The touchy subject of the triumphant return of Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical anti-American Mullah, to Iraq from his four year sojourn in Iran was handled differently in headlines: The New York Times had a positive spin: Iraqi Cleric Embraces State in Comeback Speech
Worth tens of thousands of US dead and wounded, seven years and a trillion or two trillion in treasure? The New Iraq brought to you by the GOP and War President George W. Bush, now emerges, a country depleted of professionals who have fled, Christians who live in fear or exile, and a government that includes a death squad/militia running radical cleric who is a very good friend of the repressive government of Iran.
President Obama nominated Peter Orszag to be his Director of Management and Budget in November, 2008, where he served a year and a half and resigned the position in July 2010. His new position at Citibank may pay $2-3 million according to bankers familiar with similar positions. Orszag joins a former Bush cabinet appointee at Citibank.
You can read the December 9th paean to the rich in print on Bernard Goldberg's website at this link, "Thank God for The Rich", or watch it on video it at link.
Is Goldberg's contract coming up with Rupert Murdoch or does he emit worshipful blather about how heroic and wonderful rich people like Rupert Murdoch are all the time?
Anyone who watched the spectacle of hate at the NBA game last night in Cleveland might decide the town could win the prize for the most bitter, angry and low life fans anywhere in the nation, including Philly. Raucous, rude, angry fans and mobs of police were present as hometown boy LeBron James returned for the first time with his new team, the Miami Heat. James grew up in Ohio, skipped college, and went directly to the NBA to play for the Cavaliers for seven years before moving to
McClatchy is reporting that the Fed has proposed changing a key rule having to do with the the TILA (Truth in Lending Act of 1968). This rule currently allows a homeowner who can prove that they were not given proper disclosure on their loan up to 3 years to cancel the loan. Current law says in such a case, the lien on the home must be removed so the homeowner can use the home to get a new mortgage to pay off the first.
Millionaire and billionaire Dagbloggers take note: if you die before Dec. 31st, 2010, as Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) claims some of her constituents may do to avoid taxes, you can RIP knowing Uncle Sam did not get one cent of your hard earned fortunes, your designated heirs got it all.
The recent takeover reported this month, of a formerly US run Iraqi prison, by Moqtada al Sadr supporters, who have just been brought into the Maliki government, combined with the reading of a dispatch from Ambassador Hill from December, 2009, leads one to surmise that Iran is moving to consolidate its influence in Iraq, including the widespread use of death squads:
President Obama’s hopes of ratifying a new arms control treaty (Start II) with Russia this year appeared to unravel on Tuesday as a Senate Republican leader (Senator Kyl-Republican-Arizona) moved to block a vote in what could be a devastating blow to the president’s most tangible foreign policy achievement..
McClatchy reports that to keep 'peace negotiations' alive the Obama administration has offered US $3 billion in military aid for Israel, including 20 F-35 Joint Strike fighter aircraft, capable of a 15,000 pound payload, and stealth equipped for missions like bombing Iran. F-35 specs.
As lawsuits on Obama's health care law brought by the GOP are allowed to progress, and with the recognition the reforms only go into full force in 2014, one wonders, that if Obamacare was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, and blocked, would a Republican President 'go to the mat' to defend Obamacare?
A federal district court judge has driven a stake through the heart of the 17 year old 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on gays in the military, placing an injunction on its enforcement throughout the military and declaring it unconstitutional. The judiciary is a co-equal branch of government, and the judge was doing what the judiciary is supposed to do, ruling to defend the rights of Americans under the Constitution.
Public services, the call to duty and empathy for fellow citizens reach a new low in Tennessee. Even craven rich slave owning ancient Romans were not so odious as to offer no relief whatsoever to victims of a fire.
Rep. Levin (D-Mich) suggested we ask the government of Iraq to pay $1 billion of what is calculated to be $2 billion of training and equipment planned by the Pentagon for Iraq in the next fiscal year. A recent study by the GAO found that Iraq had $11.8 billion in the bank and was running a surplus. So with both Republicans and Democrats worried about OUR deficit, its a slam dunk we will ask Iraq to help out, right?
Ever wonder why all those Bush/Cheney 04 stickers disappeared so rapidly in his second term as the Bush wars, the Bush economy and the country itself headed down the drain? And how did those of the Bush Base turn so quickly into Teabaggers??
Driftglass has an explantion, that will make you laugh! It's a story of the magical transformation of the Dr. Suess-like 'Sneetches' of the Bush Base!
The New York Times reports that the Pentagon is seeking $1,200,000,000 ($1.2 billion dollars) over 6 years to fight about 500 'hardcore' al Qaeda in the deserts of Yemen. Most of the money would go to US arms manufacturers to buy the usual tools of killing people, helicopters, guns, communication gear, bombs etc., and US 'trainers'. It works out to about $2.4 million per bad guy but who's counting? Certainly not General Petraeus who approved the request.
