So much for Obama's description of 'bumps in the road'. True reality disconnect; so sad he insulated himself from legitimate economists. (Sy Hersh said insiders tell him that few outside his immediate circle ever get his ear.)
I saw this at docudharma.com; apparently the Working Familes Party wrote the bill in 2009, and they've been trying to get it funded, and now have. This is a fantastic piece of news, and a model for how states can be innovative about energy efficiency and create jobs, given that the federal government is offering so little help.
"Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser allegedly grabbed fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley around the neck in an argument in her chambers last week, according to at least three knowledgeable sources.
Details of the incident, investigated jointly by Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, remain sketchy. The sources spoke on the condition that they not be named, citing a need to preserve professional relationships.
"AMY GOODMAN: Civil liberties advocates are raising alarm over news that the FBI is giving agents more leeway to conduct domestic surveillance. According to the New York Times, new guidelines will allow FBI agents to investigate people and organizations "proactively" without firm evidence for suspecting criminal activity. The new rules will free up agents to infiltrate organizations, search household trash, use surveillance teams, search databases, conduct lie detector tests, even without suspicion of any wrongdoing.
"American and Afghan officials are locked in increasingly acrimonious secret talks about a long-term security agreement which is likely to see US troops, spies and air power based in the troubled country for decades.
"New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has targeted Bank of America, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, in a new probe that questions the validity of potentially thousands of mortgage securities and their associated foreclosures, two people familiar with the matter said.
"Jewish Federations of North America officials met today at the White House with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The meeting, coinciding with the announcement of the Federation movement’s new partnership with DHS, was dedicated mainly to the state of threats posed to American Jewish institutions.
[snip] "Officials have not settled on a candidate to lead another regulator, the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but they are focusing on Raj Date, a former banker who is helping to establish the bureau, those people said.
"Forty-one Senate Democrats have signed on to several letters vowing to oppose House Republicans' proposed Medicaid overhaul, ensuring the proposal won't get enough votes to clear a filibuster hurdle.
House Republicans have adopted a budget proposal that would slash federal Medicaid spending by more than $700 billion over 10 years by turning it into a block grant to states. The letter's signers oppose that policy, as well as separate proposals to cap federal spending on the program.
I seriously hope Arne Gunderson has it wrong; if not, this is bad. "Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen told CNN on Monday that residents of Seattle, Washington, are breathing an average of 10 “hot particles” per day of radiation from Fukushima: Hot particles have an affinity for the lungs, and - if breathed in - can cause cancer down the road.
This fire near Alpine, AZ in the White Mountains was maybe 700+ acres two days ago. The combination of tinder-dry fuels and high winds have caused it to grow to over 106,000 acres by today. The spotting (embers aloft to produce other new fires) is three miles.
This just on the heels of NOAA stating that the Southwest was helped immeasurably by recent rains. They forgot that climate change means increased winds, perhaps.
(Reuters) - The State Department on Thursday named career diplomat Victoria Nuland as its new spokesperson, filling a vacancy left when the former incumbent resigned in a flap over the soldier accused of leaking secret WikiLeaks documents.
Nuland was a national security advisor to former Vice President Dick Cheney and served as U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2005-2008. She has been the special envoy for conventional armed forces in Europe since February 2010.
"The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an Arizona law that penalizes businesses for hiring workers in the country illegally, buoying the hopes of supporters of state crackdowns on illegal immigration.
(or) How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon
Overview of the book from Barnes and Noble:
In Reckless Endangerment, Gretchen Morgenson, the star business columnist of The New York Times, exposes how the watchdogs who were supposed to protect the country from financial harm were actually complicit in the actions that finally blew up the American economy.
Drawing on previously untapped sources and building on original research from coauthor Joshua Rosner—who himself raised early warnings with the public and investors, and kept detailed records—Morgenson connects the dots that led to this fiasco.
