From ctmock at gmail.com Sat Apr 5 06:28:05 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:28:05 -0500 Subject: [News] Stagflation Newsletter - April 5, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Stagflation By Carlos T. Mock, MD. Updated April 5, 2008 A choice can be implemented that tends to improve growth, but does it ignite systemic inflation? A choice can be implemented that tends to fight inflation, but how badly does it impinge growth? I predict that we?ll see stagflation in 2008. In modern times, it will be only after the central bank has used all possible tools to meet both goals, using the best quantitative measures it has at its disposal, for stagflation to occur. Major economic conditions of unusual proportion have already created near-crises on both fronts. Stagflation will occur because the central bank has rendered itself powerless to fix either inflation or stagnation. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/stagflation.html Your Lack of Money Ben Bernanke: Bear rescue not a bailout - Senators are told possible collapse was a threat to global financial system. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribunes. April 4, 2008. WASHINGTON ? The collapse of a big Wall Street firm was imminent and global markets were in no condition to accept the news calmly when Treasury Department and Federal Reserve officials met by conference call at 5 a.m. March 14. Their crisis-mode consultations, which led quickly to a rescue deal of Bear Stearns with $30 billion of government backing, was no bailout of wealthy investors; it was a desperation move to protect the broader economy, a top Treasury official told Congress on Thursday in a gripping session of testimony. "We judged that a sudden, disorderly failure of Bear would have brought with it unpredictable but severe consequences for the functioning of the broader financial system and the broader economy," said New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/ben-bernanke-bear-takeov er-not-bailout.html 80,000 jobs lost in March as unemployment hits 5.1% By James P. Miller. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 2:10 PM CDT, April 4, 2008. U.S. employers slashed 80,000 workers from their payrolls last month -- the third consecutive monthly decline and the biggest one-month drop in five years -- as the nation's increasingly troubled economy continued to slump, the Labor Department said Friday. Unemployment rose from February's 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent, above the 5.0 percent level experts had been forecasting -- and also the highest jobless rate since September 2005. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/80000-jobs-lost-in-march -as.html Indian Firm may make offer for Motorola;s cell-phone division - Appliance-maker Videocon may bid By Wailin Wong. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 3, 2008. An interested buyer has emerged for Motorola Inc.'s beleaguered cell phone unit, but it's not one of the company's handset competitors or a marquee consumer electronics manufacturer. Meet Videocon Industries Ltd., a maker of home appliances that is little-known outside its native India but has global ambitions. The company's chairman, Venugopal Dhoot, told Bloomberg News he is in the early stages of evaluating a bid for Motorola's handset division. Dhoot did not specify the financial terms or other details of his offer. Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson said the company does not "comment on rumor." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/indian-firm-may-make-off er-for.html ATA grounds flights and files for protection By Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 3 2008 19:13 | Last updated: April 3 2008 19:13. ATA Airlines on Thursday cancelled all its flights, fired most of its 2,230 employees and filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest casualty in a US commercial-aviation industry buffeted by record fuel costs, competition and ebbing demand. ATA also blamed its demise on FedEx, which pulled the carrier from an agreement to transport US military personnel and their families internationally. The airlift contract comprised most of ATA?s charter business. The shutdown dealt a blow to Southwest Airlines, which had reached a 2005 code-sharing agreement with ATA that allowed each carrier to book passengers on the other?s flights. Southwest had viewed the carrier as a springboard to its first international offerings. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/ata-grounds-flights-and- files-for.html Dell to shut down manufacturing plant By Richard Waters in San Francisco. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 1 2008 02:30 | Last updated: April 1 2008 02:30. Dell is to shut a manufacturing plant for what is believed to be the first time in its 24-year history as it struggles to slash costs and rebuilt its profit margins. The closure of the plant - which assembles PCs - is located in Austin, Texas, Dell?s headquarters, will result in the loss of some 900 jobs. The move is part of what Dell characterised as an attempt to wipe $3bn from its annual operating costs, which last year topped $50bn/Dell extends job cuts to aid turnround By Kevin Allison in Round Rock. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 3 2008 18:43 | Last updated: April 3 2008 18:43. Michael Dell, Dell chief executive, said on Thursday that the company planned to cut more than the 8,800 jobs announced previously as part of a plan to restore sales and profits at the struggling computer-maker. News of the additional cuts came as Mr Dell and other top executives updated Wall Street analysts about the progress of Dell?s turnround. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/dell-to-shut-down-manufa cturing-plant.html Channel 2 cuts from the top - Burns, Childers axed in dramatic newsroom purge By Phil Rosenthal. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 11:56 PM CDT, March 31, 2008. After years of telling viewers about job cuts in the steel industry, among automakers, in the airline business and elsewhere, it's now WBBM-Ch. 2 anchor Diann Burns' industry?the media?shrinking. It's now her job lost. Burns, reputed to be the city's highest-paid anchor, at $2 million per year, was part of the most dramatic single-day newsroom purge in Chicago TV history. Beyond its lead anchor, the CBS-owned station on Monday cast off lead sportscaster Mark Malone, longtime anchor-turned-health correspondent Mary Ann Childers, reporter Katie McCall, as well as several behind-the-scenes personnel. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/channel-2-cuts-from-top- burns-childers.html Gold and Commodities Oil $103.83 Silver Bullion $17.76 Gold Bullion $913 Platinum Bullion $ $2015 Dollar rallies on banking write-downs By Peter Garnham. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 1 2008 11:03 | Last updated: April 1 2008 11:03. The dollar rallied against European currencies on Tuesday as news of subprime related losses at two European banks fuelled the notion that the problems emanating from the current credit crisis would not be restricted to the US. Both UBS, the Swiss bank, and Germany?s Deutsche Bank announced substantial writedowns. ?Announcements of losses and mark-downs at Deutsche and UBS have soured the tone for European currencies after their strength on Monday,? said Adrian Schmidt at RBS. The dollar, which came close to hitting its record low of $1.5904 against the euro on Monday, rose 0.6 per cent to $1.5676 against the single currency, gained 1 per cent to SFr1.0034 against the Swiss franc and climbed 0.3 per cent to $1.9778 against the pound. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/dollar-rallies-on-bankin g-write-downs.html Corn prices surge to record levels as worries of shortfall grow By Stevenson Jacobs. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 4, 2008. NEW YORK ? Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel Thursday, driven up by an expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans' growing grocery bill and further squeeze struggling ethanol producers. Corn prices have shot up nearly 30 percent this year amid dwindling stockpiles and surging demand for the grain used to feed livestock and make alternative fuels including ethanol. Prices are poised to go even higher after the U.S. government this week predicted that American farmers, the world's biggest corn producers, will plant sharply less of the crop in 2008 compared with last year. "It's a demand-driven market and we may not be planting enough acres to supply demand, so that adds to the bullishness of corn," said Elaine Kub, a grains analyst with DTN in Omaha. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/corn-prices-surge-to-rec ord-levels-as.html Housing Fannie and Freddie drive home loans By Saskia Scholtes in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 2 2008 19:23 | Last updated: April 2 2008 19:23. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other government-sponsored mortgage companies have become the backbone of the troubled US mortgage market as purely private sources of finance have all but dried up. Fannie, Freddie and the Federal Home Loan Banks , a network of bank co-operatives founded during the Great Depression, provided 90 per cent of the financing for new mortgages at the end of 2007, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which regulates Fannie and Freddie. The increasing role of the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs as they are known, reverses years of declining market share. Fannie and Freddie provide financing by buying mortgages and packaging them into securities. The FHLBs lend money to their member banks against mortgage collateral. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/fannie-and-freddie-drive -home-loans.html Surge in US bank borrowing from Fed By Krishna Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 4 2008 00:48 | Last updated: April 4 2008 00:48. Bank borrowing from the Federal Reserve?s discount window surged in recent days, as primary dealers continued to draw still larger amounts of cash from their new emergency finance facility, figures released by the US central bank showed on Thursday. The Fed said bank borrowing from the discount window averaged $7bn in the week to April 2 ? a $6.5bn jump from the previous week. The total amount outstanding on April 2 was $10.3bn. Meanwhile borrowing from the new emergency finance facility for primary dealers - including investment banks that do not have access to the discount window - rose $5.2bn to average $38.1bn over the week, though the amount outstanding dipped to $34.4bn on April 2. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/surge-in-us-bank-borrowi ng-from-fed.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Catching a US cold Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 2 2008 18:53 | Last updated: April 2 2008 18:53. After the credit squeeze are we heading for an affordability crunch? The UK housing market, resilient in the face of the global financial turmoil of the past six months, may have finally caught a dose of America?s economic flu. The question now is whether the property slowdown turns into a slump. Official data show a near 40 per cent year-on-year fall in mortgage approvals. The decision by First Direct, part of HSBC, to suspend new mortgage lending marks a serious reappraisal by one of the UK?s biggest lenders. Despite falls in the Bank of England?s base interest rate, and probable further easing to come, average interest rates on new fixed-rate mortgage deals have been rising. Tighter credit conditions have forced banks to withdraw products, reducing the number of mortgages available. Homeowners are finding it expensive to refinance debt. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/financial-times-editoria l-comment.html International Financial Times Editorial Comment: Nato closes ranks. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 4 2008 19:15 | Last updated: April 4 2008 19:15. President George W. Bush did not get everything he wanted from Nato?s summit that ended on Friday in Bucharest, but he got quite a bit. Washington secured alliance support for US missile defence plans in Europe ? implying agreement there is a threat from Iran that warrants the scheme. He did not win an immediate offer for Ukraine and Georgia of membership action plans ? the final stage before alliance membership ? but got a pledge the two countries? destinies lie with Nato and a promise to look again at the question before the year is out. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/financial-times-editoria l-comment-nato.html Mugabe opts for run-off election By Alec Russell, Southern Africa Correspondent. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 4 2008 19:23 | Last updated: April 4 2008 19:23. Zimbabwe was braced on Friday night for weeks of political turmoil after President Robert Mugabe backed hardliners in his Zanu-PF party and opted to fight a run-off presidential race against the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. In a further sign of a hardening of the party?s stance, it also said it would demand a recount in 16 parliamentary constituencies. On Wednesday the electoral authorities conceded Zanu-PF had lost control of parliament to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/mugabe-opts-for-run-off- election.html Mugabe loses control of parliament By Alec Russell, Southern Africa Correspondent. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 1 2008 19:44 | Last updated: April 2 2008 19:27. President Robert Mugabe?s Zanu-PF party lost control of Zimbabwe?s parliament on Wednesday for the first time since independence 28 years ago in a humiliating setback for the veteran autocrat even as the opposition declared it had also unseated him from the presidency. Four days after unofficial figures from Saturday?s elections indicated the Movement for Democratic Change was sweeping to victory, the authorities finally conceded defeat in the parliamentary race and issued official results giving the MDC a slender majority in the lower house. This marks the most significant turning point in Zimbabwe since it won independence from Britain in 1980 and ceased to be Rhodesia, as it was known in the colonial era. But the MDC was not celebrating on Wednesday night as it waited for Mr Mugabe to react to its claims that it had won an outright victory in the presidential poll. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/mugabe-loses-control-of- parliament.html China On Asia: China in too deep to gloat over subprime By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 4 2008 16:20 | Last updated: April 4 2008 16:20. Given all the financial troubles that the US is facing, you might expect the Chinese authorities to indulge in a spot of schadenfreude. Having sat through all those lectures about the need to liberalise financial markets and the importance of letting foreign investment banks do their stuff on Chinese turf, a certain amount of quiet satisfaction might be in order. Indeed, as one Chinese official put it the other day: ?The subprime market is very complicated. Chinese banks are not nearly sophisticated enough to make those sorts of mistakes.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/on-asia-china-in-too-dee p-to-gloat-over.html Mess-o-potamia Al-Maliki halts raids on militia By Liz Sly. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 3:35 AM CDT, April 5, 2008. BAGHDAD ? As the dust settles on the inconclusive battle of Basra, only one thing has become clear: The problems of Iraq are still a long way from being solved. Instead, the country appears headed for a new phase in the 5-year-old war, one in which the country's dominant Shiite factions battle it out for power and influence. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday declared a "freeze" on raids against the Mahdi Army. This effectively concluded the humiliating climbdown he was forced to make after sending the Iraqi army into Basra to take on what he called "criminal gangs," only to see much of southern Iraq and Baghdad engulfed by a violent backlash from the powerful Mahdi Army loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/al-maliki-halts-raids-on -militia.html National New financial rules won't stop bad choices BY STEVE HUNTLEY. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 1, 2008. Various experts on the economy have expressed the view that if only the Federal Reserve had had more power and oversight authority, it could have detected the looming housing/credit crisis and prevented or at least eased the troubled times we find ourselves in. That notion is incorporated to some degree in the Bush administration's proposed overhaul of the nation's financial regulatory apparatus announced Monday. Yet how realistic is that? No one needed a Ph.D. in economics or an arsenal of government regulations to see more than a year ago that a dangerous bubble and a get-rich-quick mentality were inundating the housing market. Newspapers carried stories of speculators buying and reselling homes at big profits in a matter of days, and in some spectacular cases, within hours. Home prices skyrocketed and everyone bet on the come. Sound mortgage practices went out the window as buyers and lenders -- and the speculators who gobbled up these mortgages as investments in the arcane derivative markets -- gambled that next year's higher price could cover this year's suspect financing. Here's a startling statistic: There was no down payment on 29 percent of the mortgages originated in 2007. Is it any wonder we're hearing that millions lost this wild bet and are now stuck with mortgages worth more than the value of their homes? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-financial-rules-wont -stop-bad.html Bush Whacking Financial Times Editorial Comment: Paulson?s gamble. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: March 31 2008 19:10 | Last updated: March 31 2008 19:10. It must have been tempting to aim for a quick, crowd-pleasing goal, such as the introduction of hanging for those who sell or repackage subprime mortgages. But Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, certainly does not plan to fight the last war. His long-awaited blueprint for streamlining the US financial regulatory system is not a knee-jerk response to the credit crisis. That is a relief, given the current clamour for Something To Be Done. It may even be a step in the right direction. Mr Paulson?s proposal is to widen the regulatory net and give greater powers to a smaller number of regulators. The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, is to merge with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Insurers could opt for federal regulation rather than state regulation. The Federal Reserve would acquire more power to curb risk-taking by investment banks, although this power is intended only to be used when the overall stability of the financial markets is under threat. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/paulson-says-shake-up-ma y-take-many.html Bush appears out of touch on U.S. economic woes By Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 3, 2008. WASHINGTON: The first hint that President George W. Bush might be detached from the nation's economic woes was in February, when he conceded that he had not heard about predictions of $4-a-gallon gasoline. Then Bush went to Wall Street to warn against "massive government intervention in the housing markets," two days before his administration helped broker the takeover of the investment bank Bear Stearns. Now Bush is in Eastern Europe, one of eight foreign trips he is taking this year. As he delivered his farewell address to NATO on Wednesday, Senate Democrats and Republicans were scrambling to produce a bill to help struggling homeowners, the kind of government intervention Bush had cautioned against. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/bush-appears-out-of-touc h-on-us.html International Herald Tribune Editorial - Bush's fear of regulating. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 3, 2008. To understand the White House's blueprint for regulating the financial markets, start with what the Bush administration did not do. It did not offer America a plan to respond to the ongoing credit crisis or to the Federal Reserve's dramatic intervention to prevent the collapse of Bear Stearns. It certainly did not provide a roadmap for avoiding this sort of meltdown in the future. The Fed's role in the Bear debacle has put taxpayers at risk of having to shoulder big losses, but the administration's so-called regulatory reform does not address what the Bear mess made obvious: if something goes badly wrong in under-regulated or unregulated corners of the financial markets, it could topple the whole system. In fact, the blueprint was mostly developed before the current financial crisis and accordingly comes across as outdated. The message of the administration's proposals is that the markets will - and should - return to where they were before the near-collapse of Bear Stearns. It's doubtful whether many of its suggested policies would have been apt even in that earlier context. It's indisputable that they are inapt now. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_04.html International Herald Tribune Editorial - Wasting and wanting at the Pentagon. Copyright byh The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 2, 2008. If ever there was an indictment of the wanton ways that the Pentagon wastes money, a new report by U.S. government auditors is it. Dozens of the Pentagon's most costly weapons programs are billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. President George W. Bush and a far-too-compliant Congress have already wasted more than $600 billion on the disastrous Iraq war. Since Bush took office, the Pentagon's weapons acquisition budget has doubled from $790 billion in 2000 to $1.6 trillion last year. Now, in stark terms, we see that an unseemly percentage of that money has gone to wasteful cost overruns and delays. Even when weapons systems are finally delivered, investigators say, far too many fail to deliver the capabilities promised. One example: the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile recorded four failures in four flight tests in 2007. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_03.html International Herald Tribune Editorial - More flimflam on warming. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: March 30, 2008. On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Air Act empowered the Environmental Protection Agency to address greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. The ruling instructed the agency to determine whether global warming pollution endangers health and welfare - an "endangerment finding" - and, if so, to devise emissions standards for motor vehicles. One year has passed, and despite repeated promises from President George W. Bush and the EPA administrator, Stephen Johnson, nothing has happened. Last week, Johnson notified Congress that he had discovered new regulatory complexities and decided against immediate action. Instead, he planned to offer an "advanced notice of proposed rule-making," which requires a laborious bureaucratic process that would almost certainly stretch beyond the end of Bush's term. Johnson appears to have tried to do the right thing. He ordered his staff to write an endangerment finding and craft regulations limiting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from vehicles. In December, according to congressional testimony from senior EPA officials, he sent the whole package to the White House. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_31.html Bush housing official resigns By Daniel Pimlott in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: March 31 2008 17:12 | Last updated: March 31 2008 17:12. The top housing official in the Bush administration resigned on Monday at a crucial point in government efforts to deal with rising foreclosures. Alphonso Jackson, who has run the Department of Housing and Urban Development since 2004, said he was stepping down for personal and family reasons. His resignation comes after the housing authority in the city of Philadelphia recently filed a suit against him alleging that he tried to punish the agency for blocking a deal involving a friend of his. The FBI has also been investigating his relations with a friend who was paid by the department as a construction manager in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/bush-housing-official-re signs.html Indecision 2008 The Top Ten Craziest Things John McCain Has Said While You Weren't Watching By Cliff Schecter. Copyright by Alternet,org. Much of McCain's madness has been lost in the fog of the ongoing battle for the Democratic nomination -- so here's a recap of what you've missed. John McCain has been saying a lot of downright nutty things lately. You've probably come across some of them, such as his admitted lack of knowledge about economics or his excitement at the prospect of remaining in Greater Mesopotamia for the next ten decades. Yet, alas, much of his craziness has been lost in the fog of the ongoing battle between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. So here's a recap of some nuggets of wisdom you may have missed -- from McCain's mouth to Bellevue's Ears. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/top-ten-craziest-things- john-mccain-has.html Obama?s fundraising puts heat on Clinton By Edward Luce in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 3 2008 18:45 | Last updated: April 3 2008 18:45. Barack Obama?s record-breaking online fund-raising continued in March, netting $40m (?20m, ?25m) from almost half a million donors in spite of his defeats to Hillary Clinton in Texas and Ohio at the start of the month. Mrs Clinton?s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, which is estimated to have raised only half of Mr Obama?s total in March, on Thursday said that her opponent had been outspending her by four-to-one in Pennsylvania, which holds the next primary election on April 22. The Clinton campaign, which is projected to win Pennsylvania although some polls show her lead narrowing, estimated that Mr Obama would continue to outspend her by two-to-one in TV advertising in the less than three weeks remaining. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/obamas-fundraising-puts- heat-on-clinton_04.html Obama says Clinton should stay in race 'as long as she wants' - Says nominee should be settled come June By Mike Dorning. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 9:21 AM CDT, March 30, 2008. JOHNSTOWN, Pa. ? Barack Obama rejected suggestions from his allies that rival Hillary Clinton should end her presidential campaign, saying Saturday that she should "stay in as long as she wants." The Illinois senator told reporters that fears that the prolonged primary battle is dividing the Democratic Party are "somewhat overstated." Even so, Obama argued that the Democratic Party must quickly settle on a nominee after the final primary votes are cast on June 3 so Democrats can quickly shift to the general election campaign that presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona already has begun. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/obama-says-clinton-shoul d-stay-in-race.html Hillary Clinton cannot let go of her dream By Sally Bedell Smith. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 2 2008 18:26 | Last updated: April 2 2008 18:26. Hillary Clinton?s chances of winning the Democratic presidential nomination are now anywhere from 5 per cent to 20 per cent. By rights she should be flat on her back, declared the loser by technical knockout. But not only is she standing; she is plunging ahead with a dogged ferocity. In spite of Barack Obama?s clear advantage in the popular vote and committed delegate tallies ? a mathematical dominance unlikely to be reversed even if he loses most of the remaining primary contests ? Mrs Clinton says she is being bullied by the ?big boys? and vows to stay in the race until the Democratic convention. Her relentless campaign has inspired reporters variously to compare her, with a mixture of admiration and horror, to the Terminator, a zombie, a cyborg and Anton Chigurh, the malevolent killer in No Country for Old Men. Even the coughing spasms that have seized her with alarming frequency these past few months have become an emblem of her fortitude. After she muscled her way through a foreign policy address, The New Yorker praised her ability to ?suppress the coughing through sheer will?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/hillary-clinton-cannot-l et-go-of-her.html In Clinton's worldview, lying is OK if it gets her votes By Leonard Pitts. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 1, 2008. "It was just my imagination, once again, running away with me." ?The Temptations, 1971. In a way, it's unfair to single out Hillary Clinton for lying. They all do it, after all. Eight years ago, John McCain, conductor on the Straight Talk Express, swore he saw nothing wrong with South Carolina flying the Confederate battle flag atop its statehouse. He later acknowledged this was a lie. Last week, St. Barack Obama called for passage of legislation "I put forward with my colleague Chris Dodd" to help homeowners threatened by foreclosure. The Washington Post says Obama's co-authorship of the bill came as news to Sen. Dodd. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/in-clintons-worldview-ly ing-is-ok-if-it.html Clintons? tax details made public By Edward Luce in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 4 2008 22:52 | Last updated: April 4 2008 23:28. Hillary and Bill Clinton have earned $109m since they left the White House in 2000, according to tax returns released by the Clinton presidential campaign on Friday. The records, which Barack Obama had been pressing Mrs Clinton to release since the start of the campaign, reveal that the former First Lady is by far the wealthiest of the remaining candidates and the second-richest after Mitt Romney, who dropped out in February. Between 2000 and 2006, the couple paid $33.7m in taxes and gave away $10.25m to charity. ?The Clintons have now made public 30 years of tax returns, a record matched by few people in public service,? said a Clinton spokesman, on Friday. ?None of her presidential opponents have revealed anything close to this amount of personal financial information.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/clintons-tax-details-mad e-public.html Chicagoland Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - 10 tips for Stroger on hiring watchdog. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 2, 2008. As part of his election campaign, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger promised to hire an independent inspector general, someone to investigate corruption in county government without fear or favor. While he's a bit late in keeping his promise, he's made some promising steps. An independent panel, filled with solid names, has been set up to recommend a new inspector general, to replace the current one, who has deep ties to the Stroger family. The panel was allowed this week to hire its own executive search firm, after some resistance from a Stroger ally on the County Board. The annual salary for the new inspector general has been increased more than 50 percent to $150,000, a move designed to attract talent to the job. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-10-tips-for.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - The new taxspeak. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 2, 2008. Hearing Donna Dunnings?she of the loathsome 1 percent sales tax increase, she of the breathtaking 12 percent pay raise?explain Cook County's need for still more new tax revenues touched our hearts. We realized how much we've been missing the late John Stroger. He was better at this. When John Stroger was president of the County Board, he was candid about his desire for more tax revenues to sustain his vast patronage army. Example: On Jan. 6, 2005, Stroger explained why he wanted new taxes from people who owned cell phones, pagers and other telecommunications devices. Why them? Stroger's candid rationale in its entirety: "We would like to get their money from a tax." Asked what mergers of redundant offices, consolidations of duties or other spending reforms he would execute to lower the burden on taxpayers, Stroger just smiled and said nothing. John Stroger, sadly, is no longer with us. His son Todd has his father's old job. Donna Dunnings?John's niece, Todd's cousin?is Cook County's chief financial officer. Really, though, she's much more than that. Todd isn't always dialed in; some county wags refer to Donna as "President Dunnings." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-tribune-editoria l-new-taxspeak.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - Emil Jones and a recall Vote. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 4, 2008. A constitutional amendment to let voters fire inept state officeholders is almost halfway to the Nov. 4 general election ballot. There appears to be strong support in the Illinois House. Whether such an amendment is approved for a ballot slot by the May 4 deadline rests primarily with Senate President Emil Jones and his fellow Senate Democrats. For too long those Democratic senators have been inexplicably willing to let Jones, their leader, enable the frantic antics of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-tribune-editoria l-emil-jones.html Gov replies -- but he never answers BY CAROL MARIN Sun-Times Columnist. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. March 30, 2008. Talk about ?must-see TV.? Thursday on NBC5?s 5 p.m. newscast, veteran reporter Phil Rogers did a story on Gov. Blagojevich that ought to be required viewing for every student of crisis management and every student of journalism. If you are an aspiring crisis manager, then what follows is a textbook case of how not to handle questions about a difficult subject. And if you are an aspiring journalist, it is a superb study in how even the most relentless reporter can?t, short of waterboarding, make an unwilling public official give a straight answer to a direct question. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/gov-replies-but-he-never -answers.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Keep kids' museum out of Grant Park. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 4, 2008. Building a children's museum in Grant Park is still a bad idea. And the folks who say it's a bad idea are still not racists, whatever Mayor Daley may say. On Thursday, Daley signaled that he's ready to walk right over the objections of children's museum critics. His Chicago Park District and the museum forged ahead by applying for a zoning change to build the $100 million museum. Daley has the votes to push the plan through the City Council, despite complaints from Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) and residents of the nearby high-rises. And Daley knows that if they continue to yap, he can do again what he's now done twice -- tar them as a bunch of bigots afraid of little black children. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-keep-kids.html Technology Apple's iTunes the No. 1 music seller, besting Wal-Mart by Eric Benderoff at 12:45 p.m. and updated at 2:15 p.m.. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 3, 2008. Apple just released an announcement confirming it is the nation's top seller of music, passing Wal-Mart. The source is NPD Group's Music Watch Survey, which said Apple surpassed Wal-Mart in overall music sales in both January and February. In 2007, Apple passed Best Buy to become the nation's second largest music seller. ?We launched iTunes less than five years ago, and it has now become the number one music retailer in the world,? said Eddy Cue, Apple?s vice president of iTunes, in the press release. ?We are thrilled, and would like to thank all of our customers for helping us reach this incredible milestone.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/apples-itunes-no-1-music -seller-besting.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Software wars. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 3 2008 19:10 | Last updated: April 3 2008 19:10. Allegations of committee-stuffing, the outcome of votes overridden by political appointees, a final decision that many involved consider tainted: this may sound like a discredited election in some third world country. But it is actually a description of an ugly fight over international technical standards that wrapped up this week. Microsoft came out on top, but at the cost of tarnishing its reputation and the credibility of an important back-room process that oils the wheels of many global industries. The setting of technical standards is not meant to make for such good spectator sport. But it is inevitable that commercial and political interests will encroach on territory best left to the technical experts. That has been the case with Microsoft?s pursuit of standards recognition for the document formats contained in the latest version of its Office software. Microsoft?s PC software is already a de facto standard, but without formal recognition from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) there was a risk governments and other big customers would have started to turn to an alternative that already had international support, the ODF standard backed by IBM. Microsoft got what it wanted ? though only after pulling every lever it could to swing early opposition in its favour. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/financial-times-editoria l-comment_04.html Immigration Rules to Be Waived for Border Fence By EILEEN SULLIVAN. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 10:58 AM CDT, April 1, 2008. WASHINGTON - The Bush administration plans to use its authority to bypass more than 30 laws and regulations in an effort to finish building 670 miles of fence along the southwest U.S. border by the end of this year, federal officials said Tuesday. Invoking the two legal waivers -- which Congress authorized -- would cut through bureaucratic red tape and sidestep environmental laws that currently stand in the way of the Homeland Security Department building 267 miles of fencing in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, according to officials familiar with the plan. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the waivers had not yet been announced. The move would be the biggest use of legal waivers since the administration started building the fence, and it would cover a total of 470 miles along the Southwest border. Previously, the department has used its waiver authority for two portions of fence in Arizona and one portion in San Diego. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.bloodspot.com/2008/04/rules-to-be-waived-for- border-fence.html GLBT Chicago Free Press Editorial: Act like an Owner. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. April 2, 2008. On April 9 hundreds of Illinoisans are journeying to the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield to participate in Equality Illinois? Lobby Day. The main topic of the day, of course, is support for Rep. Greg Harris? civil unions bill. If passed, the bill would give gay and lesbian couples all of the rights and responsibilities the State of Illinois gives straight married couples. It?s not marriage?not in name and not in the eyes of the federal government?but until we win that, and we will, it gives gay and lesbian couples and their families some sorely needed benefits and legal clarity. If the bill passes and is signed by the governor, Illinois would become the first state in the country?s heartland?the first state not on the East Coast or the West Coast?to pass such a measure. It would be an historic occurrence. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/civil-union-lobby-day-ne ars.html A simple request from Illinois State Representative Greg Harris. He is an openly gay state rep and a personal friend of mine and mentor. Please help him in his efforts to pass a Civil Unions Bill. This would help bring the LBGTQ community closer towards the equal rights we deserve. Another way you can help is to forward this to all your freinds and family. Heck send it to people you don't know :) and ask them all to do the same. Subject: Help me pass civil unions, take action now on www.CivilUnionsIllinois.org. I am writing to ask for your help with my efforts to pass a Civil Unions bill in Illinois. I have worked on this since the day I took office, and now that we are getting close to success, I am pulling out all the stops asking friends to help get us to the finish line. I know you are busy, but if you could take a few seconds to help me, I would really appreciate it. Please click on www.CivilUnionsIllinois.org and send a free, instant message to the legislature in support of the civil unions bill I have authored. You can read more about the legislation and the pressing need for civil unions on www.CivilUnionsIllinois.org. I have worked hand in hand with groups across the State such as Equality Illinois, Lambda Legal, PFLAG, ACLU and others to reach out to their members. We have a Facebook.com group where 8,000 Illinois students have joined the effort. Now I need your help to send a message to my colleagues asking them to support Civil Unions. Please take 3 simple steps to help pass civil unions! http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/simple-request-from-illi nois-state.html GLBT seniors? needs grow as Baby Boomers age By Matt Simonette. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. April 3, 2008. http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/1562 ?Throughout our community, something is happening,? said Phil Hannema, of the Chicago chapter of the Prime Timers, an organization for gay and bisexual seniors. He said the Prime Timers? membership numbers have been climbing recently. As of the beginning of March, they had just over 200 members, according to Hannema, who?s been with the group for four or five years. There is some concern, in fact, that the group might outgrow Ann Sather Restaurant, the location of its monthly dinner. ?We?re growing up a great deal,? said Hannema, who thinks the membership increase is because ?the Baby Boomers are coming along (now). Even on our board, we?re starting to see some younger members. There?s a lot of new energy coming in.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/glbt-seniors-needs-grow- as-baby-boomers.html Appointment of Agent to Control Disposition of Remains By Roger McCaffrey-Boss. Copyright by Gay Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. April 1, 2008. A peripodic review of changes in the estate planning laws, tax laws and updating your powers of attorney are essential if you want your estate plan to continue to meet your needs. The following are three points that I think relevant for 2008. Appointment of Agent To Control Disposition of Remains. Pursuant to the new Disposition of Remains Act, effective Jan. 1, 2006, unless a decedent has left directions in writing for the disposition of the decedent?s remains as provided in the Crematory Regulation Act, only certain persons, in the priority listed, have the right to control the disposition, including cremation, of the decedent?s remains. None of them listed include your LGBT partner. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/appointment-of-agent-to- control.html Health Care Genetic Link Tied to Smoking Addiction By SETH BORENSTEIN. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 6:11 AM CDT, April 3, 2008. WASHINGTON - Scientists have pinpointed genetic variations that make people more likely to get hooked on cigarettes and more prone to develop lung cancer -- a finding that could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit. The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine addiction and sheds more light on how genetics and lifestyle habits join forces to cause cancer. "This is kind of a double whammy gene," said Christopher Amos, a professor of epidemiology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and author of one of the studies. "It also makes you more likely to be dependent on smoking and less likely to quit smoking." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/genetic-link-tied-to-smo king-addiction.html Paternity tests for sale over counter - DNA kits cost $30 at store, plus $120 for lab results in 3-5 days By Ylan Q. Mui. Copyright by The Washington Post. 11:07 AM CDT, March 30, 2008. For years, women have been able to go to the drugstore to answer a question: pregnant or not? Now science has taken testing a step further, and those same drugstore shelves are stocking kits to answer another, equally pressing question: father or not? The Identigene DNA paternity test was rolled out at Rite Aid stores nationwide this month and sells for $29.99 ? plus $119.99 for laboratory processing. Identigene promises results that are at least 99 percent accurate in three to five days. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/paternity-tests-for-sale -over-counter.html Experts Now Recommend Hands-Only CPR By STEPHANIE NANO . Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 9:09 PM CDT, March 31, 2008. NEW YORK - You can skip the mouth-to-mouth breathing and just press on the chest to save a life. In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR -- rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives -- works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults. Experts hope bystanders will now be more willing to jump in and help if they see someone suddenly collapse. Hands-only CPR is simpler and easier to remember and removes a big barrier for people skittish about the mouth-to-mouth breathing. "You only have to do two things. Call 911 and push hard and fast on the middle of the person's chest," said Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency medicine professor at Ohio State University who headed the committee that made the recommendation. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/experts-now-recommend-ha nds-only-cpr.html International Herald Tribune Editorial - Pushing for an AIDS vaccine. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: March 30, 2008. Back in 1984, U.S. health officials, flush with excitement over discovery of the virus that causes AIDS, predicted that they would have a vaccine ready for market within three years. Now, after almost a quarter century of struggle, the effort has crashed. No one knows whether a vaccine to prevent the disease will ever be possible. At a conference at the National Institutes of Health last Tuesday, AIDS experts assessed how to proceed after the failure of the most promising vaccine candidate in two large clinical trials last year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_300.html Other Lunch with the FT: Isabel Allende By Richard Waters. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 4 2008 23:12 | Last updated: April 4 2008 23:12. A former brothel on an eerily still backstreet of Sausalito seems an appropriate place to meet one of Latin America?s foremost magical realists. Outside, the azaleas and camellias are starting to flower, and the absolute clarity of the northern Californian light gives an extra sharpness to the building?s renovated cedar shingles. It feels like you?ve stepped into an Edward Hopper painting. The ethereal calm is matched perfectly by the poised stillness of the receptionist at Isabel Allende?s office. I know who she is. In fact, I?ve just read about her. She is Juliette, the one who married for love and ran away to Greece, bringing up her two sons while running an idyllic cliff-top restaurant. Then she was widowed, returned to California and offered up her womb as a surrogate mother ? not once but twice, though the second attempt ended in failure and a childless Lori had to accept that the three stepchildren already in her life were enough. But that?s another story. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/lunch-with-ft-isabel-all end_05.html Humor New! Carlos now has an online store. Order your books directly from Carlos and have them signed and dedicated. http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/ In Pride (orgullo), Carlos T. Mock, MD Www.carlostmock.com Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table. Author: The Mosaic Virus ? Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation Author: Author: Papi Chulo ? Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ctmock at gmail.com Sat Apr 12 18:13:34 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:13:34 -0500 Subject: [News] Lost in Baghdad Newsletter - April 12, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Lost in Baghdad By Carlos T Mock, MD. . April 10, 2008. President George W. Bush and his bunch of neo-conservative allegations that the ?surge? of US troops in Iraq has worked are nothing more than hogwash. The multi-sectarian conflict caused by the occupation has not been stopped and success?which is an ever-shifting concept?is no closer than before the surge started. General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, spent two days on Capitol Hill saying absolutely nothing??the surge will work when it does.? But when he was pressed for a timetable, he could give none. Violence is down, but from catastrophic levels that have wrecked the country, displaced one in six Iraqis, and driven the rest into hiding. The perception that the violence is down is more a reflection on press coverage than actual responses to the ?surge?. The lower levels of killing have taken second fiddle to the catastrophic economical realities of our country?most of which is caused by the cost of the war itself. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/lost-in-baghdad.html Frustrated Senators See No Exit Signs By Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks. Copyright by The Washington Post. Wednesday, April 9, 2008; Page A01. Asked repeatedly yesterday what "conditions" he is looking for to begin substantial U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq after this summer's scheduled drawdown, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said he will know them when he sees them. For frustrated lawmakers, it was not enough. "A year ago, the president said we couldn't withdraw because there was too much violence," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). "Now he says we can't afford to withdraw because violence is down." Asked Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.): "Where do we go from here?" Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said: "I think people want a sense of what the end is going to look like." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/frustrated-senators-see- no-exit-signs.html Patience is not a policy By Steve Chapman. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 10, 2008. When he was the Democratic leader in the Senate, George Mitchell ruefully reflected that his job had given him "the best-developed patience muscle in Washington." The war in Iraq has done similar things for the rest of us. But the strengthening program is by no means done. Gen. David Petraeus was on Capitol Hill this week explaining why we need to keep on exercising forbearance, and keep on, and keep on. By his reckoning, and that of Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, the administration's policy of escalation has been a success. Violence has come down, political reconciliation is under way, and the Iraqi government is showing more initiative. Heck, Crocker marveled, you even see the newly designed Iraqi flag in all parts of the country, not just some. We poured in more troops, we accomplished what we set out to do, and now we can start bringing our troops home?which, after all, was the whole point of the surge announced by President Bush 15 months ago. Right? Wrong. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/patience-is-not-policy.h tml Your Lack of Money ?Shocking? GE results show size of crisis By Francesco Guerrera and Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 11 2008 12:57 | Last updated: April 11 2008 19:04. General Electric underlined the depth of the global financial crisis on Friday, announcing its worst quarter in five years and slashing full-year forecasts. The news, described as ?shocking? by a senior GE executive, combined with data showing that US consumer confidence was at a 26-year low to send shares lower. The S&P 500 fell 2 per cent in New York to 1,332.83./General Electric profits slump By Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 11 2008 12:57 | Last updated: April 11 2008 16:31. General Electric stunned investors with its first quarterly profit drop in five years, as last month?s capital markets upheaval forced unexpected writedowns on the value of some securities, and warned that full-year earnings would miss its forecast. The results triggered a broader sell-off on some the world?s stock markets amid concern that GE?s dreary outlook reflected deteriorating economic conditions. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/general-electric-profits -slump.html US consumer confidence hits 26-year low By Chris Bryant. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 11 2008 16:22 | Last updated: April 11 2008 16:22. The soaring cost of basic foodstuffs and weakening labour market sent US consumer confidence spiralling to a 26-year low this month compounding the gloomy outlook for the US economy. Consumer confidence as measured by the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey fell to 63.2 in mid-April, from 69.5 in March, the lowest since 1982 and much weaker than a reading of 68 forecast by economists. One-year inflation expectations jumped by 4.8 per cent, their highest since October 1990, and up from 4.3 per cent in March. ?Consumers would appear to be buying into the stagflation theme,? John Ryding, chief US economist at Bear Stearns said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/us-consumer-confidence-h its-26-year-low.html Struggles grow for retailers - Economy's slide sends more stores into bankruptcy By Sandra M. Jones. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 12, 2008. It's a tough time to be a retailer, and it's expected to get tougher. Wickes Furniture Co. and Bombay Co. have gone out of business. Levitz Furniture is liquidating. Sharper Image Corp. and Lillian Vernon Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors. And now Linens 'n Things Inc. is said to be facing Chapter 11 bankruptcy as early as next week. Americans appear to be in no mood to shop. A day after the nation's retailers posted the worst March sales performance in 13 years, confidence among U.S. consumers sank to a 26-year low, according to one measure, as they worry about the value of their homes and the chances of losing their jobs. Until recently, home stores have borne the brunt of the economic downturn. Now the troubles are spreading throughout the mall. "Anybody dealing with the consumer this year is going to be very challenged," said Gerald Hirschberg, director at Standard & Poor's Rating Services. "Really only the top luxury retailers may come away from this relatively unscathed." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/struggles-grow-for-retai lers-economys.html Frontier files for bankruptcy By Reuters and FT reporters. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 11 2008 09:43 | Last updated: April 11 2008 09:43. Frontier Airlines Holdings filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday, citing unexpected problems with its credit card processor, but said it would operate its flights normally. The low-cost carrier?s move to operate normally despite its troubles sets it apart -- at least for now -- from four small struggling U.S. airlines that said last week that they would stop flying. Record fuel prices, along with a steadily weakening U.S. economy, have put the brakes on the airline industry?s recovery from a long downturn. Low-cost airlines, even some big ones, are beginning to feel the effect. Last week, Aloha Airlines, Champion Air, ATA Airlines and Skybus Airlines all said they had shut down operations. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/frontier-files-for-bankr uptcy.html Lehman closes $1bn funds By Dan Pimlott. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 10 2008 13:52 | Last updated: April 10 2008 13:52. Lehman Brothers, the fourth biggest US investment bank, said that it had liquidated three investment funds in its first quarter after ?market disruptions?. The value of the assets held by these funds was about $1bn. Lehman said it had also bought some ?deteriorated assets? from certain funds for $800m. Both sets of assets were included in the company?s earnings report on 29 February, and are now managed in its capital markets fixed income business. Lehman said that the funds were among various private equity or other alternative investment funds with third party investors that were typically organised as limited partnerships, but that it did not include in its results. It said that typically it could offer support to these funds but was not obliged to do so. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/lehman-closes-1bn-funds. html WaMu gets $7bn injection from investors By Deborah Brewster in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 8 2008 15:46 | Last updated: April 8 2008 15:46. Washington Mutual, the largest savings and loan group in the US, will get a $7bn cash infusion from investors to boost its capital and cover losses arising from its subprime mortgages. WaMu said on Tuesday it would raise the money by issuing 176m shares to an investment vehicle led by private equity group TPG and including several of WaMu?s existing investors. The shares will be priced at $8.75 - a discount to Friday?s closing price of $10.15. It would also issue 55,000 shares of convertible preferred stock, with an exercise price of $8.75. The group said it expected to make a loss of $1.1bn in the first quarter, and it would cut its quarterly dividend to one cent a share, from 15 cents, which would amount to $490m in capital saved. It would write off $1.4bn in loan losses, it said. In the fourth quarter, it reported its first quarterly loss since 1997. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/wamu-gets-7bn-injection- from-investors.html Citigroup offloads Diners Club By Francesco Guerrera in New York and Chris Hughes in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 7 2008 21:49 | Last updated: April 7 2008 21:49. Citigroup?s chief executive moved on Monday to streamline the troubled financial services conglomerate by selling the Diners Club International credit card network to Discover for $165m. The decision to sever the 27-year tie with Diners comes as Vikram Pandit and his lieutenants conduct a review that could lead to up to 25,000 job losses across global operations, say people close to the situation. Diners, which handles $30bn in transactions a year, had given Citigroup the ability to compete with large credit card networks. A sale was part of Mr Pandit?s efforts to divest marginal businesses and free up resources for core activities, executives said. Ed Eger, head of international cards at Citigroup, said the decision was ?consistent with Citi?s efforts to streamline its businesses to focus on what Citi does best?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/citigroup-offloads-diner s-club.html Gold and Commodities Oil $112.21 Silver Bullion $17.77 Gold Bullion $926 Platinum Bullion $ $2020 Financial Times Editorial Comment: IMF releases an Instability Report. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 8 2008 19:30 | Last updated: April 8 2008 19:30. The International Monetary Fund has had a strange credit crunch. Like a mighty navy rendered impotent because all of the fighting is inland, the IMF has been impotent: all of the liquidity and solvency problems have hit individual banks, rather than the countries it is set up to rescue. That makes its policy and monitoring efforts, such as Tuesday?s Global Financial Stability Report , all the more important. The report gives a snapshot of the credit squeeze ? problems spreading beyond subprime to other debt markets, feedback loops as credit problems hurt house prices and investment, resilient emerging markets ? and updates its estimate of ultimate US debt losses to $945bn. The IMF offers a list of sensible, although not especially new, policy actions for the public and private sectors. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/financial-times-editoria l-comment-imf.html Housing Pending US home sales hit fresh low By Chris Bryant in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 8 2008 16:26 | Last updated: April 8 2008 16:49. Pending home sales fell to a new record low in February as slumping house prices and tighter lending standards continued to persuade buyers to shun the housing market. The news came as the International Monetary Fund estimated losses stemming from the US mortgage and credit crisis could hit almost $1,000bn. The National Association of Realtors?s index of pending sales of previously owned homes fell 1.9 per cent to 84.6 in February after the previous month?s reading was revised slightly higher to 86.2. The new figure was the lowest reading since records began in 2001 and compared with a consensus forecast for a decline of only 0.7 per cent. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/pending-us-home-sales-hi t-fresh-low.html Chicago housing market makes winners, losers - Housing market here has winners -- it comes down to location BY SANDRA GUY sguy at suntimes.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 6, 2008. Noelle Gaffney has lived through the South Loop's boom and its slowdown. She profited from being a pioneer in the neighborhood 20 years ago, selling her first two homes just as the market was getting hot and making robust profits on them. In 2001, she enthusiastically bought a condo under construction. But she's struggled for three years to sell the 2,040-square-foot duplex-style home. Gaffney, who already bought and moved into a nearby town home, first put the condo on the market at $725,000, including parking. She dropped the price to $640,000 in 2006. She found no buyers, and so she took it off the market and has rented it for the last two years. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-housing-market-m akes-winners.html International Police, Protesters Clash in North Egypt By PAUL SCHEMM. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 3:19 PM CDT, April 7, 2008. MAHALLA EL-KOBRA, Egypt - Egyptian police attacked protesters who tore down a billboard of President Hosni Mubarak in a northern city Monday in the second day of violence fueled by anger over low wages and rising prices. In another sign of dissatisfaction with the U.S.-backed government, the country's most powerful opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it was reversing a decision to participate in local elections Tuesday because of mass arrests of its members in recent months. Prices of cooking oil, rice and other staples have nearly doubled since the beginning of the year and there are widespread shortages of government-subsidized bread throughout the country of 76 million people. Nearly 40 percent of Egyptians live under the internationally defined poverty line of $2 a day. Complaints that the government is not doing enough to help the poor have turned simmering dissatisfaction with repression and lack of economic opportunity into rare open unrest. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/police-protesters-clash- in-north-egypt.html China Financial Times Editorial Comment: Playing with fire. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 8 2008 19:13 | Last updated: April 8 2008 19:13. China is feeling the heat. Instead of a smooth series of positive images ahead of the Beijing Games, the grand plans for a world tour by the Olympic torch have produced a new international sport: extinguishing the flame as a pro-Tibet protest. At the weekend there were damaging scenes of a squad of Chinese attendants jostling demonstrators in London. After the disruption of the torch?s progress through Paris comes the sight of protesters on the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. These are not reasons to curtail the tour. On the contrary, the ?journey of harmony? is a valuable chance to give Beijing vivid proof that significant swathes of international opinion deeply oppose the recent crackdown. The protests gain added power ahead of the torch?s trip through Tibet itself. The opportunity for political expression that comes from taking the torch around the globe is an innovation from 2004, when the games returned to Athens. But the modern Olympic movement has long had a complex relationship with politics. The first tour of the torch came in the run-up to the 1936 Olympiad, as part of the Nazi propaganda which made Berlin the most notorious games of recent times. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/financial-times-editoria l-comment_09.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - 'Journey of Education' is a lesson for China. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 8, 2008. China is beset by a public relations nightmare of its own making. As host of this summer's Olympic games, China has sent the Olympic torch on a 130-day relay journey, only to be humiliated by chaotic human rights protests all along the way. In Paris on Monday, scuffling between police and protesters grew so dangerous that the torch had to be snuffed out and carried by bus. In London the day before, a team of Olympic torch bearers only barely managed to keep the flame alive, dodging protesters -- one of whom just missed with a fire extinguisher -- with the help of more than 2,000 police officers. Around the world, the chant was heard: "Shame on China." Shame on China, indeed. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-journey-of.html Tibet protests force Beijing into IOC talks By Roger Blitz and Jimmy Burns in London, Ben Hall in Paris and Richard McGregor in Beijing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 7 2008 09:21 | Last updated: April 8 2008 01:06. Beijing officials are to hold urgent talks with senior members of the Olympic movement about the torch relay, as concern grows among International Olympic Committee members over the effect of pro-Tibet protests on the games. The proposed discussions follow a second consecutive day of disruption for the torch relay in Europe. Protests by hundreds of pro-Tibetan campaigners and some French politicians against Chinese human rights abuses yesterday forced organisers to cut short the Olympic torch?s 28km trip through Paris. IOC insiders ruled out routes being curtailed or cancelled, but one said talks with Beijing would cover ?how the integrity of the torch can be maintained?. One said the backlash against China?s action in Tibet was in danger of casting a ?stain on the Olympic movement?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/tibet-protests-force-bei jing-into-ioc.html Bush to attend Olympic opening ceremony By Demetri Sevastopulo and Daniel Dombey in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 9 2008 06:23 | Last updated: April 9 2008 06:23. President George W. Bush will not skip the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing to protest the Chinese government crackdown on protestors in Tibet, according to a senior US official. Ambiguous comments from the White House sparked speculation on Tuesday that Mr Bush might be considering a boycott of the opening ceremony. Asked several times whether the president was considering attending only the sporting events, Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, replied: ?I would not put it that way?. A senior official later told the Financial Times that Mr Bush was not considering skipping the opening ceremony. He said the president had ?made clear in recent discussions with foreign leaders that he is not interested in skipping the opening ceremony?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/bush-to-attend-olympic-o pening-ceremony.html Mess-o-potamia Financial Times Editorial Comment: Adrift in Baghdad. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 9 2008 19:31 | Last updated: April 9 2008 19:31. The claims made by President George W. Bush and an increasingly reedy chorus of neo-conservative boosters for the ?surge? of US troops in Iraq have long been ludicrous. The multi-sided ethno-sectarian conflict fuelled by the occupation has not been ?turned around? and strategic success ? whatever that now means ? is nowhere in prospect. General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, does not make such claims; nor does he go out of his way to deflate them. He wants more time for the strategy, a pause in the drawdown of troops after the five brigades of surge reinforcements depart in the summer. But there are no signs the surge can deliver enduring gains. It is not even clear how much longer it can keep Iraq in its present holding pattern, a bloodsoaked gridlock of militia rule fragmenting the country. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/financial-times-editoria l-comment_10.html Militants Kill 17 Afghan Road Workers By AMIR SHAH. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 11:47 AM CDT, April 8, 2008. KABUL, Afghanistan - Militants killed 17 road workers in Afghanistan's lawless south Tuesday, part of a spike in violence that left 40 people dead over two days. Sixteen other construction workers were wounded in the attack in Zabul's Shinkay district, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary. Afghan and international security forces responding to the ambush killed seven militants and wounded 12, he said. Road-building is a key part of Afghan reconstruction and many projects are in remote, insurgency-plagued areas. Militants have targeted work crews in roadside bomb attacks, ambushes and kidnappings. In January, militants in eastern Nuristan province beheaded four road construction workers. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/militants-kill-17-afghan -road-workers.html Hundreds Flee Fight in Shiite Stronghold By ROBERT H. REID. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:20 PM CDT, April 7, 2008. BAGHDAD - Hundreds of people fled fighting in Baghdad's Shiite militia stronghold Monday as U.S. and Iraqi forces increased pressure on anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who faces an ultimatum to either disband his Mahdi Army or give up politics. Al-Sadr's aides said he would only dismantle the powerful militia if ordered by top Shiite clerics -- who have remained silent throughout the increasingly dangerous showdown. Although al-Sadr holds considerable influence through the Mahdi fighters -- estimated at up to 60,000 -- political exile for his movement would shatter his dream of becoming the major power broker among the country's Shiite majority. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/hundreds-flee-fight-in-s hiite.html Iran steps up uranium enrichment By Anna Fifield and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 8 2008 13:07 | Last updated: April 8 2008 15:42. Iran has started installing an additional 6,000 advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges at its main nuclear facility, President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad declared on Tuesday, in a move that will heighten western fears about Tehran?s nuclear intentions. The extra equipment will enable Iran to triple its enrichment capacity. In theory, analysts say this means Tehran could produce three nuclear weapons a year if all the centrifuges were working efficiently, though Iran insists its programme is purely for peaceful energy production. ?Today, the process of installing 6,000 new centrifuges at the facility in Natanz has started,? Mr Ahmadi-Nejad said on Tuesday during a visit to the plant to mark national nuclear technology day. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/iran-steps-up-uranium-en richment.html National Airlines Fare Poorly in Quality Survey By JENNIFER C. KERR. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 3:47 PM CDT, April 7, 2008. WASHINGTON - Low-cost carriers AirTran, Jet Blue and Southwest took the top three spots in a national survey of airline quality, while the industry overall hit its lowest rating in the nearly two decades of the study. The poor ratings come at a time of rising fuel prices and increasingly fed-up consumers. At the bottom of the list released Monday were Comair, American Eagle and in last place: Atlantic Southeast Airlines. The past year "was the worst year ever for the U.S. airlines," said Brent Bowen, a study co-author and professor at the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. "Overall operational performance and quality declined once again to the lowest level that it's ever been." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/airlines-fare-poorly-in- quality-survey.html New cancellations deepen US airport chaos By Kevin Allison in San Francisco, Hal Weitzman in Chicago and Daniel Pimlott in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 10 2008 19:06 | Last updated: April 10 2008 19:06. Chaos gripped US airports for a third straight day on Thursday as the government?s top transportation watchdog called for changes to airline safety oversight, citing an ?overly collaborative? relationship between airlines and their regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration. Calvin Scovel III, the US transportation department?s inspector general, made his comments before Congress as American Airlines cancelled 900 flights to perform safety checks, stranding thousands of air passengers. American Airlines had been forced to cancel more than 1,400 flights on Tuesday and Wednesday to ensure that its fleet of MD-80 jets was in compliance with government ?airworthiness directives?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-cancellations-deepen -us-airport.html American cancels another 1,500 flights By Kevin Allison in San Francisco, Hal Weitzman in Chicago and Daniel Pimlott in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 10 2008 19:06 | Last updated: April 11 2008 00:57. American Airlines cancelled 570 flights on Friday, setting up US airports for a fourth day of chaos and bringing the number of flights cancelled by the carrier this week to more than 3000. The cancellations, coming after 900 on Thursday, brought further chaos to US airports, as AA raced to perform safety checks. The cancellations came after Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways pulled flights after officials announced spot inspections of all US airlines? safety paperwork. Airlines have been under increased scrutiny since early March, when details surfaced of a congressional investigation into claims that the Federal Aviation Administration, the regulator, had permitted Southwest Airlines to fly aircraft that were not compliant with airworthiness standards. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/american-cancels-another -1500-flights.html Bush Whacking Fraud Loophole Documents Delayed By LARA JAKES JORDAN. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 8:24 PM CDT, April 7, 2008. WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has delayed delivering documents to Congress explaining how a multibillion-dollar loophole exempting overseas work from scrutiny was slipped into a rule intended to crack down on fraud in government contracts. A House panel will hear April 15 from White House and other administration officials about the loophole, which drew protests from Democrats and Republican lawmakers alike and been disavowed by Attorney General Michael Mukasey. "If this loophole was a bureaucratic mistake as some in the administration have claimed, then our requests should be easy to meet," Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said in a statement Monday. "This should be simple. Someone in the administration made this change and it should be easy to explain why. A delay only raises more questions." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/fraud-loophole-documents -delayed.html Indecision 2008 Religious logic - Copyright by The Chicago Tribune, April 12, 2008 By the logic that Barack Obama supported his pastor's thoughts by not leaving his church, all those who continue to go to Catholic churches support pedophiles. --Darwin Corrin Chicago ?Reagan Democrats? switch allegiance By Edward Luce in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 11 2008 20:04 | Last updated: April 11 2008 20:04. Neil Samuels is typical of many Democrats in Bucks County, Pennsylvania ? a picturesque suburb of northern Philadelphia. A former Republican, Mr Samuels is one of thousands who have switched loyalties and turned Bucks County into a majority Democratic zone for the first time in living memory. ?Ronald Reagan once said: ?I didn?t leave the Democratic party, the Democratic party left me?,? says Mr Samuels, who is deputy chair of his county?s Democratic party. ?Well I didn?t leave the Republican party. The Republican party left me.? The sharp trend away from the Republican party is not confined to Bucks County. Fuelled by disaffection with the Iraq war, the Bush administration?s alleged mismanagement of the US economy and its departure from fiscal conservatism, Pennsylvania as a whole has shifted from being a swing state into a Democratic state over the past few years. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/reagan-democrats-switch- allegiance.html McCain in battle to keep his cool By Andrew in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 10 2008 18:54 | Last updated: April 10 2008 18:54. It was the telltale sign that John McCain was getting mad. During the last few Republican presidential primary debates, when his battle with Mitt Romney became increasingly rancorous, a forced smile would spread across the Arizona senator?s face every time his opponent went on the attack. Asked about the expression by a reporter later, he described it as a ?defence mechanism? to mask feelings of anger and frustration. Mr McCain has been battling to control his infamous temper since childhood, when schoolmates nicknamed him ?McNasty? and ?Punk?. Now, as he prepares to carry the Republican banner into November?s election, critics are questioning whether his fiery temperament could be a liability as commander-in-chief. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/mccain-in-battle-to-keep -his-cool.html Slams at Obama show Smiley is out of touch By LAURA WASHINGTON LauraSWashington at aol.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 7, 2008. The suits at PBS must perspire profusely when they consider the latest from Tavis Smiley on the subjects of Sen. Barack Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Smiley, the PBS talk show host and public television's Numero Uno black guy, is a vociferous and cagey Obama critic. On a recent HBO broadcast, Smiley took up the Obama conversation and made one of the most outlandish utterances I've ever seen on TV -- we'll come back to that momentarily. Lately, black folks have been buttonholing me with one or another variation of the same question: "What's the deal with Tavis? Why is he dogging out my man Obama?" Well, boys and girls, Mr. Smiley has had a problem with Sen. Obama for quite a while. It all goes back to Smiley's February 2007 State of the Black Union confab at Hampton University in Virginia. Every year, Smiley hosts a series of discussions with some of the biggest names in black America. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/slams-at-obama-show-smil ey-is-out-of.html Outpouring of hate greets Obama column BY ANDREW GREELEY. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 9, 2008. I was swept away last week by an avalanche of hate mail, far more than I usually receive (and favorable mail usually outnumbers the contentious). The first letter asserted the pope was coming to America this month to dispose of priests like me. The second said the writer had left the church because of me and priests like me, especially the archbishop of Boston (name not given). The third suggested I was part of the Jewish-Communist conspiracy against the church and the United States. Another argued I had failed in my priestly duty because I had not revealed the names of secret pedophile priests to the church and the police. My crime was a column I had written recently in which I argued that the outrageous resentment toward Sen. Obama by some columnists has poisoned the current political campaign. Naomi Schaefer Riley of the Wall Street Journal had said the senator had joined Trinity United Church of Christ because he was a radical at Harvard and wanted the support of that large congregation when he ran for political office. Professor Thomas Sowell accused him of hypocrisy because when he decided to run for office he found it useful to present an image as a "post-racial" black. As one who knew the facts about the senator's life and counts him as a friend, I rose to his defense. Both writers, I asserted, bore false witness and displayed the kind of personal resentment that President Kennedy encountered and that created the atmosphere in which real crazies would kill him and his brother. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/outpouring-of-hate-greet s-obama-column.html Funding scandal may damage Quinn?s campaign for mayor. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. April 9, 2008. NEW YORK?Christine Quinn was widely thought to have a shot at becoming New York?s first female and openly gay mayor. But that bid may be complicated by revelations that the New York City Council, under her leadership, allocated millions of dollars to fake organizations. Quinn admitted this week that the council has appropriated some $17.4 million dollars since 2001 to groups that didn?t exist. Quinn, considered a likely Democratic mayoral candidate for the race to succeed Mayor Michael Bloomberg next year, has tried to make open government a hallmark of her agenda. With federal and city investigators now looking into the fake funding and other council finance issues, she could end up paying the political consequences. Quinn, who is in her third year as speaker of the 51-member council, is the third council speaker since 1989, when the position was created. It is widely considered to be the second-most powerful seat in city government, largely because of its influence over budget matters. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/funding-scandal-may-dama ge-quinns.html Clinton move ?too little too late? By Edward Luce in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 7 2008 19:18 | Last updated: April 7 2008 23:16. Hillary Clinton?s decision to remove Mark Penn as her chief strategist on Sunday came too late to save her campaign and amounted to too little to restructure it, Democrat officials have said. In spite of being demoted, Mr Penn, who has so far billed Mrs Clinton for $13m (?8.26m, ?6.52m) worth of campaign work, will stay on as her consultant, pollster and direct mail provider. Mr Penn, who was undone by a meeting last week with the Colombian ambassador in his role as chief executive of Burson-Marsteller, the public relations company, was originally due to be demoted in early January following Mrs Clinton?s poor third place showing in the Iowa caucuses, which kicked off the nominating season. But the former first lady?s unexpected victory in New Hampshire five days later saved Mr Penn and others, including Patti Solis Doyle, her campaign manager, who was eventually removed in February. Had Mrs Clinton lost New Hampshire, she would have radically restructured her campaign, say insiders. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/clinton-move-too-little- too-late.html Bill Clinton Visits Puerto Rico, Rich in Culture and Delegates By Eli Saslow. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, April 8, 2008; Page A01. BARCELONETA, Puerto Rico, April 7 -- The four sound trucks filed onto potholed streets at 8 o'clock Monday morning, weighed down by the 800-pound speakers rigged to their roofs. They drove past the pineapple plantations, past the black-sand beaches, past the multicolored tiendas downtown. All morning, the trucks blasted the same short message, as if repetition might make it more believable: "S?! Bill Clinton est? aqu?!" Yes, a few hours later, Bill Clinton did come to this farming town 1,200 miles from the U.S. mainland, bringing with him the 2008 Democratic presidential campaign. The former president walked into the humid courtyard of a university to a drumroll from boys banging on steel garbage cans, past security guards in Hawaiian shirts and women dancing to salsa music, to make the case for his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/bill-clinton-visits-puer to-rico-rich-in.html Chicagoland Chicago Tribune Editorial - The Jone$ solution. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 7, 2008. Democrats in the Illinois Senate have found their perfect solution to their governor's projected $750 million budget shortfall. They want to . . . spend an additional $678 million, give or take. Perhaps, unlike Senate President Emil Jones and his Democrats, this is not how you resolve a money shortage in your household. Perhaps, unlike Jones and his Democrats, you are disinclined to ramp up your spending to nearly double your shortage. Perhaps too, unlike Jones and his Democrats, you are not so maddeningly tormented by House Speaker Michael Madigan that you'd even consider a stunt this foolish. The Senate Democrats like to think they're in the select and senior chamber. They resent Madigan, who frequently outmaneuvers them, the way Hillary resents Barack. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-tribune-editoria l-jone-solution.html Technology Yahoo rejects Microsoft?s $42bn offer By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 7 2008 12:13 | Last updated: April 7 2008 18:47. Yahoo has positioned itself for the endgame in its battle with Microsoft by issuing its strongest rejection to date of its rival?s $42bn takeover offer. However, analysts said the rhetoric from both sides suggested a negotiated settlement might happen, with Microsoft offering a deal worth more than its initial $31 a share. Yahoo?s swift response to Microsoft?s move to set a deadline on Saturday of three weeks to conclude an agreement came in the form of a ?Dear Steve? letter to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft?s chief executive, from his Yahoo counterpart, Jerry Yang, and Roy Bostock, chairman of the board. It said Microsoft was still substantially undervaluing Yahoo, whose board had received significant support from shareholders. It said they were impressed by projected revenues in a three-year financial and strategic plan unveiled last month. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/yahoo-rejects-microsofts -42bn-offer.html Immigration Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Close door on bad wall idea. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times . April 8, 2008. Homeland Security is bulldozing along with plans to expand a border wall. Security czar Michael Chertoff has issued waivers to bypass environmental laws to speed construction of 470 miles of fence from California to Texas. The wall threatens the environment and wildlife, including the ocelot, the jaguarundi and migratory birds. It also would cut through federally protected wilderness areas. In response, conservationists have petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the REAL ID Act, which allows Homeland Security to grant such waivers, is unconstitutional and violates federal environmental laws. But let's not pretend. A wall won't end illegal immigration. As the saying goes: "Build a 50-foot wall and someone will build a 51-foot ladder." "Coyotes" -- immigrant smugglers -- will find a way above or around. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-close-door.html GLBT HIV/AIDS Lobby Days: 120 travel, call for sound policies by Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-04-09. The eighth annual HIV/AIDS Lobby Days was a ?huge success,? according to the event's organizers. Over 120 people rallied in the rotunda of the State Capitol on April 2, calling for sound HIV/AIDS policies. Wearing T-shirts emblazoned with this year's ?Mission: Possible? theme, HIV/AIDS advocates spoke to their state legislators about critical pieces of HIV/AIDS legislation. Joining the advocates during the rally were state Sen. David Koehler, D-Peoria, and Reps. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, and Cynthia Soto, D-Chicago. AIDS Foundation of Chicago's Jim Merrell, who organized the event, told Windy City Times that Lobby Days was extremely successful this year. In addition to the rally, roughly 75 advocates were trained April 1. That evening, AFC also honored HIV/AIDS activists for their hard work during an awards ceremony. Advocate Marla Francisco, a client representative for an HIV consortium, was given the 4th annual Mary Dixon Advocacy Award. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/hivaids-lobby-days-120-t ravel-call-for.html Unmarried Couples - Unequal Legal Rights. Copyright by Gay Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. April 8, 2008. There are many examples where LGBT couples are not afforded the same legal rights as are afforded married couples: The estate of one partner who dies may be subject to sizable federal estate taxes, while married spouses can leave everything to their spouse free of federal estate tax. One partner who is not a natural or adoptive parent has no legal rights to the other partner?s children, even if they have lived together for many years. A LGBT partner has no rights to their partner?s pension or social security benefits. A surviving partner has no right to inherit any of their lover?s property unless they are specifically provided for in either a will, joint tenancy ownership, named beneficiary of an IRA or life insurance policy or beneficiary under a living trust declaration. LGBT couples who plan a long-term relationship should consider all the estate planning and retirement needs for their relationship. As only about one-quarter of all adults die with a valid will such an oversight could be disaster for the surviving partner. Along with naming a partner in a will all couples need to review who holds title to what property and who is listed as the beneficiary of insurance policies, annuities and retirement plans. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/unmarried-couples-unequa l-legal-rights.html Views: Thomas Beatie's pregnancy: What does it change? by Yasmin Nair. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-04-09. Thomas Beatie, a transgender man who has retained his female reproductive organs and is six months pregnant, recently appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Let me be clear at the outset: I support Beatie's decision. I also think it's remarkably brave of him to be public about his decision. It takes a lot to be out as a transgender person, even in famously liberal Oregon, but to be a pregnant man in public goes beyond the pale. Sure, I could have done without all the gendered rhetoric, as when his wife said, ?He's going to be the father; I'm going to be the mother. It doesn't change how I feel about him as the husband.? This will be a family with a father who gives birth to his child. But this will not, apparently, be a feminist family. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/views-thomas-beaties-pre gnancy-what.html PlanetOut agrees to sell magazine business for $6 million by Steven E.F. Brown. Copyright by The San Francisco Business Times. April 9, 20008. Gay and lesbian media portal PlanetOut Inc. agreed to sell its magazine and book publishing business to Here Networks for $6 million in cash. San Francisco-based PlanetOut signed a letter of intent with Regent Releasing, an affiliate of New York-based Here, which is a gay and lesbian television network. A formal agreement should be done by April 30 and the deal should close by August 31. The price in the letter of agreement is $6 million, with $1 million coming on April 30 or sooner, if the agreement is finished earlier. Other $1 million payments will be made on the 15th of the month from May through September. The letter, signed by PlanetOut CEO Karen Magee and Regent CEO Paul Colichman states: "The funds shall be treated as prepaid advertising, to be applied as the marketing occurs." The ads must run by March 31, 2009. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/planetout-agrees-to-sell -magazine.html Kennedy reignites ENDA controversy By Andrew Miga. Copyright by The Associated Press. April 9, 2008. WASHINGTON?Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is jumping into the middle of an uproar within the gay community whose causes he has long championed. The Massachusetts Democrat is leading a push in the Senate for a federal ban on job bias against gays, lesbians and bisexuals?but not transsexuals, cross-dressers and others whose outward appearance doesn?t match their gender at birth. ?We will strongly oppose it,? said Roberta Sklar, of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. ?Leaving transgender people out makes that a flawed movement.? The House in November approved the bill, written by openly gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), despite strong protests from many gay rights advocates that it didn?t cover transgender workers. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/kennedy-reignites-enda-c ontroversy.html Obama Talks All Things LGBT With The Advocate By Kerry Eleveld. Copyright by The Advocate. April 10, 2008. In an exclusive Chicago sit-down with The Advocate's Kerry Eleveld, Democratic front-runner Barack Obama discusses "don't ask, don't tell," the Reverend Wright, and what he would do for LGBT Americans if he becomes president. Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama has been weathering a small storm lately in the LGBT community for being too tight-lipped with gay and lesbian news media. Unlike his rival Hillary Clinton, who's given interviews to Logo and several local papers since appearing on the cover of The Advocate last fall, the Illinois senator has talked only once, to The Advocate, to address the Donnie McClurkin controversy. But last week his campaign offered our magazine an exclusive sit-down in Chicago with the man who may well become the next president of the United States. To some extent, it symbolizes the brilliance of a protracted primary contest where candidates continually pivot and adjust in order to engage ever more voters. Had the race stopped cold in the snows of New Hampshire, gays and lesbians would have been left with one interview of record for each Democratic candidate in total. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/obama-talks-all-things-l gbt-with.html Obama favors repealing 'don't ask, don't tell' policy Copyright by The BY ASSOCIATED PRESS. April 10, 2008. WASHINGTON---- Barack Obama says if elected president he will not require that his Joint Chiefs of Staff be opposed to the ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military. The Democratic presidential front-runner favors repealing the policy, which was instituted during the Clinton administration. He said his priority for the Joint Chiefs will be that they make decisions to strengthen the military and keep the country safe, not their position on the policy. ''I would never make this a litmus test for the Joint Chiefs of Staff,'' Obama said in an interview with The Advocate, a gay newsmagazine. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/obama-favors-repealing-d ont-ask-dont.html Exhibit documents war Nazis waged against gays By Eric Tucker. Copyright by The Associated Press. April 9, 2008. SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. ? In Nazi Germany, some gay men were castrated and prosecuted under draconian laws prohibiting homosexuality. Others were subjected to crude medical experiments designed to "correct" their sexual orientation. Gay men in concentration camps were singled out with distinctive pink triangle badges and assigned backbreaking labor that often killed them. A traveling exhibit from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum uses photographs, documents and artwork to chronicle the Nazis' arrests and persecution of tens of thousands of gay men. The exhibit, which recently ended its run at the University of Rhode Island, gives voice to what its curator describes as "one of the lesser-known stories of the Nazi era." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/exhibit-documents-war-na zis-waged.html Clinton talks with Philly gay paper; Obama refuses By Nedra Pickler. Copyright by The Associated Press. April 10, 2008. WASHINGTON?Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would defend gay rights as president and eliminate disparities for same-sex couples in federal law, including immigration and tax policy. Clinton said states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts are extending rights to gay couples ?and the federal government should recognize that and should extend the same access to federal benefits across the board. I will very much work to achieve that.? Clinton?s comments came in an interview with the Philadelphia Gay News that was posted on its website April 3. Clinton said she and her husband have many gay friends that they socialize with when they get the chance. ?I?ve got friends, literally, around the country that I?m close to. It?s part of my life,? she said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/clinton-talks-with-phill y-gay-paper.html Transitioning into inclusion at Michigan By Jennifer Vanasco. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press and Jennifer Vanasco. April 9, 2008. Seventeen years after Nancy Burkholder was ejected from the Michigan Womyn?s Music Festival because she was outed as a transwoman, people on the Michigan Internet forums are still talking about transgender inclusion in the lesbian community. I find this amazing. And when I say ?amazing,? I mean it in a good way. One of the things I like best about Michigan is how seriously issues are taken that have long been dropped from mainstream discussions?it?s a place and a community where feminism is still important, where gender is still important, where academic topics like power dynamics, degrees of oppression and social conditioning are discussed, debated and lived. Because women who attend Fest and transwomen who want to attend all feel so strongly about it, the ?womyn-born-womyn only? policy is one that?s painful for all sides. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/transitioning-into-inclu sion-at.html Health Care States fear plant could become next marijuana By Jessica Gresko . Copyright 2008 Associated Press. April 8, 2008. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? On Web sites touting the mind-blowing powers of Salvia divinorum, come-ons to buy the hallucinogenic herb are accompanied by warnings: "Time is running out!" and "stock up while you still can." That's because this species of salvia is being targeted by lawmakers concerned that the inexpensive and easy-to-obtain plant could become the next marijuana. Eight states including Illinois have placed restrictions on Salvia divinorum, and 16 others are considering a ban or have previously. "As soon as we make one drug illegal, kids start looking around for other drugs they can buy legally. This is just the next one," said Florida state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, who has introduced a bill to make possession of Salvia divinorum a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. On Jan. 1, Salvia divinorum became a Schedule I substance in Illinois. Possession or sale is a felony, with legal consequences as severe as those for heroin or LSD. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/states-fear-plant-could- become-next.html Drugmaker hid contraceptive data - Company to wield FDA approval as shield from lawsuits By Gardiner Harris and Alex Berenson. Copyright by The New York Times . April 6, 2008. For years, Johnson & Johnson obscured evidence that its popular Ortho Evra birth control patch delivered much more estrogen than standard birth control pills, potentially increasing the risk of blood clots and strokes, according to internal company documents. More than 3,000 women and their families have sued the company, saying use of the Ortho Evra patch caused heart attacks, strokes and, in some cases, death. But because the Food and Drug Administration approved the patch, the company is arguing in court that it cannot be sued by women who claim they were injured by the product?even though its old label inaccurately described the amount of estrogen it released. This legal argument is called pre-emption. After decades of being dismissed by courts, the tactic now appears to be on the verge of success, lawyers for plaintiffs and drug companies say. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/drugmaker-hid-contracept ive-data.html Other When is it time for Senior drivers to give up their car keys? By Jay Hamburg. Copyright ? 2008, Orlando Sentinel. April 6, 2008. Ray Reynolds, a 76-year-old retired minister from Orlando, is on a mission to force folks his age to face a question they hate to hear, much less discuss openly with family or friends. How old is too old to drive? Reynolds doesn't have a quick answer to what he calls a "firestorm" issue for older drivers, many of whom fear the loneliness and anger that follow when a spouse or child wrests away their car keys. Still, that doesn't stop the soft-spoken man from posing the question at public meetings, buttonholing listeners or gently prodding the conversation when surrounded by other seniors, as he was recently at an exercise class in Winter Park. "I don't want to be a hazard on the road," Reynolds said to members of his water-aerobics class at the Crosby YMCA Family Center. "And I do want seniors to begin to think about this." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/when-is-it-time-for-seni or-drivers-to.html New! Carlos now has an online store. Order your books directly from Carlos and have them signed and dedicated. http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/ In Pride (orgullo), Carlos T. Mock, MD Www.carlostmock.com Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table. Author: The Mosaic Virus ? Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation Author: Author: Papi Chulo ? Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ctmock at gmail.com Sat Apr 19 10:31:59 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:31:59 -0500 Subject: [News] I'm Bitter Newsletter - April 19, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I Am a Bitter Man. Posted on April 15th, 2008 by Stephen Pizzo. Copyright by News for real. I am a bitter man. I admit it. I?m neither proud or happy about it. But it?s not my fault, either. Eight years ago I was annoyed, but I wasn?t bitter. Being annoyed with government is the natural state of the governed. It?s the catalyst that keeps politicians paranoid about what we?re up to out here while they, hopefully, try to do enough things right to get our vote next time around, even if resentfully.m But bitter is a different kind of catalyst. It?s the emotion that freed these former colonies from Britain. It?s the emotion that motivated American blacks to come together in the 1960s and demand an end to segregation, once and for all. At the turn of the century in Russia bitterness caused the Russian people to put an end to careless, self-indulgent, wasteful monarchy. Before that, in France, bitterness among the peasantry caused a whole lot folks to loose their heads ? literally. In short, bitterness is a motivator ? maybe the motivator when it comes to the forcing of social tipping points. So, while I?m bitter that this administration has turned me bitter, I am crystal clear on the reasons why I?m bitter: ...... Those are the reasons I?m bitter. And it you?re one of those folks Hillary and McCain keep assuring me are ?not bitter,? I have only one question for you: What the hell?s wrong with you? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-am-bitter-man.html Your Lack of Money Krugman: America is feeling bleak? By Paul Krugman. Copyright by the International Herald Tribune. Published: April 14, 2008. The Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan has been tracking American economic perceptions since the 1950s. On Friday the center released its latest estimate of the consumer sentiment index - and it was a stunner. Americans are more pessimistic about their situation than they have been for more than a quarter century. Meanwhile, a recent Pew report found that the percentage of Americans saying that they're better off than they were five years ago is at its lowest level in 44 years of polling. What's striking about this bleak mood is that by the usual measures the economy isn't doing that badly - at least not yet. In particular, the official unemployment rate of 5.1 percent, though rising, is still fairly low by historical standards. Yet economic attitudes are worse now than they were in 1992, when the average unemployment rate was 7.5 percent. Why are we feeling so down? Our bleakness partly reflects that most Americans are doing considerably worse than the usual economic measures let on. The official unemployment rate may be relatively low - but the percentage of prime-working-age Americans without jobs, which isn't the same thing, is historically high. Gross domestic product is up, but the inflation-adjusted income of the median family is probably lower than it was in 2000. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/krugman-america-is-feeli ng-bleak.html Survey reinforces US manufacturing gloom. By Chris Bryant in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 17 2008 15:58 | Last updated: April 17 2008 15:58. An index of regional factory activity slumped to its lowest level in seven years this month, painting a grim outlook for the US manufacturing sector as domestic economic demand continued to slow. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve index of manufacturing conditions fell to -24.9 from -17.4 in April, marking a fifth consecutive monthly decline. Economists had forecast a slight uptick to a reading of -15 after a dramatic improvement in the New York Fed?s Empire State manufacturing index earlier this week. An index of new orders in the Philadelphia region decreased from -9.3 to -18.8 while the employment index retreated from -4.7 to -11.1, a third negative reading in four months. However, the prices paid index moderated a fraction, declining to 51.6 from 54.4. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/survey-reinforces-us-man ufacturing.html Merrill cuts jobs as writedowns top $6bn By Ben White in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 17 2008 13:44 | Last updated: April 17 2008 13:44. Merrill Lynch on Thursday said it lost $1.97bn in the first quarter and planned to cut around 4,000 jobs after writing down the value of mortgage related assets, leveraged loans and other holdings by more than $6bn. The grim results, which trailed analyst expectations, marked the second straight losing quarter for Merrill and underscored the stiff challenge facing John Thain, chief executive, in moving the brokerage house past the worst of the credit squeeze. Despite the loss and fresh writedowns, Mr Thain said Merrill would not need to raise any new capital beyond the $12bn it has already received from sovereign wealth funds and other outside investors. ?Despite this quarter?s loss, Merrill Lynch?s underlying businesses produced solid results in a difficult market environment,? said Mr Thain. ?The firm?s $82bn excess liquidity pool has increased from year-end levels, and we remain well capitalised. In addition, our global franchise is positioned strongly for the future, and we continue to invest in key growth areas and regions.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/merrill-cuts-jobs-as-wri tedowns-top-6bn.html JPMorgan profits halve to $2.4bn By Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 16 2008 13:59 | Last updated: April 16 2008 13:59. JPMorgan Chase saw profits halve in the first quarter of the year as continued trouble in the mortgage, home equity and leveraged loans markets forced it to take more than $5bn in writedowns and provisions. The results, which were in line with analysts? expectations, underline the on-going challenges faced by Wall Street banks as the credit crunch continues to take its toll. However, Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer, said that neither the tough market conditions nor JPMorgan?s recent acquisition of Bear Stearns would prevent it from pursuing other takeover opportunities. JPMorgan has been linked to a number of regional banks such as SunTrust and Washington Mutual. His comments came as JPMorgan reported net income of $2.4bn, a 50 per cent fall on the first quarter of last year, on revenues of $17.9bn, a 9 per cent decline on the same period a year ago. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/jpmorgan-profits-halve-t o-24bn.html Citi reports $5.1bn loss on new writedowns By Ben White in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 18 2008 13:50 | Last updated: April 18 2008 13:50. Citigroup on Friday said it lost $5.1bn in the first quarter following fresh writedowns of $13bn on troubled assets and a spike in credit costs. Vikram Pandit, chief executive, blamed the loss on a continuation of the ?unprecedented credit and market environment? and confirmed plans to slash costs including the sale of non-strategic assets. Mr Pandit plans to cut Citi?s cost base by up to 20 per cent, a goal that will likely include significant reductions in the bank?s 370,000-strong workforce./Citi?s $5.1bn loss highlights depth of crisis By Francesco Guerrera and Ben White in New York Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 18 2008 13:50 | Last updated: April 18 2008 20:52. Citigroup underlined the plight of financial firms squeezed by the credit crunch and the slowing US economy on Friday by announcing a $5.1bn quarterly loss, nearly $16bn in writedowns and 9,000 job cuts. But its shares rallied in New York, rising 4.5 per cent to end Friday?s session at $25.11, amid investors? hopes that it had absorbed the biggest blows from the crisis and was moving to slash costs and shrink its balance sheet. The first quarter results missed Wall Street expectations and showed losses or sharp falls in profits across Citi?s portfolio of retail, commercial and investment banking businesses. The losses at the consumer and investment banking divisions prompted Fitch to downgrade its credit rating one notch to AA-. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/citi-reports-51bn-loss-o n-new.html Wachovia moves into loss and cuts dividend. By Ben White in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 14 2008 02:37 | Last updated: April 14 2008 13:32. Wachovia, the fifth largest US bank by market value, confirmed on Monday it planned to raise $7bn in capital through a public offering as it slashed its dividend and slumped to a first quarter loss. The bank also made a $2.8bn provision to cover losses on mortgage-related investments. Ken Thompson, Wachovia?s chief executive officer, blamed higher credit costs and continued disruption in capital markets for a $350m, or $0.20 a share, first quarter loss compared with a profit of $2.3bn or $1.20 a share in the first quarter of last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected Wachovia to earn 40 cents per share. Shares in Wachovia shares fell $2.84 or more than 10 per cent on Monday to $24.97. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/wachovia-moves-into-loss -and-cuts.html Gold and Commodities Oil $115.46 Silver Bullion $17.88 Gold Bullion $917 Platinum Bullion $ $2050 Oil and rice race to record levels By Chris Flood. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 18 2008 18:04 | Last updated: April 18 2008 18:19. Oil extended its record breaking run this week, pushing above the $116 level, while petrol, copper, tin and rice also reached new peaks. Panic buying drove Thai rice prices, the global benchmark to $1,000 a tonne this week as importers struggled to secure supplies. Key exporting countries have imposed export restrictions, leading to widespread concerns about supply shortages and the potential for widespread social unrest. US prices followed Thai rises to record levels with CBOT May rough rice futures up 2 per cent to $24.36 a hundredweight on Friday, leaving prices 16.6 per cent higher on the week. . In energy markets, Nymex May West Texas Intermediate hit a record $116.10 a barrel on Friday before easing back to trade 60 cents higher at $115.46, up 4.8 per cent this week. Tightening in the US market helped drive the price higher after the Energy Information Administration announced unexpectedly large declines in crude and petrol stocks. ICE June Brent added 42 cents at $112.85 a barrel, up 4 per cent this week. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/oil-and-rice-race-to-rec ord-levels.html US food and energy costs soar By Chris Bryant in Washington DC. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 15 2008 14:49 | Last updated: April 15 2008 14:49. Soaring energy and food bills spurred another jump in US producer prices last month, putting further strain on industries struggling to pass on rising costs to penny-pinching consumers. However, the news was partially offset by a welcome boost for the manufacturing sector after a surprising rebound in regional factory sentiment from the previous month?s record low. Prices at the factory gate rose 1.1 per cent in March, almost twice the 0.6 per cent rate forecast by economists and compared with an increase of 0.3 per cent last month. The increase was largely driven by surging food and energy costs with the price of finished energy goods climbing 2.9 per cent while food goods increased by 1.2 per cent. Core producer prices, which exclude food and energy, rose by 0.2 per cent, in line with expectations, and much lower than a rate of 0.5 per cent in February. Core inflation has risen 2.7 per cent in the past year, the fastest rate since July 2005. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/us-food-and-energy-costs -soar.html Euro approaches $1.60 mark By Peter Garnham. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 16 2008 10:45 | Last updated: April 16 2008 11:12. The euro hit a record high against the dollar and the pound on Wednesday after data showed eurozone inflation hits its highest level since the introduction of the single currency. Official figures showed the eurozone?s harmonised index of consumer prices rose from an annual rate of 3.5 per cent in February to 3.6 per cent in March. The European Central Bank - in contrast to the Federal Reserve and Bank of England - has steadfastly refused to cut rates in response to signs that the fallout from the credit crisis was spilling over into the real economy. Instead, the ECB has maintained that rising price pressures were a greater threat to economic stability than slowing growth. These contrasting stances on monetary policy have pushed the euro to a series of record highs against the dollar and the pound in recent months. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/euro-approaches-160-mark .html G7 fears sudden slide in main currencies By Krishna Guha and Chris Giles in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 13 2008 15:31 | Last updated: April 13 2008 18:52. The Group of Seven industrialised nations has signalled shared concern over the danger of a disorderly slide in the dollar and sterling, following bouts of extreme weakness in the two currencies in recent months. The warning came in a new sentence of the G7 communiqu?, which said ?there have been at times sharp movements in major currencies, and we are concerned about their possible implications for economic and financial stability?. The G7 pledged as before to ?monitor exchange markets closely and co-operate as appropriate?. This is the biggest shift in the G7 language on currencies since the Boca Raton summit in February 2004. It signals the emergence of a new consensus on the risks posed by extreme currency weakness following months of disagreement between economies with appreciating and depreciating currencies. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/g7-fears-sudden-slide-in -main.html Housing Illinois Average Rates 4/19/2008 - 10:46 PM 30 Yr Fixed 5.88% 15 Yr Fixed 5.45% 30 Yr Fixed Jumbo 7.19% 15 Yr Fixed Jumbo 6.42% Treasury sell-off hits housing recovery hopes By Michael Mackenzie and Saskia Scholtes in New York and Krishna Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 18 2008 23:16 | Last updated: April 18 2008 23:16. US mortgage rates soared this week after a dramatic sell-off in the Treasury market that hit housing sector recovery hopes even as it suggested investors were growing more confident in the medium-term US economic outlook. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose as high as 3.85 per cent on Friday from less than 3.50 per cent last week as investors sold bonds on expectations that the Federal Reserve could soon end its rate-cutting cycle. The Fed sees the rise in yields as signalling increased market confidence in US economic prospects. However, mortgage rates also moved higher, making it more expensive to buy homes and less likely that existing homeowners will be able to refinance mortgages. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/treasury-sell-off-hits-h ousing-recovery.html US Foreclosure Filings Jump in March By J.W. ELPHINSTONE. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 3:12 AM CDT, April 15, 2008. The onslaught of homes facing foreclosures has yet to ebb, a research report showed Tuesday, with bank repossessions skyrocketing last month as more troubled homeowners mailed in their keys and walked away. And the worst isn't over: the wave of adjustable-rate loans resetting to higher rates will crest in May and June. And that's expected to push more homeowners into default and foreclosure in the third and fourth quarters of this year, according to RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif. "Once we're through that batch of loans, the worst will have been worked through the system," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing. The number of U.S. homes receiving at least one foreclosure filing jumped 57 percent in March to 234,685, compared with 149,150 properties a year earlier. Filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/us-foreclosure-filings-j ump-in-march.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - The wrong way on housing. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 14, 2008. Whoever coined the slogan "as American as motherhood and apple pie" forgot one item: homeownership. Politicians have long championed housing investment to the point of excess, and the ongoing mortgage meltdown has given a new urgency to that impulse. That's how we got the muddle-headed housing bill that the U.S. Senate passed overwhelmingly on Thursday. When economic troubles arise, our leaders in Washington are eager to show they are determined to fix the problem. This is not quite the same thing as fixing the problem; advertising their good intentions is usually sufficient for political purposes. This package fits that bill. Given that the federal government is running a big deficit even before it lays out some $150 billion for tax rebates and other forms of economic stimulus, now is not the time to run up more debt. But the measure that Democrats and Republicans joined together to support would cost up to $20 billion. They don't propose to pay for it with revenue increases or spending cuts elsewhere in the budget, which is the only way to avoid swelling the deficit. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-wrong-way.html Why financial regulation is both difficult and essential By Martin Wolf. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 15 2008 18:41 | Last updated: April 15 2008 18:41. Nice try; no cigar. That was my reaction to the attempt of the banking community to forestall additional regulation, by recommending ?a suite of best practices to be embraced voluntarily?. It was also the reaction of the policymakers meeting in Washington over the weekend. More regulation is on its way. After frightening politicians and policymakers so badly, even the most optimistic banker must realise this. The question is whether the additional regulation will do any good. In an interim report on ?market best practices?, the Institute for International Finance, an association of bankers, offers devastating self-criticism.* Here then are some of the weaknesses it identifies: ?deteriorating lending standards by certain originators of credit?; a ?decline of underwriting standards?; an ?excessive reliance on poorly understood, poorly performing and less than adequate ratings of structured products?; and ?difficulties in identifying where exposures reside?. Would you buy a voluntary code from people who describe their own mistakes in this brutal manner? I thought not. There are two powerful additional reasons for not doing so. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/why-financial-regulation -is-both.html International What follows American dominion? By Richard Haass. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 15 2008 18:21 | Last updated: April 15 2008 18:21. The unipolar era, a time of un precedented American dominion, is over. It lasted some two decades, little more than a moment in historical terms. Why did it end? One explanation is history. States get better at generating and piecing together the human, financial and technological resources that lead to productivity and prosperity. The same holds for companies and other organisations. The rise of new powers cannot be stopped. The result is an ever larger number of actors able to exert influence regionally or globally. It is not that the US has grown weaker, but that many other entities have grown much stronger. A second reason unipolarity has ended is US policy. By both what it has done and what it has failed to do, the US has accelerated the emergence of new power centres and has weakened its own position relative to them. US energy policy (or the lack thereof) is one driving force behind the end of unipolarity. Since the first oil shocks of the 1970s, US oil consumption has grown by some 20 per cent and, more important, US imports of petroleum products have more than doubled in volume and nearly doubled as a percentage of consumption. This growth in demand for foreign oil has helped drive up the world price from just over $20 a barrel to more than $100 a barrel. The result is an enormous transfer of wealth and leverage to those states with energy reserves. US economic policy has played a role as well. President George W. Bush has fought costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, allowed discretionary spending to increase by 8 per cent a year and cut taxes. The US fiscal position declined from a surplus of more than $100bn in 2001 to an estimated deficit of about $250bn in 2007. The ballooning current account deficit is now more than 6 per cent of gross domestic product. This places downward pressure on the dollar, stimulates inflation and contributes to the accumulation of wealth and power elsewhere in the world. Poor regulation of the US mortgage market and the credit crisis it spawned have exacerbated these problems. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-follows-american-do minion.html Republicans hit at US deal with N Korea By Demetri Sevastopulo and Daniel Dombey in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 16 2008 01:36 | Last updated: April 16 2008 01:36. Senior Republicans on Tuesday criticised a tentative US deal with North Korea that would allow Pyongyang to avoid revealing the full extent of its nuclear programmes as part of a broader agreement towards denuclearising the Korean peninsula. Christopher Hill, the senior US envoy on North Korea, last week briefed the House on a deal that would see North Korea ?acknowledge?, in a secret document, US allegations about nuclear proliferation to Syria and a possible rudimentary uranium-enrichment programme. Under the deal, still being finalised, North Korea would provide a full declaration of only its plutonium programme, which produced the nuclear weapon it tested in 2006. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/republicans-hit-at-us-de al-with-n-korea.html Cubans Line Up for Cell Phone Service By WILL WEISSERT. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 6:29 PM CDT, April 14, 2008. HAVANA - Lines stretched for blocks outside phone centers Monday as the government allowed ordinary Cubans to sign up for cellular phone service for the first time. The contracts cost about US$120 (euro76) to activate -- half a year's wages on the average state salary. And that doesn't include a phone or credit to make and receive calls. But most Cubans have at least some access to dollars or euros thanks to jobs in tourism or with foreign firms, or money sent by relatives abroad. Lines formed before the stores opened, and waits grew to more than an hour. "Everyone wants to be first to sign up," said Usan Astorga, a 19-year-old medical student who stood for about 20 minutes before her line moved at all. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/cubans-line-up-for-cell- phone-service.html China China?s economy races on despite storms By Richard McGregor in Beijing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 16 2008 07:49 | Last updated: April 16 2008 17:55. China?s economy grew by 10.6 per cent in the first quarter, compared with the first three months of 2007, despite widespread disruption from ice storms and power cuts to industry and transport in January and February. The gross domestic product rise, which was above a market consensus of just above 10 per cent, means that Beijing is likely to continue tightening monetary policy in the coming months, while its big trading partners loosen credit. After the release of the figures, the People?s Bank of China, the central bank, raised the proportion of deposits that large commercial banks must keep with it by 0.5 percentage points to 16 per cent ? the 16th such increase since mid-2006. Growth in the first quarter was down slightly compared with the final three months of 2007, when it stood at 11.7 per cent, mainly due to the slowing pace of export growth and the impact of severe weather. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chinas-economy-races-on- despite-storms.html Mess-o-potamia Greenway: Of tribes and governments By H. D. S. Greenway. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 15, 2008. BOSTON: General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker have gone back to Baghdad with all the time they want, but with no clear plan other than carrying on as before and muddling through. "Our patience is not unlimited," said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, but apparently it is. Congress has not the will to be decisive, and so we fight on, with an illusion of progress always dangling before us like a mirage of water in a desert wasteland. Petraeus and Crocker were masters at obfuscation as they tried to thread their way between congressional hawks and doves last week. A straight answer was as rare as a day without death in Baghdad. But Petraeus did admit: "We haven't turned any corners. We haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel." There was an effort among certain senators to blame our problems on Iran, and Crocker was quick to take it up. But there were no Iranians or Shiites in the suicide planes of Sept. 11, 2001. Al Qaeda considers all Shiites apostates. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/greenway-of-tribes-and-g overnments.html 1,300 Iraqi Troops, Police Dismissed By BUSHRA JUHI. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 8:45 AM CDT, April 13, 2008. BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government has dismissed about 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during last month's offensive against Shiite militias and criminal gangs in Basra, officials said Sunday. Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said 921 police and soldiers were fired in Basra. They included 37 senior police officers ranging in rank from lieutenant colonel to brigadier general. The others were dismissed in Kut, one of the Shiite cities where the fight had spread. Last month, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the security forces to confront armed groups in Basra, Iraq's second largest city. But they met fierce resistance and the attack quickly ground to a halt as fighting flared across the Shiite south and Baghdad. Since then, government officials have revealed that about 1,000 members of the security forces -- including an entire infantry battalion -- had mutinied, on some cases handing over vehicles and weapons to the militias. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/1300-iraqi-troops-police -dismissed.html Car Bombs Kill Nearly 60 in Iraq By KIM GAMEL. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 8:18 AM CDT, April 15, 2008. BAGHDAD - Car bombs ripped through crowded areas in Baghdad and former insurgent strongholds to the north and west of the capital on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people and breaking a recent lull in violence in the predominantly Sunni areas. The attacks were a deadly reminder of the threat posed by suspected Sunni insurgents even as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and U.S.-Iraqi forces continued elsewhere. The first blast Tuesday occurred in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, when a car parked in front of a restaurant exploded just before noon across the street from the central courthouse and other government offices. Many of the victims were people visiting the government offices, petition writers helping people with documents in stalls outside or the occupants of cars that were caught in the explosion as they passed through the area, witnesses said. Several cars and minibuses were set ablaze, while more than 10 shops and the restaurant were heavily damaged. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/car-bombs-kill-nearly-60 -in-iraq.html Official: Roadside bomb kills 3 Afghan civilians By NOOR KHAN. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:16 AM CDT, April 19, 2008. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb hit a civilian vehicle Saturday in southern Afghanistan, killing three people and wounding another, an official said. The bomb hit the car in the Shahjoy district of Zabul province, in an area frequently patrolled by Afghan and international troops, said Shahjoy district chief Qayum Khan. Khan said the "terrorist act" killed three civilians and wounded another. He accused the Taliban of planting the bomb. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/official-roadside-bomb-k ills-3-afghan.html Roadside Bomb Kills 2 Afghan Police. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 12:50 AM CDT, April 15, 2008. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Officials say a roadside bomb has hit a police vehicle in southern Afghanistan, killing two policemen and wounding three others. Kandahar province police commander Sahib Jan says the remote-controlled bomb went off Tuesday on the main highway in Spin Boldak district. One of the wounded was in critical condition. The attack comes a day after insurgents killed 11 police officers in nearby Arghandab district. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/roadside-bomb-kills-2-af ghan-police.html Bush's victory: Blame the Democrats BY ANDREW GREELEY. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 16, 2008. The argument in the Capitol last week was about victory. Legislators such as Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham believe, against all the evidence, that victory in Iraq is possible. They insist like puppets that "the surge has been a success" and see signs of victory. The president proclaims that we are winning the war. Gen. David Petraeus says that the progress is fragile and reversible, that there is not yet light at the end of the tunnel, victory is not right around the corner and the champagne is still at the back of the refrigerator. We know that many in the Pentagon think victory in Iraq is impossible. Navy Adm. William Fallon was dumped because he agreed with them and disagreed with Petraeus. He argued that the military is traumatized by the duration of the war and the constant increase in tours of duty. Fallon was, some of the neocons say, guilty of insubordination. If you tell the civilian leaders that this war cannot be won and that military is stretched to its limit, you're insubordinate. The president knows better. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/bushs-victory-blame-demo crats.html National Supreme Court clears way for lethal injection By Patti Waldmeir in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 16 2008 20:37 | Last updated: April 16 2008 20:37. The US Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for executions to resume in America when it ruled in favour of the death penalty in an important test case, putting an end to a de-facto six-month moratorium. The court found that the lethal injection method of execution used by most US states is constitutional. But its ruling was deeply fractured, reflecting sharp divisions within the court and in US society at large. It was the first time in more than a century that the top court had considered whether a particular method of execution violated the constitution?s prohibition on ?cruel and unusual punishment?. The justices voted 7-2 in Wednesday?s ruling, Baze v Rees, that Kentucky?s lethal injection method is constitutional, but the majority splintered into many contradictory camps. The court?s main opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, sets out a new standard for challenging execution methods: lawyers for condemned prisoners must prove the method causes ?substantial risk of serious harm?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/supreme-court-clears-way -for-lethal.html Bush Whacking On the Economy, 70% Disapprove of Bush By Jon Cohen. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, April 15, 2008; Page A04. Public disapproval of the way President Bush is handling the nation's economy has hit a new high in Washington Post-ABC News polling, and his overall favorability rating remains near an all-time low. Seven in 10 Americans now give negative ratings to the president's stewardship of the sinking U.S. economy. Only 28 percent approve of his performance in this area, a double-digit decline from a year ago, and even core Republicans have begun to abandon the president on the issue. Among Republicans, 59 percent approve of the way he is handling the economy, down from 70 percent at the beginning of February and well off his career average of about 80 percent from his party's base. Only a quarter of independents and 6 percent of Democrats approve of Bush's performance on the economy. Republicans have been more steadfast in their overall support for Bush and in their assessments of his handling of the situation in Iraq, with about three-quarters approving of Bush's job performance generally and 68 percent backing him on his war policies. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/on-economy-70-disapprove -of-bush.html Losing Our Will By Bob Herbert. Copyright by The New York Times. Saturday 12 April 2008. I wonder what the answers would be if each American asked himself or herself the question: "How is the war in Iraq helping me?" While the U.S. government continues to pour precious human treasure and vast financial resources into this ugly war without end, it is all but ignoring deeply entrenched problems that are weakening the country here at home. On the same day that President Bush was announcing an indefinite suspension of troop withdrawals from Iraq, the New York Times columnist David Leonhardt was telling us a sad story about how the middle class has fared during the Bush years. The economic boom so highly touted by the president and his supporters "was, for most Americans," said Mr. Leonhardt, "nothing of the sort." Despite the sustained expansion of the past few years, the middle class - for the first time on record - failed to grow with the economy. And now, of course, we're sinking into a nasty recession. The U.S., once the greatest can-do country on the planet, now can't seem to do anything right. The great middle class has maxed out its credit cards and drained dangerous amounts of equity from family homes. No one can seem to figure out how to generate the growth in good-paying jobs that is the only legitimate way of putting strapped families back on their feet. The nation's infrastructure is aging and in many places decrepit. Rebuilding it would be an important source of job creation, but nothing on the scale that is needed is in sight. To get a sense of how important an issue this is, consider New Orleans. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/losing-our-will.html International Herald Tribune Editorial - A Uighur in Guant?namo, with no place to go. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 14, 2008. A Chinese Muslim who has been a prisoner at Guant?namo since 2002 has finally gotten a hearing before a three-judge panel in Washington on the question of whether he was properly classified as an enemy combatant. Based on the unclassified evidence offered at the hearing last week, the judges have no choice but to relieve Huzaifa Parhat of the enemy combatant designation and order his release. Release to go where is the thorny question. Parhat is a member of the Turkic Uighur minority in northwestern China, many of whose members seek greater independence from Beijing. U.S. officials realize they cannot in good conscience return him to China, where he would be persecuted. Other countries have refused to provide refuge, in part because many countries are reluctant to offend China. The only honorable course is to release Parhat to one of the Uighur communities in the United States. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_9504.html Indecision 2008 Michelle Obama on The Colbert Report http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Colbert-Michelle-Obama.mov Chicago Tribune Editorial - Guilt by association. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 6:16 PM CDT, April 17, 2008. First, you have to wonder why ABC News thought it was a good idea to have George Stephanopoulos, who was one of President Bill Clinton's highest-ranking aides, serve up questions at a debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Second, you have to wonder why Stephanopoulos, who has been resurrected as a television commentator, thought to ask Obama about . . . Bill Ayers. Obama knows Ayers, a former radical and member of the Weather Underground who is now an academic in Chicago. They met years ago. They served together on the board of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which provides money for anti-poverty efforts. Ah, we know Ayers too. And his wife, Bernardine Dohrn. If you know people in Chicago academic circles, chances are you know Ayers and Dohrn. They have not been repentant about their days in the radical, anti-war movement in the 1960s and their time fleeing federal authorities. They should be. There is still time for them to be. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-tribune-editoria l-guilt-by.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Gotcha debate didn't help voters decide. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 18, 2008. This week's televised debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama likely was their last. And what a disappointment it was. We've heard of a spin-free zone. How about a substance-free zone? It sure felt that way, especially for the first half of the debate led by ABC's Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos. It was a night marked by gotcha questions, of been-there-heard-that retreads that offered little new. So many of the tired issues raised had already been through the maw of 24/7 cable news, conservative talk shows and the ever-reliable YouTube. Clinton fibbed about landing under sniper fire in Bosnia? Got it. Obama's pastor offends people? So we've heard. Obama insulted voters with talk of "bitterness," guns and religion? Check. By now, everybody has picked apart those overblown "character issues" and made up their mind. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-gotcha.html Hillary shamelessly won't let it go BY MARY MITCHELL. Copyright by he Chicago Sun-Times. April 18, 2008. Now I'm bitter. After 15 months of listening to Hillary Clinton tell the American public that Barack Obama's positive words don't matter, Clinton is now trying to derail her rival by exploiting negative sound bites. She's had a field day. First, it was the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Now, it's comments Obama made during a fund-raiser in which he characterized small-town voters as being "bitter" and "clinging" to their "guns" and "religion." Even ABC's Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopolous couldn't resist this gossipy topic during Wednesday's televised debate. "Do you understand that some people in this state find that patronizing and think that you said actually what you meant?" Gibson asked. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/hillary-shamelessly-wont -let-it-go.html MOST SEE DISHONESTY - Poll Shows Erosion Of Trust in Clinton By Anne E. Kornblut and Jon Cohen. Copyright by The Washington Post. Wednesday, April 16, 2008; Page A06. PHILADELPHIA, April 15 -- Lost in the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign's aggressive attacks on Barack Obama in recent days is a deep and enduring problem that threatens to undercut any inroads Clinton has made in her struggle to overtake him in the Democratic presidential race: She has lost trust among voters, a majority of whom now view her as dishonest. Her advisers' efforts to deal with the problem -- by having her acknowledge her mistakes and crack self-deprecating jokes -- do not seem to have succeeded. Privately, the aides admit that the recent controversy over her claim to have ducked sniper fire on a trip to Bosnia probably made things worse. Clinton is viewed as "honest and trustworthy" by just 39 percent of Americans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, compared with 52 percent in May 2006. Nearly six in 10 said in the new poll that she is not honest and trustworthy. And now, compared with Obama, Clinton has a deep trust deficit among Democrats, trailing him by 23 points as the more honest, an area on which she once led both Obama and John Edwards. Among Democrats, 63 percent called her honest, down 18 points from 2006; among independents, her trust level has dropped 13 points, to 37 percent. Republicans held Clinton in low regard on this in the past (23 percent called her honest two years ago), but it is even lower now, at 16 percent. Majorities of men and women now say the phrase does not apply to Clinton; two years ago, narrow majorities of both did. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/most-see-dishonesty-poll -shows-erosion.html The dilemma that stalks Clinton?s prey By Edward Luce. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 18 2008 19:05 | Last updated: April 18 2008 19:05. During the Democratic debate on Wednesday, one of the moderators asked Barack Obama whether he thought that the Rev Jeremiah Wright, his controversial former pastor, loved America as much as he did. A flummoxed Mr Obama mumbled something about Mr Wright?s spell in the Marines. Until recently Mr Obama was criticised chiefly for being a man of words rather than experience. Since becoming the favourite, however, the charges against him have become steadily graver. In the past six weeks Mr Obama has faced allegations or insinuations of being a snob, unpatriotic, a neo-Marxist, a closet anti-Semite, a consorter with home-grown terrorists and a devotee of black liberation theology. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/dilemma-that-stalks-clin tons-prey.html McCain faces accusations of hypocrisy By Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 18 2008 19:36 | Last updated: April 19 2008 00:29. John McCain on Friday faced accusations of hypocrisy for failing to disclose his wife?s tax records, despite his promise to bring greater transparency and accountability to government. The Arizona senator declared income of $419,731 in 2007 ? a fraction of the multi-million dollar earnings reported by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rivals. But the disclosure excluded the income of his wife, Cindy, the heiress to a large Arizona beer distribution company, whose wealth is estimated at more than $100m (?63.5m, ?50.2m). Mrs Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, this month reported joint income of $20.4m for 2007, while Mr Obama and his wife, Michelle, declared $4.2m. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/mccain-faces-accusations -of-hypocrisy.html Chicagoland Chicago feels aftershock to Midwest quake - Strongest of follow-up temblors called a 4.6 in wake of initial 5.2 jolt. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 12:46 PM CDT, April 18, 2008. Several aftershocks shook through the Midwest Friday morning, almost six hours after an earthquake centered in southeast Illinois and felt across several states rattled people out of their sleep. There were no injuries or serious damage reported late Friday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey said there had been as many as six aftershocks, including one that registered 4.6 on the Richter Scale that hit around 10:15 a.m., said U.S.G.S. geophysicist Angel Gutierrez. The rumbling could be felt at least as far away as western Tennessee. "We've had a few before this one, but this one is the biggest," said Gutierrez,adding that two of the previous shocks registered at 2.2 and 2.5. The shock noticeably rattled the state Capitol even as Springfield residents were still chattering about the vibrations overnight that rocked them in their beds. Windows rattled around Springfield and the floors in the Capitol vibrated during the aftershocks. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-feels-aftershock -to-midwest.html Cops kill cougar on North Side - Neighborhood stunned as animal cornered, shot in back alley By Jeremy Manier and Tina Shah. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 15, 2008. A cougar ran loose in Chicago on Monday for the first time since the city's founding in the 19th Century. But by day's end, the animal lay dead in a back alley on the North Side, shot by police who said they feared it was turning to attack. No one knew where the 150-pound cat came from, though on Saturday Wilmette police had received four reports of a cougar roaming that suburb, roughly 15 miles from the site of Monday's shooting. Whatever its origin, the 5-foot-long cougar's unlikely journey ended in the Roscoe Village neighborhood, where residents reported sightings throughout the day to the Chicago Commission on Animal Care and Control. Resident Ben Greene said police cornered the cougar shortly before 6 p.m. in his side yard on the 3400 block of North Hoyne Avenue. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/cops-kill-cougar-on-nort h-side.html Chicago Olympic bid nowhere 'near first' - USOC chief says city must play up ethnic diversity and work on 'handful of issues' BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporter rhussain at suntimes.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 16, 2008. We've still got a long way to go to No. 1. Heck, we don't even know if we're the "Second City." While Peter Ueberroth refused to say where he thinks Chicago currently ranks in the race for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman bluntly said the city is "certainly not" the front-runner to host the international spectacle. "I think they're [Chicago 2016 team] improving but still not anywhere near first," he said Tuesday. When he was in town last fall, Ueberroth said Chicago -- the United States' applicant city -- stood "third or fourth place" behind Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo, and needed to recruit more help from the private sector. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-olympic-bid-nowh ere-near-first.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - The Wrigley Field conflict. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 18, 2008. Should the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority buy Wrigley Field from Tribune Co., the owner of this newspaper? Like most other Illinoisans with a pulse, we have thoughts on that issue. As an editorial board, we've been seeking a way to delve into the mix of components at play: private ownership of a sports franchise, public ownership of a stadium, the complex pluses and minuses for Illinois taxpayers, the desires of Chicago Cubs fans to keep their team in perpetuity at 1060 W. Addison St. We earn our livings by trying to help Tribune readers navigate torrents of information and discordant opinions so they can reach good decisions. But this time our ambition to synthesize and speak out collides with a second force: our economic self-interest. The future of our parent company?conceivably, the future of our jobs?rests to some unknowable extent on the successful sale of the Cubs and Wrigley Field, and the resulting reduction of corporate debt. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-tribune-editoria l-wrigley-field.html GLBT Lobby Day makes GLBT presence felt in State Capitol By Matt Simonette. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. April 16, 2008. SPRINGFIELD?Community advocates and activists in the struggle for equality for same-sex couples descended on the Illinois Statehouse for Equality Illinois? 2008 Lobby Day April 9. The lobbyists, numbering about 180, came to speak to their legislators about HB 1826, sponsored by Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), which would allow Illinois same-sex couples to enter into civil unions affording nearly all the rights as marriage. On this particular day, they had to compete for lawmakers? attention as they waited outside the House chambers. Nine lobbying groups were reportedly visiting the capital that day. Activist Laurel Grauer said she was there lobbying on behalf of both HB 1826 and HB 4455, which allots $7 million for support services for homeless youth. She saw the two bills as connected since so many homeless youth?about 42 percent, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force?are GLBT-identified. HB 1826, Grauer said, would illustrate that the community supports its GLBT citizens and sees no reason for them to be ashamed of their identities. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/lobby-day-makes-glbt-pre sence-felt-in.html Chicago Free Press Editorial: Fight for the right ENDA. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. April 16, 2008. Here we go again. Last fall we thought our community made it crystal clear that we aren?t interested in pushing through Congress a version of the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act that doesn?t include protections based on gender identity. In an unprecedented display of community unity more than 300 GLBT groups from around the country came together almost overnight to oppose any version of ENDA that doesn?t protect transgenders. Never in our community?s history have so many diverse groups banded together to speak with such a singular voice on one political issue. House Democratic leaders, backed by the lone community group that didn?t stand together with the rest of the community?the Human Rights Campaign?ignored us, marking the only time in history, no doubt, that Congress passed a civil rights bill that was adamantly opposed by the community it was supposed to benefit. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-free-press-edito rial-fight-for.html Domestic Violence at Home By Roger McCaffrey-Boss. Copyright by Gay Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. April 15, 2008. Q: Last night, my lover was drinking and started hitting me for no reason. This has happened several times before, and each time he apologizes afterward. I am scared to go home but I have no other place to live. What are my legal rights? A: If you are assaulted at home by your partner, you are protected. The Domestic Violence Statute in Illinois is very liberally interpreted by the courts to give LGBT men and women a legal forum to protect themselves from abusive partners. If the victims of domestic violence do find the courage to report the battering that is occurring, many will be surprised to find that the Chicago Police, State?s Attorneys Office and Circuit Court are very receptive to these concerns. In fact, the Domestic Violence Statute in Illinois is very liberally interpreted by the courts to give LGBT men and women a legal forum to protect themselves. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/domestic-violence-at-hom e.html ?You look wonderful? By Paul Varnell. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press and Paul Varnell. April 16, 2008. Each year as my birthday anniversary inexorably rolls around and passes by with a merry wave, I take the opportunity to reflect on the aging process as it affects the gay community and me personally. This was year number 67, not a particularly interesting number, just another hatch mark in the tally of continued existence. Not that I take continued existence lightly. In earlier ages, a man my age had outlived most of his contemporaries. And, of course, many gay men?s lives were snuffed out prematurely by AIDS. Getting old has advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps the most significant disadvantage is the increased possibility of Things Going Wrong. When you were younger, after you got all the available preventive vaccines, you ate what you wanted and got only as much exercise as you felt like. But as you age, you begin paying more attention to your diet. You start watching your cholesterol level, glucose level and blood pressure; your doctor sternly tells you to get more exercise. Health monitoring simply becomes part of your life. (Memo to fellow seniors: Get the pneumonia vaccine.) http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/you-look-wonderful.html Health Care HPV-related oral cancers rise among younger men - Hopkins doctor credited with linking tumors and sexually transmitted virus By Stephanie Desmon. Copyright ? 2008, The Baltimore Sun. April 14, 2008. The sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer in women has now been linked to an uptick of throat, tonsil and tongue cancers - in a younger and healthier group of patients than doctors have ever seen before. These head and neck cancers were once the scourge of older men - mostly the result of lifetimes of heavy smoking and drinking. The treatments often left victims disfigured. But with those cases on the decline, doctors are seeing a new group of victims. They're men in their 40s, and even 30s, whose cancer is brought on by the increasingly common human papillomavirus (HPV). It's an infection that more than half of Americans will encounter during their lifetimes. And researchers now believe that the increase in certain oral cancers can be traced to the spread of the virus through oral sex. New studies suggest that HPV-related oral cancer cases are on pace to eventually surpass cases of cervical cancer in the United States, which strikes about 11,000 women each year. And many doctors do not realize that they should be on the lookout for oral cancer in younger patients. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/hpv-related-oral-cancers -rise-among.html International Herald Tribune Editorial - When drug costs soar beyond reach. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 15, 2008. It doesn't take a health policy expert to recognize that something has gone terribly wrong when patients have to pay thousands of dollars a month for drugs they need. As The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune have reported, instead of paying a modest $10 to $30 co-payment - as is usually the case for cheaper drugs - patients who need especially costly medicines are being forced to pay 20 percent to 33 percent of the bill, up to an annual maximum, for drugs that can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. These drugs - what insurers call Tier 4 medicines - are used to treat such serious illnesses as multiple sclerosis, hemophilia, certain cancers and rheumatoid arthritis. The so-called tiered formularies, in which co-payments rise along with the cost of the drugs, are a sensible approach for encouraging consumers to use the cheapest drug suitable for their condition. But the system seems to break down when it moves to Tier 4 drugs where co-payments can be huge and suitable alternatives do not exist. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_16.html Other Delta and Northwest agree merger By Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 15 2008 02:12 | Last updated: April 15 2008 15:01. Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have reached a merger agreement to create the world?s largest carrier, reviving expectations that the combination will touch off a wave of consolidation within the US aviation industry beset by record fuel costs and waning demand. The accord, reached late on Monday after the two companies? boards met separately, capped several months of negotiations that nearly ended following an impasse between the carriers? pilots. Driven by fuel, restless investors and a looming slump in demand for air travel, Delta and Northwest returned to the talks earlier this month. Both companies? shares rose in early trading in New York on Tuesday. Delta was up 5.2 per cent at $ 9.94 while Northwest was up 0.7% at $11.30. ?Both companies acted deliberately and rationally, and put a lot of work into making certain that the assumptions and planning would make it successful,? Delta Chief Executive Richard Anderson told the Financial Times. ?We are where we are today because of that hard work and planning, and we?re looking forward to getting this approved and closed.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/delta-and-northwest-merg er-imminent.html The airlines merger that will not fly By John Gapper. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 16 2008 19:32 | Last updated: April 16 2008 19:32. When a business venture is declared to be good for everyone ? even those with widely differing interests ? it often turns out not to be particularly good for anyone. This, I fear, will be the case with this week?s proposed merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines to form the largest airline in the US, and one of the biggest in the world. The new Delta, its combined name, sounds impressive but few mergers have combined such lofty rhetoric with such meagre intent. Leaders of the two faltering airlines said they would create an entity strong enough to withstand the fuel price rises that have pushed the industry into losses and to take on international rivals. But they intend to meld their operations with few changes in how they work. They talked of the merger benefits coming from ?addition, rather than subtraction?. The new Delta would be ?a win? for staff, customers and communities (in other words for unions, cheap fares and the cities from which it flies). http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/airlines-merger-that-wil l-not-fly.html Humor Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters http://www.theonion.com/content/video/poll_bullshit_is_most_important?utm_so urce=embedded_video Letter to the Passport Office http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/letter-to-passport-offic e.html "Jake Gyllenhaal on SNL sings "And I'm Telling You, I'm Not Go... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3832355600819882297&pr=goog-sl New! Carlos now has an online store. Order your books directly from Carlos and have them signed and dedicated. http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/ In Pride (orgullo), Carlos T. Mock, MD Www.carlostmock.com Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table. Author: The Mosaic Virus ? Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation Author: Author: Papi Chulo ? Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ctmock at gmail.com Sat Apr 26 11:57:38 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:57:38 -0500 Subject: [News] The Euro and War Newsletter - April 126 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The Euro and WarBy Carlos T Mock, MD. April 25, 2008. OPEC Nations are again discussing whch currency should be used to pay for petroleum. The disagreement was reveaed when a ministerial meeting last November, supposed to be in closed session, was accidentally broadcasted live to reporters. The Iranian and Venezuelan ministers called for measures that are more radicalnd a specific mention of the effect of the dollar to be added to the draft dclaration: specifically to change the OPEC currency from the dollar to the uro. This is very significant because petroleum based on the dollar hasbeen the ?flywheel? of our economy, keeping it steadily moving through he world economy?s ups and downs. But Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign affirs minister, warned the meeting: ?The mere mention that OPEC is studying th issue of the dollar is going to have an impact.? He said a reference to t US currency in the declaration could cause the dollar to ?collapse?. As he dollar continues its relentless six-year slide against the euro and ther main currencies, the question is being asked more and more: what woul it mean if the dollar ceded its global dominance to the euro? http://iretirefromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/euro-and-war.html U.S. eyes military otions vs. Iran - Head of Joint Chiefs cites 'malign influence' in Iraq B Ann Scott Tyson. Copyright by The Washington Post. 10:23 AM CDT, April 26, 008. WASHINGTON ? The nation's top military officer says the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" against Iran, criticizing what he calledthe Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq.Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday thata conflict with Iran would be "extremely stressing" but not impossible fo U.S. forces, pointing specifically to reserve capabilities in the Navy nd Air Force. "It would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat apability," he said at a Pentagon news conference. Still, Mullen made clearthat he prefers a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Iran and doesnot foresee any imminent military action. "I have no expectations thatwe're going to get into a conflict with Iran in the immediate future," he sai. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/us-eyes-military-optins -vs-iran-head.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: The curious Syrian uclear affair. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: Apri 25 2008 21:50 | Last updated: April 25 2008 21:50. Just over five years ag, a US secretary of state, Colin Powell, made more than two dozen clams to the United Nations Security Council about Iraq?s alleged possesion of weapons of mass destruction. In the build-up to war, many foundit a compelling performance. But all Mr Powell?s assertions were subsequentlyshown to be without foundation. He might as well have shown the world a ideo game. Not long afte that, Israel started hawking ?evidence? uncovered by its spies that Saddam Hussein had moved his WMD to Syria. It got some takers ? but nothing more has been heard of this chiera. Thursday?s Central Intelligence Agency presentation to the US Congrs ? making the case that North Korea supplied Syria with a nuclear reacto able to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons ? was also compelling. It woud also appear to justify retroactively the Israeli air strike on th site in Syria?s eastern desert last September. But given the US and Israel? recent record in these matters, it could also be just another dog and pony sow./ Doubts raised over strength of US intelligence By Demetri Sevastopulo ad Daniel Dombey in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 25 2008 22:58 | Last updated: April 25 2008 22:58. When th Central Intelligence Agency on Thursday rolled out evidence to support alegations that North Korea had helped Syria build a nuclear reactor, oficials said they had ?low? confidence that Syria was developing the reacto to produce nuclear weapons. Some critics say that admission raises questons about the quality of the intelligence and the timing of the Israel decision to attack the Syrian facility under the cloud of daress in September. Nuclear experts who have reviewed the CIA presentation ? which comprised of real and computer-generated iges of the reactor and a photograph of a North Korea nuclear scientist with his Syrian counterpart ? included some compelling evidence to support some llegations, and other information that raised more questions that it answered. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/financial-times-editoria l-comment_26.html Euro breaches $1.60 as ECB warns of possible rate rise. Copyright by Bloomberg News. Published: April 22, 2008. NEW YORK: The euro rose to a record high against the dollar - briefly topping $1.6 - after the European Central Bank governing council member Christian Noyr said policy makers would act to restrain consumer prices if inflation does not slow. "The ECB is certanly not easing in the near term," said Adam Boyton, a senior foreign-exchang strategist in New York at Deutsche Bank. "The euro-dollar will reach $1.65 in the next three to six months." The euro advanced to a record high $1.6001 in New York, before falling back to just below that level. The euro also gained against the yen. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/uro-breaches-160-as-ecb- warns-of.html Your Lack of Money Why this crisis is still far from finished By Mohamed El-Erian. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 24 2008 19:24 | Last updated: April 24 2008 19:24. During the past few weeks we have seen a growing number of market participants predict an end to the dislocations that erupted last summer and claimed victims throughout the financial system and beyond. While their predictions are understandable, they are premature. The dynamics driving the disruptions are morphing and may again move ahead of both the market and policy responses. The optimistic view is based on two distinct elements. First, that the de leveraging process is reaching its natural end as valuations stabilise and institutions come clean about their losses and raise capital; second, that a series of previously unthinkable policy responses have been effective in restoring liquidity to the financial system. Both views have merit. Financial institutions, particularly in the US, have recognised the scale of the problem and are taking remedial steps. Just witness the recent round of capital raising by Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan and Wachovia. At the same time central banks in Europe and the US have opened up their financing windows, expanding the size of the financing, the range of institutions that can access it and the list of eligible collateral. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/why-this-crisis-is-still -far-from.html US regulator fears wave of bank failures By Daniel Pimlott, Krishna Guha and Joanna Chung in Washington and Ben White in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 22 2008 23:52 | Last updated: April 22 2008 23:52. US bank failures could rise above ?historical norms? as a weakening economy puts pressure on badly underwritten loans, particularly in commercial real estate, according to a bank regulator. In an interview with the Financial Times, John Dugan, who oversees about 1,700 national banks as comptroller of the currency, said the growing problems for lenders follow a period of almost four years in which no institution regulated by his agency had failed. ?We?re going to have some more bank failures that will come back more to historical norms and may go above that with time,? he said. ?That is a natural consequence of the economy going from historically exceptionally benign credit conditions to something that is more normal to something you would get in a downturn.? Mr Dugan?s comments come as US banks report big spikes in reserves for expected losses on consumer and small business loans, reflecting the spread of the credit crisis from Wall Street to the broader economy. Yesterday, Atlanta-based SunTrust said profit fell by nearly half to $283.6m as provisions rose 10-fold to $560m. Ohio?s Fifth Third bank said profits fell 19 per cent to $292m as provisions rose to $544m from $84m last year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/us-regulator-fears-wave- of-bank.html BofA hit by writedowns and credit costs By Ben White in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 21 2008 13:00 | Last updated: April 21 2008 13:00. Bank of America, slammed by writedowns and rising credit costs, on Monday said earnings dropped nearly 80 per cent in the first quarter to $1.2bn. The largest US bank by market value said provision for credit losses soared by $4.78bn to $6.01bn, driven by problems in home equity and small business loans as well as loans to homebuilders. The bank had $1.47bn in writedowns on its collateralised debt obligations and $439m on its leveraged loan commitments. The numbers were down significantly from the fourth quarter, in which BofA had $5.15bn in writedowns leading executives at the bank to stage a sharp pullback from the investment banking business. Overall, BofA said it earned $1.21bn, or 23 cents a share, down from $5.26bn, or $1.16, last year. The figures fell short of analyst estimates of a profit of 41 cents a share. Net revenue dropped 6 per cent to $17bn. ?Despite revenue growth in most of our businesses, these results clearly did not meet our expectations,? Ken Lewis, chief executive, said in a statement. ?The weakness in the economy and prolonged disruptions in the capital markets took their toll on our performance.? BofA is sitting on large paper gains from in its investment in China Construction Bank and has said it may sell some of the holding and book profits. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/bofa-hit-by-writedowns-a nd-credit-costs.html Funds to invest $7bn in National City bank By Henny Sender in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 21 2008 00:03 | Last updated: April 21 2008 14:55. Efforts to recapitalise the US banking system took a crucial step forward as a group of mutual funds and hedge funds led by Corsair Capital, a little-known private equity firm, prepare to invest $7bn (?3.5bn) in National City, the 10th-biggest US bank. The recapitalisation followed efforts to sell the bank, which has long been the focus of take-over speculation. Like many regional lenders, National City, which is based in Cleveland, Ohio, has been hard hit by mortgage losses. The bank lost $333m in the fourth quarter. The National City deal comes weeks after TPG?led a $7bn recapitalisation?for?Washington Mutual, the largest US savings and loan association, and only days after Wachovia announced plans to raise $7bn from shareholders. Bankers and investors described the National City transaction as emblematic of the second wave of rescue finance deals that have followed the collapse of the US subprime mortgage market and the ensuing turmoil in global finance. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/funds-to-invest-7bn-in-n ational-city.html RBS unveils record ?12bn rights issue By Martin Arnold in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 22 2008 08:54 | Last updated: April 22 2008 14:27. Royal Bank of Scotland on Tuesday unveiled emergency plans to repair the damage the credit crisis has wrought on its balance sheet by raising ?12bn from shareholders and ?4bn by selling assets, including its insurance arm. Unveiling the largest rights issue in Europe, RBS said it had ditched its strategy of operating a more thinly capitalised balance sheet than rivals. The heavily discounted and fully underwritten rights issue will allow RBS to rebuild its capital reserves, which have been stretched by the bank?s role in leading the ?71bn (?56bn) break-up bid for ABN Amro, the Dutch lender, and the turmoil in the credit markets. The move is an embarrassing U-turn for Sir Fred Goodwin, RBS?s chief executive, who pushed ahead with the ABN Amro deal even after the markets froze up last summer, and who had consistently argued that bank did not need additional capital. Sir Fred denied on Tuesday that he would step down, but admitted the decision to dilute shareholders with a record rights issue had been tough. ?The world has changed and when the world changes you have to revisit all the bases of your assumptions,? he said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/rbs-unveils-record-12bn- rights-issue.html UPS downbeat on outlook for US economy By Daniel Pimlott in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 23 2008 14:19 | Last updated: April 23 2008 14:19. UPS, the largest package delivery company in the world, cut its earnings forecast after a ?dramatic? weakening in the US economy hit its first quarter earnings and said that conditions were not expected to pick up in the near future. The company, which is seen as a bellwether for the US economy, said that domestic shipments of packages had fallen in the quarter and US customers were also opting less for costlier services such as overnight delivery. Net income rose to $906m, or 87 cents a share, in line with projections the company issued in an earnings warning earlier this month. The year before UPS earned $843m, or 78 cents, when one-off costs hit net income. Revenues rose 6.7 per cent to $12.7bn from $11.9bn. ?UPS?s first quarter results illustrate the dramatic slowing in the US economy,? said Scott Davis, UPS chairman and chief executive in call with analysts. The company said it was cutting its earnings outlook on expectations of continued economic weakness - only the third time it has done so since going public in 1999. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/ups-downbeat-on-outlook- for-us-economy.html United loses $542 million, plans to cut 1,100 jobs By James P. Miller. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 9:11 AM CDT, April 22, 2008. United Airlines parent UAL Corp., bloodied by an upward spike in fuel prices and relentless pressure from low-cost rivals, turned in a much deeper-than-expected first-quarter loss, and unveiled another painful round of job cuts designed to stem the financial damage. The Chicago-based carrier had a punishing net loss in the latest quarter of $537 million, or $4.45 a diluted share. That's a bigger deficit than the year-ago loss of $152 million, or $1.32 a share, and UAL laid the blame primarily on a $618 million jump in the cost of fuel its jetliners burned through. Revenues rose 7.7 percent to $4.71 billion from $4.37 billion, the company said, but neither that increase nor the operating improvements United has put inplace over the past year was adequate to offset the crushing rise in fuel costs to $1.85 billion from $1.24 billion. In response to what it called the "unprecedented increase in fuel prices and a weakening economic environment," United outlined a number of cost-cutting measures it said are designed to meet the current environment. Among other things, UAL said, the company is shrinking its flight capacity in the U.S. by an additional 4 percent. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/united-loses-542-million -plans-to-cut.html Ford on road to recovery in N America By John Reed in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 24 2008 12:56 | Last updated: April 24 2008 13:16. Ford Motor on Thursday reported improved quarterly earnings and said it was on track to return its North American carmaking business to profitability by next year despite the tough US economic climate. The carmaker reported net income of $100 m, or 5 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $282m, or 15 cents, in the first quarter of 2007. Revenue was $39.4bn, down $3.6bn from a year ago. However, Ford said it would have been up slightly if adjusted to exclude from 2007 results from Aston Martin, which it sold last year, and Jaguar Land Rover, which it recently agreed to sell to India?s Tata Motors. Ford?s first-quarter pre-tax profit from continuing operations was $736m, up $669m a year ago, before special items reflecting charges associated with its move to cut staff and dealers and the restructuring of its investment in hydrogen fuel-cell company Ballard. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/ford-on-road-to-recovery -in-n-america.html Gold and Commodities Oil $118.52 Silver Bullion $16.86 Gold Bullion $887 Platinum Bullion $ $1965 Euro $1.56 Oil breaches $118 as market tightens By Chris Flood. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 22 2008 10:38 | Last updated: April 22 2008 15:45. Supply concerns and evidence of strong demand from China pushed oil prices to a record above $118 a barrel on Tuesday while base metals advanced but gold remained rangebound. Nymex May West Texas Intermediate hit a record $118.47 a barrel before easing back slightly to trade 74 cents higher at $118.22. ICE June Brent gained 77 cents at $115.20 a barrel after touching a new peak at $115.53. A combination of strong demand from China, attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria and concerns about the outlook for supplies from Saudi Arabia ensured strong support for oil prices. Demand for oil in China appears to be accelerating as refiners stock up ahead of the Olympics. China?s imports of crude oil jumped by almost a quarter to 4.07m barrels a day in March, compared to the same month last year. In Nigeria, militants attacked two Shell pipelines in the Niger Delta on Monday. The violence by militants in Nigeria appears to be increasing in intensity. Following a raid on a pipeline last week, Shell has been forced to close 169,000 barrels a day of crude production and declare force majeure on Bonny Light exports for April and May. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/opec-supply-concerns-pus h-oil-above-117.html Not Guzzling Quite So Much Gas - As the pump price climbs ever higher and the population ages, U.S. road traffic is falling?and so is fuel consumption by Christopher Palmeri. Copyright by Business Week. For 20 years now, workers in Palm Beach County, Fla., have been counting cars with sensors at strategic points along the county's 4,000 miles of roads. And as sure as the tide flows in the nearby Atlantic, nearly every year traffic volume has climbed at least 2%. But in 2007 there was a slight decline in the number of vehicles on the roads. And this year, traffic is down 7.5% through March. "We're seeing a very significant change," says county engineer George Webb. "We're having a good time speculating why." It's not just Palm Beach. Traffic levels are trending downward nationwide. Preliminary figures from the Federal Highway Administration show it falling 1.4% last year. Now, with nationwide gasoline prices having recently passed the inflation-adjusted record of $3.40 a gallon set back in 1981, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is predicting gas consumption will actually fall 0.3% this year. That would be the first annual decline since 1991. Others believe the falloff in consumption is actually steeper than the government's numbers show. "Our canaries out there tell us they are seeing demand drop much more considerably than the fraction the EIA is talking about," says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, a market research firm in Gaithersburg, Md. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/not-guzzling-quite-so-mu ch-gas-as-pump.html Housing Illinois Average Rates 4/26/2008 - 10:46 PM 30 Yr Fixed 5.86% 15 Yr Fixed 5.45% 30 Yr Fixed Jumbo 7.17% 15 Yr Fixed Jumbo 5.93% Illinois home sales drop nearly 30% in March. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 8:37 AM CDT, April 22, 2008. Though Chicago fared better, home sales in Illinois were down nearly 30 percent in March as prices slipped statewide, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors. In Illinois, single-family home and condo sales were down 29.5 percent to 8,509 from 12,075 in March of 2007. The Illinois median price in March was $194,500, off 1.3 percent from $197,000 in March 2007. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less. ?During March home sales remained mired in slow growth activity due to low consumer confidence, tighter financing factors and a weakening economy,? said Kay Wirth, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors. ?There is a lot of pent-up demand and while people are being cautious given the uncertainty in the overall economy, the spring market is here.? In the city of Chicago there were 2,045 total sales of single-family homes and condominiums last month, off 11.5 percent from 2,311 homes sold in March 2007. The median price in the city of Chicago increased 5.3 percent to $300,000 compared to $285,000 in March 2007. ?City of Chicago sales in March continue to show an increase in the median price of homes by over 5 percent,? said David Hanna, president-elect of the Chicago Association of Realtors. "The Chicago condo market, in particular, continues to see significant appreciation." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/illinois-home-sales-drop -nearly-30-in.html Treasury sell-off hits housing recovery hopes By Michael Mackenzie and Saskia Scholtes in New York and Krishna Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 18 2008 23:16 | Last updated: April 18 2008 23:16. US mortgage rates soared this week after a dramatic sell-off in the Treasury market that hit housing sector recovery hopes even as it suggested investors were growing more confident in the medium-term US economic outlook. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose as high as 3.85 per cent on Friday from less than 3.50 per cent last week as investors sold bonds on expectations that the Federal Reserve could soon end its rate-cutting cycle. The Fed sees the rise in yields as signalling increased market confidence in US economic prospects. However, mortgage rates also moved higher, making it more expensive to buy homes and less likely that existing homeowners will be able to refinance mortgages. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 5.87 per cent from 5.63 per cent a week ago, Bankrate.com said. Jumbo mortgages, those of more than $417,000, rose to 7.19 per cent from 7.06 per cent. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/treasury-sell-off-hits-h ousing-recovery.html Frank pushes for mortgage intervention By James Politi and Krishna Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 24 2008 20:42 | Last updated: April 24 2008 23:29. Barney Frank, the powerful Democratic chairman of the House financial services committee, issued a stark warning at a breakfast meeting with reporters in Washington on Thursday. If lawmakers and the administration failed to agree on new housing legislation, the US recession would be ?longer and deeper? than expected. The corridors of Capitol Hill have emerged as the critical venue for the shaping of economic policy and Mr Frank, veteran congressman from Massachusetts, is one of the key actors in the legislative drama. Along with Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, Mr Frank is proposing a high-stakes government intervention in the US mortgage market, using up to $400bn (?202bn) in guarantees backed by taxpayers. The negotiations over the legislation, which was moving through Mr Frank?s committee on Thursday, are ex-pected to become tougher in the coming weeks. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/frank-pushes-for-mortgag e-intervention.html New US home sales plunge to 17-year low By Chris Bryant in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 24 2008 16:08 | Last updated: April 24 2008 17:13. New home sales plunged to a 17-year low in March as tighter credit conditions and weakening consumer confidence kept prospective buyers on the sidelines in spite of sharp price declines. Single-family home sales slumped 8.5 per cent in March to a 526,000 annual rate, the lowest since October 1991, 36.6 per cent below the same period the previous year. Economists had forecast March sales to fall to a 580,000 annual pace but the result came in much worse than expected after February?s sales were revised lower from 590,000 to 575,000. The median sales price of a new home fell to $227,600 from $244,200 in February, 13.3 per cent below last year?s figure - the biggest decline since 1970. ?The continued deterioration in housing demand reflects high borrowing costs, anticipation of lower home prices and overall gloomy consumer sentiment. We suspect these factors will continue to depress home sales for the next several months,? Michelle Meyer, economist at Lehman Brothers, said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-us-home-sales-plunge -to-17-year-low.html International International Herald Tribune Editorial - The despot of Zimbabwe and his enablers. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 23, 2008. Prevented from unloading its cargo by dock workers acting in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, a Chinese ship loaded with weapons for Zimbabwe's despot, Robert Mugabe, has been sailing from port to port along the coast of southern Africa. The rejection of the Chinese vessel and its lethal cargo is a tale about the power of commoners when they act in concert, about the corruption of onetime liberation leaders, and the involvement of China's communist rulers with the world's worst dictators. Mugabe lost the recent elections in Zimbabwe. But his appointed electoral commission is withholding the results while conducting a recount that will no doubt be rigged to reverse his party's defeat in parliament and prevent his challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, from supplanting him as head of state. At the same time, bands of regime-backed goons have been going about the countryside demanding to see party identification cards and then beating, torturing, and sometimes killing citizens who had the temerity to oppose the 84-year-old strongman's reelection. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_4147.html Better roses than cocaine By Nicholas D. Kristof. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 24, 2008. BOGOT?: For seven years, U.S. Democrats have rightfully complained that President George W. Bush has gratuitously antagonized the world, exasperating allies and eroding America's standing and influence. But now the Democrats are doing the same thing on trade. In Latin America, it is Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who are seen as the go-it-alone cowboys by opposing the United States' free-trade agreement with Colombia. Some Democrats claim that they are against the pact because Colombia has abused human rights. Those concerns are legitimate - but they shouldn't be used to punish people like Norma Reynosa, a 35-year-old woman who just may snip the flowers that go into the bouquet that an American will buy this Mother's Day. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/better-roses-than-cocain e.html China Olympics chief tells west not to hector China By Roger Blitz in London and Richard McGregor in Beijing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 25 2008 09:41 | Last updated: April 26 2008 02:29. The west must stop hectoring China over human rights, the Olympics chief has warned, even as Beijing on Friday showed the first signs of bowing to international protests by saying it would hold talks with aides to the Dalai Lama, Tibet?s exiled spiritual leader. ?You don?t obtain anything in China with a loud voice,? said Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee. This was the ?big mistake of people in the west?. ?It took us 200 years to evolve from the French Revolution. China started in 1949,? he said, a time when the UK and other European nations were also colonial powers, ?with all the abuse attached to colonial powers?. ?It was only 40 years ago that we gave liberty to the colonies. Let?s be a little bit more modest.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/olympics-chief-tells-wes t-not-to-hector.html China plans to meet Dalai Lama envoys ? Reuters Limited. April 25, 2008. Chinese officials will meet representatives of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism whom China blames for a wave of unrest, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday, citing official sources. The move marks a change in tactics on the part of Beijing, which has stepped up its vilification of the Dalai Lama since anti-government protests hit Tibet and rippled across ethnic Tibetan parts of China in the past weeks. ?In view of the requests repeatedly made by the Dalai side for resuming talks, the relevant department of the central government will have contact and consultation with Dalai?s private representative in the coming days,? Xinhua quoted an official as saying. A spokesman for the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, said he had not received any communication from China about a meeting and China?s Foreign Ministry said it had no details. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/china-plans-to-meet-dala i-lama-envoys.html Mess-o-potamia 12 killed in Baghdad clashes, Iraqi officials say By BUSHRA JUHI. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:42 AM CDT, April 19, 2008. BAGHDAD - Twelve people died in overnight clashes in Baghdad's Sadr City district, which has become a chief battleground between U.S. and Iraqi forces and the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, police and hospital officials said Saturday. Iraqi troops also kept up the pressure on Shiite militants in the southern city of Basra, where they fanned out through a stronghold of the Mahdi Army. In Sadr City's general hospital, officials said 71 people were admitted for treatment of injuries received in the fighting. The hospital also received 12 bodies, said an official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to release the information. The fighting came amid reports that Iraqi troops backed up by U.S. forces were trying to recapture a position in the district abandoned a day ago by a company of government soldiers. Security forces in the area also have come under repeated attack by militants trying to prevent the construction of a concrete wall through the district. The wall -- a concrete barrier of varying height up to about 12 feet -- is being built along a main street dividing the southern portion of Sadr City from the northern part, where Mahdi Army fighters are concentrated. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/12-killed-in-baghdad-cla shes-iraqi.html Official: Roadside bomb kills 3 Afghan civilians By NOOR KHAN. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:16 AM CDT, April 19, 2008. KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A roadside bomb hit a civilian vehicle Saturday in southern Afghanistan, killing three people and wounding another, an official said. The bomb hit the car in the Shahjoy district of Zabul province, in an area frequently patrolled by Afghan and international troops, said Shahjoy district chief Qayum Khan. Khan said the "terrorist act" killed three civilians and wounded another. He accused the Taliban of planting the bomb. Another roadside bomb hit a vehicle carrying police trainers from the American private security firm DynCorp near the Pakistan border, said Spin Boldak border security commander Gen. Abdul Raziq Khan. No one was wounded in the attack. In eastern Khost province, two suicide bomb attacks targeted international forces on Friday in Sabari district, but no one was hurt, said Wazir Pacha, spokesman for the provincial police chief. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/official-roadside-bomb-k ills-3-afghan.html National Chicago Tribune Editorial - Executions and cruelty. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 23, 2008. "When you have to kill a man," said Winston Churchill, "it costs nothing to be polite." When you choose to execute a condemned person, likewise, it costs little or nothing to do so without inflicting gratuitous pain. But reaching agreement on how to achieve that, as the Supreme Court's 7-2 decision upholding Kentucky's execution protocol shows, can be anything but cheap. The federal government and 36 states insist on maintaining the regrettable practice of capital punishment. The uncertainty over this issue resulted in an effective nationwide moratorium that lasted for months. Now, some states can be expected to resume executions. The court's mixed ruling, however, guarantees more lawsuits and more appeals. The court splintered on whether and why this particular method of lethal injection complies with the Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment." For the most part, the justices agreed authorities may not use a procedure that carries a genuine risk of needless suffering. But they couldn't reach a consensus on what is required to meet that standard. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-tribune-editoria l-executions.html Bush Whacking If I Were A Terrorist... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1EXKLVgEx0 International Herald Tribune Editorial - More hot air from the White House. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 22, 2008. President George W. Bush's Rose Garden speech last week had been billed by the White House as a major turning point at which the president would unveil an ambitious set of proposals to address the problem of global warming - a late-breaking act of atonement, as it were, for seven years of doing nothing. Sadly, Bush's ideas amounted to the same old stuff, gussied up to look new. Instead of trying to make up for years of denial and neglect, his speech seemed cynically designed to prevent others from showing the leadership he refuses to provide - to derail Congress from imposing a price on emissions of carbon dioxide and the states from regulating emissions on their own. Bush's main proposal was to halt the growth of emissions in the United States, chiefly from power plants, by 2025. This means, of course, that after seven years of letting emissions grow, he would allow them to continue to grow for another 17 years - and would come nowhere near the swift reductions in emissions that scientists believe are necessary to prevent the worst consequences of climate change. We've been here before with Bush. A few years ago, he grandly offered to reduce "carbon intensity." The idea then was that carbon emissions could rise so long as they rose more slowly than economic growth. The president has never quite grasped the idea that the only way to reverse the process and prevent serious damage is actually to reduce emissions. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_22.html Boston Globe Editorial: Nation-building is not the army's job alone. Copyright by The Boston Globe. Published: April 24, 2008. When George W. Bush came to office in 2001, he parroted his national security advisers' view that the U.S. military should not get involved in nation-building in foreign hot spots. That was one reason the military was so unprepared to handle the chaos that engulfed Iraq after U.S. forces speedily toppled Saddam Hussein. Now the U.S. Army has learned its lesson, and is training its soldiers to stitch communities back together after the fighting has stopped - or, in some cases, while it is still going on. The challenge now is to bring the expertise of other government agencies into this work. The military's preferred term for this is not nation-building but "stabilization operations." The lesson of both Iraq and Afghanistan is that primary responsibility for these operations will fall to the military by default, as no other wing of the government can deploy - and protect - substantial numbers of trained personnel in short time frames. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/boston-globe-editorial-n ation-building.html Dreary verses By H. D. S. Greenway. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 22, 2008. Shelley's "Ozymandias," written two years after Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, has been used again and again to illustrate the vanity and hubris of an empire gone to ruin. A traveler speaks of "two vast and trunkless legs of stone" standing in the desert, with a "shattered visage" lying beside them in the sand. They say you get something new from a poem every time you read it, and I had not noticed before how exactly Shelley described Vice President Dick Cheney: A shattered visage whose frown/And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command/Tell that its sculptor well those passions read. The poem is reprinted as an introduction to Robert Merry's "Sands of Empire," which takes no notice of the physical resemblance, but has plenty to say about the vice president. Cheney gets near top billing in the national catastrophe that he and George W. Bush have wrought. It was Cheney who said, "I really believe we will be greeted as liberators" in Iraq. It was Cheney who formed his own parallel national security apparatus to cherry-pick intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. And it was Cheney who pushed the bogus connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/dreary-verses.html Indecision 2008 McCain faces accusations of hypocrisy By Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 18 2008 19:36 | Last updated: April 19 2008 00:29. John McCain on Friday faced accusations of hypocrisy for failing to disclose his wife?s tax records, despite his promise to bring greater transparency and accountability to government. The Arizona senator declared income of $419,731 in 2007 ? a fraction of the multi-million dollar earnings reported by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rivals. But the disclosure excluded the income of his wife, Cindy, the heiress to a large Arizona beer distribution company, whose wealth is estimated at more than $100m (?63.5m, ?50.2m). Mrs Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, this month reported joint income of $20.4m for 2007, while Mr Obama and his wife, Michelle, declared $4.2m. Presidential candidates are under no obligation to release tax records but it has become customary to do so as a signal of transparency. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/mccain-faces-accusations -of-hypocrisy.html The Fighter - Hillary Clinton Tonya Harding Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeGPgCi0Vaw Clinton's endearing fictions By Steve Chapman. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 27, 2008. During the Pennsylvania primary campaign, Barack Obama made a rather charitable gesture not only toward his Democratic rival but toward the presumptive Republican nominee as well. "You have real choice in this election," he told a crowd in Reading. "You know, either Democrat would be better than John McCain, but . . . all three of us would be better than George Bush." That was all it took to set off Hillary Clinton. She rattled off a list of McCain's misguided positions, asking her audience over and over, "Is that better than George Bush?" She concluded, "We need a nominee who will take on John McCain, not cheer on John McCain, and I will be that nominee." It came as a revelation to hear that Obama, who I thought was plotting to become president, has been shrewedly maneuvering to lead the pom squad at McCain's inauguration. But there was something else that struck me as strange about Clinton's reaction: Obama was not the first of the two Democrats to say something nice about the Arizona senator. He was the second. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/clintons-endearing-ficti ons.html International Herald Tribune Editorial - Down and dirty on the campaign trail. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: April 23, 2008. The Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it. Voters are getting tired of it. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election. If nothing else, self-interest should push her in that direction. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead. On the eve of this crucial primary, Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad - torn right from Karl Rove's playbook - evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the Cold War and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," the narrator intoned. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_25.html Clinton goes nuclear in battle for White House By Philip Stephens. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 24 2008 19:01 | Last updated: April 24 2008 19:01. When I first heard Hillary Clinton had promised to annihilate someone, I assumed the chosen target was Barack Obama. Well before this week?s Pennsylvania primary it was obvious that Mrs Clinton would leave no missile unfired in her quest for the Democratic nomination. If the party was caught in the thermonuclear blast, so be it. Better mutually assured destruction than surrendering her claim on the White House. On closer inspection, though, this time Mrs Clinton was aiming her Minutemen at Iran. She had been asked what she would do if that now infamous 3am call to the White House told of a nuclear attack on Israel. ?I want the Iranians to know that if I?m the president, we will attack Iran,? she told ABC television. ?We would be able to totally obliterate them.? First things first. She has yet to dispose of Mr Obama. Of course, Mrs Clinton?s reinvention of herself as the mad general in Dr Strangelove is not unconnected to this ambition. Her comments on Iran were all of a piece with the effort to undermine Mr Obama?s national security credentials. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/clinton-goes-nuclear-in- battle-for.html Flag question should be put to Clinton too By Eric Zorn. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. The Old Glory question directed at Barack Obama during last week's presidential primary debate was fair enough. "I want to know if you believe in the American flag," began Pennsylvania voter Nash McCabe in a video snippet. McCabe went on to wonder why Obama doesn't "wear the flag," a reference to his usual unwillingness to sport a tiny lapel pin that some believe bespeaks authentic patriotism. Obama launched into a long answer that began with an affirmation of his reverence for the flag and for the United States, and ended by calling flag pins "the kind of manufactured issue that our politics has become obsessed with." True. But campaigns generally pay close attention to symbolism, so voters are entitled to wonder about even tiny elements of a candidate's personal stagecraft. The moderators never followed up with a flag-related question for Hillary Clinton, but I wish they had. Not "why aren't you wearing a flag pin tonight, Sen. Clinton?" though that would have been appropriate because, like presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, Clinton often doesn't wear such a pin. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/flag-question-should-be- put-to-clinton.html New York Times Editorial: The Low Road to Victory. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: April 23, 2008. The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it. Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election. If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead. On the eve of this crucial primary, Mrs. Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad ? torn right from Karl Rove?s playbook ? evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. ?If you can?t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,? the narrator intoned. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-york-times-editorial -low-road-to.html Democrats to choose ?by end of June? By Lionel Barber, Edward Luce and Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 25 2008 22:04 | Last updated: April 25 2008 22:04. The Democratic party?s ?superdelegates? have every right to overturn the popular vote and choose the candidate they believe would be best equipped to defeat John McCain in a general election, according to Howard Dean, chairman of the US Democratic National Committee. Mr Dean, who was a presidential candidate in 2004 and is a former governor of Vermont, spoke to the Financial Times just two days after Hillary Clinton put her campaign back in contention with a near double-digit margin of victory over Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary. He said there was nothing in the DNC?s rules that would prevent the party?s unelected superdelegates, who make up about a fifth of the overall delegate tally and who will ultimately pick the winner, from ?doing what they want?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/democrats-to-choose-by-e nd-of-june.html Chicagoland Want Obama's Senate seat? Join the crowd - It would be gov's call -- and he could appoint a key rival, a political ally -- or himself By LAURA WASHINGTON LauraSWashington at aol.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 21, 2008. Rumors of Senate wannabes are effervescing skyward like tiny bubbles. If U.S. Sen. Barack Obama takes the White House this November, he will depart his Senate seat with nearly two years left on his term. It may seem a bit premature, but that hasn't stopped Democratic pols from lining up. Gov. Blagojevich is empowered to appoint anyone he wants to fill out the stub of the term. That appointee would have a muscular leg up on the November 2010 general election. Step back -- the fur is sure to fly long before the January appointment. The lucky pol who snares this appointment would be positioned a goodly number of laps ahead of the field for the next senatorial election. The field of possibilities is exceedingly congested. Here are a few choice picks: Nine ball in the corner pocket: If the beleaguered Blagojevich is any kind of a pool player, he would appoint his most formidable opponent for governor: Attorney General Lisa Madigan. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/want-obamas-senate-seat- join-crowd-it.html $100 million for museum? - Think what that cash could do for schools By Dennis Byrne. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 21, 2008. Maybe we're asking the wrong question when we debate whether the $100 million Chicago Children's Museum should be built in Grant Park. A better question is: Why is anyone spending $100 million on a children's museum in the first place? When the civic good hearts go about raising the $100 million in private money for the controversial museum in Grant Park, they should ask themselves: Isn't there a better way to help the children? The answer is: Yes there is. Especially when Chicago's children have a crying need for better schools. Think of what $100 million could do by duplicating the demonstrable successes of, say, Marva Collins Preparatory School on the South Side. The assumption that a children's museum is a good way to spend $100 million shouldn't go unchallenged. Yet, whether it is wise to pour all that money into a children's museum has been completely overshadowed by whether it should go into Grant Park or elsewhere. As far as I'm concerned it should go elsewhere; the proponents haven't made the case for plunking it into a lakefront park, since it has nothing to do with the lakefront or a park. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/100-million-for-museum-t hink-what-that.html Consider the options - Chicago could make a better investment than Olympics 2016 By Allen R. Sanderson. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 22, 2008. As reported in the press and media events, an overwhelming majority of Chicagoans?84 percent?was supportive of the city's bid to host the 2016 Olympic events. (Given the political season and climate, another way to "spin" the numbers for those opposed is that only 54 percent were strongly supportive; 30 percent were simply "somewhat supportive.") I suspect that at least 84 percent of those polled were also in favor of world peace, fewer potholes, and the Cubs winning the 2008 World Series. But a more relevant way to elicit information is to face respondents with some prices or notion of the sacrifice required to achieve a stated objective. For example, what if the pollsters had asked: "How much would you be willing to pay annually in the form of taxes on what you own, earn or spend to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago?" The survey could have given some prices to choose from: $0; $50; $100, $500 or $1,000. Or, alternatively, the pollsters could have asked: "If it costs the city $1 million to have the 2016 Olympic Games here, are you strongly in favor, somewhat in favor, somewhat opposed, or strongly opposed?" Then we could, either sequentially or by segmenting respondents, up the ante: "What if it costs the city $100 million? $1 billion?" http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/consider-options-chicago -could-make.html Feds: Witness says Rezko tried to oust Fitzgerald - U.S.: Fundraiser said he could call in Rove to fire prosecutor By Bob Secter and Jeff Coen. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. April 24, 2008. In the midst of a corruption trial that has provided plenty of fodder for political cynics, prosecutors alleged that political insiders in Washington and Illinois claimed to be working to choke off a criminal investigation launched by U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald. At the trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, prosecutors revealed Wednesday that former Rezko confidant Ali Ata was prepared to testify that Rezko told him in November 2004 of a plan to pull strings with then- White House political director Karl Rove to have Fitzgerald fired. Prosecutors also sought to add the testimony of another admitted schemer suggesting that two of the state's most powerful Republican operatives wanted to take the heat off Rezko by dumping the hard-charging prosecutor. Rove denied the allegations, as did the two Republicans, GOP National Committeeman Robert Kjellander and Springfield power broker William Cellini. The developments add political intrigue at a trial in which testimony has linked Gov. Rod Blagojevich to pay-to-play politics, highlighted Sen. Barack Obama's long friendship with Rezko and held up an ugly X-ray of the sometimes malignant inner workings of Illinois government. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/feds-witness-says-rezko- tried-to-oust.html GLBT The Joy of Marriage Was Ours, for a While By TORIE OSBORN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: April 20, 2008. GAY marriage was never my issue ? until I actually tried it. A little more than four years ago I stood in the glorious, echoing rotunda of San Francisco City Hall, looking into my partner?s eyes and vowing love forever. Little did I grasp then that enthusiastically participating in this sunny rite of passage would expose me to its depressing shadow side. I surprised myself, getting married. I had boycotted the weddings of many straight friends (and political allies in our battle for equality), resenting them as one by one they chose to embrace their privilege, leaving us gays and lesbians stranded. In the subsequent years, the gay civil rights movement steadily inched forward, securing a few legal rights for couples that varied state by state. In California, my partner and I signed a benefitless domestic partnership registry in 2001, and then, a scant two years later, we were granted a whole lot of separate-but-nearly-equal benefits involving inheritance, medical issues, adoption and state taxation. It frankly seemed enough for me. I worried that the gay movement?s focus on marriage was eclipsing our community?s ability to ally with others on the global issues that increasingly fueled my own political passions: namely, environmental sustainability and economic justice. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/joy-of-marriage-was-ours -for-while.html Chicago Free Press Editorial: A chance for change. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. April 23, 2008. There?s an important election coming up in November, one that could shape our lives for decades, and almost no one is talking about it. No, we?re not talking about the presidential race?most of our readers, we hope, are well aware of what?s at stake in that election. We?re talking about another decision Illinois voters face on the November ballot: Whether or not to call for a constitutional convention to rewrite our state?s constitution. Every 20 years, that question goes before the voters. Our current constitution, which went into effect almost four decades ago, is the product of just such a convention. For gays and lesbians here, there are compelling arguments in favor of a convention. State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) and Equality Illinois leaders are pushing House Bill 1826 this session in Springfield, a measure that would legalize civil unions for gay and lesbian couples in Illinois. It may well pass this year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/chicago-free-press-edito rial-chance-for.html Divorce proves hard for gay pairs who leave Massachusetts By Ray Henry. Copyright by The Associated Press. April 23, 2008. PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island?Gay couples had to struggle mightily to win the right to marry or form civil unions in certain states. Now, some are finding that breaking up is hard to do, too, thanks to America?s patchwork of state-by-state laws. In Rhode Island, for example, the state?s top court ruled in December that gays married in neighboring Massachusetts?the only state to allow the practice?cannot get divorced because state lawmakers have never defined marriage as anything but a union between a man and woman. In Missouri, a judge is deciding whether a lesbian married in Massachusetts can get an annulment. ?We all know people who have gone through divorces. At the end of that long and unhappy period, they have been able to breathe a sigh of relief,? said Cassandra Ormiston of Rhode Island, who is splitting from her wife, Margaret Chambers. But ?I do not see that on my horizon, that sigh of relief that it?s over.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/divorce-proves-hard-for- gay-pairs-who.html Sex forum focuses on what gay men want by Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-04-23. Sex and gay men's health were the focal points of a recent rousing discussion at the Center on Halsted. Project CRYSP and Lifelube.org co-sponsored its first community forum about gay men's health. ?'Good' Sex? ?Bad' Sex? Just What Do Gay Men Want, Anyway?? was hosted by Fausto Fernos and Marc Felion ( Feast of Fools podcast ) , and featured panel experts Dr. David Halperin ( pictured, author of What Do Gay Men Want? ) , DePaul University's Dr. Gary Harper and Northwestern University's Dr. Michele Morales. Although many topics were touched on?from crystal meth to the idea that younger gay men think HIV is a manageable disease?the conversation frequently returned to the stereotyping of the community and communication. The conversation started by exposing the negative light often cast on gay men by research and science. Researchers face a ?double bind,? said Morales. Although it is important to acknowledge the real problems that face a community, such as substance abuse, sometimes focusing on these issues ?constructs the idea we are not well as a community,? she said. Morales said its no coincidence that homosexuality and alcoholism emerged as identities around the same time roughly 100 years ago. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/sex-forum-focuses-on-wha t-gay-men-want.html Dignity confronts the pope by Bob Roehr. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-04-23. Gay and lesbian Catholics were among those who flocked to events during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States, which concluded April 20, but there were few smiles upon their faces. They came to protest the career of a man noted for his anti-gay positions in his service to the church. ?We are holding up the Pope's words and actions to confront him with the horrific nature of the dehumanizing and demeaning language he has used against gay people for so long. We want to contrast that with the tremendous gains that GLBT Catholics have made in the Church in recent decades,? said Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of Dignity USA. ?It is fair to say that this pope has used more shameful rhetoric abut the gay and lesbian community than any religious leader of the modern era.? Duddy-Burke added that his continued opposition to the use of condoms to reduce the spread of HIV ?has left him with the blood of millions on his hands.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/dignity-confronts-pope.h tml LGBTs part of May 1 immigration march by Yasmin Nair. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-04-23. The 2006 Sensenbrenner Bill ( HR 4437 ) ?also known as The Border Protection, Anti-terrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005?prompted widespread protests nationwide. In Chicago, the March 10 Movement mobilized a rally of 200,000 immigrants in downtown Chicago. Subsequently, national immigrant-rights groups began staging immigrant rights rallies on May Day ( May 1 ) to emphasize the connection between labor and immigrants. This year, the May Day immigrant-rights march organizers in Chicago have, in a change from previous years, included an anti-war message along with a call for legalization of all undocumented people. That's not the only change. For the first time since 2006, local Chicago queer groups have issued an open invitation for queers and queer immigrants to join in solidarity with May Day organizers. Several LGBTQ groups, including Amigas Latinas, ALMA ( Association of Latino Men for Action ) , Orgullo en Accion and Gay Liberation Network ( GLN ) are participating. So, queer immigrants will organize under a big tent?or at least a big rainbow flag. But what does a queer presence mean in an immigration reform movement that's focused on labor? Do U.S.-born queers and immigrant queers face the same issues around immigration? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/lgbts-part-of-may-1-immi gration-march.html Health Care C-SECTION - Entering the world. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. By Ana Langer. Published: April 22, 2008. The number of women giving birth by Cesarean section has jumped dramatically in the United States - up 50 percent over the past 10 years. Not all of these C-sections are necessary. Many medical experts and health advocates rightly warn against C-sections as the first choice for healthy women and babies, given the risks involved for both. Yet an important part of the story is seldom told: How medicine is practiced in the United States sets the standard elsewhere, often for better, but sometimes for worse. In developing parts of the world, demand for unnecessary C-sections is rising, and the procedure is proving to be more dangerous than in the United States, particularly in places where the medical infrastructure is insufficient to deal with the risks associated with what still amounts to major surgery. Recent studies show that the risk of death for mothers who deliver via C-section in Latin America is triple that for those who deliver vaginally. Even in developed countries like the United States, with state-of-the-art delivery rooms, risk of death for infants delivered via C-sections is double that of vaginal births. C-section babies also have higher rates of low birth weight and respiratory problems. To be sure, C-sections have been credited with sharply reducing both maternal and infant death in the past century. When performed according to the World Health Organization's standards of care for real obstetric emergencies, C-sections not only save lives; they prevent devastating conditions like fistula. Problems arise when the surgery is overused for elective reasons. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/c-section-entering-world .html New HPV test puts cancer screening in 'state of flux' By LAURAN NEERGAARD. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. April 22, 2008. New research suggests a test for the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer may replace the old-fashioned Pap smear one day as that cancer's primary screening tool. But even enthusiasts say it will take years of additional research to make such a big switch. For now, a new trend is the Pap-plus ? both a Pap and an HPV test ? to improve screening accuracy. But government researchers issued a caution this month: Nearly one in 10 women over age 30 who get the combo test learns they have HPV even though their Paps show no cancer or even precancerous cells. They'll need repeat checkups, and maybe more in-depth testing, to tease out who's really at risk. What makes the issue confusing: Women's bodies very often clear an HPV infection on their own, without lasting harm, but it can take a year. The younger the woman, the more likely that HPV is going to be transient. "One HPV test does not tell you very much. Two consecutive HPV tests are what you need," says Debbie Saslow of the American Cancer Society, who fields phone calls from women frightened by the test mismatch. "Right now we're, I think, in quite a state of flux," adds Dr. George Sawaya of the University of California, San Francisco, who worries that women aren't being educated enough about the pros and cons of their test options. "We are very thoughtful in telling them how we believe it can add to their care versus how it may be complicating." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-hpv-test-puts-cancer -screening-in.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Cash for safe sex. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 25 2008 22:11 | Last updated: April 25 2008 22:11. The phrase ?new and daring? is not often paired with the words ?healthcare intervention?, but this idea goes beyond eye-catching: young Tanzanians are to be bribed to stay HIV negative. A consortium that includes the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the World Bank is funding the experiment. Several thousand 15 to 30-year-olds in rural Tanzania will be given advice on sexual health, regularly tested for infections, and paid almost $50 a year if the tests are negative. The scheme will ? evidently ? cause controversy. Are the funders saying young Tanzanians cannot be trusted to do what is good for them without a bribe? Yet the cash may increase the bargaining power of young women and give them an alternative to accepting money from richer, older boyfriends. Cash today may be a more powerful incentive than the risk of an unseen killer disease many years hence. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/financial-times-editoria l-comment-cash.html Technology Apple exhibits ?astounding? resilience By Kevin Allison in San Francisco. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: April 24 2008 22:19 | Last updated: April 24 2008 22:19. Can Apple?s winning streak continue? That was the question vexing technology analysts on Thursday after the computer maker shrugged off recession fears to report bumper sales and profits on Wednesday. Surging Macintosh computer sales helped propel Apple to record sales for the three months ended in March, confounding fears that the computer group could be hit by the economic slowdown gripping the US. ?If you factor in Apple?s numbers in light of all the other economic news that?s out there, it?s almost astounding,? says Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research. With its computers commanding higher prices than many of its competitors, and with its unusually high exposure to the US consumer market, some analysts had feared that Apple could be vulnerable if a US downturn caused consumers to rein in spending. Judging by Apple?s performance in the second quarter, that hasn?t happened ? at least, not yet. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/apple-exhibits-astoundin g-resilience.html Immigration Where there's a wall, there's still a way By CAROL MARIN cmarin at suntimes.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 20, 2008. On the southern edge of John McCain's Arizona where the tiny town of Sasabe meets the Mexican border, there sits a crazy looking fence. Imagine the wrought iron variety that our own Mayor Daley loves to put around every playground and vacant lot in Chicago. That's pretty much what this fence looks like except that it's a bit higher (12 to 15 feet tall) and the metal bars a bit thicker. The wacky part is that the fence at Sasabe is just seven miles long. And then, on either side, old-fashioned barbed wire attached to wooden poles picks up where the new fence ends. Now imagine you are an undocumented worker determined to slip into the United States. What do you do? Duh. Go AROUND it, of course. Cut a hole in the barbed wire and keep walking. This is what we in the United States call Homeland Security. And it wasn't just Sen. John McCain, Republican and presidential candidate, who voted for the fence back in 2006. Fellow senators and Democratic contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton joined what was then the Republican majority and voted for it too. And while all three of them supported broader, more comprehensive immigration reform than just a largely symbolic, dubious fence, the comprehensive legislation died a miserable death in the U.S. House. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/where-theres-wall-theres -still-way.html Other ARTROPOLIS |Carrie Secrist's insider's guide to 5 great galleries - Carrie Secrist explains what's hot -- and what's going to be By Carrie Secrist. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. April 24, 2008. Artropolis, as its title suggests, is a sprawling art expo -- five separate shows, all opening Friday at the Merchandise Mart -- that for many visitors will seem dauntingly large and complex. The Sun-Times asked Chicago art dealer Carrie Secrist to help guide us through the maze. She suggests checking out several galleries -- including her own -- that are showing work in both Art Chicago and NEXT. "There are the younger artists the galleries are focusing on in NEXT, and then there's the blue-chip artists they're doing for Art Chicago," she explains. "It's interesting to see them going in both directions, and that's what I'm doing, too. A lot of younger faces, a lot of graduate students' work is being devoured by top dealers and collectors around the world, so established galleries need to keep their eye on what's going on with new things. It also helps them invigorate their program. Finding wonderful new talent brings new life into the establishment." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/artropolis-carrie-secris ts-insiders.html Humor The Medical Students http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/medical-students.html New! Carlos now has an online store. Order your books directly from Carlos and have them signed and dedicated. http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/ In Pride (orgullo), Carlos T. Mock, MD Www.carlostmock.com Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table. Author: The Mosaic Virus ? Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation Author: Author: Papi Chulo ? Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: