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I have to run out to President Obama’s mass-gay-wedding ceremony (can’t wait to see who they pair me up with), so I’ll leave you with this:
• Spain partially nationalized its fourth-largest bank, known as Bankia, today. Speaking of nationalization, Japan will nationalize Tokyo Electric Power, the owner of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
• The “Housing is back, baby!” lobby gets more evidence in their favor, with the report that median home prices rose in about half of all metro areas last month.
• Given the fact that this is the first Administration in decades to preside over a massive contraction of the public sector, there’s no excuse for a budget surplus in any month, especially at this time, with unemployment where it is.
• James Inhofe laid down the law in the first day of conference committee on the highway bill, saying that the lower chamber ought to just support the bill he negotiated. The House GOP caucus really doesn’t know what they’re doing.
• Interesting study on how workers are using the payroll tax cut. Mainly for debt deleveraging, it appears.
• Looks like the threat of post office closures is dead for now. There’s still so much that can be done with that asset, however.
• Syria continues to violate the cease-fire agreement, according to its architect, Kofi Annan. I think Sacha Baron Cohen’s Dictator character gets way too close to the truth on Syria in this little clip.
• The House Progressive Caucus is so unable or unwilling to put any ideological constraints on its nominal members, it can’t even get them to support their own budget.
• This undercover underwear bomber story is going to make a great plot line for the second season of Homeland.
• Never in doubt, but basically every Democrat in Wisconsin rallied around Tom Barrett as the Scott Walker recall election begins its final four-week sprint. The PCCC released a new ad supporting the recall today.
• Jared Bernstein explains the Administration’s 48C proposal on clean energy manufacturing.
• Rand Paul can’t find more than one Senator to endorse his proposal to explicitly rule out war with Iran and Syria.
• “Vomiting and screaming” on the CIA torture tapes, according to one BBC reporter.
• Good for Twitter to go to court to protect the private tweets of an Occupy protester using their service.
• Robert Worth on the changing times in Libya and the human rights shoes going on the other foot.
• Maybe Joe Biden can say publicly that the President should give out a few more pardons?
• One backer of Sherrod Brown’s new bill to reduce bank size appears to be Queen Elizabeth.
• Think of how many votes Keith Judd could have gotten for President in last night’s West Virginia Democratic primary if he WASN’T a federal inmate?
• Doesn’t look good for a political solution to the Afghanistan quagmire.
• It costs far more to be a senior than contemplated by government “cost-of-living” metrics, for the simple reason that health care costs are so darn high. Remember that when we’re told that we need to “chain” CPI to reduce senior benefits in Social Security, because the CPI doesn’t accurately reflect the actual cost of living. That’s right, it lowballs it.
• Treasury continues to hype its failed HAMP program.
• The Pacific Garbage Patch is only getting bigger and cannot be stopped.
• The Pirate Party has turned itself into a major electoral force in Germany.
• Michelle Bachmann is now a Swiss citizen. Like those Europeans, she believes in crushing austerity, so it fits.
• Azerbaijan will rue the day they ever won the Eurovision song contest.
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About FDL News Desk
Yoo-hoo, Rahmbo:
Ex-”Rage” Guitarist Threatens To Run Against Rahm LINK.
U.S. Millionaires Told Go Away as Tax Evasion Rule Looms
“The 2010 law, to be phased in starting Jan. 1, 2013, requires financial institutions based outside the U.S. to obtain and report information about income and interest payments accrued to the accounts of American clients.”
LINK.
From the Department of Al Gore is Still Fat:
and
North Sea starved of oxygen
You go, girls!
Thousands join girl in urging Seventeen magazine to publish unedited images LINK.
Ghastly. And here’s this little item:
WTF Is Going on With Peru’s Dolphins and Pelicans?
“At this point, the evidence points towards acoustic impact and decompression syndrome. However, the large aggregation of dolphins is leading towards a potential epidemic outbreak of morbillivirus, brucella or both. ”
LINK.
“The House Progressive Caucus is so unable or unwilling to put any ideological constraints on its nominal members, it can’t even get them to support their own budget.” ; and they wonder why no one pays any attention to them.
“It costs far more to be a senior than contemplated by government “cost-of-living” metrics: as a ‘senior’ I can attest to this easily.
“Renouncing citizenship is an option chosen by increasing numbers of Americans. A record 1,780 gave up their U.S. passports last year compared with 235 in 2008, the IRS reported.” —good riddance afaic. Such people only care for themselves and their money and ,as such, aren’t consistent with what the U.S. is supposed to be about.
Makers of flame retardants manipulate research findings to back their products, downplay health risks
Cass Sunstein does not approve of this message.
One can only hope but believe me when I tell you that elections in Chicago are not open, honest, and transparent. Of course that could be said about most of the U.S. as well.
Yeah, Sunstein never met a regulation he thought was worthwhile.
More about it costing more to be a ‘senior’; from the link David gave: “. A couple retiring this year with annual income of $75,000 should expect that 35 percent of their annual benefit could be needed for health expenses now. But that proportion is likely to double in 15 years, to 61 percent, as medical cost increases outpace anticipated cost-of-living increases in Social Security, Fidelity said.” ????????
When the median net worth of the 99 per centers -including there house etc. from 2009- was $108K, who is Fidelity talking about? Who the hell retires with an annual income of $75K?
And if one doesn’t ‘retire’ with an annual income of $75K -the max monthly SS payment comes to $30K per year-, I guess the idea is just to walk into the mountains and die.
Progressivity seems to have moved south.
Bogota to turn abandoned buildings into affordable housing
“Colombia’s government supported an initiative proposed by Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro to turn abandoned buildings downtown into affordable housing for the city’s poor.” LINK.
Ecuador law would forgive debt on defaulted mortgages of first-time buyers LINK.
Could Mexico be far behind?
Mexico looks at rival Brazil and rues its fate
““They are moving so fast ahead that we don’t even see the dust from behind,” former President Vicente Fox told a group of foreign correspondents last week.”
LINK.
Fatster, this may provide you insight into the why Mexico is screwed and Brazil isn’t.
I don’t agree with the ending paragraph but the author’s points about ‘countries that can’t pivot’ I do believe to be accurate and consistent with the law of adaptability.
news report: While there had been a decrease in military activities however, there had been “serious violations” of the agreed ceasefire, which included attacks on government troops and facilities, [Annan] added.
Maybe because the “Secretary of State” has been in Kolkata seeking entry of WalMart into India whilst slamming Pakistan, a country which is essential for any Afghanistan political solution? (I’m not British but I always wanted to use “whilst.”)
Could Mexico be far behind Brazil? No.
CIA World Factbook: Mexico/Brazil 2011 GDP growth 3.9/2.8 — above/below world average.
tradingeconomics.com fourth quarter vs. third quarter: Mexico/Brazil 0.42/0.30
Don’t intend to depress you further, ubetchaiam, but here’re some interesting comparisons for long-term care. Do note that you cannot assume that all the services (homemaker care, home health aide, assisted living, etc.) are readily available across the U.S. They aren’t. LINK.
Just one more item, and it’s from 2009, and I’ll get off this soapbox.
‘. . . we force 700,000 Americans into bankruptcy each year because of medical bills. In France, the number of medical bankruptcies is zero. Britain: zero. Japan: zero. Germany: zero.”
LINK.
Any system which simply dismisses so many individual economic or health failures is simply unsustainable. Imagine a country with a population as large as China with that percentage of the people falling apart. It wouldn’t be acceptable.
That’s why America will still do health care reform if the SCOTUS overturns the current PPACA/Obamacare. It’s an economic necessity.
Maybe Michelle Bachmann got her Swiss citizenship so she could cast votes against minarets.
They’ve got to be making up the decompression sickness. They are dolphins for gods sake.
I’ll bet that’s half of Japan floating in the garbage patch in the pacific. Maybe the UNSC could work on it. Do something constructive for a change.
Here’s an update from this morning (hope you see it). Apparently, it’s going to take a while to figure this out.