Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Americans to protest against US wars
"This Saturday, April 9, there is an important national demonstration in New York and on Sunday April 10 in San Francisco against US wars and occupation focusing on the tens of thousands of US troops today waging a brutal occupation in Iraq, in Afghanistan, now in Pakistan and opposing the new US war on Libya," said Sara Flounders, national co-director of New York-based International Action Center, in an interview with Press TV's US Desk on Tuesday.
Bernie Sanders Letter To Bernanke: Why Did The Fed Bailout The Central Bank Of Libya?
WASHINGTON, March 31 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today questioned why the Federal Reserve provided more than $26 billion in credit to an Arab intermediary for the Central Bank of Libya.
Administration Paints Picture of Possible Government Shutdown
The Obama administration clarified the scope of the potential government shutdown saying that it would impact about 800,000 employees and stop services like IRS paper filling and returns, and close institutions like the Smithsonian.
A senior administration official also said that military personnel would continue to earn money, however they wouldn't actually receive it until the government is funded again. They'll be receiving full pay checks until April 8.
There are two areas that guide who will stay working. Government activities will stay open that:
1) Have alternative funding - like user fees or appropriations that aren't renewed every year.2) Are necessary for safety of life and protection of property.
Here's a snapshot of what else stays open and what closes during this potential shutdown:
• The official said the president doesn't want government shutdown, but they think from a "good government" perspective and for "good housekeeping," they need contingency plan.
• 800,000 federal employees (the same as 1995) the official says is the "vicinity" of workers who would be affected. What's changed since 1995 though is that the Veterans Affairs Department was largely closed during the last shutdown, but will be open now because it has multi-year appropriation. Plus the Department of Homeland Security didn't exist then, and many of their operations are necessary for safety and protection of property.
• Military members will continue get paid through April 8th, but after that are only earning and will get money when the government is funded again. Civilian members will be under same consideration about who stays and their pay situation will be largely the same. They expect a significant number of civilians to be furloughed.
• What services will be suspended? IRS filings with paper claims won't be processed and audits will also be stopped. Electronic claims will continue. Small business loans and Federal House Administration mortgages will also be halted. (The official noted that FHA had 12 percent of housing market in 1995, and now it's up to 30 percent)
• The National Institutes of Health will not be accepting new patients or starting new clinical trials
• The Environmental Protection Agency will cease facilities for air, land and water pollution, but keep up ones necessary for protection of life.
Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/04/06/administration-paints-picture-possible-government-shutdown#ixzz1ImIBPF8I
US to continue arming Yemeni govt.
"As far as I know, it has not been," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said in response to a question whether the US administration was considering withholding military aid to stop the violence against demonstrators.
George W Bush 'invited son of Osama bin Laden to White House'
Omar bin Laden, the fourth son of the al-Qaeda leader, claims he received a visit from White House staff in January 2009 at his home in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
"They invited me to accompany them to the White House, offered to defend, help and protect me, on the condition that I helped them find my father," he told Spanish daily newspaper La Vanguardia, in an interview published on Monday.
10 Reasons Obama is Just As Bad or Worse Than Bush
These policies like wars of aggression, illegal surveillance of Americans, torture of detainees indefinitely held without formal charges, unfair "free trade" agreements, and bank bailouts rightfully enraged many progressives during the Bush years. Yet, not only have these policies accelerated under Obama, even more of the draconian playbook is unfolding.
After 8 years of Bush's reign that ended with a record low presidential approval rating in the low 20s, Obama's promise of hope and change inspired many beyond mainline progressives. His campaign speeches were so powerful that they landed him the Nobel Peace Prize without having done anything for world peace except to offer the idea in order to get elected. As a Constitutional law professor and attorney, Obama appeared to have a greater understanding of rights and the balance of power than did flunky Bush.
Although policies being implemented under Obama's leadership exhibit the continuation of Bush's tyrannical agenda, his stunning betrayal of populist and Constitutional principles in support of these actions makes him the ultimate hypocrite. Additionally, because Obama is a much more influential orator than Bush, his service to the puppet masters is far more dangerous to the American people he's supposed to serve.
There have been many articles written about Obama's unkept promises and outright lies, but here are 10 actions that prove Obama is just as bad if not worse than Bush:
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| Tax cheat Geithner AFP image |
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| AFP image |
EPA attempts to just raise what is considered "SAFE"radiation
For Immediate Release: April 5, 2010
Contact: Kirsten Stade (202) 265-7337
RADIATION EXPOSURE DEBATE RAGES INSIDE EPA — Plan to Radically Hike Post-Accident Radiation in Food & Water Sparks Hot Dissent
Washington, DC — A plan awaiting approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would dramatically increase permissible radioactive releases in drinking water, food and soil after “radiological incidents” is drawing vigorous objections from agency experts, according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). At issue is the acceptable level of public health risk following a radiation release, whether an accidental spill or a “dirty bomb” attack.
The radiation arm of EPA, called the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA), has prepared an update of the 1992 “Protective Action Guides” (PAG) governing radiation protection decisions for both short-term and long-term cleanup standards. Other divisions within EPA contend the ORIA plan geometrically raises allowable exposure to the public. For example, as Charles Openchowski of EPA’s Office of General Counsel wrote in a January 23, 2009 e-mail to ORIA:
“[T]his guidance would allow cleanup levels that exceed MCLs [Maximum Contamination Limits under the Safe Drinking Water Act] by a factor of 100, 1000, and in two instances 7 million and there is nothing to prevent those levels from being the final cleanup achieved (i.e., it’s not confined to immediate response of emergency phase).”
Another EPA official, Stuart Walker of the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, explains what the proposed new radiation limits in drinking water would mean:
“It also appears that drinking water at the PAG concentrations…may lead to subchronic (acute) effects following exposures of a day or a week. In a population, one should see some express acute effects…that is vomiting, fever, etc.”
“This critical debate is taking place entirely behind closed doors because this plan is ‘guidance’ and does not require public notice as a regulation would,” stated PEER Counsel Christine Erickson. Today, PEER sent EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson a letter calling for a more open and broader examination of the proposed radiation guidance. “We all deserve to know why some in the agency want to legitimize exposing the public to radiation at levels vastly higher than what EPA officially considers dangerous.”
The internal documents show that under the updated PAG a single glass of water could give a lifetime’s permissible exposure. In addition, it would allow long-term cleanup limits thousands of times more lax than anything EPA has ever before accepted. These new limits would cause a cancer in as much as every fourth person exposed.
PEER obtained the internal e-mails after filing a lawsuit this past fall under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) but the EPA has yet to turn over thousands more communications. “EPA touts its new transparency but when it comes to matters of controversy the agency still puts up a wall,” added Erickson, who filed the FOIA suit. “Besides the months of stonewalling, we are seeing them pull stunts such as ORIA giving us rebuttals to other EPA documents they have yet to release.”
Some Radiation-Tracking Air Monitors May Not Be Working Properly, EPA Says - Bloomberg
Eight of 18 air monitors in California, Oregon and Washington state that track radiation from Japan’s nuclear reactors are “undergoing quality review,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.
A sufficient number of devices are working and can measure any changes in radiation levels from the damaged Fukushima Dai- Ichi reactors, said Ronald Fraass, director of the EPA’s National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory in Montgomery, Alabama.
Stop having children instead of bleating about conservation, says wildlife expert
Chris Packham, the BBC presenter, said the government should offer financial rewards to couples who opt to remain childless.
Setting out his radical approach, Packham said: "There's no point bleating about the future of pandas, polar bears and tigers when we're not addressing the one single factor that's putting more pressure on the ecosystem than any other - namely the ever-increasing size of the world's population.
Dish Network acquiring Blockbuster for $228M
As of Tuesday, the satellite TV company, billionaire investor Carl Icahn and a group of debt holders were the three remaining bidders for the Dallas movie-rental chain, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.
Read more:Dish Network acquiring Blockbuster for $228M - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_17782564#ixzz1Ik8WA7xN
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