Mar 16 2011

Punting the Pundits

“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”

Ladies’ Day. Gentlemen are below the fold

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Conservative Zealotry vs. Economic Reality

One thing about the current generation of conservatives: Getting mugged by reality hasn’t changed the way they look at the world. We’ve just come through a calamitous financial collapse – caused by reckless Wall Street gambling and toothless watchdogs – that triggered a Great Recession and doubled the U.S. national debt. The collapse is the greatest cause of large deficits, but conservatives act as if the deficits caused the collapse.

A recent stop in London revealed that this isn’t just a Tea Party phenomenon. There, the new Tory-dominated coalition led by David Cameron looks and sounds like a sprightlier offshoot of House Speaker John Boehner’s troops. Cameron has set out on a forced march for fiscal retrenchment, imposing deep and immediate spending cuts (and tax increases) to bring deficits down in Britain. This plan is sold with a jaunty recital of conservative gospel: The economy has begun to recover, and action on deficit reduction will boost the confidence of business and consumers. The resulting revival, it is argued, will generate more than enough private-sector jobs to make up for those lost in the public sector.

Amy Goodman: Warning to the World

A reporter, describing the devastation of one city in Japan, wrote: “It looks as if a monster steamroller had passed over it and squashed it out of existence. I write these facts … as a warning to the world.” The reporter was Wilfred Burchett, writing from Hiroshima, Japan, on Sept. 5, 1945. Burchett was the first Western reporter to make it to Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped there. He reported on the strange illness that continued to kill people, even a full month after that first, dreadful use of nuclear weapons against humans. His words could well describe the scenes of annihilation in northeastern Japan today. Given the worsening catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, his grave warning to the world remains all too relevant.

Robert Reich: Safety on the Cheap

Can we please agree that in the real world corporations exist for one purpose, and one purpose only – to make as much money as possible, which means cutting costs as much as possible?

The New York Times reports that G.E. marketed the Mark 1 boiling water reactors, used in TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, as cheaper to build than other reactors because they used a comparatively smaller and less expensive containment structure.

Yet American safety officials have long thought the smaller design more vulnerable to explosion and rupture in emergencies than competing designs. (By the way, the same design is used in 23 American nuclear reactors at 16 plants.)

John Nichols: Greetings From Fitzwalkerstan: Wisconsin GOP Denies Legislative Democrats Voting Rights

Not content to deny state, county and municipal employees and teachers a voice in the workplace-with legislation that takes away collective bargaining rights-Wisconsin Republicans have now moved to deny Democratic legislators the right to vote on legislation as it is being considered by state Senate committees.

For the better part of a month, fourteen Democratic state senators denied Republicans the quorum they sought to pass Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s anti-labor legislation-and, in so doing, provided the time for the development of a mass movement that last Saturday drew more than 100,000 union supporters to the Capitol. The Democratic senators have returned and the legislation has passed.

But Republican poll numbers have collapsed. And they are furious.

Ralph Nader: Our Right-Leaning Public Media

The tumultuous managerial shakeup at National Public Radio headquarters for trivial verbal miscues once again has highlighted the ludicrous corporatist right-wing charge that public radio and public TV are replete with left-leaning or leftist programming.

Ludicrous, that is, unless this criticism’s yardstick is the propaganda regularly exuded by the extreme right-wing Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. These “capitalists” use the public’s airwaves free-of-charge to make big money.

The truth is that the frightened executives at public TV and radio have long been more hospitable to interviews with right of center or extreme right-wing and corporatist talking heads than liberal or progressive guests.

Dave Johnson: What “Free Trade” Has Cost The World

If you take a job away from someone who is paid a reasonable wage because they enjoy the protections and prosperity of democratic government, move it across a border, and give it to someone living under a thugocracy, forced to work for pennies with no protections whatsoever, it should be just plain obvious that the worker on our side of the border and the worker on the other side of the border are not going to be better off. And when you do this on a massive scale it just stands to reason that most people on both sides of the border are going to be worse off.

But propaganda being what it is we were somehow convinced to try a worldwide experiment in taking good jobs from democracies and turning them into bad jobs in thugocracies. Now, of course, the experiment has run its course and we can see the results.

Robert Naiman: Washington Smackdown: Petraeus vs. “Substantial Drawdown”

Gen. David Petraeus spoke today before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and is speaking tomorrow before the House Armed Services Committee, selling Congress a “progress” story about the war in Afghanistan that isn’t believed by US intelligence analysts. Whether Members of Congress choose to believe Petraeus’ reassurances over the assessments of the U.S. intelligence community (“who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?”) could prove decisive in determining whether the July drawdown of U.S. forces from Afghanistan that President Obama has promised will be “token,” as the Pentagon wants, or is “substantial,” as the overwhelming majority of Americans want. The stakes are high: a substantial drawdown of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this year would save many American and Afghan lives and tens of billions of dollars, and would open political space in Afghanistan for a negotiated political settlement that ends the civil war.

Mar 16 2011

On This Day in History March 16

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

March 16 is the 75th day of the year (76th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 290 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1802, The United States Military Academy, the first military school in the United States, is founded by Congress for the purpose of educating and training young men in the theory and practice of military science.

Colonial period, founding, and early years

The Continental Army first occupied West Point, New York, on 27 January 1778, making it the longest continually occupied post in the United States of America. Between 1778 and 1780, Polish engineer and military hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko oversaw the construction of the garrison defenses. The Great Hudson River Chain and high ground above the narrow “S” curve in the river enabled the Continental Army to prevent British Royal Navy ships from sailing upriver and dividing the Colonies. As commander of the fortifications at West Point, however, Benedict Arnold committed his infamous act of treason, attempting to sell the fort to the British. After Arnold betrayed the patriot cause, the Army changed the name of the fortifications at West Point, New York, to Fort Clinton. With the peace after the American Revolutionary War left various ordnance and military stores deposited at West Point.

“Cadets” underwent training in artillery and engineering studies at the garrison since 1794. Congress formally authorized the establishment and funding of the United States Military Academy on 16 March 1802,. The academy graduated Joseph Gardner Swift, its first official graduate, in October 1802; he later returned as Superintendent from 1812 to 1814. In its tumultuous early years, the academy featured few standards for admission or length of study. Cadets ranged in age from 10 years to 37 years and attended between 6 months to 6 years. The impending War of 1812 caused the United States Congress to authorize a more formal system of education at the academy and increased the size of the Corps of Cadets to 250.

In 1817, Colonel Sylvanus Thayer became the Superintendent and established the curriculum still in use to this day. Thayer instilled strict disciplinary standards, set a standard course of academic study, and emphasized honorable conduct. Known as the “Father of the Military Academy”, he is honored with a monument on campus for the profound impact he left upon the academy’s history. Founded to be a school of engineering, for the first half of the 19th century, USMA produced graduates who gained recognition for engineering the bulk of the nation’s initial railway lines, bridges, harbors and roads. The academy was the only engineering school in the country until the founding of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1824. It was so successful in its engineering curriculum that it significantly influenced every American engineering school founded prior to the Civil War.

The Mexican-American War brought the academy to prominence as graduates proved themselves in battle for the first time. Future Civil War commanders Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee first distinguished themselves in battle in Mexico. In all, 452 of 523 graduates who served in the war received battlefield promotions or awards for bravery. The school experienced a rapid modernization during the 1850s, often romanticized by the graduates who led both sides of the Civil War as the “end of the Old West Point era”. New barracks brought better heat and gas lighting, while new ordnance and tactics training incorporated new rifle and musket technology and accommodated transportation advances created by the steam engine. With the outbreak of the Civil War, West Point graduates filled the general officer ranks of the rapidly expanding Union and Confederate armies. Two hundred ninety-four graduates served as general officers for the Union, and one hundred fifty-one served as general officers for the Confederacy. Of all living graduates at the time of the war, 105 (10%) were killed, and another 151 (15%) were wounded. Nearly every general officer of note from either army during the Civil War was a graduate of West Point and a West Point graduate commanded the forces of one or both sides in every one of the 60 major battles of the war.

 597 BC – Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king.

37 – Caligula becomes Roman Emperor after the death of his great uncle, Tiberius.

1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford’s Tower, York.

1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place in the Despenser Wars.

1521 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.

1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visits the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, “Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset.”

1660 – The Long Parliament disbands.

1689 – The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded.

1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.

1802 – The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.

1812 – Battle of Badajoz (March 16 – April 6) – British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.

1815 – Prince Willem of the House of Orange-Nassau proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.

1818 – Second Battle of Cancha Rayada – Spanish forces defeat Chileans under José de San Martín.

1861 – Edward Clark becomes Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who was evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.

1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough begins as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.

1900 – Sir Arthur Evans purchases the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.

1912 – Lawrence Oates, an ill member of Scott’s South Pole expedition leaves the tent saying, “I am just going outside and may be some time.”

1916 – The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US-Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.

1924 – In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume becomes annexed as part of Italy.

1926 – History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.

1935 – Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.

1939 – From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

1939 – Marriage of Princess Fawzia of Egypt to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.

1942 – The first V-2 rocket test launch. It explodes at lift-off.

1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.

1945 – Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers. 5,000 are killed.

1950 – Communist Czechoslovakia’s ministry of foreign affairs asks nuncios of Vatican to leave the country.

1952 – In Cilaos, Rèunion, 1,870 millimetres (74 in) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record.

1958 – The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company’s founding.

1962 – A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 missing.

1963 – Mount Agung erupts on Bali killing 11,000.

1966 – Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena Target Vehicle.

1968 – Vietnam War: In the My Lai massacre, between 350 and 500 Vietnamese villagers (men, women, and children) are killed by American troops.

1968 – General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.

1976 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns, citing personal reasons.

1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.

1978 – Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped and is later killed by his captors.

1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the 5th-largest oil spill in history.

1983 – Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last wooden radio tower in Germany.

1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists and later dies in captivity.

1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He is released on December 4, 1991.

1988 – Iran-Contra Affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

1988 – Halabja poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people.

1995 – Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.

1998 – Pope John Paul II asks God for forgiveness for the inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust.

Holidays and observances

   * Christian Feast Day:

         o Abbàn

         o Heribert of Cologne

   * Latvian Legion Day (Latvia)

   * Saint Urho’s Day (Finnish community in U.S. and Canada)

   * The first day of the Bacchanalia (Roman Empire)

Mar 16 2011

Taking Back America: Michigan

(10 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

In the wake of the feudal take over of the State Of Wisconsin by the Republican corporate puppets with a bill that stripped state workers of their bargaining rights, the fight has moved now to Michigan where the feudal lords have passed a bill with far over-reaching powers that would give the state the power to to remove elected officials and dissolve union contracts. Gov. Rick Snyder is going to sign this medieval take over of government. This is a clear assault on the rights of the people to elect officials and disincorporated or dissolve entire city governments.

This isn’t just about unprecedented power but placing the brunt of deficit reduction onto the backs of their state’s public employees, students, and middle-class taxpayers with regressive tax cuts (pdf) while simultaneously enacting corporate tax cuts and giveaways. On of the proposals by Snyder is to cut corporate tax rates by 86% while ending the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, cutting a $600 per child tax credit, and reducing credits for seniors, while also cutting funding for school districts by eight to ten percent. This is starting to sound like England in the 12th century under King John which led to the signing of the Magna Carta and a rebellion. Robin Hood may be a myth but the principles are not.

Rachel Maddow explains Snyder’s plan to take from the poor to give the his corporate overlords.

There was a small demonstration in at the capitol building in Lansing on Tuesday sponsored by the AARP. The big demonstration will be today with bus loads of protesters descending on Lansing with bus loads of Michiganders telling the lords that they cannot have their hard fought for rights.

From Michael Moore of Michigan:

Friends and neighbors,

The call has gone out and I’m asking everyone who can to take Wednesday off and head to the State Capitol in Lansing to protest the cruel and downright frightening legislation currently being jammed down our throats.

What is most shocking to many is that the new governor, who ran against the Tea Party and defeated the right wing of his party in the primaries — and then ran in the general election as “just a nerd from Ann Arbor” who was a moderate, not an ideologue — has pulled off one of the biggest Jekyll and Hyde ruses I’ve ever seen in electoral politics.

Governor Snyder, once elected, yanked off his nice-guy mask to reveal that he is in fact a multi-millionaire hell-bent on destroying our state and turning it over to his buddies from Wall Street.

In just 8 short weeks he has:

* Gotten the House and Senate to pass bills giving him “Emergency Management” powers such as the ability to appoint a corporation or a CEO who could literally dissolve town governments or school boards, fire the elected officials, nullify any local law and run your local governmental entity. That company then would have the power to immediately declare all collective bargaining contracts null and void.

* Proposed giving business a whopping 86% tax cut while raising everyone’s personal taxes by 31%! And much of that tax hike he believes should be shouldered by — I kid you not — senior citizens and the poor! He says these two groups have not been “sharing the sacrifice” the rest of us have been burdened with. So his budget proposes a $1.8 billion tax CUT for business and a $1.75 billion tax INCREASE for the rest of us, much of it from the poor, seniors and working people — even though the top 1% in Michigan ALREADY pay a lower state tax rate than everyone else does!

* Together with the legislature, introduced over 40 anti-labor bills in just the first two months of this session! They have wasted no time and have caught most people off guard. Much of this is being rushed through right now before you have a chance to raise your voice in objection.

These actions are breathtaking when you realize they will drive our already battered state straight into the ground. What we needed right now was an inspiring leader to help us reinvent Michigan and to find creative ways to create new jobs and lift us out of our economic depression. The rest of the country may call what they’re experiencing the “Great Recession,” but few argue that Michigan is suffering a “one-state Depression.”

We stand with the citizens of Michigan tomorrow.

Mar 16 2011

Taking Back America: Michigan

In the wake of the feudal take over of the State Of Wisconsin by the Republican corporate puppets with a bill that stripped state workers of their bargaining rights, the fight has moved now to Michigan where the feudal lords have passed a bill with far over-reaching powers that would give the state the power to to remove elected officials and dissolve union contracts. Gov. Rick Snyder is going to sign this medieval take over of government. This is a clear assault on the rights of the people to elect officials and disincorporated or dissolve entire city governments.

This isn’t just about unprecedented power but placing the brunt of deficit reduction onto the backs of their state’s public employees, students, and middle-class taxpayers with regressive tax cuts (pdf) while simultaneously enacting corporate tax cuts and giveaways. On of the proposals by Snyder is to cut corporate tax rates by 86% while ending the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, cutting a $600 per child tax credit, and reducing credits for seniors, while also cutting funding for school districts by eight to ten percent. This is starting to sound like England in the 12th century under King John which led to the signing of the Magna Carta and a rebellion. Robin Hood may be a myth but the principles remain.

Rachel Maddow explains Snyder’s plan to take from the poor to give the his corporate ooverlords.

There was a small demonstration in at the capitol building in Lansing on Tuesday sponsored by the AARP. The big demonstration will be today with bus loads of protesters descending on Lansing with bus loads of Michiganders telling the lords that they cannot have their hard fought for rights. From Michael Moore of Michigan:

Friends and neighbors,

The call has gone out and I’m asking everyone who can to take Wednesday off and head to the State Capitol in Lansing to protest the cruel and downright frightening legislation currently being jammed down our throats.

What is most shocking to many is that the new governor, who ran against the Tea Party and defeated the right wing of his party in the primaries — and then ran in the general election as “just a nerd from Ann Arbor” who was a moderate, not an ideologue — has pulled off one of the biggest Jekyll and Hyde ruses I’ve ever seen in electoral politics.

Governor Snyder, once elected, yanked off his nice-guy mask to reveal that he is in fact a multi-millionaire hell-bent on destroying our state and turning it over to his buddies from Wall Street.

In just 8 short weeks he has:

* Gotten the House and Senate to pass bills giving him “Emergency Management” powers such as the ability to appoint a corporation or a CEO who could literally dissolve town governments or school boards, fire the elected officials, nullify any local law and run your local governmental entity. That company then would have the power to immediately declare all collective bargaining contracts null and void.

* Proposed giving business a whopping 86% tax cut while raising everyone’s personal taxes by 31%! And much of that tax hike he believes should be shouldered by — I kid you not — senior citizens and the poor! He says these two groups have not been “sharing the sacrifice” the rest of us have been burdened with. So his budget proposes a $1.8 billion tax CUT for business and a $1.75 billion tax INCREASE for the rest of us, much of it from the poor, seniors and working people — even though the top 1% in Michigan ALREADY pay a lower state tax rate than everyone else does!

* Together with the legislature, introduced over 40 anti-labor bills in just the first two months of this session! They have wasted no time and have caught most people off guard. Much of this is being rushed through right now before you have a chance to raise your voice in objection.

These actions are breathtaking when you realize they will drive our already battered state straight into the ground. What we needed right now was an inspiring leader to help us reinvent Michigan and to find creative ways to create new jobs and lift us out of our economic depression. The rest of the country may call what they’re experiencing the “Great Recession,” but few argue that Michigan is suffering a “one-state Depression.”

We stand with the citizens of Michigan tomorrow.

Mar 16 2011

DocuDharma Digest

Regular Features-

Featured Essays for March 15, 2011-

DocuDharma

Mar 16 2011

My Little Town 20110315: Elwood Brockman

(8 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Those of you that read this irregular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile of so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River.  It was a redneck sort of place, and just zoom onto my previous posts to understand a bit about it.

I never write about living people except with their express permission, so this installment is about a long dead denizen of Hackett.  This time it is about a teacher of mine, Elwood Brockman.

Mr. Brockman taught high school maths, and was also the grade school principal.  Since the entire school system from grades 1 to 12 (no K at the time), double duty was the norm.

I know very little about Mr. Brockman’s early life, as he came to Hackett when he was over 60 years old.  I do know that he was highly educated.  I know that he taught chemistry in his earlier career, because he had a LOT of high school chemistry texts, some of which were evaluation copies from the publishers.  He taught only maths at Hackett, at least formally.

He was also a licensed land surveyor, and as a matter of fact would hire my cousin, Mike, to help him carry the transit, poles, and such on jobs.  My impression is that Mr. Brockman had quite the drinking man earlier in life, because even as a kid I could hear my parents talking about whether someone “like him” should be able to teach.  In any event, the school board hired him and he turned out to be an outstanding teacher.  As I got older he and I sort of developed an affection for each other, which I shall describe later.

He first came to town around 1966 or so, when I would have been nine.  He was single and smoked cigarettes in his office.   They cost thirty-five cents per pack then, and it was cool at the time to smoke just about anywhere.  He lived in the house just south of me that had an apartment with a separate entry.  Mr. and Mrs. Holloway owned the house, and I shall write about them in a future installment.

As I got older, Mr. Brockman noticed that I had an unusual interest in science.  He had several copies of a paperback textbook about atomic orbitals and quantum numbers, and offered to teach about them to any students after school, and free of charge who were interested.  Maybe five or so of us took him up on it, including my friend Rex.  I think that Rex made it at the most to three of the sessions, one other kid to two, and the rest except for use never came back after the first ones.  I LOVED it!  I ate this stuff up like candy.

Before long, after the others quit coming, Mr. Brockman and I could often cover two or three lessons in an hour and a half or two.  By the time that we were finished, I knew about the major electronic atomic shells, the suborbitals, and the quantum numbers associated with them and what they meant.  Perhaps this does not sound very remarkable, but this could have been no later than 1970, so I was at the most 13 years old, and I think that is was in 1968 when I would have been 11.  Mr. Brockman became sort of a scientific mentor to me at that time.

He sort of looked like W. C. Fields, with the bulbous nose and wild shock of hair.  He certainly was not what one you would call a fit person, with quite a paunch.  As I visualize him now, I can see him just as he was.  He was quite like an uncle to me, if one happened to have Linus Pauling as an uncle.  I am sure, but have absolutely no evidence to back this up, that he was the one who put the idea in my parents’ heads to take me out of the Hackett School System and send me to the Catholic school in Fort Smith, Saint Anne’s High School, which only recently had become coeducational.

Our relationship did not end there.  Mr. Brockman had cataracts, and at the time the treatment was not anything like it is now.  After his operation, to see properly he had to wear both hard contact lenses (the soft ones were still under development at the time) and thick glasses.  Sometimes he would “lose” a hard lens in his eye, and could not see well enough with the other one to extract it.  The telephone would ring, and if I did not answer it myself, my mum or dad would tell me that Mr. Brockman needed me to help him to “find” his lens.

I NEVER felt put upon to walk over to his apartment and assist him, and this still was going on after I started Saint Anne’s.  I did not care if it were raining, cold, or whatever.  I would go and climb the stairs to his apartment, which he never locked, knock, and he would tell me to come in.  He would always be at his bureau, with the magnifying mirror in front of him, tearing profusely, trying to find that lens.  He had a little, white lens grabber, basically a rubber cup on a hollow handle that was shaped that, when the handle was squeezed and then released, the lens would be gently suctioned to the cup part.

After a couple of trips, I learnt that he almost always “lost” his lens under his lower eyelid.  Because of his vision, he just could not see to extract it.  I know that this is very painful, because I later wore hard lenses, and getting one “lost” under your upper lid is bad enough, but getting one stuck under your lower lid is excruciating!  Before long, I would have the lens on the suction device, and he would breathe a breath of relief.  By the way, of all the times that I went over there, I never saw any booze, never smelt any, he never did anything that could remotely be considered anything like a sexual come on.  He was not like that, at least towards me.

I guess my parents finally decided that someone “like him” could have some redemption.  My cousin Mike worked with him for years and there was never anything untoward by Mr. Brockman.

I have a few other recollections.  He drove a green Dodge Dart, year model unknown.  It looked and sounded terrible!  But it always got him to where he needed to go.  You always knew when Mr. Brockman was at school, because that bright green Dart would be there.  He liked to laugh, too.  He was not really a joke teller, but would spin amusing yarns.  He was also obviously educated in the classics.

Usually, at would be around seven in the evening if I needed to extract a contact lens, and often we would sit and talk for a few minutes, usually about science.  If he were particularly tired on a given evening, he would tell me, and I remember this just like he said it half an hour ago, ironic, since it is 7:33 as I write this paragraph, “David, I would love to talk, but the arms of Morpheus are rapidly wrapping around me.”  I did not know what it meant, and I think that he was challenging me to stretch, because he would always say, “You figure it out.”

I finally looked up Morpheus in the Encyclopaedia Britannica and learnt that he was the Greek god of sleep.  Elwood never spoonfed me information:  he wanted me to work for it.

Mr. Brockman died many years ago, but he is still alive in a sense, because Mike and I remember him fondly.  He was my very first scientific mentor.  Now, my mum and dad certainly encouraged me in education in general, but neither of them were in any people of science.  That is not intended to be in any way a ding towards then, so please do not get me wrong about them.  But Mr. Brockman was a scientist, was the first to begin to teach me how to think like a scientist.

Remember those high school textbooks that I mentioned a while ago?  He gave me a bunch of them, often marked up with what has to be fountain pen ink.  Except for family heirlooms, they are among some of my most prized possessions, even though that are not worth much insofar as money goes.  Sometimes the dollar value matters little.

I have another recollection about Mr. Brockman.  Once, in “downtown”, as much as a town of 328 on the city limit sign is, Bobby Bird wrecked his motorcycle in from of Gene and Katy’s (see an earlier installment) store.  Gasoline was everywhere, and along came Mr. Brockman, smoking a cigarette.  Bobby was hurting, but not really hurt, but did not want to get up off of the pavement.  In his unique way, Mr. Brockman said, “Boy, it really smells like gas here!  I hope that it does catch fire!  Boy, you would be burned up!”.  About that time he made the appearence of flicking his cigarette onto the ground.  You would be surprised how fast Bobby arose and WALKED!  It was like a miracle.  Thus was the wisdom of Mr. Brockman.

Well, this is a nice slice of My Little Town.  Some of the folks there were not so nice, many of them were just regular folks, and a few of them were downright criminal, and not the petty kind.  If you think that this series has merit, please respond in comments to let me know that you would like to know more.  I am one of the last to remember the way it was in the mid 1960s to mid 1970s, and enough of those folks are dead now that I will not embarrass anyone.

I also encourage you to talk about your little town, or even your big one, about growing up, whether you are 90 or 19.  Do you think that such a topic deserves a regular, weekly installment?  Or would a new group be better?  Hey, since my little town only had 328 folks in it, I shall run out of recollections before long.  I would be happy to edit a group with multiple contributors if there is any interest.  Please also comment on that.

Warmest regards,

Doc

Crossposted at Antemedius.com, Dailykos.com, Docudharma.com, and Fireflydreaming.com.

Mar 16 2011

My Man, My Son, My Life

Someone pointed him out to me across the bar on a 4th of July afternoon bender after a day at the Lake and a night prior of coking and joking, “That guy over there is Michael, he could give you guitar lessons.” I was 21. It was 1984.

I took one look, and as God as my witness gasped and said, “Oh my God, that man is going to be my best friend or worst enemy.” He had presence, in a way most people cannot even fathom unless you met him. Intensity, intelligence, awareness, all with a touch of dangerousness that kept many at a distance.

I had someone introduce us. He took me home that night, and played a bit of guitar for me. We talked like I’d never been able to talk to anyone in my entire life until sleep took us. He was a gentleman, and I was a Catholic girl. The second night? I molested him, unable to refrain from his lure. He didn’t object a bit. I have been with him ever since.

He alone saved me from the self-loathing my childhood wrought, but was somehow unable to overcome his own, inflicting new damage at times far worse. It was a turbulent and complex relationship, but one which I shall never regret.

He made me me.

I could recount the horrors of finding him gone, the 6 hour ordeal of dealing with EMS, the ME, the funeral home…. but most of it? I went into “I’ve got this” mode and dealt fine. My breakdown was Saturday with my girls: Jill, Linda and Kate had me and Jake. I let Jake leave later Saturday to go to his friend’s house and find a moments respite from dealing, and have his own friend to vent to.

But I guess I’m trying to tell you how we are, not what we were then. There’s time for that with distance.

I covered Mike and lead Jake to my bedroom. He went back later and wanted to see him with me… we had BOTH tried to close his eyes, but the goddamned things wouldn’t stay shut.

Jake was angry when I told him his Dad died, feeling lied to. His Dad, the day after his terminal prognosis had somehow told him 4 years. When I learned of that, I pulled him aside and told him 3, maybe 6 months with a miracle. After last Tuesday when I spent 11 straight hours trying to help him breathe, the next morning I told him probably less than a month. “Dad said 4 years, Mom 3-6 months, then a month and I got two more fucking days??!!??”

But by morning, he was past that. He understood neither one of us saw this coming like that. We both get we can be angry, sad, or anything we want to right now. In fact, after spending the day arranging the cremation, then going to beg help paying for that from the State? We both lit out of the house to our respective friends for an hour or two, meeting home at the same time, and found we both had actual fun.

“Well, Jaker, its probably because its the first time we’ve been able to leave without feeling guilty or afraid in a LONG time.” I told him.

“Afraid he was dead, afraid he would be mad at us or play the guilt card if we left even for an hour. Yeah, Mom, it was kind of freeing in a way,” He replied.

So, we talked about that for a minute, and my little man said, “OK, lets just choose not to feel bad about feeling good. We deserve it. We need it sometimes, and even Dad said he didn’t want us to mope around all the time.”

We moved on that night, but today was sadness again. We know its going to be a rollercoaster like that for a while.

It probably helps that Mike left us totally fucked. For the moment, irritated is easier than sad. He just didn’t take care of his shit. I called Michigan Works myself a week ago, and got them to say he was there… all he had to do to get his back pay? Update the website, and he never did. Even when he felt good. We were back 2 house payments and he refused to get the 2 grand they owned him from weeks prior.

He also refused to let me apply for SSDI for him up until the week before he died – something I asked him to do back in August when he was diagnosed. Nope. He would rather let his widow and son be royally screwed than lift a finger.

Of course, the same inability to deal let him let his Mom’s house go into foreclosure when we had 3 years to deal with that and get a renter. “Later. In a minute. Not today. I don’t feel like it.”

Jake and I spent the better part of today dealing with Grandma’s paperwork – the boxes and boxes of it I was not allowed to touch that have cluttered my house for 2 years now. I made a nice bonfire out of it. I don’t even want to admit, that without friends and loved ones donating? I couldn’t have even had him cremated. I don’t get the ashes until I pay that in full.

Yeah, I’m venting, but thats not all I’m feeling, and I understand fully the emotional damage his Mother did to him, as well as the depression and dementia that he started to show these past 5 years or so left him crippled and unable to face obstacles in a way I will never understand. I forgive him, but I still have a really fucking hard row to hoe in front of me.

Who will I read my essays aloud to every morning? Thats what I did for years and years now. He would be driving his truck waiting for me to call, and turn off his radio and wait for my daily writing. It was such a coup if I made him laugh, exclaim over a turn of phrase or say he loved it in general. Its how I found my typos, which I never can find without reading it aloud. Who will pet my hair when I’m worried, my head on their lap, or trace their fingernails up and down my back until I squirm from goosebumps to make me giggle? That was our thing, our rhythms something no one will ever replace. Oh, and when he looked over his glasses at us with the “look,” Jake and I knew we had him. That was his play-angry, or his “are you fucking kidding me, here” look.

There were times too, I had to run interference so much; had to walk on eggshells. The only thing that finally got him on his anti-depressants is when he went after Jake and I kicked him out. Perhaps it is a good thing that he left us before he got worse that way, went the way of his Mom…. that could have put years more damage on my son.

Do you know, the first thing Jake asked me when I gave him the 3-6 month prognosis was whether or not I would remarry? I told him that when he was little they found a bump on the base of my skull they thought was brain cancer, and that I had TOLD his Dad to remarry. That while no one would be Me to him, that the more people that truly love you in your life, the better your life would be… but then I told him it would be a LONG time before I would even consider a date. That I would need to find just-me again. You know what my amazing kid said? “I hope you do Mom, II have to grow up and leave some day, and I never want you to be lonely or bitter. You are too full of love and life to be alone. I want you to be happy.”

Fucking wow, right?

Jake will be fine, he gets that death doesn’t make someone a saint or a sinner, that we are all flawed beings. He gets that life includes loss. He knows when he needs to talk, and talk he does, when to cry, when to laugh, and MOST importantly? Despite the “Man of the House” speech Dad gave him, I told him that while I would rely on him for some things he has already been doing anyway, like taking the garbage up the hill and helping me mow? That its not his job to be the grown up, and that I’ve got this, got him. He is safe. And, if I ever lean on him too heavy, to tell me to back off and let him be a kid. Because I refuse to make him a Momma’s boy, and I refuse to let him take on a roll thrust on him not of his own life and choosing.

We are just OVERWHELMED by the LOVE and help people are offering; the donations and words and calls. People love us, and that makes us able to love even more. Jake was all, “Mom, its incredible how much love you generate in people, and its because you just love them too. Think about it, Mom, you make them feel loved too, that’s why they do all this.”

My kid is amazing.

I must have a grain of amazing too, to have raised a son like that under all these circumstances. I have to believe that, in order to stay strong and keep doing this right, you know? Not give up or panic or hide behind internal walls.

God, I miss my husband so much at times its unfathomable.

But he gave me Jake, and that is the gift of a lifetime dig? My miracle boy, the one they said I couldn’t have.

This is our lives now, and I will make it good again, I will fill it with laughter and light. I will play music again, something Michael lost through the years – it was Neil Young’s “guitar fighting the tv” so I just gave it up too not to irritate him.

Mike was a beautiful part of my life, heck the longest part of my life, and without him I will feel rudderless for a long time.

But I’ve got this. My boy has the tools to “have” this in a way even his father didn’t have it.

We are going to be okay.

********************************************

Mike wanted no funeral. Come Summer Jill & I (w/ Jake & her husband Donny) are taking him to Black Lake to leave his ashes there as he wished.

HOWEVER, while I was forbidden to have a service or funeral home event? There was already a Fundraiser planned to help us with the medical bills and shut offs and foreclosure, yadda yadda…. SO, if that turns into a celebration of his life, and his friends drink and tell G-man stories? He cannot haunt me for that.

I mean, everyone who loves him will be there anyway, so why the fuck not just let them feel like its his memorial, dig?

Of course, whoever heard of a 10 bucks to get in & have a plate of spaghetti memorial? Jeeeez. I know, I know, its crass when I put it that way. Fucking Mike. Only Mike. Heh.

Its next month, and you are all welcome if you wanna come. Those of you who have already donated? I’ll make sure your spaghetti is free.

Photobucket

Mar 15 2011

from firefly-dreaming 15.3.11

(midnight. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Regular Daily Features:

Late Night Karaoke‘s screaming What’s Going On, mishima DJs

Gha!

Six Brilliant Articles! from Six Different Places!! on Six Different Topics!!!

                Six Days a Week!!!    at Six in the Morning!!!!

Essays Featured Tuesday, March 15th:

Tuesday Open Thoughts has puzzled thinking ofThe Ides of March

In this edition of the bi-weekly series Book Nook Xanthe reviews Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

RiaD shares thoughts on manners & cultures

join the conversation! come firefly-dreaming with me….

Mar 15 2011

NCAA Basketball Tournament 2011

Welcome to the start of March Madness.

First a little meta.  This was incredibly difficult to research and format so I’ve had to put some other projects on hold.  Future editions should be easier.  The Team link goes to the Men’s Basketball page, the Record link to their full record page including teams played and scores.  If I’m a little off on the numbers it’s because some of the formats are hard to count and I might have missed an exhibition game here and there.

It’s arranged chronologically.  For a more traditional bracket try CBS Sports.  Each game can be watched in it’s entirety on the network listed, no switching except with your remote.

You might think there are 72 teams in the Tournament, but you would be counting the 4 slots for the Play Ins twice.  Those are all on True, 2 tonight and 2 tomorrow.  It has certainly been confusing to get the game times and networks, CBS has been posting them a scant 36 hours in advance.

Another problem with the Play Ins are the splits.  The East gets 2 and the West gets none?  And what about the seedings?  One of the Play Ins in the East gets a 12 seed and the one in the Southwest an 11!  If you are going to seed these losers that high why the hell didn’t you put them in the bracket to begin with?  This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that there were a lot of ‘automatic bid’ flukes as you can see by examining the records.  Finally Alabama State has a losing record.  Win The Future?

I’ll be rooting for Syracuse and after they fail at the foul line as they always do and did in the Big East Tournament any other Big East team and will have reasonably good prospects of having someone to root for at the end because they have 11 teams in the Tournament.

If you don’t like squeeky shoes you can look for alternate programming here-

Really great table below.

Date Time Network Seed Team Record Seed Team Record Region
3/15 6:30 pm True 16 UNC-Asheville 19 – 13 16 Ark.-Little Rock 19 – 16 Southeast
3/15 9 pm True 12 UAB 23 – 7 12 Clemson 22 – 11 East
3/16 6:30 pm True 16 UT-San Antonio 19 – 13 16 Alabama St. 16 – 17 East
3/16 9 pm True 11 USC 20 – 13 11 Virginia Commonwealth 23 – 11 Southwest
3/17 12:15 pm CBS 5 West Virginia 20 – 11 12 Round 1 #2 East
3/17 12:40 pm True 8 Butler 23 – 9 9 Old Dominion 30 – 6 Southeast
3/17 1:40 pm TBS 4 Louisville 27 – 9 13 Morehead St. 24 – 9 Southwest
3/17 2:10 pm TNT 7 Temple 25 – 7 10 Penn St. 20 – 14 West
3/17 2:45 pm CBS 4 Kentucky 31 – 8 13 Princeton 25 – 6 East
3/17 3:10 pm True 1 Pittsburgh 30 – 5 16 Round 1 #4 Southeast
3/17 4:10 pm TBS 5 Vanderbilt 23 – 10 12 Richmond 27 – 7 Southwest
3/17 4:40 pm TNT 2 San Diego St. 33 – 2 15 No. Colorado 21 – 10 West
3/17 6:50 pm TBS 2 Florida 28 – 7 10 UC Santa Barbara 19 – 13 Southeast
3/17 7:15 pm CBS 3 BYU 32 – 4 14 Wofford 21 – 12 Southeast
3/17 7:20 pm TNT 3 Connecticut 28 – 9 14 Bucknell 25 – 8 West
3/17 7:27 pm True 4 Wisconsin 24 – 8 13 Belmont 30 – 4 Southeast
3/17 9:20 pm TBS 7 UCLA 24 – 10 10 Michigan St. 21 – 14 Southeast
3/17 9:45 pm CBS 6 St. John’s 22 – 11 11 Gonzaga 27 – 7 Southeast
3/17 9:50 pm TNT 6 Cincinnati 27 – 8 11 Missouri 25 – 10 West
3/17 9:57 pm True 5 Kansas St. 24 – 10 12 Utah St. 35 – 3 Southeast
3/18 12:15 pm CBS 4 Texas 28 – 7 13 Oakland 26 – 9 West
3/18 12:40 pm True 8 Michigan 20 – 13 9 Tennessee 20 – 15 West
3/18 1:40 pm TBS 2 Notre Dame 28 – 6 15 Akron 24 – 12 Southwest
3/18 2:10 pm TNT 8 George Mason 28 – 5 9 Villanova 22 – 11 East
3/18 2:45 pm CBS 5 Arizona 28 – 7 12 Memphis 27 – 9 West
3/18 3:10 pm True 1 Duke 32 – 4 16 Hampton 24 – 8 West
3/18 4:10 pm TBS 7 Texas A&M 25 – 8 10 Florida St. 23 – 10 Southwest
3/18 4:40 pm TNT 1 Ohio St. 33 – 2 16 Round 1 #1 East
3/18 6:50 pm TBS 1 Kansas 34 – 2 16 Boston U. 21 – 13 Southwest
3/18 7:15 pm CBS 2 North Carolina 27 – 7 15 Long Island 27 – 5 East
3/18 7:20 pm TNT 3 Purdue 27 – 7 14 St. Peter’s 20 – 13 Southwest
3/18 7:27 pm True 6 Xavier 25 – 8 11 Marquette 21 – 14 East
3/18 9:20 pm TBS 8 UNLV 26 – 8 9 Illinois 21 – 13 Southwest
3/18 9:45 pm CBS 7 Washington 24 – 10 10 Georgia 22 – 11 East
3/18 9:50 pm TNT 6 Georgetown 21 – 10 11 Round 1 #3 Southwest
3/18 9:57 pm True 3 Syracuse 26 – 7 14 Indiana St. 22 – 13 East

Mar 15 2011

Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 54 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Blasts, fire escalate Japan’s nuclear crisis

by Hiroshi Hiyama, AFP

54 mins ago

SENDAI, Japan (AFP) – Explosions and a fire at Japan’s quake-hit nuclear plant unleashed dangerous levels of radiation on Tuesday, sparking a collapse on the stock market and panic buying in supermarkets.

Tokyo stocks, punished Monday in a frantic sell-off that sent indexes around the world sliding, plummeted another 14 percent before paring some losses and ending 10.55 percent down. European and US stocks also fell sharply.

In towns and cities, fearful citizens stripped shelves of food and water, prompting the government to warn that panic buying could hurt its ability to provide aid to areas devastated by Friday’s massive quake and tsunami.

AFP

2 Japan scrambles as reactor container ‘damaged’

by Hiroshi Hiyama, AFP

Mon Mar 14, 7:21 pm ET

SENDAI, Japan (AFP) – The container around an overheating nuclear reactor appears to be damaged, Japan’s government said Tuesday, raising the chance that dangerous radiation could leak from the quake-hit plant.

The announcement came as engineers scrambled to keep the temperature of three reactors under control after they were hit by the tsunami that swept Japan following Friday’s massive earthquake.

Rescue teams searching through the shattered debris of whole villages swept away by the wall of water on Japan’s northeast coast found 2,000 bodies in the region of Miyagi.

3 Fukushima ‘unlikely’ to be new Chernobyl: IAEA

by Simon Morgan, AFP

Mon Mar 14, 7:23 pm ET

VIENNA (AFP) – The crisis at Japan’s earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant is “unlikely” to turn into a new Chernobyl, which was the world’s worst nuclear accident, the UN atomic watchdog said on Monday.

“Let me say that the possibility that the development of this accident into one like Chernobyl is very unlikely,” Yukiya Amano told a news conference at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

The current crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant was caused not by human error or a design fault, as in the case of Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986, but by a “huge natural catastrophe beyond imagination,” Amano said.

4 In tragedy, Japanese impress world

by Shaun Tandon, AFP

Mon Mar 14, 6:17 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Despite the horrific scenes of destruction, Japan may emerge from its quake-tsunami disaster with a stronger international brand-name as the nation’s resilience wins wide praise.

Television stations around the world have broadcast the footage of the seismic waves as they razed homes and carried away cars as if they were toys, stranding dazed survivors on the brutalized landscape.

But coverage has also shown another side — Japanese showing calm as they search for loved ones or wait for basic necessities. There is not a hint of looting or violence, even as residents line up at half-empty stores.

5 Hundreds shot in Bahrain as emergency declared

by Ali Khalil, AFP

53 mins ago

MANAMA (AFP) – At least 200 people were shot and wounded on Tuesday in a Shiite village south of the Bahraini capital, a medic said, and two people killed elsewhere, as the king imposed a state of emergency after bringing in foreign troops to help quell anti-regime protests.

As violence escalated, close ally the United States warned that there was “no military solution” to political upheaval in Bahrain and that any violence against peacefully expressed political demands “should be stopped.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Bahrainis must “take steps now” toward a political resolution of the crisis.

6 Emergency rule in Bahrain as Iran slams Gulf force

by Ali Khalil, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 1:34 pm ET

MANAMA (AFP) – Bahrain’s King Hamad declared a three-month state of emergency on Tuesday as two died in fresh violence and Iran condemned an intervention by Saudi-led Gulf troops to help put down Shiite-led protests.

After the Gulf Arab armed forces entered the country at the king’s invitation, the United States warned that there was “no military solution” to political upheaval there.

Thousands of protesters marched to the Saudi embassy chanting slogans against the king and vowing to defend the country from the “occupation” forces, as unrest in the tiny country became a regional diplomatic crisis.

7 Kadhafi forces outflank rebel town as no-fly zone hopes fade

by Dave Clark, AFP

1 hr 14 mins ago

AJDABIYA, Libya (AFP) – Libyan government forces assaulting the key rebel-held town of Ajdabiya cut the road to the insurgents’ capital of Benghazi Tuesday as hopes of foreign air protection for the revolt faded but were still on the table.

Rebel sources said forces loyal to Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi had outflanked them and cut the road north, amid scenes of chaos in the city.

An AFP reporter saw long lines at filling stations as civilians and some rebels tried to leave eastwards to Tobruk, while others erected barricades in the streets.

8 Kadhafi forces in new attacks, powers hold talks

by Karim Talbi, AFP

Mon Mar 14, 5:58 pm ET

AJDABIYA, Libya (AFP) – Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi launched attacks Monday on a key town which rebels have vowed to defend, as major powers remained split on measures to ground his warplanes.

The UN Security Council wrangled over Arab calls for a Libya no-fly zone, with Russia insisting “fundamental questions” remain.

European and Arab envoys emphasized the need for urgent UN action as Kadhafi’s forces advance. But because of the split between world powers, the Security Council would need several days to agree measures, diplomats said.

9 Libyan forces launch new raid on rebel-held town

by Dave Clark, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 9:07 am ET

AJDABIYA, Libya (AFP) – Rebels defending the key Libyan town of Ajdabiya came under new attack from the forces of strongman Moamer Kadhafi Tuesday with little prospect of foreign air protection soon.

An airstrike killed one fighter and wounded another, witnesses and medics said after explosions and anti-aircraft fire rocked the western edge of Ajdabiya.

Rebel fighters were still reportedly holding out in Brega, 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the west, but Ajdabiya residents said otherwise the last checkpoint was just six kilometres from their town.

10 Fresh violence in Abidjan, four gunned down at roadblock

by Christophe Koffi, AFP

47 mins ago

ABIDJAN (AFP) – Four people were gunned down in a chic suburb of Abidjan Tuesday in a fresh burst of violence in the economic capital of Ivory Coast, the stage of fierce post-election violence in recent days.

The attack comes as the west African cocoa giant is wracked by conflict in the wake of a disputed presidential election on November 28, which the UN says has left some 400 dead in a bloody tug-of-war for the country’s top job.

Strongman Laurent Gbagbo who has ruled for 10 years is refusing to yield power despite being widely recognised as having lost the vote to rival Alassane Ouattara.

11 Gbagbo forces beat back rivals in Abidjan battle

by Christophe Koffi, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 11:33 am ET

ABIDJAN (AFP) – Troops loyal to Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo retained key positions in Abidjan Tuesday after beating back fighters of his presidential rival in a key battle for control of the economic capital.

Pro-Gbagbo forces were in control of a strategic military barracks in the northern suburb of Adjame after the heaviest day of fighting since the disputed November 28 presidential poll plunged the west African country into violence.

Forces backing internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara tried to move south towards central Abidjan from their stronghold in the northern suburbs but met fierce resistance from Gbagbo loyalists, witnesses said.

12 Fed sticks to stimulus amid global crises

by Andrew Beatty, AFP

22 mins ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Federal Reserve policymakers kept ultra-low interest rates and stimulus spending in place Tuesday, amid high but falling unemployment at home and crises in the Middle East and Japan.

The Fed held rates at historic lows and stuck to a $600 billion stimulus plan in an effort to spur growth, as it pondered events in the Arab world that have pushed up oil prices and a developing nuclear crisis in quake-hit Japan.

The Fed kept the crisis stimulus in place despite a “firmer” economic recovery at home — where unemployment eased, consumer spending picked up and businesses grew more optimistic.

13 Ashamed French out to redeem themselves: Palisson

by Simon Valmary, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 1:46 pm ET

MARCOUSSIS, France (AFP) – The French team are determined to set aside the historic defeat by Italy last Saturday and beat Wales in their final Six Nations match at the Stade de France this weekend, wing Alexis Palisson warned Tuesday.

The 23-year-old was not part of the side humiliated first by Italy and then by their coach Marc Lievremont, who accused them of being cowards and betraying their country in the manner they had performed in the 22-21 defeat in Rome.

Palisson – who will win his 14th cap on Saturday after being named in the starting XV as one of five changes to the previous line-up – admitted that he had seen some pretty downhearted players when he joined up with them on Monday.

14 South Africa reach Cricket World Cup quarters

by Dave James, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 12:38 pm ET

NEW DELHI (AFP) – South Africa became the fifth team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday, comprehensively ending Ireland’s hopes and ramping up the survival pressure on illness-hit England.

JP Duminy agonisingly missed a century by just one run as the Proteas recovered from a poor start to make 272 for 7 in Kolkata before Ireland were dismissed for 141 to lose by 131 runs.

“We wanted to qualify. We’ve got one round robin game left against Bangladesh and hopefully three good games in the knockout phase. We’ve done the first part of it now,” said South Africa captain Graeme Smith.

15 Race starts for London 2012 Olympic tickets

by Guy Jackson, AFP

Tue Mar 15, 10:24 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – Tickets for the 2012 London Olympics went on sale Tuesday with organisers promising that the website will not crash under the expected huge demand.

Applicants were urged to approach the start of the ballot for 6.6 million tickets — coinciding with 500 days to go until the Games begin — as a marathon not a sprint, with applications possible for the next six weeks.

Allocation of tickets is not on a first-come-first-served basis, meaning every request made until April 26 stands an equal chance of success.

Reuters

16 Japan braces for potential radiation catastrophe

By Shinichi Saoshiro and Chisa Fujioka, Reuters

35 mins ago

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan raced to avert a catastrophe on Wednesday after an explosion at a quake-crippled nuclear power plant sent radiation wafting into Tokyo, prompting some people to flee the capital and others to stock up on essential supplies.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said two workers at the Daiichi plant in Fukushima were missing after two more blasts at the facility on Tuesday blew a hole in a building housing a reactor and cooling pool for spent fuel rods.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility — a population of 140,000 — to remain indoors, as Japan grappled with the world’s most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

17 Japanese leaders try to calm panicky markets over nuclear crisis

By Leika Kihara and Rie Ishiguro, Reuters

Tue Mar 15, 4:23 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese leaders tried to calm panicky financial markets on Tuesday as a deepening nuclear power crisis looked certain to increase the toll on an economy already convulsing from a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Tokyo’s stock market plunged more than 14 percent at one point after the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant was hit by two explosions and a grim-faced Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned the nation that radioactivity levels had become “significantly” higher.

Even before Tuesday’s dramatic events, economists had estimated that recovery and reconstruction costs would reach at least $180 billion, or 3 percent of the economic output of the world’s third-biggest economy. Others suggested the cost could amount to 5 percent of output.

18 Worries mount, food runs short for Japanese victims

By Yoko Kubota, Reuters

Tue Mar 15, 12:31 pm ET

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (Reuters) – A widening cloud of radiation on Tuesday added to the misery of millions of people in Japan’s devastated northeast, already short of water and food and trying to keep warm in near-freezing temperatures.

As bodies washed up on the coast from Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, injured survivors, children and elderly crammed into makeshift shelters, often without medicine. By Monday, 550,000 people had been evacuated after the cataclysmic events that killed at least 10,000.

Panic swept Tokyo after a rise in radioactive levels around an earthquake-hit nuclear power plant north of the city, causing some to leave the capital and others to stock up on food and supplies.

19 Radiation fears spark panic buying, evacuations in Tokyo

By Terril Yue Jones, Reuters

Tue Mar 15, 4:52 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Panic swept Tokyo on Tuesday after a rise in radioactive levels around an earthquake-hit nuclear power plant north of the city, causing some to leave the capital or stock up on food and supplies.

Embassies advised staff to leave affected areas, tourists cut short vacations and some multinational companies told staff to move from Tokyo out after low levels of radiation were detected in one of the world’s biggest and most densely populated cities.

In one sign of the panic, Don Quixote, a multistory, 24-hour general store in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, was sold out of radios, flashlights, candles, fuel cans and sleeping bags on Tuesday as a Reuters reported visited the shop.

20 BOJ pumps more funds, market intervention unlikely now

By Leika Kihara and Rie Ishiguro, Reuters

Tue Mar 15, 3:31 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan on Tuesday continued to flood the money market with cash while top policymakers sought to contain a sharp sell-off in Tokyo stocks with reminders they kept a close watch over market moves and assurances about the economy’s overall health.

Japanese shares plunged 10.55 percent, the largest fall since October 2008, as more explosions rocked a quake-stricken nuclear plant, triggering a rise in radiation and prompting investors to dump riskier assets across Asia.

The yen rose on Tuesday, sparking market speculation that the authorities might intervene to prevent the currency’s strength from further damaging an economy reeling from a triple blow of Friday’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake, a tsunami and an escalating nuclear crisis.

21 Japan nuclear crisis sparks selling from equities to commodities

By Jungyoun Park and David Chance, Reuters

Tue Mar 15, 3:19 am ET

SEOUL (Reuters) – Shares and other risky assets from the Australian dollar to commodities such as copper and oil slumped on Tuesday while safe-haven assets like U.S. Treasuries rallied as Japan’s nuclear crisis worsened.

Rising radiation levels at an earthquake-hit nuclear plant in northeastern Japan triggered a huge selloff in Japanese shares and panic hoarding of food and other supplies in Tokyo.

At one stage, Nikkei futures were down 16 percent before paring losses to 10 percent, while the benchmark Tokyo stock index ended down almost 11 percent, its biggest one-day percentage loss since October 2008.

22 Hedge funds lead worst 2-day stock rout since ’87

By Chikafumi Hodo and Antoni Slodkowski, Reuters

Tue Mar 15, 3:04 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese stocks plunged 10.6 percent on Tuesday, posting the worst two-day losing streak since 1987, on reports of rising radiation near Tokyo, suggesting any deterioration at a quake-hit nuclear plant could trigger more panic selling led by hedge funds.

The yen tripped on talk of intervention and bond yields rose as investors sold debt to offset losses in the stock market. The scale and speed of the equity selloff, on record volume for a second day running, forced fund managers to sit on the sidelines.

“Even if we wanted to sell today there was very little we could do,” said a fund manager at a Japanese fund, asking not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

23 Special report: Big California quake likely to devastate state

By Peter Henderson, Reuters

Mon Mar 14, 9:47 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California will experience unthinkable damage when the next powerful quake strikes, probably within 30 years, even though the state prides itself on being on the leading edge of earthquake science.

Modern skyscrapers built to the state’s now-rigorous building codes might ride out the big jolt that experts say is all but inevitable, but the surviving buildings will tower over a carpet of rubble from older structures that have collapsed.

Hot desert winds could fan fires that quakes inevitably cause, overwhelming fire departments, even as ancient water pipelines burst, engineers and architects say.

24 Japan quake strains supply chain from chips to ships

By Noel Randewich and Miyoung Kim, Reuters

Mon Mar 14, 8:21 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL (Reuters) – Automakers, shipbuilders and technology companies worldwide scrambled for supplies after the disaster in Japan shut down factories there and disrupted the global manufacturing chain.

Technology companies were particularly hit since Japan accounts for one-fifth of the world’s semiconductor production, including about 40 percent of flash memory chips used in everything from smartphones, tablets to computers.

Multinationals that buy parts from Japan or have plants located there were grappling with power blackouts, factory closures and transportation problems after roads, railways and ports in north east Japan were destroyed by Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

25 Japan nuclear crisis unlike Chernobyl: U.N. atom chief

By Fredrik Dahl and Michael Shields, Reuters

Mon Mar 14, 5:18 pm ET

VIENNA (Reuters) – Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami shook and flooded nuclear power plants but left reactor vessels intact and radiation release was limited, the U.N. atomic watchdog chief said on Monday.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressed confidence Japanese authorities were doing all they could to restore safety at the sites and said a Chernobyl-style disaster was “very unlikely.”

He spoke as Japan scrambled to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear complex after a hydrogen explosion at one reactor and exposure of fuel rods at another, just days after the devastation that killed thousands.

26 Analysis: Japan disaster costs seen at least $180 billion

By Natsuko Waki, Reuters

Mon Mar 14, 4:39 pm ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Quake-hit Japan faces a recovery and reconstruction bill of at least $180 billion, or 3 percent of its annual economic output, or more than 50 percent higher than the total cost of 1995’s earthquake in Kobe.

Even though some extreme projections of the longer-term costs project figures closer to $1 trillion over several years, standard tallies akin to those used after the Kobe quake hover around this level.

The world’s third-largest economy, already saddled with public debt double the size of its $5 trillion output, must rebuild its infrastructure — from roads and rail to power and ports — on a scale not seen since World War Two.

27 Europe split over nuclear safety amid Japan crisis

By Pete Harrison and Marine Hass, Reuters

Mon Mar 14, 4:20 pm ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Austria on Monday called for European nuclear power plants to face stress tests to reassure people worried by the crisis in Japan while Britain and France urged calm.

Nuclear power has been poised for a revival as Europe strives to cut climate-warming carbon emissions and gas imports, but public mistrust still runs high, with the Chernobyl accident in 1986 still strong in many Europeans’ minds.

Public confidence in the industry looked set to fall as Japan scrambled on Monday to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear plant, days after an earthquake and tsunami.

28 Steady Fed sees firmer economy, watchful on oil

By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal, Reuters

28 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday the U.S. recovery is gaining traction and inflation pressure from soaring energy costs should be short-lived, allowing it to maintain its heavy support for the economy.

The U.S. central bank decided unanimously to forge ahead with its $600 billion bond-buying plan despite a considerably more upbeat assessment of the economy and the job market

It made no mention of Japan, which is grappling with the aftermath of the country’s worst earthquake on record — and struggling desperately to avert a nuclear disaster.

29 Fed comments rescue Wall Street from deeper Japan selloff

By Ryan Vlastelica, Reuters

1 hr 30 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks fell 1 percent but ended far from session lows on Tuesday on the Federal Reserve’s more upbeat economic view and growing sentiment that Japan’s nuclear crisis would only temporarily depress shares.

In a second straight day of losses tied to Japan, the S&P 500 fell to within four points of support at 1,257, its 2010 close. The benchmark index fell more than 2 percent in early trading and the Nasdaq briefly turned negative for the year.

Equities nearly halved their losses after the Fed stuck with its ultra-loose monetary policy and said the economy was gaining traction.

30 Gaddafi forces seize key town, G8 stalls on no-fly

By Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

2 hrs 57 mins ago

AJDABIYAH, Libya (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s forces seized a strategic town in eastern Libya on Tuesday, opening the way to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi while world powers failed to agree to push for a no-fly zone.

The small town of Ajdabiyah was all that stood between the relentless eastward advance of Libyan government troops and the second city of Benghazi and lies on a road junction from where Gaddafi’s forces could attempt to encircle the rebel stronghold.

“The town of Ajdabiyah has been cleansed of mercenaries and terrorists linked to the al Qaeda organization,” state television said, referring to the rebels fighting to end Gaddafi’s 41 years of absolute power.

31 France fails to get G8 accord on Libya no-fly zone

By John Irish and Tim Hepher, Reuters

Tue Mar 15, 1:21 pm ET

PARIS (Reuters) – The G8 powers failed on Tuesday to agree on a no-fly zone over Libya, a setback to the chances of swift action to halt Muammar Gaddafi’s advance against rebel forces that leaves the ball with the U.N. Security Council.

In a blow to France’s efforts to use the crisis in Libya to reassert its leadership in international diplomacy, a G8 meeting resisted French pressure to come out in support of a no-fly zone and made no mention of the issue in its final communique.

The Libyan crisis dominated the first meeting of France’s Group of Eight presidency, but Germany and Russia blocked flight restrictions sought also by Britain, leaving the group with a position that contained strong words but little substance.

32 No consensus after U.N. talks on Libya no-fly zone

By Louis Charbonneau, Reuters

Mon Mar 14, 4:29 pm ET

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A divided U.N. Security Council on Monday discussed the idea of authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya, but no consensus emerged among its 15 members and Russia said it had questions about the proposal.

France, which along with Britain has led calls for an enforced ban on military flights across the North African oil-producing state, said it hoped the Arab League decision to ask the council to impose a no-fly zone would persuade reluctant members to support it.

“Now that there is this Arab League statement, we do hope that it’s a game changer for the other members of the council,” French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud said before the closed-door council meeting.

33 Iran objects to foreign troops in Bahrain

By Mitra Amiri, Reuters

2 hrs 28 mins ago

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran warned Saudi Arabia and its ally Washington on Tuesday the deployment of foreign troops in Bahrain to help quell an uprising could pitch the region toward a crisis with “dangerous consequences.”

In an escalating war of words, Bahrain condemned the comments and withdrew its ambassador to Iran for consultations.

About 1,000 Saudi soldiers entered Bahrain on Monday as part of an effort by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to help the island’s Sunni Muslim elite cope with protests by members of the island’s Shi’ite majority.

34 Rajaratnam defense attacks star U.S. trial witness

By Grant McCool and Basil Katz, Reuters

1 hr 15 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A lawyer for accused hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam attacked a star government trial witness on Tuesday, saying he cut a plea deal to avoid criminal charges of money laundering and tax dodging.

“When you got caught you pinned it all on Raj, didn’t you?” Rajaratnam’s main lawyer, John Dowd, tersely asked Anil Kumar in cross-examination at the Manhattan federal court trial.

“No,” Kumar replied. Dowd said: “You did what you could to get out of jail.” “Wrong,” Kumar shot back.

35 House vote will paper over splits on funding

By Richard Cowan, Reuters

Tue Mar 15, 3:37 am ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The House of Representatives is likely to pass yet another in a series of stopgap spending bills on Tuesday to keep the government running, as both Republicans and Democrats try to move on to address longer-term fiscal problems.

“We hope this will be the last time we have to engage in any stopgap measures,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor told reporters on Monday. “We would like to see this resolved.”

Similarly, second-ranking House Democrat Steny Hoyer has warned that the upcoming vote would be the “last time” he would support a stopgap spending bill for this year.

36 Renault says sorry to execs over false spy claims

By Helen Massy-Beresford and Thierry Leveque, Reuters

Mon Mar 14, 4:24 pm ET

PARIS (Reuters) – French carmaker Renault made a public apology to three executives accused of industrial espionage after the Paris prosecutor said the trio had no case to answer.

Bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, alleged to have belonged to the executives and seen as key to the case over Renault’s electric car technology, did not exist, prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin told a news conference on Monday.

The response of authorities in those countries has enabled the prosecutor “to dismiss a certain number of theories, notably that which was put forward in the initial complaint by the company Renault,” Marin said.

AP

37 1st fire at Japan nuclear reactor not extinguished

Associated Press

1 min ago

TOKYO – The operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant says fire broke out again at its No. 4 reactor unit because the initial blaze was not completely extinguished.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. says the new blaze flared early Wednesday in the outer housing of the reactor’s containment vessel. Fire fighters are trying to put out the flames.

On Tuesday, a fire broke out in the reactor’s fuel storage pond – an area where used nuclear fuel is kept cool – causing radioactivity to be released into the atmosphere.

38 Japan disaster another worry for global economy

By ERIKA KINETZ, AP Business Writer

1 min ago

Japan’s earthquake and nuclear crisis have put pressure on the already fragile global economy, squeezed supplies of goods from computer chips to auto parts and raised fears of higher interest rates.

The disaster frightened financial markets in Tokyo and on Wall Street on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei average lost 10 percent, and the Dow Jones industrials fell so quickly after the opening bell that the stock exchange invoked a special rule to reduce volatility.

Yet the damage to the U.S. and world economies is expected to be relatively moderate and short-lived. Oil prices are falling, helping drivers around the world. And the reconstruction expected along Japan’s northeastern coast could even provide a jolt of economic growth.

39 Japan crisis spikes demand for radiation pills

Associated Press

39 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Japan’s nuclear crisis is spiking demand in the U.S. and a few other places for a cheap drug that can protect against one type of radiation damage – even though the risk is only in Japan.

Health agencies in California and western Canada warned Tuesday that there’s no reason for people an ocean away to suddenly stock up on potassium iodide. Some key suppliers say they’re back-ordered and are getting panicked calls from potential customers.

“Tell them, `Stop, don’t do it,'” said Kathryn Higley, director of radiation health physics at Oregon State University.

40 Quake response showcases Japan’s resilient spirit

By JAY ALABASTER and KELLY OLSEN, Associated Press

Tue Mar 15, 3:45 pm ET

TAGAJO, Japan – Close to the epicenter of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, workers at a warehouse hauled out cans of coffee and soda this week to offer to passers-by for free.

“Help yourself! Take what you need!” they yelled as they put box after box on the sidewalk. Their boss Kazuyoshi Chiba said the phone lines are down, so he can’t reach company headquarters, but “I think this is the right thing to do.”

With the same mixture of resilience and resignation that has lifted Japan out of previous disasters, many survivors of last Friday’s calamity are calmly pitching in to help themselves and others, taking life one day at a time. Four days on, there is little of the public anger and frustration that so often bursts forth in other countries.

41 Libya bombards rebels, gets closer to stronghold

By RYAN LUCAS and DIAA HADID, Associated Press

5 mins ago

TOBRUK, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi’s forces overwhelmed rebels in the strategic eastern city of Ajdabiya, hammering them with airstrikes, missiles, tanks and artillery Tuesday in an assault that sent residents fleeing and appeared to open the way for an all-out government offensive on the opposition’s main stronghold in the east, Benghazi.

In desperation, rebels sent up two antiquated warplanes that struck a government ship bombarding Ajdabiya from the Mediterranean. But as tanks rolled into the city from two directions and rockets relentlessly pounded houses and shops, the ragtag opposition fighters’ defenses appeared to break down.

Only 10 days ago, the rebellion was poised to march on Tripoli, the capital, and had appeared capable of sweeping Gadhafi out after 41 years in power, but the regime’s better armed and organized military has reversed the tide. Efforts led by France and Britain to create a no-fly zone to protect the rebels have gone nowhere, and some rebels lashed out at the West for failing to come to their aid.

42 Bahrain king clamps down; 3 dead as unrest spreads

By BARBARA SURK and REEM KHALIFA, Associated Press

2 hrs 27 mins ago

MANAMA, Bahrain – Bahrain’s king declared a three-month state of emergency Tuesday to quell a Shiite uprising, as clashes spread through the capital and surrounding villages in a showdown that drew in the region’s major powers and splintered along its main sectarian faultlines. At least two Bahrainis and a Saudi soldier died, and hundreds of protesters were injured by shotgun blasts and clubs.

A force of more than 1,000 Saudi-led troops expanded to defend the Sunni monarchy; Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah denounced the presence of foreign soldiers; and Washington feared for its main naval base in the Gulf. Any compromise appeared distant at best, with the latest order from Bahrain’s king and protesters’ demands for the royal family to be toppled altogether.

Doctors were overwhelmed by onslaught of patients at Manama’s Salmaniya hospital, rushing the wounded into a packed emergency room, forcing many to wait in the halls. Nurses held back tears when attending to injured young men, and doctors could barely contain their anger.

43 Bahrain strife adds to US worries in Mideast

Associated Press

35 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Alarmed by the threat of Sunni-Shiite sectarian strife as unrest spreads in the Mideast, the Obama administration on Tuesday urged Saudi Arabia not to hold back political reform in neighboring Bahrain, a longtime U.S. friend that is also caught between old loyalties to both majority-Sunni Saudi Arabia and majority-Shiite Iran.

Washington urged the ruling family in Bahrain, home to the Navy’s 5th Fleet, to talk to protesters about political reform as reports came in of hundreds of Bahraini demonstrators injured by shotgun blasts and clubs. A Saudi soldier from a large contingent of Gulf troops imported to Bahrain was shot to death by a protester.

Urging restraint, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed alarm over “provocative acts and sectarian violence,” and said she telephoned Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud to stress the need for the foreign forces to promote dialogue.

44 House votes 3-week stopgap federal spending bill

Associated Press

46 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The House Tuesday passed a measure blending $6 billion in budget cuts with enough money to keep the government running for an additional three weeks.

The measure would buy additional time for talks between Capitol Hill Republicans and the Obama administration on a bill to fund the day-to-day operations of the government through the end of September. Those negotiations haven’t gotten very far yet and House GOP leaders haven’t shown much flexibility.

The measure passed by a 271-158 vote despite opposition from some tea party-backed conservatives who said it “kicks the can down the road” instead of imposing steep and immediate spending cuts. The $6 billion cut by the measure includes many items that the Obama administration and Democrats agree can be axed. Fifty-four Republicans opposed the bill, which meant that Democratic support was required to pass it – a prospect that GOP leaders must avoid to keep control of the debate in future rounds.

45 Gingrich sends $150K to Iowa through aide’s group

Associated Press

47 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Potential presidential candidate Newt Gingrich quietly lined up $150,000 to help defeat Iowa justices who threw out a ban on same-sex marriage, routing the money to conservative groups through an aide’s political committee.

Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker who has aggressively courted the conservatives who dominate Iowa’s lead-off presidential caucuses, raised the money for the political arm of Restoring American Leadership, also known as ReAL.

That group then passed $125,000 to American Family Association Action and an additional $25,000 to the Iowa Christian Alliance – two of the groups that spent millions before last November’s elections that removed three of the state’s seven state Supreme Court justices. The court had unanimously decided a state law restricting marriage to a man and a woman violated Iowa’s constitution.

46 Prosecutors: Berlusconi had sex with teen 13 times

By COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press

2 hrs 34 mins ago

MILAN – Premier Silvio Berlusconi paid for sex with an under-age Moroccan teen 13 times at his villa near Milan, prosecutors said in a document filed Tuesday seeking indictments against three aides for allegedly soliciting prostitutes for the Italian leader.

The seven-page document, obtained by The Associated Press, alleges that the sex-fueled parties started with dinner, progressed to erotic dancing involving the premier and culminated with Berlusconi’s choice of a sex partner, or partners.

Prosecutors have formally closed the investigation and are seeking indictments against the three aides, whom they accuse of identifying possible sex partners for Berlusconi and informing them of payment and other compensation “that they would have received for their sexual availability.”

47 How the NCAA tournament favorites stack up

By JOHN MARSHALL, AP Basketball Writer

2 hrs 9 mins ago

Every year when the NCAA tournament bracket comes out, there’s a team, maybe a couple that stand out as the ones to beat. Last year, to a certain extent, it was Duke. Kansas, with those five future pros, was the bracket behemoth in 2008 and Florida was the no-brainer the year before.

This year, there doesn’t seem to be that one team that’ll be at the top of everyone’s bracket. It’s probably closer to a dozen. Heck, there are five or six teams just in the Big East that could be considered legitimate title contenders.

Certainly, going with one of the top four seeds is a pretty safe route, but each one in this year’s field of 68 has enough flaws that it’s going to be difficult to feel certain about the final pick at the middle of the bracket.

48 FACT CHECK: Are 82 percent of schools ‘failing’?

By The Associated Press

53 mins ago

President Barack Obama declared this week that four of five public schools could be labeled as “failing” this year under the No Child Left Behind Act if Congress does not take action to rewrite the law.

“That’s an astonishing number,” he said Monday at a Virginia middle school. “We know that four out of five schools in this country aren’t failing.”

Obama’s terminology wasn’t quite right, though. There is no “failing” label in the No Child Left Behind Act. And schools that do not meet growth targets – aimed at getting 100 percent of students proficient in math, reading and science by 2014 – for one year are not subject to any intervention.

49 Ohio governor’s budget plan includes union limits

Associated Press

Tue Mar 15, 3:43 pm ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In another move that would limit the influence of organized labor in the state, Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday proposed exempting universities from a requirement that they pay union-level wages on construction projects.

The plan is part of the governor’s two-year budget proposal that seeks to plug an $8 billion shortfall while retaining an $800 million, two-year income tax cut that went into effect in January and adding an additional $34 million in tax incentives designed to create jobs.

The budget announcement came as Kasich has voiced his support for a much contested bill that would restrict the collective bargaining rights of state employees. Hearings on the bill, which has passed the Senate and is now before the House, have drawn thousands of protesters to the Statehouse in recent weeks.

50 Petraeus: Afghan war gains enable US troop cuts

Associated Press

16 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Amid signs of deepening war weariness among Americans, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Tuesday he will soon recommend a plan for beginning troop reductions, while embracing President Barack Obama’s goal of pursuing a long-term military partnership with the Afghan government.

In a four-hour Senate hearing that was his first since taking command in Kabul last summer, Army Gen. David Petraeus said the tide is turning in the war despite persistent questions about the durability of the Afghan government led by Hamid Karzai and the commitment of neighboring Pakistan to keep militants at bay.

Several Republicans said they worry that the Obama administration is sending mixed signals about when the U.S. will leave Afghanistan. Several cited a new Washington Post-ABC poll that said nearly two-thirds of Americans consider the war no longer worth fighting.

51 Japan feeds more money to banks as stocks slump

By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press

Tue Mar 15, 7:42 am ET

TOKYO – Japan’s central bank pumped billions more into the financial system Tuesday to quell fears that the country’s banks could be overwhelmed by the impact of the massive earthquake and tsunami. Stocks slumped for a second day as a nuclear crisis escalated.

Two cash injections totaling 8 trillion yen ($98 billion) came a day after the Bank of Japan fed a record 15 trillion yen ($184 billion) into money markets and eased monetary policy to support the economy in the aftermath of Friday’s 9.0 magnitude quake that has killed thousands.

The injections have helped stabilize currency markets. But stock markets dived for a second day as investors unloaded assets amid escalating worries of a nuclear crisis.

52 Obama’s team seeks new ways to fire up his base

By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press

Tue Mar 15, 6:33 am ET

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama rode a wave of voter passion in 2008 fed largely by intense dislike of President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, plus excitement among young and minority voters at the notion of electing the nation’s first black president.

Now, as Obama cranks up his re-election campaign, all those factors are absent.

The president has many tools, of course, for inspiring and exciting potential voters. But he faces a different landscape, one in which key supporters are disappointed by concessions he has made to Republicans, and discouraged by huge Democratic losses last fall.

53 New consumer agency under fire from GOP, banks

Associated Press

44 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Four months before formally opening its doors, the new federal watchdog for policing mortgages, credit cards and other financial products is under attack from Republicans and banks.

Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor who championed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and is now in charge of setting it up, faces the hostile fire directly on Wednesday. Republicans running the House Financial Services Committee will press her to answer their concerns – shared by banks and other business interests – that the agency and its director will have unfettered power over financial products used by millions of people and might abuse it.

“You have no guarantee what kind of hobby horses that person may ride, how out of control they might be,” said Wayne Abernathy, an executive vice president of the American Bankers Association.

54 UCLA police eye threats over anti-Asian video

Associated Press

26 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – She prefaced her YouTube video by saying, “I’m not the most politically correct person.”

UCLA student Alexandra Wallace quickly proved that, launching into a three-minute tirade that ridiculed Asian students for talking loudly in the library, packing her neighborhood with annoying relatives, and repeatedly calling home to Japan in a funny sounding foreign language to check on loved ones after the deadly tsunami.

The junior political science major says now she doesn’t know why she did it. But figuring that out would seem to be the least of her worries.

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