Tweet
Jupiter and Io, December 4th in the NASA Advent Calendar. What wonder will tomorrow open?
And here’s your news:
International Developments
❖ Rwanda, a US ally, has been charged with “sponsoring, arming, and commanding the insurgent M23 forces” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda is very interested in “a sliver” of Congo territory immediately to its west which is rich in valuable minerals. Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the UN, is against sanctioning Rwanda for its support of M23, reportedly suppressed release of a UN report (since leaked) denouncing Rwanda’s role and didn’t want to name Rwanda in a UN resolution preferring instead the euphemistic “external support”. More here.
❖ At least 28 children and a teacher are dead after a shell fell on their school outside Damascus. Rebels and the Syrian government are blaming each other. Meanwhile, NATO has approved use of Patriot anti-missiles along the Turkish-Syria border “as concern grows over chemical weapons”.
❖ It’s been eleven years now, but a new study “says that terror attacks worldwide have grown rapidly in the years since 9/11 and spiked during the US occupation of Iraq”.
❖ “The Obama administration has launched a post-election push to restart moribund peace talks with the Taliban, despite resistance from the U.S. military, mixed signals from Pakistan and outright refusal by the militants themselves”.
❖ Saying the new draft constitution does not guarantee freedom of the press, newspapers across Egypt are refusing to publish today. Meanwhile, “tens of thousands” were at the presidential palace in Cairo, where they were met by tear gas.
❖ Iran claims to have captured a US drone.
International Finance
❖ Recognizing we don’t live in a perfect world where things don’t work as they should if we did, Jared Bernstein is recommending consideration of capital controls “whereby countries control the inflow of foreign capital and outflow of domestic capital.”
Money Matters USA
❖ Caught with suddenly decreased income, but increased medical and other expenses, widows often can’t get mortgage modifications because their names weren’t on the original loans and “many lenders won’t add them . . . until they pay any amounts that are past due.”
❖ NY’s Democratic Governor, Andrew Cuomo, is meeting with both House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other top Senate and House members in hopes of securing an additional $42 billion for post-Sandy repairs.
❖ The US Federal Housing Administration “sold off more than 9,400 delinquent home loans to investors and nonprofits for about $617 mllion this fall” and intends to sell 40,000 more in 2013. Their “thinking is that investors are more likely to be able to modify the mortgages more aggressively than FHA rules allow, making it more likely that borrowers will keep their homes.”
Politics USA
❖ Latest report: “Benghazi ‘Talking Points’ Watered Down by CIA, Not White House”.
❖ Seems New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) earlier this year asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for mayor of New York. Seems she’s not interested. Bigger fish to fry?
❖ Seems Fox News’ Roger Ailes, and even owner Rupert Murdoch, wanted General David Petraeus to run for president, but he ended up at the CIA and eventually in hot water instead.
❖ President Obama wants Democratic House member Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) to continue as head of the Democratic National Party.
❖ What a deal! Texas Republican Dick Armey was given $8 million to exit the T-party’s FreedomWorks, which he chaired.
❖ Tomorrow, pickets are to be outside 100 Social Security offices around the US, with the message “to keep Social Security out of the ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations on Capitol Hill.” Organizations such as the American Federation of Government Employees, Common Cause, the American Federation of Teachers, the Alliance for Retired Americans and AFO-CIO unions are part of the effort.
❖ 61% of registered NJ voters think their Republican Gov. Chris Christie should be re-elected.
❖ There are now more vacancies on the powerful DC Circuit of the US Court of Appeals. Would be a good opportunity to provide some balance to what is a conservative-lending court, but Senate Republicans will no doubt continue to block Obama court nominees.
Health, Homelessness & Hunger
❖ Interesting chart showing how many drugs each state intends to cover under their Affordable Care Act plans.
Education Directions
❖ A new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) “says the United States is now the only major economy in the world where the younger generation will not surpass the preceding generation in terms of schooling.” Only 20% of US youth will achieve higher educations than their parents, the lowest in the developed world. Why? Skyrocketing costs.
❖ Cooper Union in Manhattan “is one of eight free [non-military] higher education institutions in the country.” Its excellence is legendary. It also has a debt of $16.5 million and the Board of Trustees is trying to figure out how to shift some costs of expansion onto students and their parents. Students are now occupying the building.
Working for A Living
❖ Quelle surprise. WI’s anti-collective bargaining law, passed in 2011, is working according to plan. Membership in two teachers’ unions “has fallen by a third” and a merger of two rival unions might occur.
❖ Grover is hot on MI’s so-called right-to-work bill which would prohibit unions collecting dues as part of a condition of employment. Norquist wants MI to join 23 other states that have such laws.
❖ Changes to the Hatch Act have been approved by the Senate, opening the opportunity for public employees to campaign for public offices, among other modifications.
Planet Earth News
❖ The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released a report stating “We are on a collision course with nature” and must stop the “‘develop first, clean up later’ approach.” If we don’t adopt a model of sustainable development, of green growth, “The costs and consequences . . . would be colossal, both in economic and human terms.”
❖ The Missouri River feeds into the Mississippi River near St Louis, MO. Drought is so intense that the Mississippi River is 15 – 20 feet lower than normal. Nonetheless, fracking operators in ND “are demanding immense quantities of Missouri River water be diverted to them, further threatening levels on the Mississippi.” If barge traffic on the Mississippi has to be halted for a couple of months, impact on trade will be immense.
Heads Up!
❖ James K. Galbraith: [T]alking in terms of the “one percent” . . . doesn’t clarify what is truly at issue. . . . People care about their public services, they care about schools, they care about the environment . . . , they care about safety, they care about the terms of student loans, they care about health care and retirement.” Much more.
❖ “Verizon has filed a patent for a DVR that can watch and listen to the goings-on in your living room.” The purpose of such intrusion? So they can target ads “appropriate to whatever you’re doing in the, uh, privacy of your own home”. Comcast and Google are in on this, too.
Latin America
❖ Argentina is now faced with defending its decision to seize Spanish oil company Repsol’s assets in Argentina. Repsol has appealed to the World Bank about the case.
❖ Heliopolis in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has a population of over 100,000 living together in a huge slum. Thanks to innovative, forward-thinking city planners and creative architects, a whole new community is emerging.
Break Time
❖ Gorgeous advent calendar from Hubble.
Photo by J. Spencer, Lowell Observatory, and NASA in the public domain.
23 Comments
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About FDL News Desk
Aloha, fatster…! As I’m fixing to head up the Mtn tonite, let’s dispense with the recent Syrian wmd propaganda, once and for all…! No evidence Syria mixing chemical agents, Pentagon official says…!
And in local news, Global Warming has arrived in Hilo… Hilo’s famed waterfall runs dry…! 8-(
Oh, that’s terrible about the waterfall, CTuttle. Is the first large one here the same one?
Thanks for the Armey news….really. I did not know the talent for being obnoxious was so lucrative. Takes practice, I guess.
Greetings, Fatster. Thank you for your hard work. Tonight’s roundup is a little quieter than usual. That’s a good thing in my opinion.
I’m still of the mind this was a good thing and needs to happen more often.
Well, then, I’m pleased to have stumbled upon it and made the link, RevBev. Thank you!
I didn’t realize the Roundups were so noisy, Gothrykke. That’s an interesting observation and if you care to elaborate, that’d be great.
I’ve been saving this one for you: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20603689
Do you think we should suggest they name it after you? I thought that’d be a nice touch.
Re: #1
I wonder what the Pentagon is expecting Syria to telegraph to us about this. Maybe it’s just easier to to assume a negative until proven otherwise.
Sarin was the gas used by a Japanese domestic terrorist group in a Tokyo subway in 1995. So apparently making the stuff isn’t too hard to do, and might not be noticed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin
LOL, not noisy, full of strife and heartache. Apparently people were less hurtful today.
Ooo, I really like the current rover. This sounds like a good idea, the setup is sound and pretty stable. Naming it after me, is silly, but does feed my massive ego.
We’ve got seven years to think it over, Gothrykke. No hurry.
:)
They could be less hurtful right now because “The Holidays” are near. Maybe we should have more Holidays to focus their attention on merriment (assuming we can’t get them to focus on compassion and other mushy stuff like that) so they won’t be up to so much harm. Ya think?
I’m up top now, yes, that first waterfall is Rainbow Falls, the earlier video shots are from upsteam, that other waterfall is ‘Akaka Falls…!
Thnx so much, CTuttle. It will be back. Won’t it?
We have difficulty guaranteeing
A supreme right as codified in out constitution, from fascist bastards, seeking to restrict rights that otherwise exposes criminals in crime, and identify real traitors to this republic?
Morning, pups. Last day here for us in beautiful Barbados. Back to the cold this afternoon. Jamie Galbraith’s piece is right on target. The implied economics is correct and compelling. He’s right to be pessimistic, though. The idea that government is a ‘burden’ on the economy rather than a potentially productive part of it is so deeply engrained in us by propaganda and so-called common sense (the earth is flat kind) that rational use of our resources to secure the goods and sevices we really want and need is unlikely to happen in our lifetimes if ever. Without using the dreaded and forbidden term, his summary of US economic history since the late 70s reveals the internal contradictions of American political economy.
As to Bernstein’s point on capital controls, the whole thing could be done more efficientlt with Tobin-type taxes on capital transfers. Straight controls would eventually screw up the exchange rate.
forest fire caused evacuations, rocky mountains colorado, December 2012.
Note there is no snow in the mountains, as shown in the picture.
“The Fern Lake Fire, which has been burning in Rocky Mountain National Park since October, continues to burn and has forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes east of the fire on December 2, 2012.”
http://photos.denverpost.com/2012/12/02/photos-fern-lake-fire-flares-in-high-winds/
unusual catgegory five storm.
NEW BATAAN, Philippines (UPDATED) – The death toll from a typhoon that ravaged the Philippines jumped to 274 Wednesday with hundreds more missing, as rescuers battled to reach areas cut off by floods and mudslides.
Typhoon Bopha slammed into the southern island of Mindanao Tuesday, toppling trees and blowing away thousands of homes with 210-kilometre (130-mile) per hour gusts before easing and heading towards the South China Sea.
A total of 253 people died in and around the gold-rush mountain towns of New Bataan and Monkayo due to typhoon-spawned landslides and flash floods there, civil defence chief Benito Ramos told reporters.
“These are whole families, six or seven names with the same surnames. It is saddening to think entire families have been washed away,” Interior Secretary Roxas said.
“There is hardly any structure that is undamaged,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN television.
“We need to rush to these areas body bags, medicines, dry clothes and most importantly tents, because survivors are living out in the open,” Social Welfare Secretary Soliman told AFP.
Shell-shocked survivors scrabbled through the rubble of their homes to find anything that could be recovered among a surrounding wasteland of flattened banana and coconut trees.
Ramos said 279 other people were still missing, while 339 others were treated for injuries.
About 178,000 people remained huddled in evacuation centres, mostly crowded schoolhouses, gyms and other government buildings, officials said.”
with photographs , scroll down, this was a comment.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2304
As long as “terror” doesn’t include things that we do, like bomb kids with drones, I don’t think we can even countenance such statistics. Bombing is the worst form of terrorism, and we have often liked to do it “carpet” style. Ya gotta take the ruling-class view with a grain of salt.
The idea that people who want to rape you would be better at running your government than you and your fellow citizens has always been a bit suspect.
Whatever one thinks about Susan Rice, she was not involved in the events of Benghazi. Rice may not even be a member of the Secret Government. The failures of Benghazi belong to Petraeus and the CIA.
We may never know what actually happened. But the CIA annex that was attacked with mortars, was a secret prison. There may have been weapons that were captured by the Al Qaeda Affiliate in Libya. Or perhaps, the phony movie “Innocence of Petraeus”, and the attack, was a False Flag Op. Perhaps the CIA wanted Al Qaeda in Benghazi, to be resupplied with weapons.
Originally, Hannity, Rush, Beck, McCain, Ollie North and the rest, wanted to impeach Obama, because of Benghazi. The Republicans have lowered their expectations to only stop Susan Rice if she is selected to replace Hillary Clinton.
As I have said, the proper person to go on the Sunday tee vee is Vickie Nuland, highly paid spokesliar at the State Department. Mrs. Kagan is a neo-con who is helping the Republicans since she is on Team Petraeus.
Either the Senators who have been criticizing Rice got the same version that she did, or they didn’t. If they got the version that wasn’t watered down, Petraeus should be fired, retroactively.
That’ll end well.
The failures at Benghazi by Petraeus, was transformed into a debate about who said what when, and the President allowed four more deaths. As if four deaths amount to much. as if the Drones will save us.
I think the “Briefing” for the public, on the Saturday after 9-11-12, was given to Senators and Susan Rice, One trusted non-anonymous source explains it better than Susan Rice or Lindsey Graham or Petraeus’ Press Cult.
Sounds like fascism, to me Frankie. The propensity for abuse, is now documented.
The Golden Goose Awards
” The purpose of the “Golden Goose” award is to demonstrate the human and economic benefits of federally funded research by highlighting examples of seemingly obscure studies that have led to major breakthroughs and resulted in significant societal impact. Such breakthroughs include development of life-saving medicines and treatments; game-changing social and behavioral insights; and major technological advances related to national security, energy, the environment, communications, and public health. Such breakthroughs may also have resulted in economic growth through the creation of new industries or companies.”
some recipients of this year’s awards:
“In a serendipitous merging of research interests that began in the 1960s, four scientists in different fields came up with an ideal bone graft material from an unlikely source: the coral found in tropical oceans. Support for this research came from the National Institutes of Health.
None of the scientists had set out to find a bone graft material. ”
http://www.goldengooseaward.org/portfolio-view/coralline-ceramics-2/