February 2011 archive

 They Took The Money And Ran  

Following Egypt’s request to freeze assets of Hosni Mubarak and his cabinet, Soca will investigate UK-based bank accounts

Egyptian officials’ assets to be traced by Serious Organised Crime Agency

Officers from Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency are expected to begin tracing the bank accounts of Hosni Mubarak’s cabinet after the Egyptian government made a formal request for a freeze on the assets of the ousted president and his former colleagues.

The foreign secretary, William Hague, said Soca would take charge of the hunt for accounts in London, although the timing and extent of the investigation would be decided by EU finance ministers following discussions in Brussels. Hague said UK rules prevented the police from freezing bank accounts without “evidence of illegality or misuse of state assets”. He said if evidence became available, the government would take “firm and prompt action”.

While we were watching the Egyptians take back their country, our so-called representatives in the House were destroying ours. From John Nichols at The Nation:

Less than a month after making a show of reading the U.S. Constitution into the Congressional Record, the leaders of the Republican-controlled U.S. House enginnered a vote to extend the surveillance authorities that both the Bush and Obama administrations have used to conduct “roving surveillance” of communications, to collect and examine business recordsand to target individuals who are not tied to terrorist groups for surveillance.

While most Democrats opposed the extension of the surveillance authorities — rejecting aggressive lobbying by the Obama administration and its allies in the House GOP leadership — overwhelming Republican support won approval of the legislation on a a 275-144 vote. Thus, the supposedly Constitution-obsessed House has endorsed a measure that is widely seen — not just by Democrats and progressives but by Republicans and conservatives — as a constant threat to privacy protections outlined in the document’s 4th Amendment.

As Michelle Richardson, the legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, noted Monday night: “It has been nearly a decade since the Patriot Act was passed and our lawmakers still refuse to make any meaningful changes to this reactionary law. The right to privacy from government is a cornerstone of our country’s foundation and Americans must be free from the kind of unwarranted government surveillance that the Patriot Act allows. If Congress cannot take the time to insert the much needed privacy safeguards the Patriot Act needs, it should allow these provisions to expire.”

The 275 votes for extending the surveillance authorities came from 210 Republicans and 65 Democrats.

snip

More remarkable was the House vote on a motion offered by the Democrats, which sought to recommit the bill with instructions to add language ensuring that surveillances would only be conducted in compliance with the U.S. Constitution.

That motion lost on a 234-186 vote.

144 Americans stood up against this, 127 Democrats that included Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Michigan’s John Conyers, and 27 Republicans. Patriots all.

Regular Features-

• Late Night Karaoke by mishima
• Muse in the Morning by Robyn
• Six In The Morning by mishima

Featured Essays for February 14, 2011-

• Pique the Geek 20110213: Firearms 102. Shotguns by Translator
• Original v. Cover — #66 in a Series by curmudgeon
• Anatomy of a Struggle: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers by Activist Guy
• Imagining postcapitalism: global warming by cassiodorus
• An Interview with Adlai Stevenson III, Part Two: The Role of the Media by cabaretic
• Neglected Tropical Diseases: Guinea-worm disease by TheMomCat
• 60min: Wael Ghonim and Egypt’s New Age by jimstaro
• Reporting the Revolution: February 14 by TheMomCat

DocuDharma

Back at the old stand.  Pretty solid premiers, none worth watching.  Thanks to TheMomCat for filling in with her Grammy Liveblog.  Tonight’s BIG news is the 135th Westminster Kennel Club on USA, though it looks like they’re going to crush it so you can watch the WWE with Republican Wingnut failure Linda McMahon (Update: TheMomCat says coverage continues on CNBC).

Also Pitchers and Catchers report.

I remember every detail.  The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.

• ABC Family– Pretty Little Liars x 2 (premier and Instapeat), Greek (premier)
• AMC– The Shawshank Redemption x 2
• Comedy– The 40 Year Old Virgin, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia marathon
• Disney– Enchanted, Phineas and Ferb x 2
• Discovery– Sr. v. Jr. x 2
• E!– Fashion Police 2011 Grammys (premier)
• ESPN– College Hoopies, West Virginia @ Syracuse, Kansas @ Kansas State
• ESPN2– Women’s College Basketball, Oklahoma @ Connecticut, Texas A&M @ Baylor
• FX– Big Momma’s House x 2, Big Momma’s House 2
• History– Pawn Stars and Pickers (premier)
• Lifetime– Chasing Liberty
• Sci Fi– Being Human (last week’s and new), Warehouse 13
• TBS– Family Guy night
• Turner Classic– Rachel, Rachel, Casablanca
• Toon– Adventure Time with Finn and Jake, MAD (premiers)
• Travel– Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
• TLC– The Unpoppables x 2, Cake Boss (premiers)
• TV Land– Something’s Gotta Give
• USA– Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
• Vs.– Caps @ Coyotes

You’ll excuse me, gentlemen. Your business is politics, mine is running a saloon.

Later-

Say, mister. Will you stake a fellow American to a meal?

• ESPN2– The NFL Films version of XLV
• Sci Fi– Being Human (Instapeat), Moonlight, Face Off (this week’s)
• Style– Fashion Police 2011 Grammys (Instapeat)
• Turner Classic– The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Dave hosts Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, Tom Brokaw (ugh), and Theophilus London.  Jon has Edward Glaeser, Stephen LCD Soundsystem.  Alton does Dumplings and Wontons.  Conan hosts Justin Bieber (fresh off his loss as Best New Artist), Claire Smith, and The Black Keys.

Do you believe that stuff the old man was saying the other night at the Oso Negro about gold changin’ a man’s soul so’s he ain’t the same sort of man as he was before findin’ it?

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Now with Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show liveblogging.

Regular Daily Features:

• News at Six in the Morning from mishima
• The Monkees are in the spotlight at Late Night Karaoke, mishima DJs

Essays Featured Monday, February 14^th:

• How Regulation Came to Be: Filling It Up With Ethyl from dsteffen is another superb essay in this highly irregular series.
• A little hand majik in Techno-Logic from RiaD
• Monday Open Thoughts~ RiaD asks you to share a love.
• We’re Celebrating Miki’s Birthday!!!(mplo), Kathleen hosts.
• Firefly Memories 1.0 is where Alma takes a look back at some of the Brilliant essays of our first years posts, highlighting those which exemplify our firefly-dreaming spirit and mission.  Today:Why Aren’t Other Companies Doing This? Employees Wonder.

come firefly-dreaming with me….

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 40 Top Stories.

1 Military urges halt to strikes gripping Egypt

by Jailan Zayan, AFP

58 mins ago

The White House unveiled their proposals for the Federal Budget for 2012 that begins October 1. Keep in mind that the budget for 2011 has yet to be passed, thanks to the Democrats not being able to rein in their “mavericks” and the penchant for the White House capitulate to Republican demands. As promised, the White House budget does not mention Social Security which has set the Republicans in the House and Senate to whining that it is the President’s responsibility, not theirs, to swing the ax on “entitlements”. While Obama opened the door to this by loading his deficit commission with the likes of Alan Simpson, he has finally recognized that cutting Social Security benefits in any way will be political suicide in 2012. So wisely, he has left it to the Republicans and they are not about to take any responsibility for it.

The rest of the White House budget is pretty dismal. While there are proposals for education, high-speed rail and infrastructure, it does that by shifting money from other vital programs like heating assistance, wage freezes and other draconian cuts mostly affecting those who can least afford it. The President’s proposed budget will allegedly cut the deficit by $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years while still creating creating jobs.

The exchange this morning on CNN with Sen. Jeff Sessions, (R-AL) attacking the Obama budget with the argument that “our cuts are better than your cuts” and trying to pass the buck back to Obama on Social Security cuts. This would really funny if it weren’t so devastating to the majority if Americans and the poor

“A one trillion reduction is insignificant,” Sessions insists. “This is nowhere near what’s necessary to avoid the fiscal nightmare that this nation is facing. … It doesn’t touch any of the entitlements, it only has some reductions in the discretionary accounts.”

That’s a slow ball, right over the center of the plate if your job is to reinforce conventional wisdom, and the anchor, Kiran Chetry, knocks it out of the park. “At what point does everybody get together and just say, ‘Alright, it’s time to tackle these bigger issues: Raising the Social Security retirement age. Medicare doesn’t just go to everybody.’ When is that gonna be tackled.”

But, Sessions responds, on tough issues over which Congress has the ultimate say, it’s the President’s job to take all the political risk!

“We’ve heard nothing from our chief executive, the President of the United States,” he said.

The MSM is still perpetuating the lie that Social Security has to be cut when the truth is that it is the one safety net program that has not added one cent to the deficit. If the fund had not been raided to pay for illegal wars and tax cuts for the rich by the Bush administration, the fund would be solvent well into the next century,even wit the influx of the “Boomer” generation. Social Security is not an entitlement.

The Republican budgets would have the same results on the deficit, the difference being that the Republican budget does not create any jobs but would actually kill any chance of job creation by slashing:

• High speed rail investments ($5 billion)
• COPS Hiring (supporting local law enforcement) ($298 million)
• High School Graduation Initiative ($50 million)
• Weatherization assistance program ($210 million)
• National Park Service climate change monitoring and response ($4.5 million)
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting ($86 million)
• Green Jobs Innovation Fund ($40 million)

and that is only the tip of the proposed Republican cuts.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is requesting its largest budget since World War II with Defense Secretary Gates insisting that $553 billion price tag for 2012 is the “the minimum level of funding we can live with.” The promised cuts of $78 billion over 5 years won’t start until 2014 and 2015.

As Center for American Progress senior fellow and President Reagan’s former assistant secretary of defense Larry Korb points out, Obama’s request is “5% higher than what the Defense Department plans to spend this year. In inflation-adjusted dollars, this figure is higher than at any time during the Bush years or during the Cold War.” In fact, the total military budget this year “comes in at a thumping $750 billion – an annual tax of more than $7,000 on every household in the country.” And while there are clear ways to cut $1 trillion from the Pentagon budget, it seems that many in the GOP have no intention of doing so.

(emphasis mine)

Obama and the Democratic has accomplished more than either Bush or Cheney ever dreamed. They had a golden opportunity and totally wasted it. It is very possible that the economy will sink back into another recession worse than the last one.

With Hosni Mubarak gone and rumors running rampant on his fortune, health and whereabouts, promises of democracy and reform from the military, one would think that the revolution was finished. Today, despite threats of arrest and pleas to go back to work, thousands of striking workers took to the streets again in Tahrir Square and across Egypt demanding better pay and working conditions. Even the police held a demonstration. Even though the internet and phone service is working, the press is still being harassed. There have been reports of camera equipment confiscated, reporters taken into custody and the military has ordered Al Jazeera to stop filming the protests. However, the state media has now taken to praising the revolution with proclamations of “the people ousted the regime”.

The military is walking a very fine line trying to get the economy running and a semblance of order so the government transition can progress to elections in September, as hoped. Banks did not open today because of the continuing protests and tomorrow is a bank holiday. The military council has promised that banks will open on Wednesday.

Protests in other countries are getting larger and louder, as the young Arabs grow weary of stifling regimes. There were many large demonstrations in Iran, Yemen, and Bahrain disregarding bans by governments and the strong presence of police and military.

Guardian has a Live Blog from their reporters in Egypt and around the region refreshes automatically every minute. .

The “Jasmine Revolution” that started in Tunisia is growing It is going to be an interesting summer.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”

New York Times Editorial: In Defense of Marriage, for All

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is indefensible – officially sanctioned discrimination against one group of Americans imposed during an election year. President Obama seems to know that, or at least he has called on Congress to repeal it. So why do his government’s lawyers continue to defend the act in court?

But just last month, the department appealed two rulings by Joseph Tauro, a federal trial judge in Massachusetts, who found that the law’s denial of benefits to married same-sex couples could not pass constitutional muster. We did not agree with some of the judge’s reasoning. He said the marriage act exceeded Congress’s powers and infringed on the state’s right to regulate marriage – an approach that could undermine many of the biggest federal social programs, including the new health care law.

Glenn Greenwald: The Leaked Campaign to Attack WikiLeaks and Its Supporters

But the real issue highlighted by this episode is just how lawless and unrestrained is the unified axis of government and corporate power. I’ve written many times about this issue — the full-scale merger between public and private spheres — because it’s easily one of the most critical yet under-discussed political topics. Especially (though by no means only) in the worlds of the Surveillance and National Security State, the powers of the state have become largely privatized. There is very little separation between government power and corporate power. Those who wield the latter intrinsically wield the former. The revolving door between the highest levels of government and corporate offices rotates so fast and continuously that it has basically flown off its track and no longer provides even the minimal barrier it once did. It’s not merely that corporate power is unrestrained; it’s worse than that: corporations actively exploit the power of the state to further entrench and enhance their power.

Paul Krugman: Eat The Future

On Friday, House Republicans unveiled their proposal for immediate cuts in federal spending. Uncharacteristically, they failed to accompany the release with a catchy slogan. So I’d like to propose one: Eat the Future.

I’ll explain in a minute. First, let’s talk about the dilemma the G.O.P. faces.

Republican leaders like to claim that the midterms gave them a mandate for sharp cuts in government spending. Some of us believe that the elections were less about spending than they were about persistent high unemployment, but whatever. The key point to understand is that while many voters say that they want lower spending, press the issue a bit further and it turns out that they only want to cut spending on other people.

Monday Business Edition is an Open Thread

1 China overtakes Japan as world’s No. 2 economy

by David Watkins, AFP

2 hrs 40 mins ago