June 2009 archive

1. The Washington Post reports a Judge questions Justice Department effort to keep secret Cheney’s remarks on Valarie Plame.

   U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan “sharply questioned an assertion by the Obama administration that former Vice President Richard B. Cheney’s statements to a special prosecutor about the Valerie Plame case must be kept secret, partly so they do not become fodder for Cheney’s political enemies or late-night commentary on ‘The Daily Show’.”

   The DoJ claims “Cheney’s voluntary statements to U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald were exempt from disclosure”, because “disclosure would make presidents and vice presidents reluctant to cooperate voluntarily with future criminal investigations” cover-ups.

2. The CS Monitor reports The Pacific isn’t the only ocean collecting plastic trash. “A swirling ‘soup’ of tiny pieces of plastic has been found in the Atlantic Ocean, and something similar may be present in other ocean areas as well.”

   When Sylvia Earle began diving in 1952, the ocean was pristine. These days, things are different.
   “For the past 30 years I have never been on a dive anytime, anywhere, from the surface to 2-1/2 miles deep, without seeing a piece of trash,” says the renowned oceanographer and former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “There’s life from the surface to the greatest depths – and there’s also trash from the surface to the greatest depths.”

   Dr. Earle’s experience illustrates the rising tide of plastic accumulating in the world’s oceans.
   And while the Pacific Ocean has garnered much attention for what some call the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” – a vast expanse of floating plastic deposited in the middle of the ocean by circulating currents – the problem doesn’t stop there.

   New research shows that plastic has collected in a region of the Atlantic as well, held hostage by converging currents, called gyres, to form a swirling “plastic soup.” And those fragments of plastic could also be present at the other three large gyres in the world’s oceans, says Kara Lavender Law, a member of the oceanography faculty at the Sea Education Association (SEA) in Woods Hole, Mass., which conducted the study.

Four at Four continues with an update from Afghanistan and Peru revokes Amazon development law.

Many years ago, in the mid 90s, I was peripherally involved with the analysis of the two startup satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius. It was apparent to me then that the advent of mobile Internet access would kill these companies. The superior versatility, unlimited programming choices, and precision advertising capability of the mobile Internet platform would do to satellite radio what talkies did to silent films.

The only question in 1994 what when (not if) Internet audio programming could be streamed to cars and hand-held devices. It might be argued that this competitive uncertainty was so great as to provide ample justification for the lavish investments required to orbit radio broadcasting satellites and the corresponding programming and marketing infrastructure, but was this really so?

Unlike earlier eras of technological progress, the microelectronic revolution has been a forecaster’s dream. Because of Moore’s law, which describes the exponential increase of microcircuit density, it has been possible to predict the price/performance and the feature/performance characteristics of future consumer electronic devices with considerable precision. Moore’s Law was well understood at the time that the radio satellites were launched.

In retrospect, it is difficult to avoid concluding that the backers of satellite radio, their contractors, and their consultants fully understood the high probability that mobile Internet technology would wipe out their business model. Why did they proceed? I believe that the ventures were funded because of what C. Wright Mills calls “organized irresponsibility.” The people behind the schemes had front-loaded rewards, in the form of commissions, contracts, bonuses, and IPO proceeds that provided ample inducements to launch a doomed venture. Many of these players privately reasoned that they would make a lot of money – no matter what happened to satellite radio.

Does this pattern sound familiar? It is the same thing that happened in the financial sector and resulted in the near-meltdown of the world economy. People deliberately made deals that they knew were tainted or ill-fated because their short-term gains would outweigh any long-term losses – especially if the losses would be borne by others.

The bad news is that almost any industry in America over the last 20 years shows evidence of organized irresponsibility misdirecting investments with ruinous results: automobiles, aerospace, telecommunications, banking – you name it. Our business culture has contracted a disease of predatory bad-faith dealing, and until it is cured we will continue on the road to national ruin.

If you’re still thinking that Obama is your friend, if you’re still thinking that somehow he offers up something other than “hope”, well here’s one of those little stories that could be the proverbial straw-that-breaks-the-camel’s-back.

I wish I was making this up.  I wish this was actually from The Onion.  But it isn’t.

Judge rejects argument Cheney needs to be shielded from Daily Show

“Justice Department lawyers told the judge that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them.”

This is the Obama administration, folks.  This is not the Bush/Cheney administration.  This is Obama’s Justice Department doing this.

Upon reading this, my first instinct was to just turn away from the computer and not come back for a good long time.  

But I thought I’d share it here first.

“If we become a fact-finder for political enemies, they aren’t going to cooperate,” Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith said. “I don’t want a future vice president to say, `I’m not going to cooperate with you because I don’t want to be fodder for ‘The Daily Show.'”

This is a sad time for America.  Very sad indeed.

We need a new party.  This one is exactly like the other one.

In Michigan, we have an internet job/resume bank.   As one of the qualifying conditions for unemployment compensation, laid-off people are required to post their resume in the system.  We currently have 1 million resumes on file and 20,000 jobs.

US fast-tracks hi-tech trade with India; GE India first beneficiary

WASHINGTON: The United States has announced a new programme to fast-track high-technology trade with India from which General Electric’s India division will be the first Indian company to benefit.

“This is an important step in enabling a more rapid and efficient flow of sensitive technology between India and the United States,” US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke announced at the US-India Business Council’s 34th Anniversary “Synergies Summit” Wednesday.  –snip–  

We’re looking forward to reciprocal actions from our partner,” Locke said encouraging other Indian firms also to take advantage of the programme. –snip–

The only countries eligible for the programme to date are India and China, which was approved in late April.

Last year, US companies exported $18 billion worth of goods to India, and India shipped the United States $25 billion worth of goods, Locke said.  –snip–

With Democrats like Obama, corporations don’t need the Republicans in the White House.

hat tip

now is dawn – we must go – location not safe –

thank u for supporting Sea of Green

– #Iranelection – people of Iran needs your help

Lawmakers Balk As Administration Tries to Redefine Central Bank’s Role



By Neil Irwin and Binyamin Appelbaum

Washington Post Staff Writers

Friday, June 19, 2009



The Federal Reserve, which has been at the center of the government rescue of the financial system, is now on the hot seat, with a debate on Capitol Hill emerging over its responsibility for the crisis and its proper role in preventing such events in the future.

Lawmakers are simultaneously annoyed that the Fed did not do more to rein in the bad lending and other financial excesses that led to the financial crisis and recession, and wary of the Fed’s aggressive steps over the past two years to combat them. The criticism of the Fed is increasingly loud, bipartisan and from both chambers of Congress.

The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it wants to give the central bank more power to oversee risks to the U.S. economy even as it strips the Fed of power to protect consumers and limits its authority to make emergency loans. But the expansion of its role is already proving to be the most controversial element of the president’s plan to revamp financial regulation.

Iran protests: live

A week after the disputed poll, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead Friday prayers today in an attempt to quell continuing anger at the reelection of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Follow live updates

The orignal page will be updated every minute

9.15am:

Al-Jazeera is showing live pictures of Khamenei at the start of Friday prayers. It quotes him calling for peace.

“I advise you to follow Allah and follow the pious way,” he says according to the translation. “Apply the fear of God,” he adds.

He goes on to cite verses from the Qu’ran about enemies surrounding Mecca. “Psychologically Muslims need a quiet and tranquil heart,” al-Jazeera’s translator quotes Khamenei as saying.

“When we gain stress and worries it will be difficult to find our way. When we are quiet it is easier to find solutions. This is the blessing of Allah. Believers need to find calm and strength.”

USA

Democrats Scramble to Cut Costs From Health Plan



By ROBERT PEAR

Published: June 18, 2009

WASHINGTON – The high cost of securing health insurance for all Americans, the top domestic priority of President Obama, has Congressional Democrats scrambling to scale back their proposals or find ways to trim tens of billions of dollars a year from existing health programs.

According to slides presented at a closed-door meeting this week, members of the Senate Finance Committee are debating several new ideas, including “an automatic mechanism” to reduce the growth of Medicare under an expedited procedure like the one used to close military bases.

The documents displayed in the slides show that the committee is also considering a proposal that would require some employers to contribute to the cost of Medicaid or private health insurance for low-wage workers. One purpose is to discourage employers from foisting the cost of employee health benefits onto the federal government, a maneuver that would push up the cost of revamping the health system.

Supreme leader defends Ahmadinejad’s win, says protests must end

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s supreme leader said Friday that there was “definitive victory” and no rigging in the disputed June 12 presidential election, offering no concession to protesters demanding the vote be canceled and held again.

In his first public address since demonstrators flooded the streets, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said protests should cease and the opposition must pursue its complaints within the confines of the cleric-led ruling system.

He said protesters would be “held responsible for chaos if they didn’t end” days of massive demonstrations. The unrest has posed the greatest challenge to the system since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought it to power.