About Smithfield Farms??? Not Quite!!!!

Smithfield Farms continues the tradition in the historic town of Smithfield, Virginia: The famous Smithfield cure and aging process hasn't changed since early Colonial days. Distinctive Smithfield Hams were among the New World's first exports, gracing the tables of European royalty and nobility.
Early settlers learned how to cut choice hams from the razorback hogs that abounded and to cure them to perfection. The method is so precise that it is protected by law: "Only a ham cured within the Smithfield town limits can bear that prestigious name." The lean, long-cut Genuine Smithfield Hams are salt cured, pepper coated and hickory smoked, then hung to age for six months or longer.
The Genuine Smithfield Ham must be sliced paper thin in order for one to fully appreciate the quality and flavor for which it is so famous.
The short-cut Country hams are cured by the same method. However, a shorter aging process, three to four months, produces a milder flavor.
Our Spiral Sliced Honey Glazed Ham is not a country ham but rather a fine trimmed slow cooked (30 hrs.) ham. We spiral slice this ham so serving is easy.
Whichever you choose, the Genuine Smithfield Ham, the Smithfield Farms Country Ham or the Spiral Sliced Honey Glazed Ham, we hope you will make it a continuing tradition.
Our products, available year 'round, make excellent gifts for any occasion.
SMITHFIELD FARMS is EXCLUSIVELY a CATALOG Company, please direct all grocery store purchase concerns to SMITHFIELD FOODS at 1-800-444-5226, Thank you.
"Life is short. Break the rules. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that made you smile."

Here is the Truth About Swine Flu!!!! Just Click the Link Below

Please make sure you are not on a full tummy. It might be empty after you read this...

http://www.truthout.org/043009S

Are You Serious?????

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has removed a children's coloring book from its web site following criticism over its inclusion of drawings of the September 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The coloring book, titled "A Scary Thing Happened," is geared towards helping kids "cope with disasters," and was prepared by a Minnesota crisis response team. Until yesterday, the coloring book could be downloaded from the FEMA web site. As seen below, the coloring book's cover montage includes a drawing of one of the Twin Towers on fire as a plane approaches the second building. A similar image, which children could color in, appears on page 12 of the book.

We can't believe they even thought this was a good idea in the first place. That is definitely not the way you help youngsters "cope with disaters"!!!!

GM Closing at Least 1,000 Dealerships!!!

General Motors Corp. told its dealers Tuesday that it will force 1,000 to 1,200 underperforming locations to close their doors as the automaker tries to thin dealer ranks to make the remaining outlets more profitable.
GM told the dealers about the plan in a video conference, according to a dealer who spoke on condition of anonymity because the video conference was private. It is part of the company's plan announced Monday to cut more than 2,600 dealers by 2010.
The company expects to lose 500 Hummer and Saturn dealers when those brands close or are sold, and it expects 400 dealers to close voluntarily. Another 500 would be consolidated into other dealerships, according to the dealer.

WOW!!!!

Glow in the Dark Beagles...A Possible Lead to Cures for Human Diseases???

South Korean scientists say they have engineered four beagles that glow red using cloning techniques that could help develop cures for human diseases. The four dogs, all named "Ruppy" _ a combination of the words "ruby" and "puppy" _ look like typical beagles by daylight.
But they glow red under ultraviolet light, and the dogs' nails and abdomens, which have thin skins, look red even to the naked eye.
Seoul National University professor Lee Byeong-chun, head of the research team, called them the world's first transgenic dogs carrying fluorescent genes, an achievement that goes beyond just the glowing novelty.
"What's significant in this work is not the dogs expressing red colors but that we planted genes into them," Lee told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
His team identified the dogs as clones of a cell donor through DNA tests and earlier this month introduced the achievement in a paper on the Web site of the journal "Genesis."
Scientists in the U.S., Japan and in Europe previously have cloned fluorescent mice and pigs, but this would be the first time dogs with modified genes have been cloned successfully, Lee said.
He said his team took skin cells from a beagle, inserted fluorescent genes into them and put them into eggs before implanted them into the womb of a surrogate mother, a local mixed breed.
Six female beagles were born in December 2007 through a cloning with a gene that produces a red fluorescent protein that make them glow, he said. Two died, but the four others survived.
The glowing dogs show that it is possible to successfully insert genes with a specific trait, which could lead to implanting other, non-fluorescent genes that could help treat specific diseases, Lee said.
The scientist said his team has started to implant human disease-related genes in the course of dog cloning, saying that will help them find new treatments for genetic diseases such as Parkinson's. He refused to provide further details, saying the research was still under way.

Typical Republican BullSh*t!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Responsible members of the Republican party need to speak out IMMEDIATELY against the conservative commentators in their own ranks using swine flu as an excuse to spew out racist hatred.
Radio, TV and newspaper personalities have jumped on the illness as a platform to attack "illegal aliens" for being responsible for carrying the disease across the Mexican border and infecting innocent Americans.
Despite the fact that there is no evidence to support such claims, talk radio hosts Michael Savage and Neal Boortz, radio and Fox TV personality Glenn Beck, and columnist Michelle Malkin are spreading them faster than the contagion.
"Illegal aliens are bringing in a deadly new flue strain. Make no mistake about it," blares Michael Savage.
"I've blogged for years about the spread of contagious diseases from around the world into the US as a result of uncontrolled immigration," writes Michelle Malkin.
"What happens if there's a rash of deaths in Mexico... and if you're a family in Mexico and people are dying and Americans are not, why wouldn't you flood this border?" announces Glenn Beck.
These loud mouths are also trying to convince their audiences that Islamic terrorists have somehow been able to do what has eluded scientists elsewhere in the world — concoct a deadly new flu virus — and then introduce it into the Mexican population.
"What better way to sneak a virus into this country than to give it to Mexicans....then spread a rumor there there are construction jobs here, and there they come," blathers Boortz.
Savage — "make no mistake about it" — believes that radical Islamic countries planted the virus in Mexico knowing that humans make the "perfect mules for bringing the strain into America."
OK, you ignoramuses: what you're saying is idiotic and racist on so many levels, it has to be called out.

Naomi Klein Writes Another Brilliant and Very True Piece!!! Naomi, We Seceond Your Vote!!!

By Naomi Klein for the Washington Post
I vote to banish Larry Summers. Not from the planet. That wouldn't be nice. Just from public life.
The criticisms of President Obama's chief economic adviser are well known. He's too close to Wall Street. And he's a frightful bully, of both people and countries. Still, we're told we shouldn't care about such minor infractions. Why? Because Summers is brilliant, and the world needs his big brain.
And this brings us to a central and often overlooked cause of the global financial crisis: Brain Bubbles. This is the process wherein the intelligence of an inarguably intelligent person is inflated and valued beyond all reason, creating a dangerous accumulation of unhedged risk. Larry Summers is the biggest Brain Bubble we've got.
Brain Bubbles start with an innocuous "whiz kid" moniker in undergrad, which later escalates to "wunderkind." Next comes the requisite foray as an economic adviser to a small crisis-wracked country, where the kid is declared a "savior." By 30, our Bubble Boy is tenured and officially a "genius." By 40, he's a "guru," by 50 an "oracle." After a few drinks: "messiah."
The superhuman powers bestowed upon these men -- and yes, they are all men -- shield them from the scrutiny that might have prevented the current crisis. Alan Greenspan's Brain Bubble allowed him to put the economy at great risk: When he made no sense, people assumed that it was their own fault. Brain Bubbles also formed the key argument Greenspan and Summers used to explain why lawmakers couldn't regulate the derivatives market: The wizards on Wall Street were too brilliant, their models too complex, for mere mortals to understand.
Back in 1991, Summers argued that the subject of economics was no longer up for debate: The answers had all been found by men like him. "The laws of economics are like the laws of engineering," he said. "One set of laws works everywhere." Summers subsequently laid out those laws as the three "-ations": privatization, stabilization and liberalization. Some "kinds of ideas," he explained a few years later in a PBS interview, have already become too "passé" for discussion. Like "the idea that a huge spending program is the way to stimulate the economy."
And that's the problem with Larry. For all his appeals to absolute truths, he has been spectacularly wrong again and again. He was wrong about not regulating derivatives. Wrong when he helped kill Depression-era banking laws, turning banks into too-big-to-fail welfare monsters. And as he helps devise ever more complex tricks and spends ever more taxpayer dollars to keep the financial casino running, he remains wrong today.
Word is that Summers's current post may be a pit stop on the way to the big prize, Federal Reserve chairman. That means he could actually make "maestro."
Mr. President, please: Pop this bubble before it's too late.

What Are We Really Drinking????

By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard for the Associated Press
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water _ contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them _ as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The data don't show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, the figure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking.
To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what's being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.
But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy about whether drugmakers are contributing to water pollution.

One Freak Talks to Another!!!! These Guys are Completely NUTS!!!

Injured War Zone Contractors Fight to Get Care From AIG and Other Insurers

Civilian workers who suffered devastating injuries while supporting the U.S. war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan have come home to a grinding battle for basic medical care, artificial limbs, psychological counseling and other services.
The insurance companies responsible for their treatment under taxpayer-funded policies have routinely denied the most serious medical claims. Those insurers -- primarily American International Group (AIG) -- recorded hundreds of millions of dollars in profits on this business.
The civilian contractors have played an indispensable role in the two conflicts, delivering fuel to frontline troops, guarding U.S. diplomats and translating for soldiers during dangerous raids. More than 1,400 civilian workers have died and 31,000 have been wounded or injured in the two war zones.
Yet unlike wounded soldiers, who are offered health care, rehabilitation and support services by the military, the civilians have to battle a federally supervised insurance system marked by high costs and excessive delays, an investigation by the Los Angeles Times [1], ABC News [2] and ProPublica [3] has found.
In contrast to the public outcry over squalid conditions at some military hospitals, the contractors' plight has drawn little attention.

These Anti-Tax Tea Parties are Ridiculous!!!

By Sam Stein for the Huffington Post
Pressed repeatedly to respond to the Tea Party demonstrations taking place right outside the White House gates, spokesman Robert Gibbs largely stuck to the numbers. The president, he stressed, had just recently passed a "tax cut that covers the most people in the history of this country."
"The president promised significant tax relief for working families of this country, and in the first month of the administration delivered that to the American people," Gibbs said.
He was referring to the making work pay tax credit, which will provide working individuals with a refundable tax credit of up to $400 and $800 for married couples filing joint returns.
But what about raising taxes on cigarettes to pay for health care coverage, one reporter asked. "People make the decision to smoke," Gibbs responded. "People get on airlines and pay taxes to land a plane at O'Hare or in Washington. Those people also got a tax cut. I don't know how much they smoke; I guess that depends on the individual consumption or nicotine habit with those involved in tea parties around the country. Maybe on a rainy day such as today one would light up a few more times in hopes of surviving the drizzle."
The line of questioning wasn't quite exhausted. Where these demonstrations, in the administration's viewpoint, contrived?
"You can speak to the organizers on whether they are contrived," said Gibbs. "I think the statistics I read are pretty clear. If you are one of the 95 percent of working families that earn, I think, less than $200,000 a year, you receive a tax cut. That's not contrived. Those are the facts... Maybe [the protesters] fall outside the window of making a quarter of a million dollars a year."
Later, a rain-soaked reporter -- apparently coming back from covering the demonstrators sans umbrella -- told Gibbs that the majority of people outside made less than 200k and still viewed the government's tax policies as inherently unfair.
"I don't think anybody doubts that there is a frustration over where we are economically in this country," Gibbs conceded. "The president didn't come to office seeking to help banks survive or insurance companies that have hedge funds attached on top of them dissolve to the point of systemic risk to the entire economy."

This is Terribly Disturbing!!!!

By Jason Szep for Reuters
One 4-month-old baby was shaken so violently she needed surgery. Another 3-week-old suffered fractured ribs from abuse at home. A 9-year-old diabetic boy stopped receiving proper treatment for his condition.
Those cases reported by Boston hospitals are part of a spike in child abuse in United States during a recession that has driven some families to the brink and overwhelmed cash-strapped child-protection agencies.
"In the last three months we have twice as many severe inflicted injury cases as we did in the three months the previous year," said Allison Scobie, program director of the Child Protection Team at Boston's Children's Hospital.
Typically, her hospital handles about 1,500 such cases a year. That rose to 1,800 last year.
"We're finding that it is directly attributable to what is happening economically," she said. "Many of the hospitals around here report an increase of 20 to 30 percent of requests for consultation regarding suspected child maltreatment."
Many cases bear the imprint of economic troubles, like a 9-year-old diabetic boy hospitalized after his mother, a single parent, could no longer afford insurance co-payments needed to treat his disease. She left him home alone for long stretches on days when he required medical attention.
"She had difficulty with the bare bone things that would keep this child healthy," said Scobie.
Similar stories have surfaced in other regions, according to anecdotal and official reports. The Illinois department of child and family services, for example, reported a 5.8 percent rise in child abuse cases in the state in 2008. In the Chicago area, child abuse cases rose more than 9 percent last year.

US Loses Up to $100 Billion a Year to Offshore Tax Havens!!!

A Senate report estimated in 2008 that the United States loses up to $100 billion a year in tax revenue to offshore tax havens In a report released Wednesday, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group offers a state-by-state breakdown of the cost to taxpayers of tax revenue lost to "shell companies and sham headquarters" in places like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
The practice soaks dutiful taxpayers in every state for hundreds of millions of dollars, according to U.S. PIRG. The citizens of New York and Texas shoulder over $8 billion a year, and the good people of California are on the hook for an extra $11 billion.
Check out the link below to see exactly how much of the burden is shifted to taxpayers by state!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thenewswire/archive/taxes.html

Dolphins Block Potential Pirate Attack!!!

Thousands of dolphins blocked the suspected Somali pirate ships when they were trying to attack Chinese merchant ships passing the Gulf of Aden, the China Radio International reported on Monday.
The Chinese merchant ships escorted by a China's fleet sailed on the Gulf of Aden when they met some suspected pirate ships. Thousands of dolphins suddenly leaped out of water between pirates and merchants when the pirate ships headed for the China's.
The suspected pirates ships stopped and then turned away. The pirates could only lament their littleness befor the vast number of dolphins. The spectacular scene continued for a while.

Wildlife Slowly Deteriorating in Rocky Mountains

By R. Scott Rappold for the Gazette
The Rocky Mountains were once home to some of America's most diverse wildlife, but human population growth could be squeezing many species out of existence.
That's one of the key findings of the 2009 State of the Rockies Report Card, an annual report published by Colorado College students and researchers on the social, economic and environmental health of the Rocky Mountain region. The report will be the subject of a three-day public symposium starting Sunday.
"We think of wildlife as pretty abundant in the Rockies," said Liz Kolbe, program coordinator for the State of the Rockies. "But as people have spread west, (wildlife species) have been extirpated from most of their habitat, so we're pretty lucky to still have them where we do."
This year's report focused on wildlife and rivers, as well as demographic changes affecting the eight Rocky Mountain states - Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.
In the past 150 years, elk have lost 74 percent of their range, and cougars have lost 36 percent. At the same time, coyote range has increased 40 percent. Animal-vehicle collisions increased 50 percent from 1990 to 2004.
The authors point to growing cities, more roads and increased energy production in the Rocky Mountain states. Only 6.8 percent of residents hunt, down from a high of 17.7 percent 36 years ago.

An Ice Bridge Linking a Shelf of Ice the Size of Jamaica to Two Islands in Antarctica has Snapped!!!

Better Reserve Yours Now!!!! TESLA is the Future!!!!

The Tesla Model S Electric car is set to be released in 2011. 100% electric, 0 to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, 300 mile range, seats at least five, charging time is 4 hours with 200-volt power outlet, $49,900 after $7,500 tax credit. They have taken 520 reservations in one week alone!!!!

Scientists Find Rocket Fuel Chemical in Infant Formula!!!

By Mike Stobbe for the Associated Press
Traces of a chemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of powdered baby formula, and could exceed what's considered a safe dose for adults if mixed with water also contaminated with the ingredient, a government study has found.
The study by scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked for the chemical, perchlorate, in different brands of powdered baby formula. It was published last month, but the Environmental Working Group issued a press release Thursday drawing attention to it.
The chemical has turned up in several cities' drinking water supplies. It can occur naturally, but most perchlorate contamination has been tied to defense and aerospace sites.
No tests have ever shown the chemical caused health problems, but scientists have said significant amounts of perchlorate can affect thyroid function. The thyroid helps set the body's metabolism. Thyroid problems can impact fetal and infant brain development.
However, the extent of the risk is hard to assess. The government requires that formula contain iodine, which counteracts perchlorate's effects. The size of the infant and how much formula they consume are other factors that can influence risk.
The study itself sheds little light on how dangerous the perchlorate in baby formula is. "This wasn't a study of health effects," said Dr. Joshua Schier, one of the authors.
The largest amounts of the chemical were in formulas derived from cow's milk, the study said.

New Trailer for BRUNO!!! Looks Hilarious!!!

National Unemployment Rate Increases to 8.5%, 662,000 Jobs Lost in March!!!

By Jeannine Aversa for the Associated Press
The nation's unemployment rate jumped to 8.5 percent in March, the highest since late 1983, as a wide swath of employers eliminated 663,000 jobs. It's fresh evidence of the toll the recession has inflicted on America's workers, and economists say there's no relief in sight.
If part-time and discouraged workers are factored in, the unemployment rate would have been 15.6 percent in March, the highest on records dating to 1994, according to Labor Department data released Friday.
The average work week in March dropped to 33.2 hours, a new record low. Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost a net total of 5.1 million jobs, with almost two-thirds of the losses occurring in the last five months.

House and Senate Pass New Budget Plan... No GOP Support!!! Just More Ridiculous Opposition!!!

By David Espo and Andrew Taylor for the Associated Press
Acting in quick succession, the House and Senate approved budgets Thursday night drawn to President Barack Obama's specifications and pointing the way toward major legislation later this year on health care, energy and education.
"It's going to take a lot of work to clean up the mess we inherited, and passing this budget is a critical step in the right direction," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "Staying true to these priorities will help turn around the economy for the many Americans who are underwater right now."
Republicans in both houses accused Democrats of drafting plans that would hurt the recession-ravaged economy in the long run, rather than help it, and saddle future generations with too much debt.
"The administration's budget simply taxes too much, spends too much and borrows too much at a moment when we can least afford it," said the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
But a Republican alternative fared poorly in the House, where 38 GOP lawmakers voted against a plan supported by their own leadership. Officials ascribed much of the opposition to a provision that called for eliminating traditional fee-for-service Medicare for individuals who reach age 65 in 2020 or later and replacing it with coverage from private insurance companies.
On a long day and night, the House was first to vote, and approved its version of the budget on a 233-196 roll call that fell largely along party lines. It calls for spending of $3.6 trillion for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, and includes a deficit of $1.2 trillion.

Mr. Dorgan Knew!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Rachel, Rachel, Rachel!!!! You are the Best!!! You Nail it Every Time!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Nate Silver Nails it!!! The Real Republican Road to Recovery!!!

By Nate Silver of www.fivethirtyeight.com
The Republican "Road to Recovery" budget alternative, rolled out today by John Boehner, has been criticized by left and right for its lack of specificity and its promise to eliminate the national debt while significantly cutting taxes. FiveThirtyEight.com, however, has received an advance copy of additional details prepared by the Minority Leader's office. Although some elements of the proposal are still under discussion -- Eric Cantor is said to want to eliminate North Dakota rather than Idaho, while Thaddeus McCotter has suggested using the balance of TARP funds to purchase scratch-off tickets -- the final plan can be expected to contain most or all of these components.

The Republican Road to Recovery??? That is Hilarious!!!

For quite some time now, we have witnessed the severely damaged Republican party operating as nothing more than a group of close minded obstructionists. President Obama's new proposed budget is definitely not sitting well with the blue dog Democrats or the conservative right. The GOP is supposedly going to come forth with its proposed budget plan next week. Let me guess: more tax cuts for the wealthy and more cuts to social programs.
Many thought that they were going to reveal the plan today but all we got instead was a rather short and hollow pamphlet filled with nonsense, some of which stated a proposed tax cut of 10% more for the wealthy. The handful of GOP party leaders held a short press briefing that was nothing more than them playing musical chairs in front of a podium without presenting any detailed (numerical) information. It was just another instance of the Republican party spouting out criticism of the left without offering any type of substantive solution.
To the GOP, if you are going to criticize the left then at least have your plans ready to back up your mouths. Otherwise, SHUT UP!!! It is real simple!!! By the way, the "Republican Road to Recovery" is an absolute joke. In fact, it is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. More tax cuts for the wealthy??? Did you forget that we voted for change last November??? Simply put, your policies and current party ideology are toxic to the future of this country!!! If you want your party to recover then you better explore a new and much less conservative platform to stand on in the future.
Please type in "Republican Road to Recovery" in your browser to find the PDF of this ridiculous literature online. It will give you a good laugh!!!

Senator Sanders Breaks it Down Again!!!

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) once agains tells us the truth as to what exactly is happening with the Obama budget battle and why it is a battle in the first place. Washington truly is Tinseltown!!!

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Jobless Claims Keep on Rising!!!

By Jeannine Aversa and Christopher S. Rugaber for the Associated Press
For a 10th straight week, the number of people who are continuing to claim jobless benefits increased, fresh evidence that the labor market remains weak despite other hopeful signs that the recession may be nearing a bottom.
New claims for unemployment benefits last week rose to a seasonally adjusted 652,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 644,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The total number of people claiming benefits jumped to 5.56 million, worse than economists' projections of 5.48 million, a ninth straight record and the highest total on records dating back to 1967.
The dismal job news is one indicator of the overall economic pain Americans have endured early in the new year. The Commerce Department said Thursday that the economy shrank at a 6.3 percent annual pace at the end of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, and a bit faster than the 6.2 percent drop estimated a month ago.
Some economists project the economy is contracting in the current quarter at a 5 to 6 percent pace, still very weak by historical standards, but slightly better than the end of last year.

Shantytowns in Certain US Areas Surge!!!

By Jesse McKinley for the New York Times
As the operations manager of a outreach center for the homeless here, Paul Stack is used to seeing people down on their luck. What he had never seen before was people living in tents and lean-tos on the railroad lot across from the center.
“They just popped up about 18 months ago,” Mr. Stack said. “One day it was empty. The next day, there were people living there.”
Like a dozen or so other cities across the nation, Fresno is dealing with an unhappy déjà vu: the arrival of modern-day Hoovervilles, illegal encampments of homeless people that are reminiscent, on a far smaller scale, of Depression-era shantytowns. At his news conference on Tuesday night, President Obama was asked directly about the tent cities and responded by saying that it was “not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours.”
While encampments and street living have always been a part of the landscape in big cities like Los Angeles and New York, these new tent cities have taken root — or grown from smaller enclaves of the homeless as more people lose jobs and housing — in such disparate places as Nashville, Olympia, Wash., and St. Petersburg, Fla.

US House Passes Huge Wilderness Bill!!!

By Matt Canham for The Salt Lake Tribune
The House signed off Wednesday on legislation that protects more than a quarter-million acres of Utah's redrock country, allows St. George more land to expand and tamps down an often-contentious battle between developers and environmentalists.
The Washington County lands bill was just one of about 170 conservation proposals rolled into a huge package that gained final congressional approval on a vote of 285 to 140. Utah's Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson voted for the measure and GOP Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz opposed it. The legislation now goes to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it.
The package designates more than 2 million acres in nine states as wilderness, the largest expansion of wilderness protection in 25 years. It included a number of Utah-specific proposals, but none with more impact than the Washington County bill crafted by Matheson and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.
"This is a great win for Utah," Matheson said. "It shows that if everyone sticks with it and comes to the table with good ideas you can reach consensus."
The bill, which is five years in the making, allows the Interior Department to sell between 5,000 and 9,000 acres of non-sensitive land for development around the St. George area, while designating 256,000 acres as wilderness, making it off limits to future oil exploration, roads or buildings.

BRING THEM HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

As of Tuesday, March 24, 2009, at least 4,260 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action. At least 3,425 military personnel died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is one fewer than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Tuesday at 10 a.m. EDT.
The British military has reported 179 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia and Georgia, three each; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand and Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan and South Korea, one death each.
The latest deaths reported by the military:

Blacks 'Hurting Worse' in Grim US Economy

African Americans are far more likely than whites to be poor, out of work or in jail, and are "hurting worse" in the floundering US economy, a report published Wednesday showed.
"Ironically, even as an African American man holds the highest office the country, African Americans remain twice as likely as whites to be unemployed, three times more likely to live in poverty and more than six times as likely to be incarcerated," the State of Black America report said.
Blacks and whites have both made progress in educational attainment, but progress was slower for African Americans, the report, which tracks trends between 2001 and 2007, showed.
The number of white children enrolled in preschool increased by about three percent, while among black children, it fell by one percent, causing the education gap to grow.
Real median household income fell 1.7 percent for blacks and nearly four percent for whites during the period, the report said.
But the poverty rate for blacks increased nearly eight percent, while for whites it rose by around five percent.
"The election of the first black president does not mean we can all now close up shop and go home," said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League which published the report.
"President Obama has stressed that change comes from the bottom up, not the other way around," Morial said.
"It's more important than ever that the National Urban League and other organizations and individuals committed to positive change work even harder to lift up our communities and move this country forward," he said.
Martin Luther King III, the son of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, urged black Americans not to rest on their laurels now that a fellow African American is in the White House.
"His election is not the fulfilment of the dream," King wrote in a foreword to the report, referring to his father's stirring "I have a dream" speech, which outlined a vision of an America in which racial barriers have been torn down and people are judged by their character, not skin color.
The report has been published annually since 1976.

Nearly All Native Hawaiian Birds at Risk of Extinction!!!!

By Audrey McAvoy for the Associated Press
Hawaii's native avian population is in peril, with nearly all the state's birds in danger of becoming extinct, a federal report says.
One-third of the nation's endangered birds are in Hawaii, said the report, issued Thursday by the Interior Department. Thirty-one Hawaiian bird species are listed as endangered, more than anywhere else in the country.
"That is the epicenter of extinctions and near-extinctions," said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which helped produce the study. "Hawaii is (a) borderline ecological disaster."
Hawaii's native birds are threatened by the destruction of their habitats by invasive plant species and feral animals like pigs, goats and sheep.
Diseases, especially those borne by mosquitoes, are another killer.
One of those in trouble is the palila, a yellow-crowned songbird that lives on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea. Its population plunged by more than 60 percent from 6,600 in 2002 to 2,200 last year.
Habitat loss and predators are part of the problem, said Holly Freifeld, a vertebrate recovery coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Honolulu.
Another is that grazing feral sheep ruin mamane trees, which provide palila birds with their preferred food: mamane seed pods. The trees are also being killed by disease.
The Fish and Wildlife Service plans to fence off an area on Mauna Kea, and remove sheep from the fenced area, to give the palila an environment where it can flourish, Freifeld said.
The restored habitat would also likely help other endangered birds which also have lived in the same forest ecosystem, she said.
Similar habitat restoration projects have worked in the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge.

Be Good to Your Body this Spring!!!!!

Please visit the link below for information regarding dietary guidelines to help your body, especially your liver, operate at its best. Have a wonderful spring!!!!


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-patricia-fitzgerald/spring-cleaning-10-steps_b_177154.html

Obama's Electric Vehicles Plan: $2.4 Billion in New Grants

By Dave Burdick for the Huffington Post

President Barack Obama announced $2.4 billion in new grants for electric vehicle developments, which will come from the $787 billion in stimulus funds.

"We can let the jobs of tomorrow be created abroad or we can create them here in America and lay the foundation for lasting prosperity," Obama said on the second day of a campaign-style swing in California.

He set a target of putting a million of the environmentally friendly vehicles on US roads by 2015.

Please Visit the Link Below!!! You Will Find Info You Did Not Know!!!

If you are a healthy eater and like to support environmentally friendly products, businesses, etc. the you might want to visit the link below. It is so ironic how bigger companies that are responsible for manufacturing notoriously unhealthy products own and now manufacture some of the healthiest things you can buy. WOW!!!

https://www.msu.edu/~howardp/organicindustry.html

They Could be Prosecuted??? The SHOULD be Prosecuted!!!!

By Amit R. Paley for the Washington Post
Thirteen of the largest recipients of the government's massive bailout failed to pay more than $220 million in federal taxes, congressional investigators said yesterday, prompting a new round of accusations that banks were abusing the financial rescue program.
The Internal Revenue Service said late yesterday that a portion of the money had been paid back since congressional investigators gathered their information. Still, many in Congress were furious, noting that firms with the largest tax liabilities owed $113 million and $102 million.
"This is shameful. It is a disgrace," said Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's oversight subcommittee, which examined the IRS data. "The American people are fed up, and they are fired up. And they are not going to take it anymore."
The head of the federal watchdog agency charged with prosecuting fraud in the program said his office would investigate to see whether any crimes had been committed by the firms, none of which were named. Executives of banks receiving bailout funds had to certify that their firms did not owe taxes, and if they knowingly lied, they could be prosecuted.

Senator Sanders Very Clearly Lays Out the Basis for Our OUTRAGE!!!! A MUST LISTEN!!!!

US Unemployment Rises to 8.1%...And Counting?????

By Agence France-Presse for Raw Story
The economy shed 651,000 jobs in February, pushing the unemployment rate up to 8.1 percent, according to government data Friday highlighting the worst month for the labor market since 1983.
The number of job losses was in line with most forecasts but underscored the dire state of the economy as companies reduce their workforce to cope with the deepening slump.
The Labor Department also revised up its estimate for losses for the previous two months -- 655,000 in January from 598,000, and 681,000 in December from 577,000. The figures showed December's losses as the worst on record since October 1949, officials said.
The jobless rate rose from 7.6 in January to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since December 1983.
Officials said 4.4 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007, with 2.6 million in the past four months.

Obama to Overturn Ban on Federal Funding for Stem Cell Research!!! This is Great News!!!

By Ben Feller and Lauran Neergaard for the Associated Press
Reversing an eight-year-old limit on potentially life-saving science, President Barack Obama plans to lift restrictions Monday on taxpayer-funded research using embryonic stem cells. The long-promised move will allow a rush of research aimed at one day better treating, if not curing, ailments from diabetes to paralysis _ research that crosses partisan lines, backed by such notables as Nancy Reagan and the late Christopher Reeve. But it stirs intense controversy over whether government crosses a moral line with such research.
Obama will hold an event at the White House to announce the move, a senior administration official said Friday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the policy had not yet been publicly announced.
Embryonic stem cells are master cells that can morph into any cell of the body. Scientists hope to harness them so they can create replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases _ such as new insulin-producing cells for diabetics, cells that could help those with Parkinson's disease or maybe even Alzheimer's, or new nerve connections to restore movement after spinal injury.

We Must All Serve Our Country if We Want Things to Get Better!!!!

By Arianna Huffington for the Huffington Post
Day by day and depressing statistic by depressing statistic, you can see America's already-frayed safety net ripping apart. That's why it is so urgent to buttress the cash-strapped government programs and charitable groups struggling to provide resources to the growing pool of those in need. Service, volunteerism, and giving are absolutely central to our recovery as a nation -- not questions of noblesse oblige. Indeed, while we are trying to move the economy to full capacity through the stimulus package, bailouts, etc., we also need to make sure that our communities are operating at full capacity. Our full capacity of giving. Our full capacity of service. Our full capacity of compassion. As America's Misery Index soars, so must our Empathy Index.

Minnesota Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann is Certifiably Nuts!!!! And Completely Wrong!!!!

She might want to go back to a dictionary and look at the exact definition of socialism!!!

Big Banks Playing Chess with Homeowners!!!

By Julie Hirschfield Davis for The Associated Press
Big banks, scrambling to prevent the government from forcing them to rewrite mortgages for struggling homeowners, are using their lobbying clout to press the Obama administration and Congress to scale back a key measure to rescue borrowers from foreclosures.
The legislation, expected to pass the House on Thursday, would let bankruptcy judges reduce the principal and interest rate on a home loan. That essentially would require mortgage companies to let debt-strapped homeowners reduce their monthly payments rather than lose their main residences.
Obama called for it last week as part of his housing rescue plan. Democrats and consumer advocates regard it as crucial to slowing the rapid rate of foreclosures.
But the mortgage industry contends the measure will impose steep and unpredictable costs on its companies, which will be forced to pass them along to borrowers in the form of higher fees and interest rates. The industry spent millions last year on a successful lobbying effort to kill the bill, which almost all Republicans oppose. Opponents call it the "cram-down."

Jobless Claims Keep on Rising...

By Christopher S. Rugaber for the Associated Press
New jobless claims rose more than expected last week and the number of laid-off Americans continuing to receive unemployment benefits topped 5.1 million, fresh evidence the recession is increasingly forcing employers to shed jobs.
The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time requests for unemployment benefits jumped to 667,000 from the previous week's figure of 631,000. Analysts had expected a slight drop in claims.
The 667,000 new claims are the most since October 1982, though the labor force has grown by about half since then. The four-week average of initial claims, which smooths out fluctuations, rose to 639,000, the highest in more than 26 years.

Arianna Tells the Scary Truth Again!!!!! You Better Think Twice Before Sliding the Plastic!!!!

by Arianna Huffington for the Huffington Post
Hot on the heels of the banking crisis, the employment crisis, and the mortgage/foreclosure crisis, the country is on the verge of experiencing a credit card crisis.

According to the Federal Reserve, the total outstanding credit card debt carried by Americans reached a record $951 billion in 2008 -- a number that will only climb higher as more and more people reach for the plastic to make ends meet. What's more, roughly a third of that is debt held by risky borrowers with low credit ratings.

Credit card defaults are on the rise and are expected to hit 10 percent this year. This will obviously drive many banks closer to failing their stress tests -- but it will have an even greater impact on the lives of people who find themselves sinking deeper and deeper into debt.

It's a particularly vicious economic circle: every day, Americans, faced with layoffs and tough economic times, are forced to use their credit cards to pay for essentials like food, housing, and medical care -- the costs of which continue to escalate. But as their debt rises, they find it harder to keep up with their payments. When they don't, banks, trying to offset losses in other areas, then turn around and hike interest rates and impose all manner of fees and penalties... all of which makes it even less likely consumers will be able to pay off their mounting debts.

And that's not the end of the economic downward spiral. As more and more Americans default on their credit card debt, banks will find themselves faced with a sickening instant replay of the toxic securities meltdown from the mortgage crisis. In another example of Wall Street "creativity," credit card debt is routinely bundled together into "credit-card receivables" and sold to investors -- often pension funds and hedge funds. Securities backed by credit card debt is a $365 billion market. This market motivated credit card companies to offer cards to risky borrowers and to allow greater and greater amounts of debt.

As these borrowers continue to default, banks and the investors who bought their packaged debt will take a serious hit. And how are the credit card companies trying to offset the rise in bad debts? By raising rates on the rest of their customers -- making it likely that more of them will end up defaulting, causing even more losses for the banks. And round and round and round we go.

And such is the paradoxical nature of the meltdown that Americans keep being encouraged to go back to spending in order to get the economy rolling again. But the problem is, more and more Americans are broke. So the only way they can spend is to charge it, running up balances on credit cards that are structured in a way that makes it harder and harder to pay them off.

Getting dizzy yet?

For years, credit card companies have been fattening their bottom lines with an ever-widening array of fees. Late fees, cash-advance fees, over-the-limit fees. In 2007, lenders collected over $18 billion in penalties and fees. JPMorgan Chase, the nation's top credit card lender, recently began charging many of its customers $10 a month for carrying a large balance for too long a time -- that's on top of the interest they are already collecting on those balances.

And interest rates are escalating. Earlier this month, Citibank warned customers that if they miss a single payment, they could see their interest go up to 29.99 percent (so nice of them to shave off the .01 to keep it from being 30 percent, isn't it?). The company also recently raised rates by 3 percent on millions of non-payment-missing customers. Citibank is not alone: Capital One raised its standard rate on good customers by up to 6 points, and American Express raised rates by 2-3 percent on the majority of its customers.

Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, accuses the banks of "gouging," saying, "the list of questionable actions credit card companies are engaged in is lengthy and disturbing."

Perhaps he should send the bankers a Bible bookmarked to Deuteronomy 23:19: "thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother." Indeed, Sen. Bernie Sanders told me last week that he is working on "anti-usury" legislation.

For their part, the bankers have tried to cloak their behavior with corporatespeak. A Citibank spokesman called the rate hikes the result of "severe funding dislocation," and said, "Citi is repricing a group of customers in our Citi-branded consumer credit card business in the U.S. to appropriately manage these risks." An AmEx spokeswoman chalked up its rate hike to "the cost of doing business."

Making such pronouncements particularly galling is the fact that many of the banks summarily raising interest rates and piling on the penalties have received billions in bailout money. Our money. We gave Citi $45 billion, Bank of America $45 billion, JPMorgan $25 billion, AmEx $3.4 billion, Capital One $3.6 billion, and Discover $1.2 billion. In fact, American Express, Capital One, and Discover all converted to bank holding companies to make themselves eligible for bailout funds.

Yet that money seems to have been delivered with no strings attached. Banks cash their bailout checks, then turn around and gouge their most vulnerable customers. Priceless.

One of the ironies of the credit card crisis is that the financial industry laid the foundation for much of the trouble we are seeing with its full-throated -- and deep-pocketed -- support of the cynically named Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, a truly loathsome piece of legislation that opened the door to many of the banking abuses we are witnessing. It made it much tougher for Americans to file for bankruptcy -- even the millions of hardworking Americans whose bankruptcy is the result of a serious illness (fully half of all bankruptcies are the result of crushing medical expenses). It also did nothing to rein in the kinds of lending abuses that frequently turn manageable debt into unmanageable personal financial catastrophes.

The financial industry spent $100 million lobbying to get the bill passed -- and millions more in campaign contributions. The result was a sweetheart law for the financial industry -- with 18 Senate Democrats voting for it.

And the banking lobbyists are at it again.

There are currently several bills in Congress designed to roll back some of the worst provisions of the 2005 legislation. In the Senate, Chris Dodd has introduced The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act ("the Credit CARD Act"). In the House, there is Rep. Carolyn Maloney's Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights.

The banking industry is pushing back hard. But wait, you might ask, aren't the banks broke? So where'd they get the money to lobby against credit card reform?

From us. There may not be much transparency about the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars doled out through the TARP program, but we know where at least some of the money has gone: into making sure that none of the Bankers Gone Wild behavior that led to the current disaster is curtailed.

In December, the Fed approved new rules that will, among other things, limit arbitrary rate increases on credit cards, cap some fees, and require the credit card companies to more clearly disclose the often confusing -- if not downright misleading -- terms customers are agreeing to. But these rules won't go into effect until July 2010.

Why would the Fed make rules that won't go into effect for a year and a half? We can't afford to wait until then.

Congress needs to tell the bankers that their Beltway credit has been denied and pass laws reforming the credit card mess -- before the credit card blaze turns into another economic conflagration.

Lansing, Michigan Mayor Virg Bernero Tells the TRUTH!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

The Scholar Family would like to acknowledge the birthdays of two absolutely amazing individuals, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, and Charles Darwin, the most famous Naturalist ever. Today, February 12th marks the 200th birthday of both of these incredible men. May they both be remembered and cherished forever!!!!!

Arianna Gives Us the Truth Once Again!!! AMAZING!!!

By Arianna Huffington for the Huffington Post
The battle lines over how to deal with the banking crisis have been drawn. On the one side are those who know what needs to be done. On the other are those who know what needs to be done -- but won't admit it. Because it is against their self-interest.
Unlike the conflict over the stimulus package, this is not an ideological fight. This is a battle between the status quo and the future, between the interests of the financial/lobbying establishment and the public interest.
What needs to be done is hard but straightforward. As Martin Wolf of the Financial Times sums it up: "Admit reality, restructure banks and, above all, slay zombie institutions at once."
This tough love for bankers is being promoted by everyone from Nouriel Roubini, Paul Krugman, and Ann Pettifor to Niall Ferguson, the Wall Street Journal, and Milton Friedman's old partner, Anna Schwartz, the co-author of his seminal work, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960. "They should not be recapitalizing firms that should be shut down," says Schwartz. "Firms that made wrong decisions should fail."
The plan laid out -- or, more accurately, sketched out -- this week by Tim Geithner makes it very clear that he is on the wrong side of the issue, more worried about the banking industry than the American people. Like Hank Paulson before him, Geithner appears more concerned about saving particular banks than saving the banking system. No real shocker there. As Henry Blodget points out on HuffPost, it's hard to be surprised that Geithner is sticking with the Paulson plan "inasmuch as he was likely the one who created it."
The big problem is Geithner is acting as if the crisis we are facing is a crisis of liquidity when, in fact, it's a crisis of insolvency. As Ann Pettifor puts it on HuffPost: "Much of Wall Street is effectively insolvent. It's not that these banks lack cash or capital -- it's just that they're never going to meet all their financial liabilities -- i.e. repay their debts. Ever."
Trying to prop these zombies up, as Geithner seems intent on doing, will lead to what Roubini calls "a royal rip-off of the taxpayer" and the risk of "turning a U-shaped recession into an L-shaped near-depression."
President Obama has made it unambiguous that he understands what is at stake -- both for the country, and for himself politically. On Tuesday, he said that if his economic plan doesn't work, "a few years from now, you'll have a new president."
And we know that many within his administration -- including senior advisor David Axelrod - favor a strategy that may be harder on Wall Street but will more quickly revive the U.S. economy.
So it's time to take off the kid gloves Geithner and Larry Summers are using to handle Wall Street and pull the plug on Geithner's deeply flawed plan.
And let's not be distracted by the shiny objects of the financial crisis -- corporate jets, redecorated offices, CEO bonuses, etc. -- as happened to the members of the House Financial Services at yesterday's hearing.
These are important issues, to be sure -- worthy of public outrage, Congressional grilling, and presidential action. But the central task at hand is cleaning up the toxic assets -- and the toxic thinking -- that have contaminated America's banking system.
Being diverted from that is like obsessing over the cut on your finger while the Great White shark that has already bitten off your leg is about to finish you off.

California's Pain Is Onlt Going to Worsen!!!

By Jim Carlton and Bobby White for the Wall Street Journal
As Sacramento squabbles over the state's $42 billion deficit, Californians are getting a bitter taste of what's to come after the steep budget cuts that are inevitable when legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally hammer out a deal.
Some world-famous parks like Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park may not open this year. After-school programs in low-income areas are being scuttled, putting high-risk teens on the street just as police forces are being cut. Schools are closing classrooms, and some highway projects have ground to a halt. The state may not be able to monitor some sex offenders as required under law.
A budget deal may restore some of the missing funds. But everyone knows that not all monies will flow again after a deal, and Californians increasingly fear they are seeing a hint of their future.
Other states face budget cuts too, but California's budget mess stands out for its size. Its deficit is projected at $42 billion by mid-2010. Since Gov. Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency 14 weeks ago, he and lawmakers have been deadlocked over how to close the gap. Democrats want tax increases and moderate spending cuts; Republicans seek deep cuts and no tax increases; the governor wants a combination.
The governor's office warned Tuesday that if no budget deal is reached by Friday, the state would send layoff warnings to 20,000 workers. Gov. Schwarzenegger also said he intends to cut 10,000 jobs through layoffs and attrition to save $750 million over 17 months.
Meanwhile, the state is raising money in unprecedented ways. The treasurer's office said Tuesday that it is close to selling $200 million in general-obligation bonds to the Bay Area Toll Authority, a municipal agency, to fund public-works projects around the San Francisco Bay area.
While Sacramento talks, money is drying up in places like Contra Costa County, where 40,000 families have applied for 350 available slots for Section 8 vouchers -- a federal subsidy that allows low-income families to rent in the private market. "The level of desperation is just heartbreaking," said Joseph Villareal, executive director of the Contra Costa Housing Authority.
The California State University system -- the nation's largest -- faces new cuts after already seeing reduced class offerings, increased classroom sizes and delays in students being able to graduate after a series of budget cuts in recent years.
Things could get worse as more budget cuts loom. The state may not be able to monitor sex offenders as required under a 2006 law that calls for sex offenders to be on GPS monitoring for life and to live more than 2,000 feet from schools and parks. In January, corrections officials said they were monitoring all 6,622 paroled sex offenders with GPS devices, after Gov. Schwarzenegger set aside $106 million in last year's budget for the program. But because the law contained no revenue-raising mechanism, authorities say it is unclear whether they will have funds to continue monitoring.

WE THE PEOPLE ARE THEIR SHAREHOLDERS NOW!!!!!

By Ryan Grim for Huffington Post
Wall Street bankers, with their $18 billion in bonuses, private jets and gaudy conferences, are causing headaches for the GOP.
President Obama has proposed capping compensation for executives at banks that take taxpayer bailout money at $500,000. Republicans hate the idea -- a position puts them uncomfortably on the side of people currently about as popular as child-porn producers and subprime mortgage brokers.
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) blamed the "tone deaf" bankers for creating the political environment that allows Obama to call for a cap.
"Because of their excesses, very bad things begin to happen, like the United States government telling a company what it can pay its employees. That's not a good thing in America," Kyl told the Huffington Post.
"What executives have done is troubling, but it's equally troubling to have government telling shareholders how much they can pay the executives," said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL).
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) said that he is "one of the chief defenders of Obama on the Republican side" for the president's efforts to reach across the aisle. But, said Inhofe, "as I was listening to him make those statements I thought, is this still America? Do we really tell people how to run [a business], and who to pay and how much to pay?"

This is the purest example of GREED!!! These Execs Should Work for Nothing!!!

By AFP for Raw Story
Wall Street and the business community gave a lukewarm response Wednesday to the US administration's plan to cap executive pay, fearing it may lead to a talent exodus and delay recovery in the finance sector.
The reaction came after President Barack Obama announced that executives of finance firms taking government bailouts would have their annual salaries limited to 500,000 dollars, a move aimed at protecting taxpayer interests.
The salary limit is "still a hefty sum to be sure, and the spirit of the order certainly has popular appeal, but it's a slippery slope when the government puts restrictions on how much an individual can earn in the private sector," said Patrick O'Hare of the independent research firm Briefing.com.
"Also, the order itself strikes us as a disincentive for financial firms to reach out for aid, which will just prolong the recovery for the sector and the economy."
Douglas McIntyre at the financial website 24/7 Wall Street said the limits could make it more difficult for troubled banks to retain their best executives.
"Wall Street may keep most of its bankers if they face pay cuts, but it is the top five or 10 percent who make these companies really profitable, and they will soon be on their way to greener pastures if this measure is enacted," McIntyre said.
Don Lindner, a compensation specialist with the human resources association WorldatWork, said the new restrictions could mean a "huge cut in pay" for many top executives.
"They might leave to find jobs where they are paid more, that's my concern, that the restrictions are so deep that the leadership won't stay," Lindner told AFP.
Still, Lindner said the matter is "a complex issue" and that "just like any other investor, I think the federal government has every reason and responsibility to protect its investment."
But he argued that the move "may have some consequences," such as "not being able to get the kind of leadership the organizations need to recover quickly."

Joe, Joe, Joe!!! Seriously, Enough Already!!! You are Worse than Pathetic!!! It is not Even Comical Anymore!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And this guy here. Good old Samuel Wurzelbacher aka "Joe the Plumber". This guy is without a doubt dumber than a box of rocks. Who would really take him seriously??? Oh, I forgot, the Grand Old Party!!! By the way Samuel, you are right!!! We don't deserve you. We don't deserve more conservative individuals holding public service offices whose policies based on a rather stale ideology have failed miserably . We have more than enough!!!

Give It Up DICK!!!! You're Finished!!!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

626,000 Jobless Claims, the Highest in 26 Years!!!

By Christopher S. Rugaber for the Associated Press
New jobless claims jumped far more than expected last week in an already dismal labor market, and there's no relief in sight for workers as mass layoffs persist.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 626,000, from the previous week's upwardly revised figure of 591,000. The latest total is far more than analysts' expectations of 583,000.
That's also the highest since October 1982, when the economy was in a steep recession, though the work force has grown by about half since then.
The number of people that remained on the unemployment compensation rolls increased slightly to nearly 4.8 million, the most since records began in 1967.
As a proportion of the work force, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits is at the highest level since August 1982. But that doesn't include an additional 1.7 million people receiving unemployment insurance through an extension of benefits Congress approved last year, which brings the total to about 6.5 million.
The extension provides up to 33 additional weeks of benefits, on top of the 26 weeks typically provided by states.
The numbers reflect the rapid deterioration in the labor market in recent weeks as companies from a wide range of sectors have announced tens of thousands of layoffs and displaced workers find it even more difficult to land a new job.

SCHIP Gets Signed!!!

The children’s health program is critical as states begin to run out of money for children’s health care, and every time the national unemployment rate goes up one point, 700,000 more children lose their coverage. “I find it amazing that we have spent so much time debating it,” said Sen. Sanders on the Senate floor on Wednesday. “The United States of America remains the only country in the industrialized world where this debate would take place. We’re spending weeks discussing an issue that every other country in the industrialized world has long resolved.” The senator, a member of the Senate health committee, pointed out that, even after the children’s health care bill passes, 3 million kids will remain without health insurance.

SEC's Acting General Counsel Andy Vollmer Gets Drilled By Rep. Gary Ackerman, Cites Executive Privelege!!!

WHAT A JOKE!!!! They can't accept the fact that they completely screwed up!!! So now they have to hide behind executive privelege!!! The era of profound irresponsibility once again rears its ugly head!!!!

Obama Caps Exec Pay to $500,000 for Companies Accepting Federal Bailout Money

At about a minute into the story, the reporter states something extremely disturbing!!! Some critics speculate that this salary cap will deter some institutions from seeking federal bailout funds even though they know that the government is the only entity that can provide them with the levels of assistance necessary to stay afloat.
This leads me to believe that GREED is not only spelled with capital letters in this country but with extremely bold font and underlined!!! If companies stop seeking federal aid because the execs feel they should make more than $500,000 during the worst economic time since the Great Depression, then that is the essence of greed, selfishness, irresponsibility, and utter stupidity!!! And they want tax cuts on top of that??? WOW!!!!
The government is the only hope for a large portion of private corporate recovery and execs of these companies know this. When you're "too big too fail" you're also too big to run and hide. Responsibility will find you!!! And it has (in the form of the people). Institutions must now completely abandon any and all shady business practices and operate fairly and honestly, and do whatever is necessary, that includes making financial sacrifices, to once again reach stable levels.
Up to this point, ways of combatting some of the problems have been via layoffs. A significant number of these pink slips could have probably been avoided if the overall salary rates between the highest paid and lowest paid employees were more balanced. But i guess modern corporate American structure now mirrors the societal ambitions of the conservative party when it comes to the issue of destroying the middle class. Companies are paying the lowest salaries they can get away with (aside from not supplying ample benefit packages) to people performing jobs perceived to be anything less than management positions (hence middle and lower class). On the other hand, jobs viewed as top level positions (high class) accompany enormous and, in many cases, ridiculous salaries. This structure promotes the rich getting rich and a nasty game of social darwinism throughout the rest of corporate America.
In regards to the salary cap that President Obama is placing on execs whose companies accept federal financial aid, I'm sure the conservative argument is a rather telegraphed one. It is something to the effect of: "Why should the government control the salaries of private corporations. That goes completely against the fundamentals of capitalism. America is the land of the free. And therefore the sky should be the limit for everything in the private sector. BLAH BLAH BLAH..."
Don't even attempt to sling that crap!!! When the taxpayers are supporting this bailout we are your new board of directors as well as your shareholders!!! And just in case these execs forgot, WE THE PEOPLE are government!!! This has been after all the biggest robbery in the history of the world. Don't think for a minute that the American people will continue to have the wool pulled over their eyes while borderline criminal behavior takes place.

Once Again Senator Sanders Defining True Publice Service!!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

More Wasteful Spending with Taxpayer Bailout Dough!!!

By Daniel Wagner and Matt Apuzzo for the Associated Press
Wells Fargo & Co., which received $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, is planning a series of corporate junkets to Las Vegas casinos this month.
Wells Fargo, once among the nation's top writers of subprime mortgages, has booked 12 nights at the Wynn Las Vegas and its sister hotel, the Encore Las Vegas beginning Friday, said Wynn spokeswoman Michelle Loosbrock. The hotels will host the annual conference for company's top mortgage officers.
The conference is a Wells Fargo tradition. Previous years have included all-expense-paid helicopter rides, wine tasting, horseback riding in Puerto Rico and a private Jimmy Buffett concert in the Bahamas for more than 1,000 employees and guests.

$5,000 Chrysler Vouchers????? You've Got to be KIDDING!!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

BRING THEM HOME!!!!

By Pauline Jelinek and Kimberly Hefling for the Associated Press
Stressed by war and long overseas tours, U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year at the highest rate on record, the toll rising for a fourth straight year and even surpassing the suicide rate among comparable civilians. Army leaders said they were doing everything they could think of to curb the deaths and appealed for more mental health professionals to join and help out.
At least 128 soldiers committed suicide in 2008, the Army said Thursday. And the final count is likely to be even higher because 15 more suspicious deaths are still being investigated.
"Why do the numbers keep going up? We cannot tell you," said Army Secretary Pete Geren. "We can tell you that across the Army we're committed to doing everything we can to address the problem."
It's all about pressure and the military approach, said Kim Ruocco, 45, whose Marine husband was an officer and Cobra helicopter pilot who hanged himself in a California hotel room in 2005. That was one month before he was to return to Iraq a second time.
She said her husband, John, had completed 75 missions in Iraq and was struggling with anxiety and depression but felt he'd be letting others down if he sought help and couldn't return.

$140 Billion Crime...And Mr. Geithner is an Accomplice if in Fact Paulson's Actions were Illegal!!!

40,000 More J-O-B-S Slashed!!!

The recession is killing jobs at an alarming pace, with tens of thousands of new layoffs announced Monday by some of the biggest names in American business _ Pfizer, Caterpillar and Home Depot.
More pink slips, pay freezes and other hits are expected to slam workers in the months ahead as companies desperately look for ways to survive.
Looking ahead, economists predicted a net loss of at least 2 million jobs _ possibly more _ this year even if President Barack Obama's $825 billion package of increased government spending and tax cuts is enacted. Last year, the economy lost a net 2.6 million jobs, the most since 1945, though the labor force has grown significantly since then.
The unemployment rate, now at a 16-year high of 7.2 percent, could hit 10 percent or higher later this year or early next year, under some analysts' projections.
The mounting toll was visible Monday as roughly 40,000 more U.S. workers got the grim news.

GUILTY!!!!!

Please go to the link below to read about 25 people who played the key roles in the economic meltdown.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/26/road-ruin-recession-individuals-economy

$100??????

By Yinka Adegoke for Reuters
Fallen Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Richard Fuld sold his $13.3 million mansion to his wife for just $100 last November, according to Florida real estate records.
The 62-year old executive, who could face civil lawsuits after overseeing the storied investment bank's collapse into Chapter 11 proceedings last September, transferred ownership of the 3.3 acres seaside home to Kathleen Fuld on November 10, records show.
The couple had jointly bought the home for $13.75 million in March 2004, as first reported by Cityfile.com.
Fuld has been blamed for Lehman's collapse on September 15 after it was weighed down by bad assets leading to the largest-ever U.S. bankruptcy when it was unable to find a buyer to come to its rescue.
He was widely criticized for not acting quickly enough to save the 158-year old bank.
Though Fuld told U.S. lawmakers he took full responsibility for his actions and felt "horrible about what has happened to the company," he insisted he shared the blame with U.S. regulators and Congress.
Fuld, who was awarded $22 million in compensation in fiscal 2007, stepped down as Lehman chief executive at the end of last year and did not receive any bonus or severance when he left.

WE NEED REGULATION NOW!!!!! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!

By Jennifer Gould Keil and Chuck Bennett for the New York Post
Beleaguered Citigroup is upgrading its mile-high club with a brand-new $50 million corporate jet - only this time, it's the taxpayers who are getting screwed.
Even though the bank's stock is as cheap as a gallon of gas and it's burning through a $45 billion taxpayer-funded rescue, the airhead execs pushed through the purchase of a new Dassault Falcon 7X, according to a source familiar with the deal.
The French-made luxury jet seats up to 12 in a plush interior with leather seats, sofas and a customizable entertainment center, according to Dassault's sales literature. It can cruise 5,950 miles before refueling and has a top speed of 559 mph.
There are just nine of these top-of-the-line models in the United States, with Dassault's European factory churning out three to four 7Xs a month.
Citigroup decided to get its new wings two years ago, when the financial-services giant was flush with cash, but it still intends to take possession of the jet this year despite its current woes, the source said.

FDA Approves Embryonic Stem Cell Trials!!!

By Agence France-Presse for Raw Story
US authorities have approved the first human trials using embryonic stem cells to test a pioneering therapy to help paralyzed patients regain movement, the FDA said Friday.
"The FDA has granted its clearance for a new drug application of Geron Corp for a phase one clinical trial of an embryionic stem cell based therapy in patients with acute spinal cord injury," FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan told AFP.
Earlier, the California-based biotech firm Geron Corp. announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had been cleared to carry out human trials of a novel therapy called GRNOPC1.
"The clearance enables Geron to move forward with the world's first study of a human embryonic stem cell based therapy in man," Geron said.
The goal is to inject cells into the spines of paralyzed volunteers, between seven to 14 days after they are injured, hoping this will prompt the damaged nerve cells to regrow, enabling them to eventually recover feeling and movement.
"This marks the beginning of what is potentially a new chapter in medical therapeutics -- one that reaches beyond pills to a new level of healing: the restoration of organ and tissue function achieved by the injection of healthy replacement cells," said Geron's president Thomas Okarma.

The Cut Continues to Bleed...

Report from Reuters
Coffee chain Starbucks Corp could cut another 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, according to a report in the Seattle Times on Saturday.
The latest cuts could include employees at its Seattle headquarters, district managers and field employees but not the so-called baristas, who serve customers, said the report, which cited a client note from an analyst at McAdams Wright Ragen.
A Starbucks spokeswoman declined to comment.
The coffee chain, which has been fighting to revive growth in the United States, is closing 600 cafes and has already trimmed jobs in stores and at headquarters.
The company is scheduled to release its first-quarter financial results on Wednesday.

Mr. President, Keep Fulfilling Your Promises!!!!

Breaking forcefully with Bush anti-terror policies, President Barack Obama ordered major changes Thursday that he said would halt the torture of suspects, close down the Guantanamo detention center, ban secret CIA prisons overseas and fight terrorism "in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals."
The policies and practices that Obama said he was reversing have been widely reviled overseas, by U.S. allies as well as in less-friendly Arab countries. President George W. Bush said the policies were necessary to protect the nation after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks _ though he, too, had said he wanted Guantanamo closed at some point.
"A new era of American leadership is at hand," Obama said.
Executive orders signed by the new president would order the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, shut within a year, require the closure of any remaining secret CIA "black site" prisons abroad and bar CIA interrogators of detainees from using harsh techniques already banned for military questioners.

YOUR RIGHT TO PRIVACY????

By David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster for Raw Story
On Wednesday night, when former NSA analyst Russell Tice told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that the Bush administration's National Security Agency spied on everyone in the United States, specifically targeting journalists, the Countdown host was so flabbergasted that Tice was invited back for a second interview.
On Thursday, he returned to the airwaves with expanded allegations against the NSA, claiming the agency collected Americans' credit card records, and adding that he believes the massive, warrantless data vacuum to be the remnants of the Total Information Awareness program, shut down by Congress in 2003.
Asked for comment by Olbermann's staff, the agency responded, "NSA considers the constitutional rights of US citizens to be sacrosanct. The intelligence community faces immense challenges in protecting our nation. No matter the challenges, NSA remains dedicated to performing its mission under the rule of law."
Olbermann ran the quote under a banner which read, "Non-denial denial."
"As far as the wiretap information that made it though NSA, there was also data-mining that was involved," Tice told Olbermann during the pair's second interview. "At some point, information from credit card records and financial transactions was married in with that information."
At this point on the audio track, Olbermann can be heard taking a deep breath.
"So, lucky American citizens, tens of thousands of whom are now on digital databases at NSA, who have no idea of this, also have that information included in those digital files that have been warehoused," said Tice.
"... Do you have any idea what all this stuff was used for?" asked the stunned host.
"The obvious explanation would be, if you did have a potential terrorist, you'd want to know where they're spending money, whether they purchased an airline ticket, that sort of thing," said Tice. "But, once again, we're talking about tens of thousands of innocent US citizens that have been caught up into this trap. They have no clue.

Look Where Your Bailout Money Was Spent!!!

By Charlie Gasparino for the Daily Beast
In early 2008, just as Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was preparing to slash expenses, cut thousands of jobs and exit businesses to fix the ailing securities firm, he was also spending company money on himself, senior people at the firm say.
According to documents reviewed by The Daily Beast, Thain spent $1.22 million of company money to refurbish his office at Merrill Lynch headquarters in lower Manhattan. The biggest piece of the spending spree: $800,000 to hire famed celebrity designer Michael Smith, who is currently redesigning the White House for the Obama family for just $100,000.
Big ticket items included $87,000 for an area rug, four pairs of curtains for $28,000, a pair of guest chairs for $87,000 and fabric for a "Roman Shade" for $11,000.
The other big ticket items Thain purchased include: $87,000 for an area rug in Thain's conference room and another area rug for $44,000; a "mahogany pedestal table" for $25,000; a "19th Century Credenza" in Thain's office for $68,000; a sofa for $15,000; four pairs of curtains for $28,000; a pair of guest chairs for $87,000; a "George IV Desk" for $18,000; six wall sconces for $2,700; six chairs in his private dining room for $37,000; a mirror in his private dining room for $5,000; a chandelier in the private dining room for $13,000; fabric for a "Roman Shade" for $11,000; a "custom coffee table" for $16,000; something called a "commode on legs" for $35,000; a "Regency Chairs" for $24,000; "40 yards of fabric for wall panels," for $5,000 and a "parchment waste can" for $1,400. The documents also show that Thain signed off on the purchases personally.

Was Your Personal Data Stolen???

By Eric Dash and Brad Stone for the New York Times
Heartland Payment Systems, a major payment processing company, disclosed a data breach on Monday that potentially exposed tens of millions of credit and debit cardholders to the risk of fraud in what could quickly become one of the country’s biggest data compromises.
Robert H. B. Baldwin Jr., Heartland’s president and chief financial officer, said that his company believed the card numbers, expiration dates, and in some cases cardholder names were exposed after attacks on its computer systems at the one point where data had been unencrypted.
Once consumers swiped their cards, so-called sniffer software captured that data as Heartland sought authorization from the major payment companies and banks. Customers of Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Financial were all vulnerable.
“We have industry-leading encryption, but the data has to be unencrypted to request the information,” Mr. Baldwin said. “The sniffer was able to grab that authorization data at that point.”
Data thieves introduced the software as early as May, but Heartland did not detect the breach until it was alerted to the activity in late fall. The personal data of 600 million or more cardholders was vulnerable, but data security experts suggested data from far fewer accounts had been extracted. Other confidential information, like personal security codes, is not believed to have been compromised. That might limit damages.

Congratualtions President Obama!!!! We Salute You!!!!

The Scholar family would like to take a brief moment to not only cordially welcome but truly embrace President Barack Hussein Obama and his new administration. We will do everything we can to positively contribute to the renewed call for responsibility that you are humbly asking of your citizens. Take care and we wish you, your family and your entire staff continued health, happiness and success!!!