A Day in the Life: 4/2/10
Prez
Amerika's Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free Via
<pr...@usa-exile.org<mailto:pr...@usa-exile.org>>
April 2, 2010
Dear Friends and Colleagues, All honor to the name of Peter James
Bethune.
We have here another instance of a perverse legal system prosecuting
the victim(s) of a crime rather than the perpetrator(s) of it.
Yours for waking to the quantum ether, Keith Lampe, Ro-Non-So-Te,
Ponderosa Pine Transiti on Prez
PS: Sorry for the strange glitch yesterday wherein one of the pieces
in the mailing--what can I say?--exploded.
Japan Indicts Anti-Whaling Activist
April 2, 2010 -- Updated 1410 GMT (2210 HKT)
[cid:92E49640-B75B-4430-BC74-F938A8372F93@local]
Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Japanese prosecutors indicted Friday an
activist from New Zealand on five criminal counts, including
tresspassing, in an incident earlier this year in the waters off
the Antartic where Japan conducts its annual whaling expedition.
If convicted, activist Peter James Bethune, 44, faces years in
prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
He is accused of jumping aboard the Shonan Maru 2, the security
ship of a Japanese whaling fleet, after the Ady Gil, of which Bethune
was captain, sank.
Bethune belongs to the activist group Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society. The group said the New Zealander was attempting to make a
citizen's arrest of the Shonan Maru 2 skipper for the January
collision that sank the Ady Gil, a futuristic vessel used to intercept
and block harpoon ships.
Bethune was taken into custody in February aboard the Shonan Maru
2 and was formally arrested when the ship returned to Japan last
month.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office indicted Bethune on
five criminal counts: illegal entrance to a vessel or trespassing;
damage to property;
assault (for throwing butyric acid onto the Shonan Maru 2); forcible
obstruction of business (interrupting the whaling expedition); and
violation of arms control law (Bethune was in possession of a long
survival knife, which is illegal in Japan).
The Bethune case highlights an ongoing feud between Japanese whaling
fleets and conservation agencies, especially the hardline Sea
Shepherd.
Activists have used their own boats to interfere with whaling ships,
thrown butyric acid -- found in rancid butter and vomit -- and fired
paint guns. The Japanese, in turn, have repelled protesters with
water cannons.
=====================================================
Haiti Watch: Disease Threatens Infants and No Plans to Stop It
by Georgianne Nienaber
Global Research<http://www.globalresearch.ca/>, April 1, 2010 OpEd
News<http://www.opednews.com/> - 2010-03-24
What should the mainstream media do when the guy who identified the
H1N1 outbreak in Mexico and was a key player and founder of
ARGUS<http://www.galaxy.gmu.edu/Interface04/ABSTRACTS/abstract_03142.html>,
a global detection and tracking system for the early detection of
biological events, says Haiti is facing a serious gap in preparedness,
early warning, and rapid response regarding pediatric diarrheal
disease? If they are doing their homework, they talk to him and
other epidemiologists and doctors in the field who say that the big
NGOs and the United Nations are fudging the facts about their
accomplishments.
While in Haiti, we met Dr. Jim
Wilson<http://biosurveillance.typepad.com/about.html>, who among
other things, has tracked and identified SARS outbreaks, H1NI,
Marburg hemorrhagic fever, and issued the first warning of H1N1
resurgence in the United States in the summer of 2009. Remember the
melamine contaminated baby food scandal in China?
Well, he was the one who first detected it through via reporting
of unusual renal disease in babies there. He has offered testimony
to
Congress<http://rabbitsliketrumpets.typepad.com/WilsonTestimony7.16.08.pdf>
on the Argus Program and to Homeland
Security<http://rabbitsliketrumpets.typepad.com/WilsonTestimony7.16.08.pdf>.
In the late 1990's, Wilson worked with the World Health Organization
and NASA to examine environmental and climatic activities in Africa
potentially associated with the emergence of the Ebola virus. Listen
here<http://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?file=14175> to one of his
presentations.
As Wilson reports on his
website<http://biosurveillance.typepad.com/haiti_operational_biosurv/>, and
contrary to what the United Nations and CARE International have
reported<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/217440/a1c52dc17a8712aa
9164216f8becafe9.htm> about safe drinking water and sanitation in
the IDP camps, the opposite is true.
This man is telling the truth. I was there. So was my physician
husband, and what we witnessed is beyond the pale. Hand washing is
non-existent and raw sewage is flowing throughout the camps. Walk
anywhere with peril. Human feces are everywhere, even in the ruins
of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Port-au-Prince. Open sewer grates
serve as pit toilets. At the risk of providing too much information,
I abandoned my shoes because they had become too saturated with
human waste picked up in the camps.
Dr. Wilson is pulling no punches and is predicting the possible
outbreak of infant diarrheal disease within 30 days. There is no
time to waste and it seems unconscionable that CARE would issue a
press release, picked up by Reuters (with a disclaimer, but no
follow up) that all is well with sanitation in Haiti.
The cat may already be out of the bag. My husband saw and identified
cases of infant diarrhea on March 12 in a camp of 5500 outside of
Petionville. Here is some raw video of the conditions on that day.
When we returned seven days later, a small Irish NGO, HAVEN, was
trying to build latrines, but you can imagine what the surrounding
grounds were like with 5500 people having no sanitation facilities.
I received this email from Dr. Wilson yesterday:
Per our discussion in Petionville, there remains a serious gap in
preparedness, early warning, and rapid response in regards to
pediatric diarrheal disease in Haiti. I am petitioning everyone I
can reach to raise awareness of this critical oversight that exists
in the current Haiti response effort, an oversight we are able to
address if enabled to move quickly.
Repeated requests to identify funding mechanisms and an ability to
request emergency funds have gone largely ignored, and I think this
needs to be addressed by the media at this point.
Ordinarily, I would have been on top of Dr. Wilson's request
immediately, but I was incapable. Why? I had picked up the disease
myself and have spent the last two days and eight hours of that
time with constant bouts of simultaneous diarrhea and vomiting. It
was the worst illness I have ever experienced in years of traveling
and I can only imagine what it is like for a baby, let alone an
adult, to sleep in the rain and mud at night, have no shelter under
a blazing sun and 90 plus degrees, and no hope of feeling better.
I had access to the best antibiotics and palliative care, including
rehydration that is not available to these people. Infants can die
within 24 hours of contracting this disease.
The rainy season has not even begun yet.
As Dr. Wilson says, "Complacency is a dangerous state of mind."
Current disease surveillance efforts in Haiti are not operationally
mature enough to rapidly identify "outbreaks" or "epidemics" of any
disease because no one understands the denominator (i.e. the baseline
of disease) yet. We suspect outbreaks have indeed occurred based
on pediatric fatalities reported due to dehydration and diarrhea
during a period of rain that later ebbed during a period of hot,
dry days seen a week ago.
Besides, antibiotics, which are scarce to nonexistent in the camps,
rehydration is critical, and can involve the simple concoction of
sugar, salt and water found in Pedialyte<http://pedialyte.com/>.
Aid organizations report there are 800,000 doses of Pedialyte
available in-country.
"The ugly question is, are 800,000 doses of Pediatlyte enough?"
Wilson says.
"The answer is no one knows. Everyone is in reaction mode instead
of planning mode."
It's not as if the early warning signs are not there, or that the
bacterial and biological agents responsible for disease have not
been identified.
Laboratory samples received at the Haiti National Public Health
Laboratory since January 27 indicate the following waterborne
infectious diseases are confirmed active in the country--hepatitis
A, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and shigellosis. Informal lab
results showed coliforms and Giardia in drinking water. These reports
are compounded by identified mosquitoborne illnesses of malaria and
Dengue Fever, which are more of a threat to aid workers than to the
Haitian people at this point.
On March 22, OCHA<http://ochaonline.un.org/>, the United Nations
office that coordinates humanitarian affairs, issued a report that
supports Dr. Wilson's concerns. The average number of people per
latrine, where there are latrines, is 411, with a total of 4,275
latrines are needed to assure minimum standards and 10,687 to assure
Sphere<http://www.sphereproject.org/> standards. In Cite Soleil,
which is the poorest area, less than 28% of respondents had received
any aid from relief organizations. There is lack of follow up on
medical care, if any at all.
Again, we witnessed this area first hand. The lack of even the
basics of shelter and water is obvious, and the fact that this area
has been so ignored is a travesty and immoral. We also witnessed
first hand the fear of aid organizations to go into these some of
the camps, while we traveled freely with no armed guards or personal
protection. I told a friend here in the States that I felt they
were cowards. She replied, "They are despicable cowards," and I
would now echo that sentiment.
So what do we do when there is no time for hand-wringing and
recriminations because aid organizations will not share information
because they are protective of turf and funding?
Here are some of Dr. Wilson's suggestions:
The primary recommendation is for his organization to immediately
deploy in Haiti, create a stockpile of countermeasures, maintain
an early warning system, and "manage Intercept teams to assist with
rapid response by deploying countermeasures to sites that need
them."
"We are in bad, urgent need of funding to do this," he wrote this
morning.
"We cannot obviously build a US-comparable sewage system, but the
provision of adequate drainage would at least keep raw sewage from
flowing through folks' tents and shelters, Wilson says.
The above said, it is my belief there are certain things we can do,
and many that are insurmountable before the coming rains. Note we
are taking a posture of mitigation and expected response. It is our
belief it is important for the Haitian public to see and understand
we will do everything in our power to mitigate the threat of diarrheal
disease, which is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in
Haiti's children, and the top candidate for causing an unexpected
and non-routine excession of mortality in the next 30-60-90 days.
Wilson is using social networking via Twitter and Geochat to link
data.
What is Geochat? It is a very powerful text message capability to
enable us to rapidly inform each other of events or to simply ask
a pressing question about a possible infectious disease event. You
can even run RSS feeds through the group, as we will do for our
Situation Reports and advisories. This enables you to have nearly
instantaneous access to information even while in Haiti, so long
as your phone is turned on and you are in range.
Want to join? Click on this
link<http://groups.google.com/group/haiti-epidemic-advisory-system/web/instru
ctions-for-joining-sms-network>, or copy & paste it into your
browser's address bar if that doesn't work.
You can also follow Dr. Wilson on
Twitter<http://twitter.com/biosurveillance>.
=============================================================================
==================
http://planetark.org/wen/57405 Fracking Not a Cleaner Alternative:
Cornell Prof
Date: 01-Apr-10 Country: us Author: Jon Hurdle
Natural gas obtained by the controversial technique of hydraulic
fracturing may contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions
and so should not be considered as a cleaner alternative to coal
or oil, according to a Cornell University researcher.
Although natural gas, when burned, produces only about half of the
carbon dioxide emissions of coal, that calculation omits greenhouse
gas emissions from the well-drilling, water-trucking, pipeline-laying,
and forest-felling that are part of the production of hydraulically
fractured natural gas, Ecology Professor Robert Howarth argues in
a new paper.
Combining the effects of combustion, production, distribution, and
leaked methane from hydraulically fractured natural gas gives the
fuel about the same greenhouse gas emissions as coal and about 30
percent more than diesel or gasoline, Howarth says in the draft
paper published in mid-March.
"A complete consideration of all emissions from using natural gas
seems likely to make natural gas far less attractive than other
fossil fuels in terms of the consequences for global warming,"
Howarth writes.
Energy companies are scrambling to develop vast reserves of natural
gas from deep shale beds in many U.S. states including Texas,
Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. Experts say shale gas could meet
national demand for a century while helping to reduce carbon emissions
and reducing petroleum imports.
"Government and industry should not be moving ahead on the basis
of what is already misleading and incomplete information," Howarth
told Reuters. He urged a moratorium on further development in the
multibillion-dollar industry until more is known about its greenhouse
gas emissions.
The damaging nature of gas from fracturing, or "fracking", undermines
claims that it is a "transition" fuel between carbon-intensive
sources like coal, and renewables such as solar and wind, Howarth
said in the paper.
Citing preliminary data, Howarth estimates total greenhouse gas
emissions from hydraulically fractured natural gas may be equivalent
to 33 carbon grams of CO2, slightly more than 31.9 grams for coal,
and well above the 20.3 grams for diesel or gasoline.
The data are partly based on methane leakage of 1.5 percent of
natural gas consumed, a figure assumed by the federal government.
Claims by energy companies that natural gas is a cleaner alternative
to coal and oil are further undermined by leaked methane - the
principal component of natural gas -- which is many times more
potent as a greenhouse gas component than CO2, argued Howarth, who
has served on National Academy of Sciences panels looking into
climate change, and has been a Cornell professor since 1985.
Dan Whitten, a spokesman for America's Natural Gas Alliance, an
industry group, dismissed Howarth's assertions as preliminary and
speculative and not backed by hard data and said the professor's
statement undermined its own credibility.
"We concur with the author's own assessment that this two-page draft
is 'highly uncertain', that the 'numbers should be treated with
caution', and that there is 'no rigorous estimate' to support its
conclusions," Whitten said.
"Natural gas is twice as clean as coal and is available here in
America in significant abundance today," Whitten added.
"Alongside the development of renewables, natural gas has a key
role to play in transitioning our nation to a low-carbon economy."
Howarth acknowledged his statement contains many qualifiers but
argued that there are sufficient concerns about the greenhouse gas
emissions of hydraulically fractured natural gas to warrant early
publication.
Critics also claim that fracking contaminates ground water with
chemicals that are forced deep underground along with water and
sand to fracture the shale and release its gas.
=============================================================================
==================
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25122.htm
When 'We the People' Lost America
By Len Hart
April 01, 2010 "The Existentialist
Cowboy<http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/>" - -We have
forgotten what it was like in this country during the Reagan
administration. A great reminder may be found in the words of E.L.
Doctorow, writing in 1989, who summed up the legacy left to Bill
Clinton by the conservative administrations of Ronald Reagan/Bush:
"The philosophical conservative is someone willing to pay the price
of other people's suffering for his principles. And so we now have
hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of our citizens lying
around the streets of our cities, sleeping in doorways, begging
with styrofoam cups. We didn't have a class of permanent beggars
in this country, the United States of America, fifteen or twenty
years ago. We didn't have kids selling crack in their grade schools,
or businessmen magnifying their fortunes into mega-fortunes by stock
manipulation and thievery. I don't remember such epidemics of major
corporate fraud.
A decade ago you did not have college students scrawling racial
epithets or anti-semitic graffiti on the room doors of their fellow
students...So something poisonous has been set loose in the last
several years as we have enjoyed life under the power and principles
of political conservatism. ...part of this poisonous thing that I'm
trying to describe is its characteristic way of dealing with
criticism: it used to be enough brand a critic as a radical or a
leftist to make people turn away. Now we need only to call him a
liberal.
Soon "moderate" will be the M word, "conservative" the C word, and
only fascists will be in the mainstream. And that degradation of
discourse, that, too, is part of this something that is really
rotten in America right now."
--E. L. Doctorow, Jack London, Hemingway and the
Constitution<http://www.scottlondon.com/reviews/doctorow.html>
Doctorow continues to describe the change in America during the
Reagan/Bush years:
"...we have seen a national regression to the robber-baronial
thinking of the nineteenth century. This amounts to nothing less
than a deconstruction of America, the dismantling of enlightened
social legislation that had begun to bring equity over half a century
to the lives of working people, to rectify some of the terrible
imbalance of racial injustice and give a fair shake to the outsiders,
the underdogs, the newcomers. We have seen the ideals of environmental
sanctity sacrificed to the demands of business thinking in which
we have done only as much to protect our environment as industry
has found convenient, as if only a few songbirds and some poor dumb
animals were at stake, as if the bleeding hearts of woodsy
environmentalists were the issue, and not our lungs and skins and
genes, and the wholeness and health of our children and their
children."
--E. L. Doctorow, Jack London, Hemingway and the
Constitution<http://www.scottlondon.com/reviews/doctorow.html>
One day, a new generation will awaken to the harm done this country
during those halcyon years when Uncle Ronnie made the 'gopper-inclined'
feel good about themselves as only goppers and the gopper-inclined
can feel good about themselves while stepping over people made
homeless by their policies. Was it under Reagan that we lost that
last remaining ounce of empathy? The dishonest among us will deny
reality, call us a 'name'', or pretend not to know or understand
what we're talking about. The rest of us may agree --yes --it was
during the Reagan years that our shaky moral footing slipped. Before
Reagan, there was hope albeit inspired by dimming light. After
Reagan, nothing mattered but wealth and power. Life held little
promise. Thus was born of goppo-nomics a nilhistic world in which
nothing mattered as all fame is fleeting and wealth is whatever
someone else wants at the moment and, perhaps, worth nothing tomorrow
when resources grow scarce and oil has run its course.
Corporate Special Interests Come of Age
This 'sea-change' in American attitudes and politics has been dated
to the 70s by many 'progressive/liberal' writers and journalists
primarily because it was during the 70s that America seemingly
abandoned a ' firm commitment' to eliminating poverty, helping the
poor, extending the benefits of education to all classes. These
were the ideals of FDR's 'New Deal' and LBJ's 'Great Society' and,
of course, the so-called 'radical 60s. The 'revolution' was lost,
however, with a conservative counter-revolution: the rise of corporate
person-hood which was itself the reductio ad absurdum of the corporate
special interest system now flourishing openly in the offices of
various lobbies on K-street.
How and Why Washington Dysfunctions!
The Power Game: How Washington Works by Hedrick Smith describes the
process by which power in the House of Representatives was
'de-centralized'. The year was 1974. Certainly --there were no
'second coming' headlines announcing the sea-change that would
result when 22 committees delegated much, perhaps most, of their
authority to 172 sub-committees. While the process by which this
occurred may be little understood, the results that followed are
more obvious, primarily, the resulting mass of competing special
interests operating --at first --secretly but now openly, blatantly
in fancy offices on K-street! Once discrete, corporations now lobby
openly, flagrantly, in an on-going auction of our government.
A second blow to Democracy came in the form of the SUN-PAC decision
of 1975, a decision which 'legalized' corporate PACs --'Political
Action Committees'. I can tell you from experience: this move
energized, radicalized and mobilized the GOP as it most certainly
had not been mobilized before. The effect then was not unlike the
impact now of the recent ruling that 'corporations are people'. The
GOP was equipped to go where no gopper had gone before'. In 1974,
there were but 89 corporate PACs. In another ten years there were
1,682. I have no idea how many operate freely and openly today.
PAC victories came quickly and represented 'an enormous shift' in
political power defined by the defeat of Ralph Nader's proposed
Consumer Protection Agency. A galvanized, politicized 'corporate
community' then celebrated the defeat of a proposed 'tax hike' which
journalist Hedrick Smith said: "brought more bees after the honey."
Those were heady days for those who now celebrate 'corporate
personhood' as recently decreed by SCOTUS.
PAC donations and the resulting passage of laws favoring the right
wing/GOP are easily correlated. By 1992, some 67 percent of all
PACS were corporate.
Their donations amounted to 79 percent of all contributions to
political parties. Bluntly, the corporations had --at last --found
a way to buy the government of the United States. The recent SCOTUS
decision making these 'legal abstractions' persons is, of course,
absurd, without precedent in law but even worse is the fact that
while the right of individuals to petition Congress is guaranteed
by the Constitution, mere real persons lacking donations, lacking
funding, are, in fact, never granted access to their elected
representatives. Artificial people --corporations --are given
seemingly unlimited access.
The SCOTUS decision was and remains disingenuous, dishonest, blatantly
contemptuous of the Constitution, disdainful of Democracy itself.
I believe, therefore that the corporate special interest system is
not merely unconstitutional on its face, it's affirmation by SCOTUS
represents a coup d'etat which made official the fact that the U.S.
is no longer a Democratic Republic but a fascist oligopoly whose
raison d'etre is the waging of war.
Worse --death and destruction are the only exports in which we lead
the world.
In 1994 Republicans took over Congress, boasting that they would
end 40 years of 'liberal' rule. In fact, the 80s were a profoundly
conservative era and, tragically for the nation, Democratic politicians
participated willingly. It was during the 80s, that corporate PACs
hedged their bets by contributing 'liberally' to both parties,
though Democrats got only 'sloppy seconds', almost always much less
than amounts given GOP candidates.
Did Reagan's misrule constitute "high crimes and misdemeanors"?
Many GOP-types will define "high crimes and misdemeanors" as simply
"bad behavior". If that is the standard, then surely, Ronald Reagan
should have been impeached, tried, convicted, removed! Bankrupting
the nation is 'bad' behavior by any standard.
Rewarding incompetence while incompetent is worse than driving while
drunk!
Blowing the world's last chance at nuclear disarmament is even
worse, perhaps fatal, behavior. What about the bungling of George
Bush Sr toward the end of the Persian Gulf war when he promised to
protect the Kurds but allowed them to fall to a strong Iraqi military?
Is that "bad behavior"? Certainly, it is!
George Bush should have been impeached and so too Lyndon Johnson
who staged the Gulf of Tonkin incident leading to wider U.S.
involvement in Viet Nam.
The brutal murder of JFK --a cowardly act in which the Warren
Commission may have conspired with the FBI to falsify and plant
evidence -- was not sufficient to finish off the vestiges of our
Republic. There was no single, defining incident in which the
American 'republic' ceased to be. There was no dramatic sea-change
comparable to the auction of the Roman Empire to nobleman Didius
Julianus. There was no great or heroic battle waged and lost. There
was no arrest of Essex. There was no play to 'catch the conscience
of a King'. And now, there is no speech, no kiss before dying, no
Shakespearean exit but a pathetic whimper before the lights are
dimmed and a weary audience dismissed.
Video: A Conversation with E.L. Doctorow
=============================================================================
==================
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25125.htm
Timothy Geithner Is a Sniveling Scamster
By Mike Whitney
April 01, 2010 " Information Clearing
House<http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/>" - -Whew. That was
fast. It didn't take long for Wall Street to figure out how to game
Obama's new mortgage modification program, did it? The plan was
hyped as help for "struggling homeowners", but it turns out, it's
just another stealth bailout for pudgy bank-execs. It's funny, the
program hasn't even kicked in yet and, already, bigtime speculators
are riffling through their filing cabinets looking any garbage paper
they can find to dump on Uncle Sam. Take a look at this on today's
Bloomberg report:
"Subprime-mortgage securities are rising at an accelerating pace
as the U.S.
begins to encourage reductions to homeowners balances, which may
lead to fewer foreclosures and a quicker end to the housing
slump....Senior-ranked bonds tied to borrowers with poor credit
will mostly benefit after the Treasury Department said for the first
time it would seek to cut the size of mortgages, reducing the
likelihood that loan modifications will fail, according to JPMorgan
Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Barclays Plc.
(Bloomberg)
What does it mean? It means that Obama's mortgage modification
extravaganza has touched off a gold rush in toxic paper. Subprime
securitizations, which had been worth next to nothing, are now the
hottest trade on Wall Street. It's a subprime bonanza! The investment
sharpies are scarfing up all the crummy MBS they can get their hands
on, because they know they can trade it in for Triple A FHA-backed
loans when the program gets going. It's another swindle cooked up
by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to keep the brokerage clan
in the clover. Here's how a Wall Street veteran explained it to me:
"It looks like the investors in securitizations will be swapping
underwater real estate for govt-insured paper... I think the scam
here is just to provide some cover so the hedge funds and other
high net worth individuals can trade their low grade paper for
Triple AAA mortgages insured by the FHA at the taxpayer expense."
That's it, in a nutshell. The faux-foreclosure prevention program
has nothing to do with helping homeowners. That's just diversionary
gibberish to confuse the public. The real objective is to create a
government landfill (aka--FHA) where the banks and other financial
institutions can dump their toxic MBS-sludge and walk away with
gov-backed loans. Get a load of this:
(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserves completion this week of its
program to buy $1.25 trillion in mortgage bonds probably wont mean
significantly higher U.S. home loan rates as investors return to
the market, replacing the Fed...
What we are seeing is an effective handoff occurring between the
Fed and industry buyers such as banks and pension funds, said
Christopher Sebald, chief investment officer for Advantus Capital
Management in St. Paul, Minnesota...
Advantus is purchasing mortgage bonds after the Feds program drained
supply in the $5.4 trillion market." (Bloomberg)
Of course, they're "purchasing mortgage bonds", because the government
is going to insure them. It's a "no brainer". And don't you love
that expression, "a handoff", because that's exactly what it is.
The government hasn't stopped pumping liquidity into the system;
they've just found another entry-point where they can push it in.
Here's how it works: The new program offers incentives to banks and
other deep-pocketed investors (in mortgage-backed securities) to
slash the principal on underwater mortgages which keeps people from
strategic default or foreclosure. Sounds good, right? But here's
the catch: When the mortgage is refinanced, it's converted into a
FHA-backed loan which provides an explicit gov-guarantee. So, for
a slight loss on the face-value of the MBS, the investors (ie--investment
banks, hedgies, etc) are able to resuscitate their moribund
securitizations (MBS) and reap hefty gains.
It's like taking Fido's steaming pile on the front lawn and turning
it into the Hope Diamond. Abracadabra!
Geithner has figured out how to put together a bailout that will
cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars without any money
actually exchanging hands. The value of the putrid mortgage-paper
will soar because of the gov-underwriting, and the ginormous losses
won't be realized until the mortgages start blowing up sometime in
the future. That's when FHA will be put-to-pasture along with
fellow-homicide victims, Fannie and Freddie. Pretty clever, eh?
So, the cutthroat speculators and bunko artists who fleeced us all
with their dogshit subprimes, have returned for another dip at the
public trough. That means taxpayers will get scalped on the same
investments a second time. Hey, it's a double-whammy!
This really takes the cake. You gotta hand it to that sniveling
scamster Geithner. He had his back to the wall and, presto, he
extracts another rabbit from his hat. What a guy. He knew he couldn't
go begging to congress for more money, or they'd kick him to the
curb. So he worked out a scam that picks up where the Fed's $1.25
trillion quantitative easing bailout leaves off. It's a seamless
transition from one massive corporate giveaway to the next. Now the
Fed has nearly $2 trillion worth of structured garbage on its balance
sheet, (which it will undoubtedly dump on Fannie or Freddie) the
banks are loaded with fresh reserves, and another trillion or so
is earmarked for the shadow bankers who provide funding to the
regulated banking system. AND IT'S ALL 100% FREE. Such a deal.
This bank/credit cabal is robbing us blind in broad daylight and
no one seems to give a hoot. Maybe Barack Obama will save us from
all ruin?
Fat chance!
=============================================================================
==================
Depleted Uranium Radiation Resulting from NATO Bombings in Serbia
: High Incidence of Cancer
by Ljubica Vujadinovic
Global Research<http://www.globalresearch.ca/>, April 1, 2010 All
Voices<http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/5464864-deathly-gifts-of-nat
os-merciful-angel-serbia> - 2010-03-23
A leading Serbian expert in the field says the NATO's use of depleted
uranium ammunition in it's aggression on Serbia has caused enormous
increase in cancer rates and number of newborns with genetic
malformations.
Silent killer
Depleted uranium is not only radioactive, it is very toxic as well,
says doctor Radomir Kovacevic, an expert of the Institute for
radiology protection Dr. Dragomir Karajovic in Belgrade. In an
interview for VJ Movement, he explains Primary it is nephrotoxic,
so it affects kidneys, then liver and spleen. Actually, the whole
organism is affected from the aspect of toxicity, it is poisoned..
Four studies conducted so far, on both civilians and those who
worked on the spots'decontamination, have shown that the DU exposure
causes typical and specific changes on genetic material.
DNA molecule is very sensitive on aggression - in this case it is
radioactivity. Experimental oncology has shown 18 years ago that
in the etiopathogenesis of malignity precedes one genotoxic stadium
and that is exactly what is visible on those chromosomes, tells
doctor Kovacevic, stating that the information obtained so far is
enough to link the DU contamination to increase in cancer rates.
Threat to newborn lives
In Vranje area, which is surrounded by four known DU contaminated
locations, there has been an enormous increase in cancer rates and
number of newborns with genetic malformations. In 1998, 21 children
have been born with deformities. In 2008 there were 73, says Nela
Cvetkovic, a Member of the Vranje City Council, in a statement for
VJM. The number of newborn didn't change, it is about 800-1000
babies per year.
At the same time, in a six year period after the NATO bombing a
number of newly registered cancer cases has more than doubled from
185 in the year 2000 to 398 new diagnosis in 2006.
Permanent consequences
The half-life of uranium 238 is very long - 4,5 billion years,
reminds nuclear physicist Miroslav Simic, stating that this way of
throwing away the nuclear waste on civil, but also military targets,
is not human as the consequences are permanent.
Traces of uranium 236 and some plutonium isotopes found on bombed
locations suggest that at least a part of the material in the
projectiles had originated from reprocessing nuclear fuel.
Plutonium is one million times more toxic than uranium, says Mr
Simic in an interview for VJM, and explains that one particle of
plutonium which would enter a human body is enough to cause fatal
consequences.
At the same time in Kosovo, doctor Nebojsa Srbljak, who researches
the health consequences of the bombing on civil population, accuses
NATO of using so-called dirty bombs. We first started researching
when we found traces of Iodine 131 in the tissue extracted from one
patient, he says, adding that Iodine 131, also known as radio iodine,
is well known as a major factor in health consequences of nuclear
disaster in Chernobyl.
Price for Kosovo independence
In Kosovo, none of more than a hundred known DU contaminated locations
has been cleaned. Foreign personnel has been warned to stay clear
of those areas unless with full radiological protective clothing.
But no one warned civilians.
We, the doctors know what it is, politicians are silent to please
their mentors. But the people are in the worst position as there
are new cancer cases among young persons every day, says doctor
Srbljak, adding that the data on health statistics of Albanian
population is completely unavailable.
-------------------------------------------
Roma People Live for 10 Years in Contaminated Refugee Camp in Kosovo
Global Research<http://www.globalresearch.ca/>, April 1, 2010
RT<http://rt.com/>
Roma people living in a temporary camp in Kosovo for 10 years now
are suffering from the severe effects of lead poisoning, after being
moved to live near a toxic slagheap.
The camp was set up a decade ago for them to escape violent Albanian
persecution, but now they're refusing to leave, saying it's still
too dangerous for them to return home.
A muddy slope as a playground, household rubbish as toys. A familiar
sight in many Roma camps, but in a settlement in northern Kosovo,
the danger is not what you see, but what you can't.
Now the blood of children here is so poisoned by lead it has impaired
their development. And that's been the case for more than a decade.
When a few years ago the World Health Organization tested the camp
residents blood for lead, the readings for 90% of the children were
off the scale higher than medical equipment was capable of measuring.
Aggressive behavior, high temperatures and stunted growth all these
symptoms of lead poisoning are evident in camp resident Seidi Fetijes
children. A mother of 10, she lost one of her sons to fever.
"In order to feed the children, we need to sell something. The kids
are sick, sometimes they run a high fever. My husband and I are
also sick, so that is our situation," Seidi told RT.
Before the 1999 NATO bombings, many of the families living here
lived in southern Kosovo. When Albanians forced them out, the UN
set up this camp, just miles away from a toxic slagheap.
"The problem is that when the wind blows, the fine dust thats
contaminated flows through these two camps. The children are playing
in the dust, usually they dont wash their hands, they eat outside
and all those factors are influences in the lead poisoning," said
Igor Zlatkovic from the Kosovo Agency for Advancement and Development.
Serbian authorities do provide the Romas with medical care. Over
the past few years, Dr. Zoran Savich has seen more than 300 Roma
patients, yet he says any successful care is almost always undermined.
"They have been treated before, and the prescribed medication worked,
but after the treatment they would go back to places poisoned with
lead, and the positive outcome of the treatment would decrease. I
have the statistics after two years living in the same place, all
the improvements of the treatment are gone," Savich told RT.
A few years ago, the UN tried to relocate several families back to
the south, an area that after Kosovos self-proclaimed independence
came under control of ethnic Albanians. But many soon returned,
saying they just didn't feel safe back in their pre-war home anymore.
"Here you can go outside at night, but there we couldn't move around
freely.
At least here kids can go outside, make some money, buy milk and
food," said camp resident Abedin Packoli.
Most of the camp's residents are Muslims. They may share the same
religion with Kosovo's Albanians, but they are still not allowed
to share the same land.
=============================================================================
==================
From: Rodney Robinson <rod...@cal.net<mailto:rod...@cal.net>> Date:
April 1, 2010 2:56:03 PM GMT-05:00 Subject: Rev Billy joins Mtn Top
Removal campaign
http://www.revbilly.com/chatter/blog/2010/03/ive-been-to-the-mountain-top-rem
oval
Blogs & Forum<http://www.revbilly.com/chatter> :
Blog<http://www.revbilly.com/chatter/blog> March 3, 2010 I've Been
to the Mountain-Top Removal! And It's the Devil!
[http://www.revbilly.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/280w_scale/blog/2007_
06_revbilly.jpg]<http://www.revbilly.com/sites/default/files/blog/2007_06_rev
billy.jpg> Photo by Dogseat By Rev
Billy<http://www.revbilly.com/chatter/blog/the-billy-pulpit> Our
new song "Mountain-top" begins with this re-questioning from Dr.
King's last sermon:
Have we been to the mountain-top?
Did we do all we could do?
JP Morgan rains down rock Exploding loans from the Devil came due...
We are joining thousands of activist citizens who have opposed the
removal of peaks in Appalachia for "dirty coal" mining. In resisting
Consumerism, there is always an earth-justice motive, right in front
of us. We remember leading Iceland citizens into their own super
malls to oppose the big dams and aluminum smelters; and we recall
opposing the super ferry in Kauai; and also singing to tree-sitters
up in the redwoods.
When you start with such a general plea as "Stop Shopping" - your
work can go in so many directions. Now, mountain-top removal, the
shopping for energy that murders citizens living on the streams
below and poisons the air at great distances - now this must be our
cause.
The mountain activists are welcoming us because there is a role for
New Yorkers - with JP Morgan Chase headquartered here, the branch
bank chain store that kills off our indie shops. We will chase Chase
out into the open. We promise our Appalachian friends that this
city will not protect the bank that finances most of this violence
against the mountains.
Reverend Billy and the Life After Shopping Church
PS: Our "Fabulous Worships" in Bethlehem, PA this weekend, and next
week at Theater for the New City in the village and St. Mary's up
in Harlem - all the issues and their advocates, homelessness, peace
and war, abusive eminent domain - we will all go to the mountain-top!
Comments Volunteers needed in Appalachia to fight the coal
industry<http://www.revbilly.com/chatter/blog/2010/03/ive-been-to-the-mountai
n-top-removal#comment-1732> Submitted by matt
landon<http://www.unitedmountaindefense.org/> on March 3, 2010 -
7:05pm.
Dear Rev Billy, Choir, and Supporters,
I am SO happy to see that you have taken up the cause of abolition
of Mountain Top Removal Coal Mining!!! This coal mining practice
is out of control and is the fuel source that is used to produce
all of the goods in the malls. If you want to come to Appalachia
and stand with us to fight the coal industry please join us at our
two upcoming training camps. There will be one March 12-20 in
southwest Virginia at Natural Tunnel. More info at
www.mjsb.org<http://www.mjsb.org>
The second camp will be May 26-June 6 in Letcher County Kentucky
near Whiteburg. More info at
www.mountainjustice.org<http://www.mountainjustice.org>
We also have internships and volunteer opps from where you live
with United Mountain Defense based in Knoxville, TN. Check out our
website at
www.unitedmountaindefense.org<http://www.unitedmountaindefense.org> or
give us a call at (865) 689-2778 or through email at
umdvolun...@yahoo.com<mailto:umdvolun...@yahoo.com>
Till then, keep up the good work and we'll see you in the mountains,
matt landon Appalachian Organizer for United Mountain Defense
Submitted by Gregory O on March 11, 2010 - 12:10pm.
O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties All blown to smithereens
America America shame on you
GJO
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/04/02-2 Published on
Friday, April 2, 2010 by The
Guardian/UK<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2010/apr/01/obama-admi
nistration-mining>
New Regulations Will Put an End to Mountaintop Mining Obama
administration proposals will make destructive mountaintop mining
operations effectively impossible
by Suzanne Goldenberg
The Obama administration effectively called time Thursday on one
of the most destructive industries in America, proposing new
environmental guidelines for mountaintop mining removal.
[cid:DE962E1B-F786-4977-AAAA-AFE2F451C7DF@local]
Mountaintop coal mining operation in West Virginia. (Photograph:
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
The move was seen as a bold action from the White House, which has
in the past disappointed environmental organisations for failing
to move more aggressively on pollution and climate change.
But in a conference call with journalists, just an hour after the
administration for the first time finalised regulations setting
limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars, officials spelled out
guidelines that they acknowledged would make it virtually impossible
for mining companies in Appalachia to carry on with business as
usual.
The economics of mountaintop mining removal involve a highly
destructive practice of blasting through hundreds of feet of
mountaintop to get at thin but valuable seams of coal. The debris
is removed to "valley fills", and nearly 2,000 miles of streams in
Appalachia have been buried beneath such fills.
In recent years, opposition to the practice has spread from local
activists to celebrities, with Robert Kennedy Jr and Darryl Hannah
demanding an end to the method.
Lisa Jackson, the head of the Enviromental Protection Agency, said
today it is unlikely that valley fills would meet the new standards.
"You are talking about either no or very few valley fills that are
going to be able to meet standards like this," she said. "What the
science is telling us is that it would be untrue to say you can
have any more than minimal valley fill and not see irreversible
damage to stream health."
Jackson said the new guidelines were not intended to end coal mining.
But she admitted it would be hard work for mining companies to meet
the new standard.
"They are going to require folks to roll up their sleeves to protect
water quality," she said. "We believe that they are often going to
need adjustment to projects proposed because of these new guidelines."
The guidelines laid out by Jackson today would set limits on
conductivity in streams near mining sites. The electrical conductivity
of streams is seen as a measure of the presence of harmful pollutants.
Officials said the new policy, which will apply to all new proposals
and some 79 permits now under review, would protect 95% of aquatic
life in streams in Appalachia.
EPA scientists have established that streams with conductivity
greater than a certain level - 500 microsiemens per centimetre, a
measure of salinity - were irreparably damaged. Officials said today
the EPA would block any proposed operations projected to exceed its
figure.
Today's guidelines mark a gradual tightening of conditions for
mountain coal mining. Last week, the EPA took the rare step of
vetoing a West Virginia mine that had already been granted a permit.
Tbe EPA said the Spruce Number One mine, which was approved under
George Bush administration in 2007, would bury up to seven miles
of stream, and that toxic chemicals would hurt aquatic life. If
approved, it would have been the largest mine in West Virginia.
The National Mining Association immediately condemned the move,
saying it would cost jobs throughout Appalachia.
The Rainforest Action Network said: "The EPA has finally taken a
leap to protect America's mountains and drinking water."
=============================================================================
==================
From: van...@telecentroscyl.net<mailto:van...@telecentroscyl.net>
Date: April 2, 2010 7:05:32 AM GMT-05:00 Reply-To:
via.1...@viacampesina.net<mailto:via.1...@viacampesina.net>
Dear Friends:
On Sunday April 18 the association La Olla del Bierzo prepares its
activities for International Day of Peasant Struggles.
The activities will be in the Plaza de Abastos of Cacabelos
(Lesn-Spain).
The program of activities will begin at 11:00 am and will feature:
- Eating organic food popular.
- Market Fairtrade, organic products, second-hand, barter and crafts.
- Games and activities for children.
- Healthy Cooking Workshop - Workshop tasting organic honey - Concert
of harmonics.
- Concert of folk music group
All in a party atmosphere, not forgetting to read the statement
from the Via Campesina and claim justice for murdered activist of
the MST in El Dorado do Carjajas and all peasants and farmers of
the world who struggle with us.
_______________________________________________ Via.17april mailing
list Via.1...@viacampesina.net<mailto:Via.1...@viacampesina.net>
https://lists.viacampesina.net/listinfo/via.17april
=============================================================================
==================
NOTE: I want to explain again to my "42 friends" below that I don't
reply to this because almost immediately after joining Facebook
(only to search for some photos of my sons) I realized we shouldn't
cooperate with it because it's such a handy "vacuum cleaner" for
the USSP (US Secret PolIce). Instead of encouraging vacuum cleaners,
let's in fact find more discreet ways to communicate so that we're
capable not merely of pre-announced actions but also ones of a
we-hope-you-like-surprises nature. -- kl, pp
From: Facebook
<update+zj4ocoya46=9...@facebookmail.com<mailto:9...@facebookmail.com>>
Date: Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 3:13 AM Subject: Your 42 friends are
waiting To: Keith Lampe
<us.exi...@gmail.com<mailto:us.exi...@gmail.com>> facebook
Hi Keith, Just a reminder that 42 people are waiting for you to
confirm their friend requests.
; View All
Requests<http://www.facebook.com/n/?reqs.php&mid=21e44cbG5af31899e444G763e64G
6d&n_m=us.exile.govt%40gmail.com>
Thanks, The Facebook Team
Take action on friend requests Sign
In<http://www.facebook.com/n/?reqs.php&mid=21e44cbG5af31899e444G763e64G6d&n_m
=us.exile.govt%40gmail.com>
To view and respond to your friend requests, go to:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?reqs.php&mid=21e44cbG5af31899e444G763e64G6d&n_m=us
.exile.govt%40gmail.com
=============================================================================
==================
From: <worldga...@googlemail.com<mailto:worldga...@googlemail.com>>
Date: April 2, 2010 9:21:06 AM GMT-05:00 To:
<911Trut...@yahoogroups.com<mailto:911Trut...@yahoogroups.com>>
Subject: [911TruthAction] THE GATHERING 19 & 20 JUNE 2010
THE GATHERING 19 & 20 JUNE 2010 http://worldgathering.net/gatherings.html
~~~~~~~~~
THE GATHERING MESSAGE The Gathering ~ The Turning of the Tide It
is very important that as many people as possible, in different
places, should take part in the Gathering.
Decide where and when and how to gather, your participation is
needed. This is the beginning of the turnaround. Exchange the
information and hopes you have. The people who are coming together
will ring in a return, a turnaround. That which you believe is true
must be stated. ~ The Gathering
------------------------------------ GATHERING TOGETHER TRUTH CIRCLES
Gatherings at Special Sites Worldwide The weekend before each
Solstice and Equinox. Plus New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
Exchange information, and connect with others. Hold 'Truth' Talking
Circles at Noon.
The Gathering: 19 and 20 June 2010 ~ (Solstice is 21st)
http://worldgathering.net/gatherings.html
------------------------------------
THE PURPOSE of gathering at special sites is to empower people by
meeting like-minded people who also urgently want to change the
world for the better. When we know others think and feel the same
things we do, we are empowered. We know we are normal, and we know
there are more of us. These gatherings are to help you make links
with other people, and links to small and large networks and groups
of people. We are going to express ourselves, hear others, connect
with others, and feel and know the world is changing as we do this.
When our personal world changes, the world also changes.
When we change, we become different people and we can do different
things. Let's make it happen. Let's go.
START: You can start in your garden or backyard, a friend's garden,
a local park, or sacred site the weekend before the Solstice: 19 &
20 JUNE 2010. The next World Truth Gathering events will be: 18 &
19 September 2010 (Equinox); 18 & 19 December 2010 (Solstice); and
31 December 2010, 1 January 2011, and 2 January 2011 [3 days].
CONTACTS: 19 & 20 June 2010 ~ Worldwide Contacts If you are holding
a special event for the World Gathering, or if you are holding an
event where you will pass the Talking Stick and discuss the world
situation and would like to be associated with the World Gathering,
send your contact details (name, email or telephone) and place of
gathering to:
gath...@worldgathering.net<mailto:gathering%40worldgathering.net>
THE RAINBOW DREAM VISION OF HOPE Many teachers and wise people will
be seen for who they are and they will be the farmers, the labourers
and the gas station attendants because the Tagashala will be fully
awakened.
Awakening souls will sit down in gathering together circles.
The various winged serpent Wheels will begin to turn, to dance once
again and when they do the Rainbow lights will be seen in dreams
all over the world and these Rainbow light dreams will help awaken
the rest of humanity.
More:
http://worldgatheri<http://worldgathering.net/vision.html>ng.net/vision.<http
://worldgathering.net/vision.html>html<http://worldgathering.net/vision.html>
[snip]
=============================================================================
==================
From: Rick Davis <rda...@yin.or.jp<mailto:rda...@yin.or.jp>> Date:
April 1, 2010 7:55:49 PM GMT-05:00 Subject: News Links, April 2,
2010
Africa may have lost #1tn in illegal flows of money, researchers
say<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/01/africa-illegal-money-lost>
"More than #1tn may have flowed out of Africa illegally over the
last four decades, most of it to western financial institutions,
according to a new report."
Russia: Medvedev visits Dagestan, promises 'crueler'
measures<http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-04-01-russia-medvedev_N.htm?
csp=34&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+usatoday-
NewsTopStories+%2528News+-+Top+Stories%2529>
Middle East in huge naval
expansion<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/2010/03/201033014527639619.html>
ElBaradei: Western policy in Mideast a total
failure<http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3870425,00.html>
China 'ready for talks' on new UN sanctions on
Iran<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8598215.stm> Iran Talks
Still Lack Chinese, Russian Accord on Sanctions
Menu<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aBWDzLlbDAlI>
CERA: Iraq oil output goals unlikely to be
met<http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world-news/iraq-oil-output-goals-unlikel
y-to-be-met_449631.html> Saudi minister applauds US oil drill
plan<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gYxUWcj0dRN8ERFmbn4_R
FIBBLbw> UAE becomes hub of Middle East base oil
trade<http://www.business24-7.ae/companies-markets/energy-utilities/uae-becom
es-hub-of-middle-east-base-oil-trade-2010-04-01-1.101228> Oil settles
near $85, higher fuel costs
ahead<http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-settles-near-85-higher-apf-4241859432
.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=>
Expect a new peak for oil next
year<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/jeff-rubins
-smaller-world/expect-a-new-peak-for-oil-next-year/article1517154/>
(Jeff Rubin)
Iron pricing overhaul expected to bolster
swaps<http://www.risk.net/asia-risk/news/1599570/iron-pricing-overhaul-expect
ed-bolster-swaps>
Beheadings become signature of Mexico's drug
gangs<http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/01/91481/beheadings-become-signature
-of.html> Drug cartels target Mexican army in brazen
attacks<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mex
ico;_ylt=A0wNdNgKLrVL_EkBjiCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFobXRoc2xpBHBvcwMyOARzZWMDYWNjb3
JkaW9uX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNkcnVnY2FydGVsc3Q-> 18 gunmen die in
attack on two army bases in
Mexico<http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fg-mexico-army1-2010apr01,0,5207133.sto
ry>
China's Global Shopping Spree<http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175226/>
"Giant Chinese energy and manufacturing firms have been on a veritable
spending binge when it comes to locking down resource supplies for
the twenty-first century."
Specialist says water shortage threatens food
security<http://www.winfieldcourier.com/articles/2010/04/01/news/news/doc4bb4
a3509711b734573030.txt>
US: Fracking Not A Cleaner Alternative: Cornell
Prof<http://planetark.org/wen/57405> Ticking prime bomb: Fannie Mae
delinquencies
rise<http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Paper-Economy/2010/0401/Ticking-prime-bom
b-Fannie-Mae-delinquencies-rise?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_cam
paign=Feed%253A+feeds%252Fcsm+%2528Christian+Science+Monitor+%257C+All+Storie
s%2529> Case-Shiller: January's housing prices indicate end of real
estate
bounce<http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/Paper-Economy/2010/0401/Case-Shiller-Ja
nuary-s-housing-prices-indicate-end-of-real-estate-bounce?utm_source=feedburn
er&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+feeds%252Fcsm+%2528Christian+Scienc
e+Monitor+%257C+All+Stories%2529> Stocks Rally, Oil Now Above $85
A
Barrel<http://www.businessinsider.com/dow-closes-up-45-points-while-nasdaq-ta
kes-a-5-point-hit-2010-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=F
eed%253A+businessinsider+%2528Business+Insider%2529> Michelle Obama
expands the White House
garden<http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Gardening/2010/0401/Michelle-Obam
a-expands-the-White-House-garden?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_ca
mpaign=Feed%253A+feeds%252Fcsm+%2528Christian+Science+Monitor+%257C+All+Stori
es%2529> Treasury Unemployment Benefit Outlays Surge To All Time
High<http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/3996055> $1
million: Too little to retire
on?<http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/learn-how-to-invest/one-million-too-
little-to-retire.aspx> Drill, baby, drill: The myth of energy
independence<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soundeconomywithjontalton/
2011488276_drill_baby_drill_the_myth_of_e.html> Medical waste
shipments turn up heads,
torsos<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_re_us/us_medical_waste_bodie
s;_ylt=A0wNdNgKLrVL_EkBtSCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFlOTJlbnBnBHBvcwM2NwRzZWMDYWNjb3Jk
aW9uX3Vfc19uZXdzBHNsawNtZWRpY2Fsd2FzdGU-> End of the (assembly)
line for Calif. car
plant<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_nummi;_ylt=A0
wNdNgKLrVL_EkB2SCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFmcnAydThwBHBvcwMxMDMEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9id
XNpbmVzcwRzbGsDZW5kb2Z0aGVhc3Nl> U.S. Debtto-GDP Situation, When
Will the Dominos
Align<http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1834
8> Electric Vehicles Losing Their 'Zero Emissions' Claim in
U.S.<http://solveclimate.com/blog/20100401/electric-vehicles-losing-their-zer
o-emissions-claim-u-s> Texas Capitol shut down by
blackout<http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/01/2083164/texas-capitol-shut-d
own-by-blackout.html> Holy bubble! Churches struck down by
foreclosures<http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63020J20100401>
And finally... (April Fool) China Forgives U.S.
Debt<http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2010/04/china-forgives-us-debt.html>
The Opening of Cornucopia LLC<http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6343>
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