete, has become the first in the country to order that the majority of the debt owed to banks by someone still in full employment be wiped out... [...]"  

MSM: "World Lacks Enough Food, Fuel As Population Soars: U.N." [01/31/12] "The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N. report warned on Monday. As the world's population looks set to grow to nearly 9 billion by 2040 from 7 billion now, and the number of middle-class consumers increases by 3 billion over the next 20 years, the demand for resources will rise exponentially. Even by 2030, the world will need at least 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water, according to U.N. estimates, at a time when a changing environment is creating new limits to supply. And if the world fails to tackle these problems, it risks condemning up to 3 billion people into poverty, the report said.  [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Welfare Drug Testing Bill Withdrawn After Amended To Include Testing Lawmakers " [01/30/12] "A Republican member of the Indiana General Assembly withdrew his bill to create a pilot program for drug testing welfare applicants Friday after one of his Democratic colleagues amended the measure to require drug testing for lawmakers. "There was an amendment offered today that required drug testing for legislators as well and it passed, which led me to have to then withdraw the bill," said Rep. Jud McMillin (R-Brookville), sponsor of the original welfare drug testing bill. The Supreme Court ruled drug testing for political candidates unconstitutional in 1997, striking down a Georgia law. McMillin said he withdrew his bill so he could reintroduce it on Monday with a lawmaker drug testing provision that would pass constitutional muster. "I've only withdrawn it temporarily," he told HuffPost, stressing he carefully crafted his original bill so that it could survive a legal challenge. Last year a federal judge, citing the Constitution's ban on unreasonable search and seizure, struck down a Florida law that required blanket drug testing of everyone who applied for welfare. McMillin's bill would overcome constitutional problems, he said, by setting up a tiered screening scheme in which people can opt-out of random testing. Those who decline random tests would only be screened if they arouse "reasonable suspicion," either by their demeanor, by being convicted of a crime, or by missing appointments required by the welfare office. In the past year Republican lawmakers have pursued welfare drug testing in more than 30 states and in Congress, and some bills have even targeted people who claim unemployment insurance and food stamps, despite scanty evidence the poor and jobless are disproportionately on drugs. Democrats in several states have countered with bills to require drug testing elected officials. Indiana state Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend) introduced just such an amendment on Friday. "After it passed, Rep. McMillin got pretty upset and pulled his bill," Dvorak said. "If anything, I think it points out some of the hypocrisy. ... If we're going to impose standards on drug testing, then it should apply to everybody who receives government money." Dvorak said McMillin was mistaken to think testing the legislature would be unconstitutional, since the stricken Georgia law targeted candidates and not people already holding office.  [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Man Arrested For 'Being Atheist' In Indonesia" [01/30/12] "As the international community sharpens its focus on Burma and its "opening-up" amid the ongoing release of political prisoners, its near neighbors appear to be heading in another direction. Among them is Indonesia, which has enhanced its reputation over recent years through its improved handling of human rights, but has raised more than eyebrows when police arrested a 31-year-old atheist for blasphemy. [...] This was according to an interpretation by police and irritated district officials that Alexander Aan had committed blasphemy for writing "God does not exist..." on the social networking website, Facebook. The charge also had much to do with mob rule. Local Muslims in the West Sumatra district where Aan lived were typically outraged, and attacked him for his comment while he was going to work. Their anger led to the arrest, with police saying the comment had implied God doesn't exist and that this violated Indonesian laws and highlighted the fact that Aan is indeed an atheist. Apparently Aan, employed as a civil servant, also wrote: "If God exists then why do bad things happen?" And: "There should only be good things if God is merciful." Atheism is also illegal in Indonesia and Aan is looking at a five-year sentence for stating a personal opinion. According to one report, his sins were made all the worse because he had once listed on a job application form that he was a Muslim. [...]"  

MSM: "CIA To Pull Officer From NYPD After Internal Probe" [01/29/12] "A CIA operative’s unusual assignment inside the New York Police Department is being cut short after an internal investigation that criticized how the agency established its unprecedented collaboration with city police, The Associated Press has learned. In its investigation, the CIA’s inspector general faulted the agency for sending an officer to New York with little oversight after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and then leaving him there too long, according to officials who have read or been briefed on the inquiry. [...]"  Related: "LAPD Coordinated With CIA, Former Chief Bratton Tells ‘The Young Turks’" [3:06]  

UK: "Prisons Are Nearly Full, Admits Ministry of Justice" [01/29/12] "Prisons in England and Wales are nearly full, the Ministry of Justice has said, partly due to the "significant rise" in people sent to jail over last summer's riots. Figures published yesterday show the total number of inmates was 87,668, meaning prisons are now filled to 98.1% capacity. Some 407 prisoners were put behind bars in the past week alone. The MoJ said the "usable operational capacity" is 89,399, just 1,731 above the current prison population. According to the ministry, two new prisons due to open this year should ease the strain. But there have been no places activated under their contingency plan Operation Safeguard, when prisoners are held in cells at police stations and courts if numbers are at breaking point. A Prison Service spokesperson said: "We have seen a significant rise in the prison population since the summer, with very strong rises following the public disorder." [...]"  Note: The public disorder they caused by their actions.

MSM: "Feds To Train Cops On How To Deal With "Mentally Ill" Veterans" [01/28/12] "The Justice Department is funding an unusual national training program to help police deal with an increasing number of volatile confrontations involving highly trained and often heavily armed combat veterans. Developers of the pilot program, to be launched at 15 U.S. sites this year, said there is an "urgent need" to de-escalate crises in which even SWAT teams may be facing tactical disadvantages against mentally ill suspects who also happen to be trained in modern warfare. "We just can't use the blazing-guns approach anymore when dealing with disturbed individuals who are highly trained in all kinds of tactical operations, including guerrilla warfare," said Dennis Cusick, executive director of the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute. "That goes beyond the experience of SWAT teams." [...]" 

MSM: "Spain's Unemployment Total Passes Five Million" [01/28/12] "Spain's unemployment figure passed the five million mark in the last quarter of 2011, official figures show. The National Statistics Institute said 5.3 million people were out of work at the end of December, up from 4.9 million in the third quarter. The rate rose from 21.5% in the third quarter to 22.8% - the highest rate in nearly 17 years. Spain already has the highest jobless rate in the 17-nation eurozone and is expected to slide back into recession. The 22.8% rate is more than twice the average unemployment rate of the eurozone, which stood at 10.3% in November, according to data released earlier this month. The Spanish figures show almost half of all 16-24 year-olds in the country are jobless - 48.6% compared with 45.8% before.[...]"  

MSM: "Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked To Prejudice" [01/27/12] "There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy. The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario. Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience. "Prejudice is extremely complex and multifaceted, making it critical that any factors contributing to bias are uncovered and understood," he said.  [...]"  

UK: "Technological And Scientific Degrees Axed In Favour Of Media Studies" [01/27/12] "Universities are axing science and technology degrees to make way for media studies, research has revealed. The figures, likely to prove a blow for the government, show that the number of universities offering media studies as a degree has trebled in the the past 10 years, while physics has seen a steady downfall by nearly a third.  [...] "There have clearly been major changes in the balance of subject provision of undergraduate courses, notably a decline in Science and Technology subjects, alongside a significant increase in Creative and Performing Arts, Media Studies (Propaganda) and Politics," the report observed."  Note: Now that the 'necessity' for society is waning (since they now know they've LOST the game), they're winding down the means for the progression of knowledge, since it won't be required. That's the bottom line here.

UK: "Dramatic Cuts In Police Numbers" [01/27/12] "The Home Office earlier reported that police numbers are at their lowest level for 10 years after budget cuts forced constabularies around the country to make reductions in staff. There were 135,838 officers in the 43 police forces at the end of September last year, the Home Office said - more than 6,000 fewer than the previous year and fewer than at any point since 2002. [...]"  Related: "Police Numbers At 'Lowest Level In A Decade"   

MSM: "UK Retail Sales Fall In January, More Job Losses Forecast" [01/27/12] "Retail sales fell back in January, the Confederation of British Industries (CBI) said, as the malaise on Britain's high streets continued. There is typically a post-Christmas slump in retail, but this year it was even deeper than usual, the CBI said - with the sector seeing the biggest aggregate fall in sales volumes since March 2009, when the economy was in recession. Respondents to the CBI survey said that their sales were disappointing, with orders also down. Retailers expect volumes to fall again in February. [...]" 

Commentary:  "The Caging of America: Six Million People Are Under Correctional Supervision in the U.S.—More Than Were in Stalin’s Gulags" [01/26/12]   "For a great many poor people in America, particularly poor black men, prison is a destination that braids through an ordinary life, much as high school and college do for rich white ones. More than half of all black men without a high-school diploma go to prison at some time in their lives. Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today—perhaps the fundamental fact, as slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850. In truth, there are more black men in the grip of the criminal-justice system—in prison, on probation, or on parole—than were in slavery then. Over all, there are now more people under “correctional supervision” in America—more than six million—than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height. That city of the confined and the controlled, Lockuptown, is now the second largest in the United States. [...] What prisoners try to convey to the free is how the presence of time as something being done to you, instead of something you do things with, alters the mind at every moment. For American prisoners, huge numbers of whom are serving sentences much longer than those given for similar crimes anywhere else in the civilized world—Texas alone has sentenced more than four hundred teen-agers to life imprisonment—time becomes in every sense this thing you serve. [...] Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today—perhaps the fundamental fact, as slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850. In truth, there are more black men in the grip of the criminal-justice system—in prison, on probation, or on parole—than were in slavery then. Over all, there are now more people under “correctional supervision” in America—more than six million—than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height. That city of the confined and the controlled, Lockuptown, is now the second largest in the United States. [...] " 

MSM: "And Now… Precrime Red Spot Lights" [01/26/12] [3:04] "The police department in the city of East Orange, New Jersey is installing red spotlights to remotely shine on those police believe are about to commit a crime. [...]"  

MSM: "LAPD Joining In “Multi-Agency Tactical Exercises” In Los Angeles" [01/26/12] "According to Daily Breeze, part of the massive MediaNews Group (MNG) and the LA.com network, joint military training exercises are going to be held in the evening in downtown Los Angeles and “other portions of the greater Los Angeles area” through Thursday of this week. They cite the Los Angeles Police Department without giving a precise name of a source, and they do not say when exactly the drills will begin, although the article was posted in the morning of January 24. However, upon visiting the Los Angeles Police Department website, I realized that they had actually released a news item about it on January 23, which says, “Multi-agency tactical exercises are to be conducted during evening hours around the downtown area January 22-26, 2012.” [...]"  Related: "LAPD Coordinated With CIA, Former Chief Bratton Tells ‘The Young Turks’" [3:06] "Former New York City police commissioner and LAPD chief William Bratton joins Cenk to talk about his new book, “Collaborate or Perish!” Despite recent criticism of the NYPD for unauthorized coordination with the CIA, Bratton says that communication can be an important strategy. “In dealing with information intelligence as it relates to terrorism, the CIA has a lot of information that is appropriate for use by American police forces,” Bratton says. At the LAPD, “We had interactions with the CIA in the sense of meeting from them from time to time, certainly, just in order to make them aware of our capabilities and our needs. There is nothing that precludes that.”  [...]"  

MSM: "Judge Tightens Rules On Oakland Police Oversight" [01/26/12] "Frustrated and "in disbelief" by what he called the slow pace of reform, a federal judge on Tuesday ordered Oakland's top cop to notify an expert overseeing the Police Department about anything that could affect a federal consent decree, including promoting or disciplining officers and changing policies or tactics. In ordering interim Police Chief Howard Jordan to "regularly consult" with independent monitor Robert Warshaw, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson acknowledged that he was giving considerably more responsibility to Warshaw. But the judge again stated that he was skeptical that city and police officials would "be able to fulfill their promises from nine years ago," when the city agreed to pay a $10.5 million civil settlement in the wake of the "Riders" police misconduct scandal. In that case, a group of officers was accused of framing or beating suspects in West Oakland, but was never criminally convicted. The city entered into a consent decree, overseen by Henderson, and promised to reform the department. The judge said he could still order the department into federal receivership if things don't improve. [...] "  

MSM: "USDA To Close 259 Offices" [01/26/12] "The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday that it will close nearly 260 offices nationwide, a move that won praise for cutting costs but raised concerns about the possible effect on food safety. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the goal was to save $150 million a year in the department's $145 billion budget. About $90 million had already been saved by reducing travel and supplies, and the closings were expected to save another $60 million, he said. The plan calls for 259 offices, labs and other facilities to be closed, affecting the USDA headquarters in Washington and operations in 46 states. Seven foreign offices also will be closed. Some of the closings had been previously announced. The USDA said last year it would shut down 10 agricultural research stations, including the only one in Alaska, where scientists were seeking ways to use the vast waste generated by the largest wild fishery in the nation to make everything from gel caps to fish meal for livestock feed. [...]"  

Commentary: "Subculture of Americans Prepares for Civilization's Collapse" [01/25/12] "When Patty Tegeler looks out the window of her home overlooking the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia, she sees trouble on the horizon. "In an instant, anything can happen," she told Reuters. "And I firmly believe that you have to be prepared." Tegeler is among a growing subculture of Americans who refer to themselves informally as "preppers." Some are driven by a fear of imminent societal collapse, others are worried about terrorism, and many have a vague concern that an escalating series of natural disasters is leading to some type of environmental cataclysm. They are following in the footsteps of hippies in the 1960s who set up communes to separate themselves from what they saw as a materialistic society, and the survivalists in the 1990s who were hoping to escape the dictates of what they perceived as an increasingly secular and oppressive government. Preppers, though are, worried about no government. Tegeler, 57, has turned her home in rural Virginia into a "survival center," complete with a large generator, portable heaters, water tanks, and a two-year supply of freeze-dried food that her sister recently gave her as a birthday present. She says that in case of emergency, she could survive indefinitely in her home. And she thinks that emergency could come soon. "I think this economy is about to fall apart," she said. [...]"  Related: "The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class " Elizabeth Warren [57:38] "Distinguished law scholar Elizabeth Warren teaches contract law, bankruptcy, and commercial law at Harvard Law School. She is an outspoken critic of America's credit economy, which she has linked to the continuing rise in bankruptcy among the middle-class.  [...]" | UK: "Millions of Elderly 'Fearful' Of Future" "A study by Age UK shows that a third of its respondents are struggling just to buy basic supplies. The charity said that if this was projected nationally, it would equate to 4.5 million people aged over 60 who have to eke out their incomes. Highlighting the "great resilience" of those on the breadline, its study Living on a Low Income in Later Life showed how people are forced to "make do", including going without basic household goods such as a television or an oven. Living standards have been squeezed by the current low rate of returns on savings and rising household costs, particularly fuel bills. The charity reported cases such as a 78-year-old woman living on £120 a week after rent who uses a hob and a microwave rather than replace a broken gas oven which she is concerned is leaking. Other cost-saving examples found by researchers included boiling a kettle for washing rather than heating the water in a boiler, not replacing broken furniture and going without a television, the Press Association reported. Age UK's study of more than 1,000 respondents found that nearly one in seven older people have gone to bed when they are not tired just to keep warm and around the same proportion said they live in just one room to save on heating. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Judge Orders Defendant to Decrypt Laptop" [01/25/12] "A judge on Monday ordered a Colorado woman to decrypt her laptop computer so prosecutors can use the files against her in a criminal case. The defendant, accused of bank fraud, had unsuccessfully argued that being forced to do so violates the Fifth Amendment’s protection against compelled self-incrimination.  [...]"  Related: "Ruling Could Force Americans To Decrypt Laptops"  

Commentary:  "America After Dark: Millions Of Criminal Predators Searching For A New Victim" [01/25/12] "When the sun goes down every night, America becomes a very frightening place. There are communities all over the country where drug dealing, human trafficking and gang violence have gotten so out of control that authorities don't really know what to do about it. In America tonight, thousands of meth heads will break into homes as they desperately search for enough money for another hit. In America tonight, thousands of children will be sold for sex at truck stops and on street corners. In America tonight, millions of criminal predators will be searching for a new victim. From the top levels of the federal government all the way down to the most depraved criminals on the street, America is rotting. Once upon a time our tremendous affluence masked the moral decay that was happening in this nation, but now that the economy is falling apart the damage to the fabric of our society is being revealed. We have become a nation of addicts, junkies, thrill seekers and predators. When we finally see the U.S. economy fully collapse, millions of desperate, angry and depraved monsters will take out their sick frustrations on all the rest of us. [...] "  

MSM: "Italian Truckers, Taxi Drivers Mount National Strike Against Social Cuts" [01/25/12] "Truckers and taxi drivers blocked roads and highways throughout Italy, as protests spread against the social cuts, free market measures, and fuel price increases of Prime Minister Mario Monti. Taxi drivers oppose Monti’s deregulation of their licensed professions, as the economic slump means that there are already too many taxi drivers struggling to find enough passengers. There were parades or assemblies of striking taxis in Bologna, Milan, and Rome, causing transport bottlenecks at Rome’s Fiumicino airport and its Termini train station. The taxi strike follows a bitter confrontation between taxi drivers and union bureaucrats on January 19, when a nationwide assembly of taxi drivers at the Circus Maximus in Rome threw out union officials who had negotiated the cuts with the government. [...] Truckers also parked their rigs across highways yesterday, creating at least 60 major blockades surrounding cities across Italy—including Turin and Milan in the north, Bologna and Rome in the center of the country, and Naples, Foggia, Taranto, and Gioia Tauro in the south. [...] Trasportounito, the truckers’ union, was stunned by the scale of the unauthorized strike that rapidly spread throughout Italy. Its general secretary, Maurizio Longo, said: “The massive participation in the national work stoppage, exceeding all our expectations, shows the gravity of the current crisis. Discontent is real and palpable for companies and families of truckers who are fighting for survival.” The union said that they expected strike action would last until Friday. [...] "  

Commentary:  "George Soros on the Coming U.S. Class War" [01/25/12] "For the first time in his 60-year career, Soros, now 81, admits he is not sure what to do. “It’s very hard to know how you can be right, given the damage that was done during the boom years,” Soros says. He won’t discuss his portfolio, lest anyone think he’s talking things down to make a buck. … Has the great short seller gone soft? Well, yes. Sitting in his 33rd-floor corner office high above Seventh Avenue in New York, preparing for his trip to Davos, he is more concerned with surviving than staying rich. “At times like these, survival is the most important thing,” he says, peering through his owlish glasses and brushing wisps of gray hair off his forehead. He doesn’t just mean it’s time to protect your assets. He means it’s time to stave off disaster. As he sees it, the world faces one of the most dangerous periods of modern history—a period of “evil.” Europe is confronting a descent into chaos and conflict. In America he predicts riots on the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties. The global economic system could even collapse altogether. … “I am not here to cheer you up. The situation is about as serious and difficult as I’ve experienced in my career,” Soros tells Newsweek. “We are facing an extremely difficult time, comparable in many ways to the 1930s, the Great Depression. We are facing now a general retrenchment in the developed world, which threatens to put us in a decade of more stagnation, or worse. The best-case scenario is a deflationary environment. The worst- case scenario is a collapse of the financial system.” [...]"  

Commentary:  "Money Insider: US Will See Violent Civil Unrest In 2012" [01/24/12] "Money insider Charles Ortel has warned that a worsening economic picture across the globe will see civil unrest hit the streets of America, not on behalf of leftist OWS types, but by an armed, “irascible and vocal Majority”. Ortel, a managing partner with Newport Value Partners, LLC in New York City, predicts that a failure of the so-called financial recovery will precipitate “A painful re-calibration of economic strength and geo-political standing during 2012 in the midst of widespread civil insurrection and cross-border war.” Noting that Americans’ access to firearms will cause such riots to be bloodier than anything seen in Europe, Ortel predicts that a contented and silent Majority will be turned into “an irascible and vocal Majority,” as a result of numerous macro-economic and geo-political threats facing the country, including the collapse of the euro, the bursting of the financial bubble in China, and the looming debt crisis, all of which will contribute to weak economic growth. “Some will manage to contain their activities to peaceful protests. However, we believe the far more likely scenario is that violence will result, especially in the United States where the wider population has more ready access to weaponry and where mobs have proven impossible to restrain,” Ortel writes. [...]"  

Trends: "Washington State Legislature Has Enough Votes To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage " [01/24/12] "As lawmakers held their first public hearing on legalizing same-sex marriage, a previously undecided Democratic senator on Monday announced her support for the measure, all but ensuring that Washington will become the seventh state to allow gay and lesbian couples to get married. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Supreme Court: Warrants Needed In GPS Tracking" [01/24/12] "The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that police must obtain a search warrant before using a GPS device to track criminal suspects. But the justices left for another day larger questions about how technology has altered a person’s expectation of privacy. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the government needed a valid warrant before attaching a GPS device to the Jeep used by D.C. drug kingpin Antoine Jones, who was convicted in part because police tracked his movements on public roads for 28 days. “We hold that the government’s installation of a GPS device on a target’s vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a ‘search’ ” under the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, Scalia wrote. [...]" 

MSM: "Maid Chased Down For Walking Through Luxury Community: Servants 'Forbidden To Move At Will'" [01/24/12] "Felicita Pinto arrived early at the gates of the luxurious community where she labors as a maid, but the minibus to her employer's home was late. So she decided to walk six blocks to work, on streets lined with broad lawns and imposing homes. Security guards quickly chased her down and forced the 57-year-old widow back to the gate. Pinto's employer protested, as he had before, against the community bylaws that forbid servants to move at will. Pinto's simple stroll helped set off national soul-searching over discrimination and mistreatment of domestic workers across Chile, where leaders ache to be accepted as representing an enlightened, developed nation. Local news media heard of the case and outrage followed when another homeowner in the El Algarrobal II development sought to justify the restrictions. "Can you imagine what it would be like here if all the maids were walking outside, all the workers walking in the street and their children on bicycles?" neighbor Ines Perez told a local television channel. Her comments prompted such a wave of insults and threats that Perez was forced to close her Facebook page. Discrimination toward domestic workers is among the more entrenched social ills in Latin America and beyond. In luxury complexes just south of Peru's capital, maids can't swim in the ocean until their employers have left the water. In Mexico City, some luxury restaurants prohibit maids from sitting down to eat and some high-rises force workers to take the service elevators. [...]" 

Commentary: "U.S. Beef Cattle Herd in "Liquidation Mode: Can't Sustain Domestic Supply" [01/19/12] "The process of liquidation of the U.S. beef cow herd — underway due to combined reasons of drought, expense hyperinflation, cartel monopolization of processing and marketing, and Obama/London opposition to remedies — has reached the stage where the numbers will not provide needed beef supply-levels to the population. Where's the beef? It disappeared. The last (confirmed) number for total cattle in the U.S. (beef, dairy, calves, etc.) was 94,521,000 for 2009, which was way down from past years' numbers of over 100 million head. The 2009 supplies of beef from domestic production, worked out to 61.4 pounds per capita for the year, also way down from past supplies of at least 75 pounds (retail weight). Since then it's worse. The new numbers for 2010 and 2011 will be issued next week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which "officially" projects a 3.5- to 4-percent drop of U.S. beef output in 2012 from 2011, and continuing drop in cattle numbers. With any supportive intervention, ranchers would hang on and rebuild herds and resume production. They know how to do it. But the Obama Administration, in line with London, remains hands- off, as food supply capacity shuts down. A few comparative features of the crisis:  [...] In 2012, we are going to see a drop in production of about 3.5 to 4 percent year on year. "That's a sign that this industry has reached a point that we cannot maintain production...with the level of animals that we have in this industry." The drought in the Southern Plains — for which Obama Administration has done zilch — has been "particularly devastating," Dr. Peel said, adding that U.S. beef production is falling backwards to the tonnage level of the early 1960s."  

MSM: "Indiana Unveils Its First License Plate For Gay Youths" [01/19/12] "Indiana’s first specialty license plate that benefits gay causes is now available for purchase. Bureau of Motor Vehicles spokesman Graig Lubsen said the Indiana Youth Group plate has been available since Dec. 28. The plate bears a logo with hands in rainbow colors reaching up. Some $25 from sales of each $40 plate goes to the group serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.  [...]"  Note: That way, people raised by wolves will know who to harass and target. 'Brilliant' concept ...

UK: "Doctors Threaten Strike Action Over Pension Changes" [01/19/12] "Two out of three doctors are prepared to strike over the government's planned changes to pensions, the British Medical Association (BMA) said on Wednesday. The union rejected the government's final offer on public sector pensions on Wednesday afternoon, after a preliminary ballot of their members. The BMA, which has more than 130,00 members, has not taken industrial action since the 1970s when there was a dispute over junior doctors' working conditions, including hours. However, the results of the survey cast the real spectre of unrest unless a compromise can be reached. In a statement, the BMA council said that it would meet on 25 February to consider balloting for industrial action unless there is a "significant" change in the Government's position. Two-thirds of the 46,000 doctors and medical students surveyed by the BMA said they were prepared to strike and 84% rejected the changes. Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of BMA Council said doctors felt "let down and betrayed", adding "for many this is the final straw". "Doctors are at the forefront of attempts to save the NHS £20 billion, while trying to protect patient care, are in the midst of huge system reform in England, which is causing chaos in many areas, and are about to enter a fourth successive year of a pay freeze," he said. "Now on top of this, they are facing wholesale changes to their pension scheme, which was radically overhauled less than four years ago and is actually delivering a positive cashflow to the Treasury. “Forcing doctors to work to almost 70 is one of our most serious concerns as it could put pressure on doctors to work beyond the age at which they feel competent and safe. [...]"  

MSM: "Homeless Rate Ready To Rise As Stimulus Cash Runs Out: Study" [01/19/12] "All in all, the conditions are right for national homeless rates to start rising soon, according to a new report that examines many of the large-scale economic factors that force people out of their homes. The report, published Tuesday by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, suggests that a delayed wave of pain may be coming for low-earning renters and homeowners. [...] For homelessness to start climbing just as the unemployment rate begins to deflate might seem counterintuitive. But such is the nature of homelessness, which tends to lag behind other macroeconomic trends.  [...] There just aren't enough units for the number of people who need them," Roman told HuffPost. The lack of affordable housing, she said, is the nation's "other housing crisis." This aspect of the housing problem is likely to grow more pronounced in 2012 and 2013, as the number of foreclosures is expected to swell. By the end of next year, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently predicted, there could be as many as 5.6 million homes in foreclosure. [...]" Related: "HUD Secretary: Government, Banks 'Very Close' To Reaching Foreclosure Deal " "The government and banks are "very close" to reaching a legal settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses that could help about 1 million underwater borrowers get mortgage relief, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said on Wednesday. "We're very close to a settlement that would both fix the servicing problems, but also help over a million families around the country stay in their homes and get help," Donovan said in response to a question during a forum at the Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington. Talks between federal and state officials and major lenders aimed at resolving allegations of illegal foreclosure practices have dragged into their second year. [...]"  Note: Too little, much too late. The population is not a priority for these maniacs, no one is really 'in charge' of anything.

MSM: "NYPD, Feds Testing Terahertz Gun-Scanning Technology, But Civil Liberties Groups Up In Arms" [01/18/12] [2:11] "The NYPD is stepping up their war against illegal guns, with a new tool that could detect weapons on someone as they walk down the street. It’s called Terahertz Imaging Detection. It measures the energy radiating from a body up to 16 feet away, and can detect anything blocking it, like a gun. Police Commissioner Kelly said the scanner would only be used in reasonably suspicious circumstances and could cut down on the number of stop-and-frisks on the street. But the New York Civil Liberties Union is raising a red flag. “It’s worrisome. It implicates privacy, the right to walk down the street without being subjected to a virtual pat-down by the Police Department when you’re doing nothing wrong,” the NYCLU’s Donna Lieberman said. [...]"  

UK: "Mod Unveils Second Round Of Cuts" [01/17/12] "The Ministry of Defence is to announce its plans for a second round of redundancies in the armed forces later. The job losses will account for some of the cuts already announced under the government's defence review. The Army is expected to announce up to 3,000 redundancies, the RAF up to 1,000 and the Royal Navy 500. The Gurkhas are expected to lose up to 400 personnel. The MoD said difficult decisions had to be taken to deal with the "black hole" in its budget. Under the terms of the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the navy and the RAF have to cut 5,000 jobs each by 2015.  [...]"  

MSM: "Gov. Jerry Brown Plans $1 Billion In Prison Cuts" [01/17/12] "Gov. Jerry Brown wants to cut state prison spending next fiscal year for the first time in nearly a decade, a departure from the goals of recent administrations, which consistently increased corrections spending and pushed for prison expansion. Brown's budget would save California $1.1 billion on housing inmates and hundreds of millions more by allowing the state to halt some prison construction - savings largely due to his administration's recent overhaul of the state's criminal justice system. General fund spending on prisons nearly doubled under Brown's Republican predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, from $5.2 billion in 2004 to $9.5 billion in 2011, when Brown, a Democrat, took office. The increase in spending was largely caused by an exploding inmate population and a court order to improve medical care in prisons.  [...]"  

RT Interview: "2012 RNC/DNC Host Cities Will Be Set Up Like Police States" [01/17/12]   [8:45] Note: $50 million is being provided to all the cities where political events will be held.

Commentary:  "10 Reasons The U.S. Is No Longer The “Land Of The Free" [01/17/12] "Every year, the State Department issues reports on individual rights in other countries, monitoring the passage of restrictive laws and regulations around the world. Iran, for example, has been criticized for denying fair public trials and limiting privacy, while Russia has been taken to task for undermining due process. Other countries have been condemned for the use of secret evidence and torture. Even as we pass judgment on countries we consider un-free, Americans remain confident that any definition of a free nation must include their own — the land of free. Yet, the laws and practices of the land should shake that confidence. In the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, this country has comprehensively reduced civil liberties in the name of an expanded security state. The most recent example of this was the National Defense Authorization Act, signed Dec. 31, which allows for the indefinite detention of citizens. At what point does the reduction of individual rights in our country change how we define ourselves? [...]"  Note: Top constitutional law expert Jon Turley. Related: "Objective Comparison Of The U.S. To Regimes That Everyone Labels Repressive"    

MSM: "Private Company Hoarding License-Plate Data On US Drivers" [01/16/12] "Capitalizing on one of the fastest-growing trends in law enforcement, a private California- based company has compiled a database bulging with more than 550 million license-plate records on both innocent and criminal drivers that can be searched by police. The technology has raised alarms among civil libertarians, who say it threatens the privacy of drivers. It's also evidence that 21st-century technology may be evolving too quickly for the courts and public opinion to keep up. The U.S. Supreme Court is only now addressing whether investigators can secretly attach a GPS monitoring device to cars without a warrant. A ruling in that case has yet to be handed down, but a telling exchange occurred during oral arguments. Chief Justice John Roberts asked lawyers for the government if even he and other members of the court could feasibly be tracked by GPS without a warrant. Yes, came the answer. [...]"  

UK: "Unpaid Student Debts Could Cost Taxpayer £9bn A Year" [01/16/12] "Unpaid student debts could cost the taxpayer around £9bn a year, a report released on Sunday revealed. According to research by investment managers Skandia, unless students immediately earn a £50,000 salary upon leaving university, a "significant amount" of their debt will be written off. The report estimates that if the number of university applicants remains the same, this will cost the Government £8.7 billion in 2045. The figure is dependent on interest rates and the number of students, but it could rise to £9.6 billion. [...]"  Note: The government is too stupid to forgive student loans and do the right thing, both in the UK and the US.

MSM: "The Staggering Cost Of Youth Unemployment Across Europe" [01/16/12] "As countries across Europe race to take on austerity measures and cut their debt burden, its getting harder and harder for people to find jobs. And the under-25 age group is being hit the hardest. The latest data shows that youth unemployment in the EU is staggeringly high at 22.7% and this is clearly taking a toll on the economy. The total unemployment rate in the EU is a more modest, albeit high, 9.8%. Now, a report by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), a tripartite body of the Union, has released a new report that shows how much youth without education, employment or training (NEET) costs their respective countries. The NEET costs to the 21 EU countries included in this report is approximately €2 billion per week, a yearly total of about €100 billion, or 1% of aggregate GDP. Note: The study has data for 21 countries. Public finance costs include welfare schemes like unemployment benefits child benefits, housing benefits, education- related allowances and others) as well as additional health, welfare and criminal justice expenditure. Public finance costs measures excess transfer - the difference between the total amount of benefits received by the NEET and the benefits received by those in employment. Resource costs include foregone earnings. [...]"  

Commentary: "Many Americans Gave Up Hope Last Year – 2012 Will Be Worse" [01/15/12] "The year 2011 will be remembered as the time when many ever-optimistic Americans began to give up hope. President John F Kennedy once said that a rising tide lifts all boats. But now, in the receding tide, Americans are beginning to see not only that those with taller masts had been lifted far higher, but also that many of the smaller boats had been dashed to pieces in their wake. In that brief moment when the tide was indeed rising, millions of people believed that they might have a fair chance of realising the "American Dream". Now those dreams, too, are receding. By 2011, the savings of those who had lost their jobs in 2008 or 2009 had been spent. Unemployment cheques had run out. Headlines announcing new hiring – still not enough to keep pace with the number of those who would normally have entered the labour force – meant little to the 50-year-olds with little hope of ever holding a job again. Indeed, middle-aged people who thought that they would be unemployed for a few months have now realised that they were, in fact, forcibly retired. Young people who graduated from college with tens of thousands of dollars of education debt cannot find any jobs at all. People who moved in with friends and relatives have become homeless. Houses bought during the property boom are still on the market or have been sold at a loss. More than seven million American families have lost their homes. The dark underbelly of the previous decade's financial boom has been fully exposed in Europe as well. [...]"  

Commentary: "China’s Skyscraper Craze May Herald Economic Crash" [01/15/12] "China could be the next country to go bust, if its headlong rush to build ever-taller skyscrapers is a guide to its future economic health. According to a study by Barclays Capital, the mania for skyscrapers over the last 140 years is a sure indicator of an imminent crash. It points out that the construction boom that threw up New York's Chrysler and Empire State buildings preceded the New York crash of 1929 and Great Depression. More recently, Dubai built a forest of skyscraping offices, hotels and apartment buildings, including the world's tallest, the Burj Khalifa, before it got into terrible financial difficulties. In 2010 Dubai had to be bailed out by its neighbour, Abu Dhabi, to avoid going bankrupt. Bar Cap's report said: "Thankfully for the world economy, there is not currently a skyscraper under construction that is planned to overtake the height of the Burj Khalifa." However, BarCap said the "unhealthy correlation" between construction of the world's tallest buildings and economic crashes was likely to ensnare China, which is home to half of the world's skyscrapers currently under construction. India, which has just two skyscrapers, sometimes defined as buildings over 240 metres (787ft) tall, is also on the radar after giving the go-ahead to its first skyscraper building boom, with 14 under way, including the world's second-tallest tower in the financial capital, Mumbai. Andrew Lawrence, director of property research at Barclays Capital in Hong Kong, said: "Building booms are a sign of excess credit."  [...]"  

MSM: "Social Welfare State, American-Style, Means Relief For The Rich " [01/15/12] "Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has taken to accusing President Barack Obama of trying to turn the United States into a European-style social welfare state. The hyperbole about Obama's actions aside, the United States already is a social welfare state -- almost right up there with the Europeans -- if you measure the total amount of drain on the Treasury caused by spending and subsidies on such things as health care and retirement. The one big difference is that in the American social welfare state, a lot of the benefits go to the rich. "We spend a tremendous amount on private social welfare through tax subsidies," said Christopher Faricy, a political science professor at Washington State University whose forthcoming book is about our divided welfare state. "It just goes to a drastically different population than what we usually associate with welfare programs," Faricy said. Direct government social welfare spending pays for such signature programs as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment. But there's also a whole other world of social-welfare measures in the tax code -- called tax expenditures -- that benefit individuals and companies. [...]"  

Concepts and Practices: "Carrying A Gun Is A Civilized Act" [01/15/12] "Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it. In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some. When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gangbanger, and a single gay guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender. [...] There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we’d be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger’s potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat–it has no validity when most of a mugger’s potential marks are armed. People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that’s the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly. [...] The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation…and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act."  

Commentary: "The Return of System D" [01/14/12] "In a non regulation-sized nutshell, System D refers to the world's unregulated, non state-sanctioned economy. And it is, in many ways, where the real action is. One of our Fellow Reckoners, responding to the above introduction, offered the following observations: "Subcontractors work for cash. This lessens taxes, workmen's comp, insurance, and withholding costs. Many shops run cash sales without sales taxes, like camera shops at the wharves in San Francisco. Farmers' markets sell food without overhead or taxes. This will all be increasing geometrically..." To be sure, this is the real wild west. A kind of frontier market where innovation flourishes and the natural, evolutionary forces of creative destruction are left to sheriff the town, themselves ungoverned by the arbitrary whim of world-improvers and their insufferable ilk. As such, the system is not without its failures. But nor is it without allure. Continues our reader: "More and more people will be tempted to take the risk of government action against them, because it is better than starving, and the more people who work outside the system, the harder it will be for the government to force compliance with the myriad regulations and taxes which are a barrier to entry." Seems a valid point to us. Think of how much more competitive individuals working in the area between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans (say) would be if they were allowed to conduct business with whomsoever they wished and on their own, mutually agreed-upon terms. Millions of job-seekers could be put to work immediately. The state-sponsored unemployment problem would disappear overnight. It's not as if there is no work to be done, after all. [...]"  

MSM: "India Implements First Biometric ID Program For All Of Its 1.2 Billion Residents" [01/13/12] "Recently, India has launched a nationwide program involving the allocation of a Unique Identification Number (UID) to every single one of its 1.2 billion residents. Each of the numbers will be tied to the biometric data of the recipient using three different forms of information – fingerprints, iris scans, and pictures of the face. All ten digits of the hand will be recorded, and both eyes will be scanned. [...]"  

Commentary: "Creating Lifelong Customers: The School-To-Prison Pipeline And The Private Prison Industry" [01/13/12] "As if the United States did not have a bloated enough prison population – which I think nearly every single American realizes is a painful truth – our school systems are being transformed into yet another way to funnel people into the private prison system. School systems around the country, but especially Texas, have begun criminalizing what would otherwise be normal childish behavior. [...]"  Related: See below.

Commentary: "Two Professors Decry Laws That Punish Criminals Indefinitely" [01/12/12] " In 2010, the Chicago Public School system decided not to hire Darrell Langdon, a single father of two, as a boiler-room engineer. Why? Because it found out he'd once been convicted of possessing a half-gram of cocaine—in 1985. Such stories are common these days, both because a whopping 30% of Americans are arrested by age 23, and because a plethora of laws ensure their mistakes haunt them forever, write professors Alfred Blumstein and Kiminori Nakamura of the New York Times. The American Bar Association has identified 38,000 state provisions penalizing convicts, including many so-called "forever rules" that can permanently deprive people of invaluable jobs or job licenses. Yet Blumstein and Nakamura's research indicates that within 10 to 13 years of someone being arrested for the first time, that person has the same likelihood of being arrested as anyone else. And so these rules must expire—or even be replaced with ones that encourage employers to give offenders a second chance. It "would not only help those people, but also our economy and our society." [...]"  

Commentary: "Dead People Voting in New Hampshire – Could Oregon Be Next?" [01/12/12] "Video footage provided exclusively to The Daily Caller shows election workers in New Hampshire giving out ballots in the names of dead voters at multiple voting precincts during the state’s primary election on Tuesday. The bombshell video is the work of conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe and his organization, Project Veritas. Voters in the Granite State are not required to present identification to vote. O’Keefe’s investigators were able to obtain ballots under the names of dead voters at polling locations Tuesday by simply asking for them, he said. [...]" 

Legal Case: "Supreme Court Declines To Make It Harder To Introduce Eyewitness Testimony At Trials" [01/12/12] The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to make it harder to introduce eyewitness testimony at criminal trials, despite a recent proliferation of studies that show mistaken identity is the leading cause of wrongful convictions. In an 8 to 1 decision, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that there is no reason for the court to change its view that judges on their own cannot throw out eyewitness testimony unless police have manipulated circumstances to produce a desired outcome. The point is to deter police from creating “suggestive circumstances” that point to a specific suspect, Ginsburg said. “When there is no improper police conduct,” Ginsburg said in announcing the decision, “there is nothing to deter.” If the police have not created the suggestive climate, she said, then it is up to the jury to decide whether to evaluate the eyewitness testimony, and for the defendant’s lawyer to try to discredit it.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Police Admit Romney Campaign Illegally Hired them to Arrest US Citizens on Bogus Charges at Campaign Event" [01/12/12] "I asked about his authority to remove me. “We’re working for the Romney campaign,” he said. I asked if he was on-duty; he said he was. My confusion deepened. So was he working for the town of Hudson today, or for the campaign? “Both.” (Later, I think I got it straight: the campaign hired the police for the day, sort of like a private security detail.) At the police station, I was put in a cage and asked to remove my shoes, belt, and sweatshirt. An officer named Manni and another officer processed my paperwork. As they did so, they told me not to go back to “that area” when I was released. I indicated that I understood I wasn’t permitted to be on the company’s land or facilities, but surely I could go back to the street if I so chose – it’s public property, after all. Don’t go back to that area, they said. If you go back, you might cause a disturbance or a riot, and you could be arrested for disorderly conduct. [...]"  

MSM: "Fraud, Waste In DHS Program To Protect High-Risk Urban Areas" [01/12/12] "An example of how this ' innovative program' is failing can be found in a Homeland Security Inspector General report made public this week by the agency’s watchdog. It focuses on $45 million in UASI funds allocated to Chicago’s Cook County in the last few years to enhance public safety. Local authorities called their UASI-funded initiative “Project Shield,” which was supposed to provide municipalities with the equipment to improve response to terrorist attacks and disasters. Under the plan this was supposed to be accomplished, in part, by equipping police in dozens of departments with vehicles capable of mobile data transmission of video, audio and text as well as a tower camera. The information, including feed pictures from fixed mounted cameras, was to be shared among 128 suburban agencies in case of a terrorist attack or other emergency. Instead investigators who compiled the report after conducting a six-month probe found that a lot of the sophisticated electronic equipment didn’t even work, was missing or was never installed. They concluded that the project was “not implemented effectively” and found that “millions of tax dollars may have been wasted on equipment that does not perform as intended.” [...]"  

MSM: "Pennsylvania To Impose Asset Test For Food Stamps" [01/11/12] "Pennsylvania plans to make the amount of food stamps that people receive contingent on the assets they possess - an unexpected move that bucks national trends and places the commonwealth among a minority of states. Specifically, the Department of Public Welfare said that as of May 1, people under 60 with more than $2,000 in savings and other assets would no longer be eligible for food stamps. For people over 60, the limit would be $3,250. Houses and retirement benefits would be exempt from being counted as assets. If a person owns a car, that vehicle also would also be exempt, but any additional vehicle worth more than $4,650 would be considered a countable asset. Anne Bale, a spokeswoman for DPW, said the asset test was a way to ensure that "people with resources are not taking advantage of the food-stamp program," funded by federal money.  [...]" 

MSM: "Child Sexual Abuse Cases In Hollywood Attract Attention" [01/11/12] "At least a dozen child molestation and child pornography prosecutions since 2000 have involved actors, managers, production assistants and others in the entertainment industry. [...]"  Related: "Furor In Greece Over Pedophilia As A Disability" "Greek disability groups expressed anger Monday at a government decision to expand a list of state-recognized disability categories to include pedophiles, exhibitionists and kleptomaniacs. The National Confederation of Disabled People called the action "incomprehensible," and said pedophiles are now awarded a higher government disability pay than some people who have received organ transplants. [...]"  Note:  Great moments in the Welfare State. 

MSM: "Government Set To Sell Foreclosures In Bulk" [01/11/12] "The Obama administration, is very close to announcing a pilot program to sell government- owned foreclosures in bulk to investors as rentals, CNBC has learned. The Obama administration, in conjunction with federal regulators and led by the overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is very close to announcing a pilot program to sell government-owned foreclosures in bulk to investors as rentals, according to administration officials. There currently are about a quarter of a million foreclosed properties on the books of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and millions more are coming. The foreclosure processing delays of last year created a mammoth backlog of properties yet to be processed, which are just now being re-started. One of the initiatives of this program is for the federal government to be in the position to mitigate and manage any new wave of foreclosures, sources say.  [...]"  

MSM: "Young Veterans Without Jobs: Too Many Are Locked Out Of 'Recovery'" [01/11/12] "Young military veterans saw little to celebrate in last week's much cheered unemployment report. Data released the same day by the Department of Labor revealed that one in three young veterans was out of a job in the last quarter of 2011 -- an employment picture even worse than a year earlier, when one in five couldn't find work. This rate is more double that of their civilian peers; the unemployment rate for all Americans age 18-24 actually decreased over the same time period. "I definitely think it's getting worse out there," said Daniel Hutchison, 29, who started a one-man transition assistance group, Ohio Combat Veterans, last May. "Part of that has to do with the economy across the board. The unemployment rate is still high, and with veterans, it's even more complicated." Veterans don't always know how to translate their skills in the battlefield for employers back home. And while they look for work, they're often battling post-traumatic stress disorder, which can be compounded, Hutchison said, by not finding a job. "Veterans will sell themselves short. On their résumés, they'll just say, 'I was field artillery in Iraq for 16 months.'" Hutchison continued. "So I'll say, 'But you have leadership skills. How much training did you do? How many people did you manage?' These are all attributes that these veterans have, but they can't really see it." [...]"  Note: And the Pentagon plans on releasing 500,000 vets ...

Health: "10 Common Foods That Are Proven To Reduce Stress" [01/10/12] "Eight years ago, journalist Anna Magee came to nutritional therapist Charlotte Watts desperate for a diet and fitness plan that would help relieve stress while shedding excess pounds. Today, Magee and Watts are the authors behind The De-Stress Diet, a lifestyle plan for losing weight by getting rid of chronic stress, released in January.  "The book looks at diet and lifestyle in a modern way that hasn't been covered before," said Watts, who is also a yoga teacher of five years. "It doesn't give you a prescriptive, one-size fits all regimen, but helps you find out what suits you as an individual by helping to investigate your own default lifestyle."  In addition to eating well, Watts says you should pay attention to the way you breathe, keep yourself active, and most importantly, give yourself time to rest. Stress isn't always a bad thing—it can often be motivating—but overwhelming anxiety becomes damaging when we don't give ourselves enough recovery time.  To stay healthy by keeping calm, Magee and Watts helped us compile a list of 10 foods with properties shown to repair and protect your body from the effects of long-term stress. "These foods provide nutrients like B vitamins, zinc, and magnesium that we tend to use up really quickly in response to stress. Many also have therapeutic benefits like balancing blood sugar and staving off stress-induced cravings for sugary foods," said Watts.  [...]"  

MSM: "Proposed Chicago Anti-Protest Laws To Be Permanent" [01/10/12] "Not even a month has passed since Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, requested that the Chicago city council enact what he termed “temporary” and “one-time only” anti-protest measures in advance of the overlapping NATO and G-8 summits that will be held in the city from May 15-22. During a press conference held on January 4, Emanuel claimed that he “misspoke,” and that many of the proposed antidemocratic ordinances will in fact be permanent. Emanuel, who resigned as President Obama’s Chief of Staff in October 2010 to take the position of Chicago mayor, told reporters: “I made a mistake. Real simple, OK? I thought when I answered the question, I was answering the question about contracting, OK? So, if I made a mistake, I bear the responsibility.” According to Emanuel, only the powers given to the mayor for the purpose of concluding contracts in relation to the meetings will be temporary. The new laws will impose drastically increased fines on protesters, increasing the maximum fine assessed against those found to be resisting arrest or “aiding escape” from $500 to $1,000. The maximum duration of demonstrations would also be reduced by 15 minutes, to two hours. In addition, public parks and beaches would “open” at 6 AM, two hours later than they do currently. Loud noise, music or amplified sound would only be legal between 8 AM and 10 PM. Other provisions impose onerous requirements on parade organizers, and allow the city to levy punitive fines when they are violated. For example, one of the new regulations demands as part of the permit application process “a description of any recording equipment, sound amplification equipment, banners, signs, or other attention-getting devices to be used in connection with the parade.” Another regulation requires the presence of one parade marshal per 100 marchers. One notable change gives the police superintendent the power to deputize law enforcement officials from other agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, Illinois State Police, Illinois Attorney General, Department of Justice, Cook County State’s Attorney and other unspecified agencies. Even the temporary measures relating to contracts, referred to in the Chicago Tribune as “blanket spending authority,” have implications for the protesters, as they allow Emanuel to conclude contracts for, among other things, security and logistics [...]" 

MSM: "Strikes Erupt In China’s Sichuan Province" [01/10/12] "Thousands of workers from the state-owned company Pangang Group Chengdu Steel & Vanadium (known as Chengdu Steel) went on strike on January 4 over low wages in Chengdu, the capital of the inland province of Sichuan. The New York-based China Labour Watch put the number of strikers at 2,000, but other reports estimated that 10,000 were involved. Hong Kong’s Mingpao Daily said 1,000 police were sent to block the workers, who marched to a crossroad of the Chengdu-Mianyang Highway near the factory. China Labour Watch reported: “Over several hours, the confrontation paralysed traffic and the police dispelled the crowd by use of pepper spray. Several workers were injured in the ensuing clashes.” Five workers were arrested, but released after the steel company intervened. Witnesses quoted online said workers were holding banners saying, “We want a wage increase” or “We want to survive, we want meals.” Other slogans called on the enterprise to disclose the salaries of the management. [...]"  

UK: "Benefit Cuts To Make 800,000 More UK Homes Unaffordable" [01/10/12] "Welfare cuts will put a further 800,000 homes out of reach of those claiming housing benefit, according to study by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). This month saw the introduction of the capping of housing benefit payments that will leave many low-income families with a stark choice: either to pay the rent by cutting essential spending on food and heating, or move out of the home they are living in. The CIH has found that there will be many more claimants of benefits than available affordable accommodation. The term “benefit ghettoes” is being used to describe areas in the UK, such as the north of England and seaside towns, where many families will end up having to migrate to live because of changes to the benefits system. For a two-bedroom house, housing benefit will pay a maximum of £250 a week, leaving the shortfall to be picked up by the tenant/s. The implications of this will be immediate, with many areas of the UK not having enough affordable properties that will be covered by someone claiming the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in a given area. In Kensington and Chelsea, two of the richest areas in central London, 35,000 homes will be made out of the reach of those who are currently claiming housing benefit. Those losing their homes will not just be able to move to more affordable parts of London because the other areas will be facing similar problems. In Croydon, for example, there will be 17,000 people chasing 10,000 homes. [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. Debt Is Now Equal To Entire Economy" [01/10/12] "The amount of money the federal government owes to its creditors, combined with IOUs to government retirement and other programs, now tops $15.23 trillion. That's roughly equal to the value of all goods and services the U.S. economy produces in one year: $15.17 trillion as of September, the latest estimate. Private projections show the economy likely grew to about $15.3 trillion by December — a level the debt is likely to surpass this month. [...]"  

MSM: "The US Schools With Their Own Police" Link Fixed [01/10/12] "More and more US schools have police patrolling the corridors. Pupils are being arrested for throwing paper planes and failing to pick up crumbs from the canteen floor. Why is the state criminalising normal childhood behaviour? Each day, hundreds of schoolchildren appear before courts in Texas charged with offences such as swearing, misbehaving on the school bus or getting in to a punch-up in the playground. Children have been arrested for possessing cigarettes, wearing "inappropriate" clothes and being late for school. In 2010, the police gave close to 300,000 "Class C misdemeanour" tickets to children as young as six in Texas for offences in and out of school, which result in fines, community service and even prison time. What was once handled with a telling-off by the teacher or a call to parents can now result in arrest and a record that may cost a young person a place in college or a job years later. "We've taken childhood behaviour and made it criminal," said Kady Simpkins, a lawyer who represented Sarah Bustamantes. "They're kids. Disruption of class? Every time I look at this law I think: good lord, I never would have made it in school in the US. I grew up in Australia and it's just rowdy there. I don't know how these kids do it, how they go to school every day without breaking these laws." [...] The British government is studying the American experience in dealing with gangs, unruly young people and juvenile justice in the wake of the riots in England. The UK's justice minister, Crispin Blunt, visited Texas last September to study juvenile courts and prisons, youth gangs and police outreach in schools, among other things. But his trip came at a time when Texas is reassessing its own reaction to fears of feral youth that critics say has created a "school-to-prison pipeline". The Texas supreme court chief justice, Wallace Jefferson, has warned that "charging kids with criminal offences for low-level behavioural issues" is helping to drive many of them to a life in jail. The Texas state legislature last year changed the law to stop the issuing of tickets to 10- and 11-year-olds over classroom behaviour. (In the state, the age of criminal responsibility is 10.) But a broader bill to end the practice entirely – championed by a state senator, John Whitmire, who called the system "ridiculous" – failed to pass and cannot be considered again for another two years. Even the federal government has waded in, with the US attorney general, Eric Holder, saying of criminal citations being used to maintain discipline in schools: "That is something that clearly has to stop.[...] "  

MSM: "Forced Military Testing in America's Schools" [01/10/12] "The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB is the military's entrance exam that is given to fresh recruits to determine their aptitude for various military occupations. The test is also used as a recruiting tool in 12,000 high schools across the country. The 3 hour test is used by military recruiting services to gain sensitive, personal information on more than 660,000 high school students across the country every year, the vast majority of whom are under the age of 18. Students typically are given the test at school without parental knowledge or consent. The school-based ASVAB Career Exploration Program is among the military's most effective recruiting tools. [...]"  Note: Yet, at the same time, the current administration is planning to let more than 500,000 military members go, to cut down 'expenses' .... but will they abandon this 'dossier' program for high school students? No.

Nuts and Boltz: "In Israel, Spate Of Ultra-Orthodox Incidents Rattle The Secular Mainstream" [01/10/12] " If they hadn't been stirred already by the female soldier who was called a "slut" on a public bus, or the 8-year-old girl spit on by neighbors on the way to school, the sight of Jewish protesters dressed up in concentration-camp garb seems to have pushed much of Israeli secular society over the edge. It happened last weekend, during a demonstration against what protesters perceived to be an unholy government incursion into their way of life: several hundred ultra-Orthodox Jews staged a rally in Jerusalem, dressed as concentration camp victims. The protesters, part of an ultra-religious group known as Haredim, were dismayed that the government had taken down signs in their communities demanding that women walk on the opposite side of the street. Later, two ultra-Orthodox men were arrested for releasing fliers comparing the government's treatment of Haredim to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. "We made it through Hitler, and we will make it through his successor," one of the fliers read. Israel's top politicians expressed dismay. Elie Wiesel, the Israeli Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor, called the whole thing a "vile sight." The protests were just the latest in a string of provocative incidents involving the Haredim, which have rattled Israel's secular mainstream. [...] "Ultra-Orthodox extremism has darkened our lives," Efraim Halevy, the former head of Israel's spy agency, Mossad, recently said. In the same remarks, he also described the Haredim as a greater threat to the nation than Iran. "I would use a different word," said Gideon Levy, a popular liberal columnist at Haaretz, when asked about the apparent anger toward the Haredim. "It's hatred. [...]"  Related: "Video: Israel’s Religious Divide" | "Israel Knesset Member Throws Water In Face Of Colleague" [2:24] "Anastassia Michaeli, a hawkish Israeli lawmaker, got so angry during a routine parliamentary debate Monday that she took a glass of water, tossed it at Labor Party backbencher Raleb Majadele and said "shame on you" before storming out. [...]"  Note: Mental instability abounds.

MSM: "Study Challenges Supreme Court’s Image as Defender of Free Speech" [01/09/12] "The Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the conventional wisdom goes, is exceptionally supportive of free speech. Leading scholars and practitioners have called the Roberts court the most pro-First Amendment court in American history. A recent study challenges that conclusion. It says that a comprehensive look at data from 1953 to 2011 tells a different story, one showing that the court is hearing fewer First Amendment cases and is ruling in favor of free speech at a lower rate than any of the courts led by the three previous chief justices. [...]"  

MSM: "FBI Allowed To Add GPS Device To Cars Without Warrants" [01/08/12] "The Supreme Court will soon weigh in on whether law enforcement agencies can monitor your every move without you knowing — and without a warrant. In Missouri, however, one judge isn’t waiting to find out their word. US Magistrate Judge David Noce ruled last week in favor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and determined that the FBI did not need a warrant in order to affix a GPS device to the car of a St. Louis man. Fred Robinson, 69, was accused of collecting $175,000 in compensation while on the payroll of the St. Louis City Treasurer’s Office. Authorities alleged that Robinson held a position in name only and actually avoided going into the office. To prove this, law enforcement agents didn’t just ask around City Hall or dispatch a few officers to go speak with staffers. Instead, the FBI installed a GPS device on Robinson’s car without ever notifying him or asking permission. The US Supreme Court will decide later this year if such action is allowable without obtaining a warrant. In the interim, Judge Noce says it is just fine. In his ruling, Judge Noce cited an earlier call from the Eighth Circuit Court that determined, “'when police have reasonable suspicion that a particular vehicle is transporting drugs, a warrant is not required when, while the vehicle is parked in a public place, they install a non-invasive GPS tracking device on it for a reasonable period of time.” In the case of Robinson, that is exactly what agents did. Or so they claim. Robinson’s attorneys insisted that their client’s First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated during the sting, but Judge Noce says that the installation of the tracker “was not a search.” Since the GPS device was installed in a way that the officers insist was non-invasive and planted in plain view of public, placing the monitor on Robinson’s Chevy Cavalier was entirely by-the-books.  [...]"  

Interviews: "The Secret History of Education in the United States: The Scientific Destruction of Minds" [01/07/12] [74:41] "Charlotte Thompson Iserbyt served as the head of policy at the Department of Education during the first administration of Ronald Reagan. While working there she discovered a long term strategic plan by the tax exempt foundations to transform America from a nation of rugged individualists and problem solvers to a country of servile, brainwashed minions who simply regurgitate whatever they're told. [...]"  

Trends: "The New American Dream: Rent, Don’t Buy" [01/07/12] "As more people move from owning to renting, apartment vacancy rates have fallen fast, from 8 percent in 2009 to 5.6 percent in third quarter 2011. That’s pushed up rents in all markets by 2.5 percent, including apartments and single-family homes, to an average of $846 nationwide, according to Local Market Monitor, a home price forecaster. For a two-bedroom dwelling, the average rent was at $1,020 in June 2011. Those trends are just the beginning, concludes a July report from investment bank Morgan Stanley: the United States is becoming a nation of renters and home ownership will keep falling. And that, say some experts, could be good for the country. This dramatic change, triggered by the 2008 housing collapse, has shifted people’s views of home ownership. The number of those who consider a home a safe investment fell from 83 percent in 2003 to 66 percent this year, according to a survey by Fannie Mae and two other organizations. In another poll last April, commissioned by real estate data firms RealtyTrac and Trulia, 40 percent of renters questioned said they plan never to buy a home. Another reason—many baby boom retirees don’t want the burden of home repairs, rising property taxes and other responsibilities.  [...]" 

Interviews: "Chris Hedges "Brace Yourself! The American Empire Is Over & The Descent Is Going To Be Horrifying" CSPAN [01/06/12] [120:54]    Note: A piece is also read out of one of his books which describes the nature of the reincarnated retreads that are running things.  See time reference 50:36 through 51:44. Hedges gets asked who controls the world and where it's going, absolute destruction of the ecosystem - 60:21 through 63:07. He gets asked about how the US is similar to Germany in the 1930's - 63:18 through 66:01. Hedges is working on a new book entitled "Days of Destruction - Days of Revolt" (June 2012) about 'sacrifice zones' in the US -  and the goal of corporations to convert the US into a state of oligarchic neo-feudalism, where the course of human lives is determined by the dictates of the market place. These 'sacrifice zones' are expanding, and two thirds of the country will be scrambling to survive - 70:09 through 72:43. Hedges is asked 73:21 about what to expect if Iran is attacked, and that it would be a huge mistake, and why (74:45 through 76:08) , leading to a regional conflict because an attack would be interpreted by the Arab world as being an attack on the Shia religion itself. Hedges comments on Ron Paul (112:38) and his pre-industrial ideology, which wants to 'gut government' but doesn't do anything to diminish the power of the corporate state, which is the prevailing problem. Hedges reiterates that people can serve either privilege and power or, justice and truth, but not both. He comments on the 'magical thinking' that pervades elements of society (116:04) which pervades the religious right, new age proponents and even corporatism itself, and how it's a 'myth' that is used to beat up on the poor and reduce society to a subsistence level, while blaming the poor for their condition, and how it is a callous and delusional corporate stance. Note2 : Describing the reincarnated retreads who 'run things', Hedges says: "Our elites - the ones in Congress, the ones on Wall Street, and the ones being produced at prestigious universities and business schools - do not have the capacity to fix our financial mess. Indeed, they will make it worse. They have no concept, thanks to the education they have received, of how to replace a failed system with a new one. They are petty, timid, and uncreative bureaucrats superbly trained to carry out systems management. They see only piecemeal solutions that will satisfy the corporate structure. Their entire focus is numbers, profits, and personal advancement. They lack a moral and intellectual core. They are as able to deny gravely ill people medical coverage to increase company profits as they are to use taxpayer dollars to peddle costly weapon systems to blood-soaked dictatorships. The democratic system, they believe, is a secondary product of the free market - which they lavishly serve." Chris Hedges, "Empire of Illusion - The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle", "Illusion of Wisdom". 

MSM: "U.S. Abandons Renewable Fuels" [01/06/12] "The U.S. government is ending a three-decade-old policy of subsidizing corn ethanol, dating back to the Carter administration, which in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran pushed development of alternative fuels to lessen U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East. [...]" Note: More evidence that they're letting the infrastructure collapse by limiting the few alterative plans that existed.

Commentary: "Cop Types . . ." Lew Rockwell [01/06/12] "Bad laws attract bad people to enforce them – while pushing out the good (and semi-good) people. It’s a sort of Gresham’s Law as applied to human society. And more, a sort of authoritarian feedback loop that makes the situation progressively worse as time goes by. Consider the position of “law enforcer” in 2012 America. What does it entail? When we had peace officers, it mostly meant going after thugs – people who victimize others by threatening them with violence. Frauds and crooks, too. In brief, it meant going after those who violate the rights of others. It was – generally – an honorable way to earn one’s living. Most citizens therefore respected cops – or at least did not actively dislike and fear cops. Most cops were “ok.” They – generally – could be counted on to leave you alone unless you’d actually done something to warrant not being left alone. It was a quid pro quo that made sense no matter which side of the fence you happened to be on. Today, it is law enforcement that threatens harmless, morally (if not legally) innocent people with violence. The guy who, for example, grows a small batch of pot plants in his backyard (as opposed to the lawful citizen who brews his own beer). Or the seatbelt scofflaw – whose actions threaten harm to none except, perhaps, himself (and even then, only potentially). Or the farmer who sells “unapproved” milk to his neighbors. And the students who dare to exercise their right to peaceable assembly. The driver who declines to be a witness against himself and refuses to submit, sans warrant – and very often, sans probable cause – to a random stop and search of his vehicle and person. [...]"  

MSM: "Arizona Governor's Medical Marijuana Lawsuit Dismissed" [01/06/12] "A federal judge Wednesday threw out a lawsuit filed on behalf of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) that had blocked the implementation of the state's voter-approved medical marijuana dispensary program. Brewer and state health officials had sued to ask the court for clarification about whether the state's medical marijuana law was preempted by federal drug laws, saying they feared going forward would put state employees at risk of federal prosecution... [...]"  

Commentary:  "Senate Bill S 510 Food Safety Modernization Act Vote Imminent: Would Outlaw Gardening And Saving Seeds" [01/06/12] "Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, has been called "the most dangerous bill in the history of the United States of America." It would grant the U.S. government new authority over the public's right to grow, trade and transport any foods. This would give Big brother the power to regulate the tomato plants in your backyard. It would grant them the power to arrest and imprison people selling cucumbers at farmer's markets. It would criminalize the transporting of organic produce if you don't comply with the authoritarian rules of the federal government. [...]"  

MSM: "Seed Shortage Buries Hopes for Record Corn Crop" [01/06/12] "American farmers had been planning the biggest corn planting since World War II this spring, but they're being thwarted by a seed shortage. Drought conditions in the Midwest and Great Plains last year have caused what dealers in the corn belt say is the biggest shortage of top-quality seeds they've ever seen, the Wall Street Journal finds. Corn prices hit a record $8 a bushel last spring, and commodities brokers say another disappointing crop this year could send prices as high as $10. Big seed companies like Monsanto and DuPont downplayed the shortage, saying all it means is that some farmers may not be able to get their first seed choice. Suppliers may turn to South America for extra seed, but drought conditions have hurt the seed corn crop there as well. [...]"  

Commentary:  "The Outlook for the New Year: Tyranny in the Forecast" Paul Craig Roberts [01/05/12] "In March 2010, when I resigned from my column with Creator’s Syndicate and put down my pen, I received so many protests from readers that two months later I began writing again. This renewed activity has resulted in this new year in a website of my own. My columns will first appear on my site. Sites on which readers are accustomed to find my columns are permitted to continue to post my columns as long as they link to my site and indicate my copyright. The site will stay up if reader support justifies it. Otherwise, I will conclude that the cost of the site exceeds the value of what I have to say. This past year has not been a good one for the 99%, and the new year is likely to be even worse. This column deals with the outlook for liberty. The next will deal with the economic outlook. [...]"  

Commentary: "2012: Predictions of a Mad Tin Foiler" [01/05/12] "... The following forecasts are based on trends that are and have been developing for months and years. Some are more likely than others. Some may never come to pass. Others are events that have a high probability of coming to pass, perhaps in 2012 or in the next few years. Whatever the case, they are scenarios that are, in many cases, interrelated . So, if you see one come to fruition, the chance that another will take place grows exponentially. [...]"  

MSM: "US Water Infrastructure Going Down the Tubes" [01/04/12] " Water and sewer systems, among the most basic things needed to keep civilized society going, are in danger of falling apart across America. Around a quarter of drinking water already leaks from pipes before it reaches the faucet, and without urgent repairs to the vast majority of water systems—many of which should have been replaced decades ago—experts warn that water bills will skyrocket, water services in many regions will be routinely disrupted, and contamination caused by sewage bacteria will soar. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that another $9.4 billion needs to be spent every year between now and 2020, but with sewage systems out of sight, it is likely to be hard to sell the public on the need for higher taxes and fees to pay for repairs. "To me it’s the unseen catastrophe," the general manager of the DC Water and Sewer Authority tells the Washington Post. "My humble view is that the industry we’re in is the bedrock of civilization because it’s not just an infrastructure that is a convenience, that allows you to get to work faster or slower. At least with bridges or a road, people have some idea of what it is because they drive on them and see them." [...]"  

Resource: "List Of Cognitive Biases" [01/03/12] "A cognitive bias is a pattern of poor judgment, often triggered by a particular situation. Identifying "poor judgment," or more precisely, a "deviation in judgment," requires a standard for comparison, i.e. "good judgment". In scientific investigations of cognitive bias, the source of "good judgment" is that of people outside the situation hypothesized to cause the poor judgment, or, if possible, a set of independently verifiable facts. The existence of most of the particular cognitive biases listed below has been verified empirically in psychology experiments. Cognitive biases, like many behaviors, are influenced by evolution and natural selection pressure. Some are presumably adaptive and beneficial, for example, because they lead to more effective actions in given contexts or enable faster decisions, when faster decisions are of greater value for reproductive success and survival. Others presumably result from a lack of appropriate mental mechanisms, i.e. a general fault in human brain structure, or from the misapplication of a mechanism that is adaptive (beneficial) under different circumstances. Cognitive bias is a general term that is used to describe many distortions in the human mind that are difficult to eliminate and that lead to perceptual distortion, inaccurate judgment, or illogical interpretation. [...]"  Discussed are: 1 Decision-making and behavioral biases. 2 Biases in probability and belief. 3 Social biases 4 Memory errors and biases 5 Common theoretical causes of some cognitive biases 6 Methods for dealing with cognitive biases. All these constitute complex elements of the social environment. Of course, when we on levels of reality where we are telepathic, none of this exists. Language and other factors introduce these factors into experience at this level. Related: "Top 10 Thinking Traps Exposed — How to Foolproof Your Mind" [The Anchoring Trap: Over-Relying on First Thoughts; The Status Quo Trap: Keeping on Keeping On; The Sunk Cost Trap: Protecting Earlier Choices; The Confirmation Trap: Seeing What You Want to See; The Incomplete Information Trap: Review Your Assumptions]   Part 2 [The Conformity Trap: Everybody Else Is Doing It; The Illusion of Control Trap: Shooting in the Dark; The Coincidence Trap: We Suck at Probabilities; The Recall Trap: Not All Memories Are Created Equal; The Superiority Trap: The Average is Above Average.]

UK: "Almost 1,000 Police Officers Have Criminal Records Including A Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector" [01/03/12] "More than 900 serving police officers and community support officers have a criminal record, official figures show. Forces across England and Wales employ policemen and women with convictions including burglary, causing death by careless driving, robbery, supplying drugs, domestic violence, forgery and perverting the course of justice. Those with criminal records include senior officers, among them two detective chief inspectors and one chief inspector working for the Metropolitan Police. At least 944 currently serving officers and police community support officers (PCSOs) have a conviction, according to figures released by 33 of the 43 forces in England and Wales in response to Freedom of Information requests. Many forces could not provide details of criminal records dating from before their staff joined the police, meaning the true figure will be significantly higher. The Metropolitan Police, Britain's largest force, came top with 356 officers and 41 PCSOs with convictions. It was followed by Kent Police (49), Devon and Cornwall Police (44), Essex Police (42), South Yorkshire Police (35), Hampshire Police (31) and West Midlands Police (27), although not all the figures are directly comparable. Most of the convictions are for traffic offences such as speeding and drink-driving, but the records also include a South Yorkshire Police officer convicted of fishing without a licence. Home Office guidelines issued in 2003 say police officers should have "proven integrity" because they are vulnerable to pressure from criminals to reveal information. The guidance says forces should reject potential recruits with convictions for serious offences - including causing actual bodily harm, burglary, dangerous driving and supplying drugs - unless there are "exceptionally compelling circumstances". [...]" 

UK: "Insidious Idleness: Labour Signal Step-Change In Attitude To Welfare" [01/03/12] "Labour have marked a step-change in their attitude to welfare, with shadow cabinet minister Liam Byrne saying it is time for his party to become "radical reformers" again. In an article for the Guardian to mark the 70th anniversary of the Beveridge report, the document that became the basis for the founding of the welfare state, Byrne says Beveridge considered "idleness" " every bit as insidious as disease or squalor". [...]"  Note: How about the insidious 'busywork' of the government politicians .... who feel they have the right to slice and dice 'society' at a whim.

MSM: "The 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2011" [01/02/12] "We've all heard about crazy lawsuits and 2011 was no exception when it came to the filing of frivolous – even ridiculous – lawsuits. A lawsuit by a kidnapper against his victims for not helping him evade police tops the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform’s (ILR) survey of the Top Ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2011, released today. "While these lawsuits vary from the outrageous to the humorous, abusive litigation is hardly a laughing matter," said ILR President Lisa Rickard. "ILR's annual poll of ridiculous lawsuits helps to remind us that abusive lawsuits affect real people and real businesses, and can have harmful results to lives, jobs, and even our economic growth." ILR announced the top ten vote-getters from among those chosen throughout the year by visitors to the FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org website. The lawsuits were selected from those featured in the website's monthly polls for 2011. The Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign is ILR's public awareness effort created to highlight the impact of abusive lawsuits on small businesses, communities, and individuals. The top ten Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2011 are: [...]"  

MSM: "Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops" [01/02/12] "A man whose bid to become a police officer was rejected after he scored too high on an intelligence test has lost an appeal in his federal lawsuit against the city. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a lower court’s decision that the city did not discriminate against Robert Jordan because the same standards were applied to everyone who took the test. “This kind of puts an official face on discrimination in America against people of a certain class,” Jordan said today from his Waterford home. “I maintain you have no more control over your basic intelligence than your eye color or your gender or anything else.” [...] New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work and leave soon after undergoing costly training. Most Cops Just Above Normal: The average score nationally for police officers is 21 to 22, the equivalent of an IQ of 104, or just a little above average. "  Note: And we see the result of the policy of using the less astute, who may be more likely to have a desire for power over others, to enforce 'laws' that are imposed on society that often have very little intelligence behind them, creating a burden on society, deliberately. If they're going to give them guns, they ought to give them to the most intelligent and rational, not the disturbed.

UK: "Government Creates £170m Fund To Help Older Patients Leave NHS Hospitals" [01/02/12] "Councils will get £1m each to spend on social care to reduce the number of elderly patients occupying beds longer than needed. The government will announce a further £170m funding for councils on Monday, to help them improve care and support for elderly people coming out of hospital. The boost comes after a healthcare thinktank warned that the NHS stood no chance of hitting its £20bn efficiency savings target unless steps were taken to curb a rise in elderly patients occupying hospital beds longer than necessary. Local government leaders welcome the one-off payment, which is to be spent over the next three months, but warn that the social care funding system cannot go on being patched up without fundamental reform. Of the £170m total, £150m will be divided among the 152 councils with social care responsibilities and will be allocated through NHS primary care trusts, which must agree how the money should best be spent to ease pressure on hospitals. The remaining £20m will be used to top up local funding pots for the disabled facilities grant, a means-tested award administered by councils to help with the cost of adaptations to enable people to continue living at home. All the cash is said to be coming from in-year savings in the Department of Health budget. The £20m extra for the disabled facilities grant is being passed to the Department for Communities and Local Government. [...]" 

Trends: "Americans Buy Record Numbers Of Guns For Christmas" [01/02/12] "According to the FBI, over 1.5 million background checks on customers were requested by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December. Nearly 500,000 of those were in the six days before Christmas. It was the highest number ever in a single month, surpassing the previous record set in November. [...]"  

Trends: "Facebook Cited in 33% of Divorces" [01/02/12] "One-third of divorce filings based on unreasonable behavior are citing Facebook these days, and such filings are up by half over the past two years, says the law firm Divorce-Online. "People contact ex-partners and the messages start as innocent, but lead to trouble," says Mark Keenan, the firm's managing director. "If someone wants to have an affair or flirt with the opposite sex then it’s the easiest place to do it." The most common Facebook-related grievances: spouses writing flirtatious messages or appearing in photos that reveal a breach of marital trust, the Daily Mail reports. "If you are complaining that they have a drinking problem and they have posted statuses about going out on the razzle ... that could be used," one lawyer says. [...]"  Note: Step 1: Convince naive people to reveal their life in public, creating a dossier accessible to anyone. Step 2: There will be fallout.

Commentary: "Is The Fabric Of Industrialized Society Starting To Unravel?" [01/01/12] "This is one of the most important trends you'll see in 2012 and beyond: Global supply lines are breaking down. The just-in-time system of deliveries on tap is deteriorating. Have you noticed how often the products or parts you need are backordered or delayed? That's what I'm talking about. Try to order 3TB hard drives for data storage. You'll discover they're all back-ordered. When you order items from Amazon.com that are shipped by third party companies, they're often delayed due to sourcing problems. Even our own NaturalNews Store has suffered from sourcing challenges, where customer demand is much higher than the available supply, and the suppliers sometimes can't get us products in a timely manner. [...]"  

MSM: "Indiana Statehouse Surprise: Officials Limit Number Who Can Assemble" [01/01/12] "Indiana officials delivered an end-of-year surprise to state residents on Friday, announcing a limit on the number of people who can be inside the statehouse at any one time. Democratic and labor leaders swiftly condemned the move as an attempt to quash dissent and reduce the size of public protests. Effective Jan. 1, only 3,000 people will be allowed inside the building at one time. That number includes the 1,700 state employees who work there, meaning that just over 1,000 others will be able to assemble on a given day. The rule was drafted by the Indiana State Police, the state's homeland security department and the state fire marshal's office. Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) appointed the heads of all those offices. [...]"  

 

   Amended Often. Most Recent items added on top. Month begins on bottom