[News] July 4th Newsletter- July 4, 2008

Carlos Mock ctmock at gmail.com
Fri Jul 4 18:49:15 CST 2008

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“Most Americans lie in the middle, wisey embracing a more thoughtful
definition of patriotism that allows for multipe, equally meaningful ways
to support American ideals. Consider a US Today/Gallup Poll out this week:
80 percent of Americans consider supporing U.S. policies around the world
an act of patriotism. At the same time, narly as many, two-thirds of those
polled, say protesting U.S. policies als is patriotic. For ordinary
Americans, patriotism is an abstract love ofcountry but also a commitment
to it, to help it achieve its promise and ideal," says Nancy MacLean,
history department chair at Northwestern University.

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - What, at heartis patriotism all about?
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. July 4, 2008. So what is patriotism
anyway? Americans feel it strongly. We rank among the highest of ll nations
in national pride, telling University of Chicago researches we'd rather
live in the United States than in any other country. Amerians also know it
when they see it. Flying the flag, voting and military servie are all
widely cited as patriotic acts. But what does patriotism actuallymean? As
we pause to celebrate Independence Day, as we reflect o an election season
in which Barack Obama has been forced to defend his patiotism, it's worth
digging deeper and searching for a definition we can all ebrace. Most
Americans would agree that patriotism is more than wearing - or not wearing
-- a flag pin.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.co/2008/07/chicago-sun-times-editor
ial-what-at.html

Obama creates his own ptriot revolution By Edward Luce in Washington.
Copyright The Financial Time Limited 2008. Published: June 30 2008 19:55 |
Last updated: June 30 200819:55. Barack Obama on Monday sought t portray
himself as a mainstream American patriot and put his Republican opponents on
notice that he would “not stand idly by” when others questioned his support
for the S flag. Mr Obama’s speech, which he delivered in Independence,
Missour, the birthplace of Harry S. Truman, the former president who was
known for is unassuming Mid-Western style of patriotism, comes after months
of poted attacks on his biographical credentials. Opinion polls suggest
that MrObama’s biggest challenge is to convince the electorate that he is
an athentic American who is also ready to be commander-in-chief. Mr Obama,
whomone in ten Americans continue to believe is a Muslim, has recently
taken to earing an American flag pin, having been attacked for not doing
so. He has lso taken to speaking against a backdrop of the Stars and
Stripes. “Thequestion of who is – or is not – a patriot all too often
poisons our politial debates, in ways that divide us rather than bringing
us together,” he saidyesterday. “I have come to know this from my own
experience on the campaign trail.”
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-creates-his-own-pa
triot.html

patriotic signpost By Clarence Page. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune.
Jul 2, 2008. Sen. Barack Obama is wearing his American flag lapel pin
again,most appropriately during his speech this week in Missouri on
patriotism. Hs critics may call that a flip-flop. I call it a sign that
he's learning As recently as the deate before the Pennsylvania primary,
the presumptive Democratic presidetial nominee gave eloquent reasons why he
didn't think a flag pin was as impotant as the patriotic beliefs he held in
his heart. But flag-pin lovers voe too. It's too bad so many voters invest
so much in symbols, but that's areality of politics and human nature. Polls
show a small but not insignifcant slice of voters continue to question
Obama's patriotism, especially n white working-class areas.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/patriotic-signpost.html

Save the press. By Timothy Egan. Copyright by The International Herld
Tribune. Published: July 3, 2008. On the lobby wall of the newspaper whee
I got my first reporting job are the Thomas Jefferson words that U.S.
journlists like to trot out as America's Independence Day nears: "Were it
lef to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers
or ewspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer
th latter." Of course, Jefferson also said the only reliable truths in
newsppers were the advertisements, and that he was happiest when not
reading te papers. But as to his iconic quote, it's no secret that we're
trending tward the former. And anyone who cheers the collapse of the
newspaper indusry should consider why Jefferson put aside his distaste for
the vitrioland nonsense of the press for the larger principle of healthy
democracis needing informed citizens.
http:/iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/save-press.html

International

British economy falling into American-style slump - In an echo of the United
States, conomists now predict the U.K. is likely to fall into a recession
this yea. By David Jolly. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune.
Published: uly 3, 2008. PARIS: A housing market in shambles, inflation at
the highest lel in years and signs that the economy is headed for, or
already in,recession. Sound familiar? The British economy, like its
counterpart acrss the Atlantic, has fallen on hard times, and in many ways
the experience apears to be mirroring that in the United States. Indeed,
the run last Septeber on a British mortgage lender, Northern Rock, was one
of the events that elped to embed the terms "credit crisis" firmly into the
global consciousnes. "A recession is more likely than not by the end of
the year," Peter Newlad, who covers the British economy for Lehman Brothers
in Lndon, said Thursday, summarizing a recent string of dismal economic
data that have led economists to revise their growth forecasts downward.
"Activity seems to bedeclining across the economy," he said.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogsp.com/2008/07/british-economy-falling-
into-american.html Editorial Note: conomically and globally, Tony Blair
was joined at the hip with George Bushs policies.

Eurozone inflation soars to new high By Gerrit Wiesmann in Frankurt.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 30 2008 0:57 |
Last updated: June 30 2008 19:29. Eurozone inflation rose in une to the
highest rate since the bloc’s 1999 formation, new data showed on Mnday as
political opposition mounted to a widely-expected move by the Europan
Central Bank to raise its main interest rate later this week. n its
initial estimate of inflation for the month, Eurostat, the Euroean Union’s
statistical office, said prices were 4 per cent higher in June han a year
earlier – twice as high as the ECB’s inflation target. The figures come as
oil prices hit a fresh record of $143.67 a barrl and commodities recorded
their largest first half of the year price jump fo at least half a century,
exacerbating global concerns about inflation. TheJefferies-Reuters CRB
index – a global benchmar for commodities prices such as oil, corn or
copper – jumped to a record high of 467.60 points on Monday, bringing the
first-half increase to 30.4 per cent, the largest since record began in
1957.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/euroone-inflation-soars
-to-new-high.html

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Urbe’s rescue deserves acclaim.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: July 3 2008 19:31 |
Last updated: July 3 2008 19:31. Colombias dramatic hostage rescue has
vindicated President Alvaro Uribe’s hardline ecurity strategy and inflicted
another devastating blow on the Farc, the solated and increasingly
fragmented leftwing guerrilla group. By freeing Inrid Betancourt, a
charismatic former presidential candidate, and 14 other hig profile
long-term hostages without firing a shot, Mr Uribe has also confonded
international critics, such as Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, wo had
been pressing him to negotiate a prisoner exchange. Mr Uribe merits
laudits for sticking to his guns and restoring the public’s faith in the
Coombian state. But his next task should be to avoid hubris and look to
strenthen independent institutions./Colmbian troops rescue Betancourt By
Richard Lapper in London, Anastasia Moloney in Caracas and Naomi Mapstone in
Lima. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Publhed: July 2 2008
20:55 | Last updated: July 3 2008 10:13. Álvaro Uibe, Colombia’s
president, secured one of the most significant triumphs of is political
career on Wednesday when troops freed Ingrid Betancourt ad 14 other
hostages held by leftwing Farc guerrillas. ”I believe thatthis is a sign
of peace for Colombia, that we can find peace,” Ms Betancour said, weeping
as she thanked the Colombian military in her first publi comments, carried
on Colombian radio station Caracol. Minutes later, a pae but smiling Ms
Betancourt landed at Bogota’s air force base, walking dow the stairs of the
plane and hugging her mother, Yolanda Pulecio, on the runay.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/fiancial-times-editoria
l-comment.html

International Herald Tribune Editorial: Mugabe steals an election, Africans
look away. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune.Published: July
1, 2008. Robert Mugabe brazenly and brutally stole his lates re-election
as president of Zimbabwe. Now Africa's leaders, who have lookedthe other
way for far too long, must decide what they will do. They can cotinue to
enable Mugabe out of political cynicism or misplaced solidarity wh a
former liberation leader turned tyrant. Or they can follow the wiser eple
of the living symbol of African liberation, Nelson Mandela, who las week
condemned Zimbabwe's "tragic failure of leadership." The signals fom
Monday's opening session of the African Union summit, with Mugabe smuglyin
attendance, were not encouraging. While African election monitors rihtly
denounced the voting, few summit speakers went beyond muted and indirec
criticism. More than truth telling is at stake. Zimbabwe and its people re
dying at Mugabe's hand - ravaged by an imploding economy, skyrocketinginflation, man-made famie and a governmental machinery whose only visible
function is to reward the dictator's collaborators and cronies and beat and
kill his critics and opponents.
http://iretiredfmnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/international-herald-tri
bune-editoria.html

Mess-o-potamia

"Opening up a third front right now would be exremely stressful on us,"
Mullen acknowledged during a Pentagon news confernce. He added moments
later, "This is a very unstable part of the world, nd I don't need it to be
more unstable." Adm. Mike Mullen

Military chie warns against striking Iran By Aamer Madhani. Copyright ©
2008, ChicagoTribune. July 3, 2008. WASHINGTON — The words Wednesday from
Adm. Mike Mulen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were notable for
their blunt pramatism: An Israeli airstrike on Iran would be high-risk and
could further desabilize the region, leading to political and economic
chaos. On Iran's wetern border, the U.S. military is more than five years
into a war in Iraq tha has taken 4,113 American lives and cost U.S.
taxpayers more than $600 bilion. And on Iran's eastern border, American
commanders are now openly questoning whether they have los their way in
the fight against a resurgent Taliban. Israel, the United States' closest
ally in the Middle East, has refused to rule out a strike against Iranian
nucle sites, and this week's New Yorker magazine reported that the U.S.
has steped up its covert operations inside Iran.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogpot.com/2008/07/military-chief-warns-aga
inst-striking.html

Pentagon exteds tour of Marines in Afghanistan By LOLITA C. BALDOR.
Copyright 2008 Assoiated Press. 6:20 AM CDT, July 4, 2008. WASHINGTON -
The Pentagon has extened the tour of 2,200 Marines in Afghanistan, after
insisting for months theunit would come home on time. The 24th Marine
Expeditionary Unit, whichis doing combat operations in the volatile south,
will stay an extra 30 daysand come home in early November rather than
October, Marine Col. David Laan confirmed Thursday. Military leaders as
recently as Wednesday stressed th need for additional troops in
Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of he Joint Chiefs of Staff, has
often praised the work of the 24th MEU infighting Taliban militants in
Helmand Province. Defense Secretary Robert Gats, however, has repeatedly
said he did not intend to extend or replace the US. Marines in Afghanistan,
calling their deployment there an extraordinary, one-time effort to help
tamp down the increasing violence in the south. Asked about the possibility
of an extenion in early May, Gates said he would "be loathe to do that." He
added tat "no one has suggested even the possibility of extending that
rotation."
ttp://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/pentagon-extends-tour-of-marines-in.html

Coalition deaths in Afghanistan hit a record high By MarkMazzetti.
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: July 2 2008.
WASHINGTON: More American and coalition troops died in Afghanisan last
month than during any other month since the U.S.-led invasion bega in 2001,
the latest evidence of a strengthening Taliban insurgency thathas menaced
NATO forces and reclaimed control over some southern and easter parts of
the country. The violence in Afghanistan has surged at the sam time as the
number of attacks and American deaths in Iraq has fallen. Amng the
American-led forces in the two countries, there were 46 troops killd in
Afghanistan in June, compared with 31 in Iraq, the second straigt month in
which combat deaths in Afghanistan exceeded those in Iraq. A recnt
Pentagon report about Afghanistan paintd a stark picture of security
conditions inside the country, a militant force that has "coalesced into a
resilient insurgency" and a central government in Kabul that still cannot
extend its reach into the hinterlands.
http://itiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/coalition-deaths-in-afgh
anistan-hit.html

Wounded Iraqi forces say they've been abandoned By Michael Kamber.
Copyright by he international Herald Tribune. Published: July 1, 2008.
BAGHDAD: Dawoud Ameen, a former Iraqi soldier, lay in bed, his shattered
legs splayed before him, worrying about the rent for his family of five.
Ameen's legs were shredded by shrapnel from a roadside bomb in September
2006 and now, like many wounded members of the Iraqi security forces, he is
deeply in debt andstruggling to survive. For now, he gets by on $125 a
month brought to himby members of his old army unit, charity and whatever
his wife, Jinan, can beg from her relatives. But heworries that he could
lose even that meager monthly stipend. In the United tates, the issue of
war injuries has revolved almost entirely around the care received by the
30,000 wounded American veterans. But Iraqi soldiers and police officers
have been wounded in greater numbers, health workers say, and have been
treated far worse by their government. A number of the half-dozen badly
wounded Iraqis interviewed for this article said they had been effectively
drummed out of the Iraqi security forces without pensions, or were receiving
partial pay and in danger of losing even that. Coping with severe injuries,
and often amputations, they have been forced to pay for private doctors or
turn to Iraq's failing public hospitals, which as recently as a year ago
were controlled by militias that kidnapped and killed patients —
particularly security personnel from rival units.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/wounded-iraqi-forces-say
-theyve-been.html

Palestinian goes on rampage in Jerusalem; 3 killed By STEVEN GUTKIN.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:54 PM CDT, July 2, 2008. JERUSALEM - A
Palestinian laborer driving a construction vehicle rammed into packed buses,
tossed cars into the air and rolled over pedestrians in a deadly rampage
Wednesday that killed three people and wounded dozens in Jerusalem. The
attacker's unusual weapon -- a yellow Caterpillar front loader transformed
into a deadly assault vehicle -- threatened both Israelis' sense of security
and Palestinians' fragile status in the city. Hundreds of panicked people
were sent running for cover before the attacker was shot dead by security
forces. Three Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for the
onslaught, the first major attack in Jerusalem in four months. However,
Israeli police said the assailant, a 30-year-old Palestinian from Arab east
Jerusalem, apparently acted alone. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the
man was working on a railway project in Jerusalem.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/palestinian-goes-on-ramp
age-in.html

Scientist: Pakistan knew of NKorea nuke deal By MUNIR AHMAD. Copyright 2008
Associated Press. 9:55 AM CDT, July 4, 2008. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -
Pakistan gave centrifuges to North Korea in a 2000 shipment supervised by
the army during the rule of President Pervez Musharraf, nuclear scientist
Abdul Qadeer Khan said Friday. Khan told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview that the uranium enrichment equipment was sent from
Pakistan in a North Korean plane that was loaded under the supervision of
Pakistani security officials. His claims contradict his 2004 confession
that he was solely responsible for spreading nuclear technology to Iran,
North Korea and Libya -- and Pakistan's repeated denials its army or
government knew about Khan's nuclear proliferation activities. Khan said
the army had "complete knowledge" of the shipment of used P-1 centrifuges to
North Korea and that it must have been sent with the consent of Musharraf,
the then-army chief who took power in a 1999 coup.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/scientist-pakistan-knew-
of-nkorea-nuke.html

Bomb blast kills young girl, wounds 11 in Pakistan. Copyright 2008
Associated Press. 1:02 AM CDT, July 4, 2008. QUETTA, Pakistan - A bomb
exploded on a busy street in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta on
Friday, killing a 4-year old girl and wounding 11 other people. The bomb
was rigged to a motorcycle and it exploded outside a commercial bank, said
Raja Mohammed Ishtiaq, a Quetta police officer. There was no immediate claim
of responsibility. Four of the wounded were traffic police on duty nearby,
and others were passers-by, said Mohammed Khalid, another police officer.
The wreckage of the motorcycle -- to which Ishtiaq said the bomb was
attached -- lay scattered on the roadside. The windows of cars parked in
front of the bank were damaged. Quetta is the capital of southwestern
Baluchistan province, where authorities have blamed armed tribesmen for
bombings and attacks against the government.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/bomb-blast-kills-young-g
irl-wounds-11.html

National

Chicago Tribune Editorial - Catastrophe ahead. Copyright © 2008, Chicago
Tribune. June 29, 2008. Midwesterners still mopping up from the worst
flooding in 15 years might be surprised to learn that a plan in Congress
would put them—and everyone else in the country—on the hook for major
hurricane damage in Florida. It's called the Homeowners Defense Act of
2007, and it passed the House last fall. The bill would create a
taxpayer-financed federal program that would back up giant private insurance
companies when disasters strike. The government would provide what's called
reinsurance, basically insuring the insurance companies against catastrophic
losses. This has been likened to the troubled National Flood Insurance
Program, which ought to make taxpayers very nervous. By underpricing risk,
the flood program has encouraged building in areas prone to flooding. Just
this spring, Congress approved a $17 billion bailout because of excess
losses from floods in 2005. Two big private insurers, Allstate and State
Farm, are firmly behind this. It would be less expensive for those companies
to buy reinsurance coverage from a federal pool than the private market. The
companies promise to pass along their savings to homeowners.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria
l-catastrophe.html

International Herald Tribune Editorial: The fragile center of America's
Supreme Court. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published:
July 3, 2008. In some ways, the U.S. Supreme Court term that just ended
seems muddled: disturbing, highly conservative rulings on subjects like
voting rights and gun control, along with important defenses of basic
liberties in other areas, including the rights of detainees at Guantánamo
Bay, Cuba. The key to understanding the term lies in the fragility of the
court's center. Some of the most important decisions came on 5-4 votes - a
stark reminder that the court is just one justice away from solidifying a
far-right majority that would do great damage to the Constitution and the
rights of Americans. The Supreme Court abandoned its special role in
protecting voting rights when it rejected a challenge to Indiana's harshly
anti-democratic voter ID law. Critics warned that the law, which bars anyone
without a government-issued photo ID from voting, would disenfranchise poor
people, minorities and the elderly, all of whom disproportionately lack
drivers' licenses. The critics were right. In the Indiana presidential
primary, shortly after the ruling, about 12 nuns in their 80s and 90s were
turned away at the polls for not having acceptable ID. In another sharp
break with its traditions, the court struck down parts of the District of
Columbia's gun-control law. After seven decades of holding that the Second
Amendment's right to bear arms is tied to raising a militia, the court
reversed itself and ruled that it confers on individuals the right to keep
guns in their homes for personal use. The decision will no doubt add
significantly to the number of Americans killed by gun violence.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/international-herald-tri
bune.html

Scalia's selective history By Jack Rakove. Copyright © 2008, Chicago
Tribune. June 30, 2008. Appeals to the evidence of history figured
prominently in last week's Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia
vs. Heller, striking down a sweeping ban on handguns and affirming that the
2nd Amendment protects a fundamentally individual right "to keep and bear
arms." Yet read the two main opinions by Justices Antonin Scalia (for the
conservative majority) and John Paul Stevens (in dissent), and you will see
that different ways of defining and reading what counts as historical
evidence expose a fault line between them. One would have to be terribly
naive to think that how these two very amateur historians reason about
history actually explains why the court divided as it did. But it does
reveal important differences in how we think about the origins of the
Constitution and its interpretation, and thus judge which argument seems
more persuasive. As the lead author of a historians' amicus curiae, or
friend-of-the-court, brief filed in support of the district, I persist in
thinking that Stevens has the better account of why the 2nd Amendment was
adopted. Here's why. Looking back Begin with what I read as the historical
fault line. Scalia's opinion argues that private ownership of firearms for
personal use, including self-defense, was a "pre-existing" right that
adoption of the amendment only confirmed. The addition of the prefatory
statement about the value of "a well-regulated militia" gave a further
purpose to this right, but did not otherwise alter its prior understanding.
Scalia actually has very little to say about why the amendment was even
adopted. He says almost nothing about the constitutional debates of
1787-1789, and dismissively observes that relying on the actual "drafting
history of the 2nd Amendment" would be of "dubious" value.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/scalias-selective-histor
y.html

The law says what they want it to - Next time, Supreme Court could rule
differently on guns BY MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist. Copyright by The
Chicago Sun-Times. July 1, 2008. In the course of many years in this line
of work, I've often had occasion for somebody to inquire of me, "That must
be illegal. What does the law say?" The implication always is that
somewhere there are these magical tablets containing the applicable statutes
for the specific fact situation at hand, and if I only would consult the
tablets, all would be revealed to me. And what I usually say in response is
that the law isn't like that. It's not something finite that allows you to
check the books, plug in the facts and ascertain the outcome. That's
because in the end, the law only says what somebody decides it says. And the
highest-ranking somebody gets the final say?”... I submit to you that the
laws on abortion are not much different. Roe v. Wade is the law of the land,
until a majority of Supreme Court justices decides it isn't, and then it
won't be.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/law-says-what-they-want-
it-to-next-time.html

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Four gun regulations would make us safer.
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. July 2, 2008. If Charlton Heston were
alive, he'd be beaming. The man who filled the silver screen with chariot
races and a parting of the sea played another prominent role in later years
-- president of the National Rifle Association. Heston treasured his
constitutional right to own a gun and was fond of intoning at NRA
conventions, with his rifle held aloft, that his weapon would be taken only
"from my cold dead hands." Now, thousands of fervent gun rights advocates
can celebrate their most important court victory -- the Supreme Court
decision last week that interprets the Second Amendment as giving citizens
the right to have guns in their homes for self-defense. The ruling applies
to residents in Washington, D.C., and soon will apply to all Americans. In
the wake of that victory, paradoxically, this might be a perfect opportunity
to impose a few additional common-sense regulations on gun ownership.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/chicago-sun-times-editor
ial-four-gun.html

California fires prompt evacuations. Copyright by The International Herald
Tribune By Jesse Mckinley and Mitchell L. Blumenthal. Published: July 3,
2008. BIG SUR, California: As flames on nearby mountaintops licked at this
nearly abandoned coastal retreat on Thursday, officials in Santa Barbara
County, far to the south, declared a state of emergency as a wildfire swept
out of the mountains and threatened several hundred homes. Officials
ordered the evacuation of about 1,500 residents of Big Sur on Wednesday as
flames flared on the nearby mountaintops and moved steadily toward this
famed resort area. Firefighters have been attacking a fire near Big Sur for
12 days and had been helped in recent days by fog, moist conditions and
lighter winds. Seventeen homes have been lost here — more than half the
total destroyed statewide from the first major wildfires of the season — and
about 1,200 remained threatened, but many residents had been allowed to
remain as the fire stayed to the east and south.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/california-fires-prompt-
evacuations.html

Chicagoland

Budget showdown—again. The governor is calling lawmakers back to
Springfield to balance the state's spending plan. They say it's a
politically motivated waste of their time. By Ray Long and David Mendell.
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. July 3, 2008. Gov. Rod Blagojevich is
in a bind with the state budget and he's looking for someone to blame. He
estimates that the budget lawmakers have sent him is about $2.1 billion out
of balance, so he's calling them back to work next week to find the funds to
pay for the spending. If they don't, and there's no sign they will, the
governor wants the public to know he's not the only one responsible for the
resulting cuts. "I still cling to the hope that they might act
appropriately and responsibly and pass funding," Blagojevich said Wednesday.
"I'm hopeful that the House won't force these cuts."
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/budget-showdownagain.htm
l

Soaring taxes lead to sore taxpayers BY CAROL MARIN cmarin at suntimes.com.
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. July 2, 2008. There it was, right in
front of me, the face of the Dump Todd Stroger Revolution. I witnessed it at
the Starbucks on Racine and Wrightwood at 6:38 a.m. Tuesday. The guy ahead
of me was getting his usual, a grande coffee, caf not decaf. Monday's
price: $2.04. Tuesday's price: $2.07. The young man behind the counter
explained a county sales tax hike necessitated the price hike. The guy was
grumbling. I didn't catch all of it, but two words were crystal clear: "Todd
Stroger." Let's get the obvious out of the way. Lincoln Park Starbucks
sippers are not the ones hardest hit by cranking up the sales tax; poor
people are. The grumbling guy could downsize by dropping by Dunkin' Donuts,
but he has enough money to avoid such sacrifices. Furthermore, latte lovers
in Cook County barely know there is a Cook County. They can name their
alderman, but their county commissioner might as well be from Mars.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/soaring-taxes-lead-to-so
re-taxpayers.html

I want more taxes, and so should you - The nagging voice of doubt is trying
to talk me out of writing this column: By Eric Zorn. Copyright © 2008,
Chicago Tribune. Originally posted: July 3, 2008. You want to call for
more sales taxes in Illinois? The very week Cook County residents are
reeling and seething over the latest hike? Yes, more sales taxes. Not
higher taxes, but more taxes on more consumer transactions. Such as? Well,
shoe repair, to name just one. When a shop fixes your boots in Illinois, you
pay a fee but no tax. That's a good thing. Sure, if you're a cobbler or if
your uppers are distressed. But if you own or shop at a store that sells new
shoes and every purchase now includes up to an additional 10.25 percent in
sales taxes, it's not such a good thing. It's unfair and illogical.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-want-more-taxes-and-so
-should-you.html

Your Lack of Money

Limbaugh signs radio contract worth $400m By Joshua Chaffin in New York.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: July 3 2008 00:25 |
Last updated: July 3 2008 00:25. Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk radio
host, has signed an eight-year contract extension said to be worth as much
as $400m. The deal, with Clear Channel Radio and Premiere Radio Networks,
comes during the 20th year of The Rush Limbaugh Show and is among the most
lucrative in broadcasting history. It is also a reminder of Mr Limbaugh’s
enormous value to the US’s ailing radio industry even as pundits have
suggested his political influence may be waning. The conservative movement
that Mr Limbaugh helped propel has suffered a string of electoral setbacks
and appears to have crested. At the same time, his programme is now battling
for attention amid a cacophony of political bloggers. This year, John
McCain managed to secure the Republican presidential nomination in spite of
opposition from Mr Limbaugh, who questioned his conservative credentials.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/limbaugh-signs-radio-con
tract-worth.html

US jobs fall for sixth straight month By Daniel PImlott in New York.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: July 3 2008 14:34 |
Last updated: July 3 2008 15:39. The US lost jobs in June for the sixth
month in a row while unemployment remained elevated, signalling an ongoing
deterioration in the labour market and helping to push back thoughts of a
hike in interest rates. Non-farm payrolls fell by 62,000 last month, only
slightly more than the 55,000 jobs that economists had predicted, and in
line with the upwardly revised 62,000 jobs lost last month. However,
revisions to earlier reports showed that 52,000 more jobs had been lost in
the prior two months than previously thought. “The net number is grim,”
said Ian Shepherdson, economist at HFE, adding that there was “worse to
come”. The unemployment rate held at 5.5 per cent, 0.1 percentage point
higher than expected. Economists had been hoping that the jobless rate would
dip down again, arguing that the previous month’s sharp uptick - the biggest
monthly rise in 22 years – was a statistical quirk caused by the inclusion
of too many school and college leavers in the figures.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/us-jobs-fall-for-sixth-s
traight-month.html

Dow enters bear market as stocks slide. Thu Jul 3, 2008 12:05am BST.
Copyright by Bloomberg News NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow sank into a bear
market on Wednesday as U.S. stocks fell on growing concerns about the toll
that record oil prices are taking on the economy and corporate profits.
After flirting with bear market status for several sessions, the Dow closed
20 percent below its October peak as it was no longer able to withstand the
avalanche of warnings about banking losses, surging inflation fears and
weakening consumer confidence. Merrill Lynch struck a negative chord early
in the session when it downgraded General Motors, saying the automaker will
need $15 billion to shore up liquidity. Merrill added that bankruptcy is
"not impossible" for GM if the auto market continues to slump, sending GM's
shares down more than 15 percent.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/dow-enters-bear-market-a
s-stocks-slide.html

Small US banks feel the pinch By Saskia Scholtes. Copyright The Financial
Times Limited 2008. Published: June 29 2008 17:55 | Last updated: June 29
2008 17:55. When Southern California’s oldest bank, PFF Bancorp, was sold
for the fire-sale price of $30.5m this month, it was buckling under the
weight of soured loans to real estate developers and its stock had plunged
more than 95 per cent from its 2006 peak. Like many small regional and
community banks, PFF increased its loan portfolio over the past decade –
doubling it to more than $4bn – in large part by financing commercial and
residential developers and homebuilders during the house price boom. Now, as
these companies struggle through the housing slump, lenders such as PFF are
feeling the pinch. Banks’ first-quarter losses on such real estate loans
were more than 15 times the amount of the same quarter last year, according
to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Regulators are growing
increasingly concerned that many small banks have high concentrations of
such loans on their books at a time when inflated house prices are
collapsing and land values are falling further still.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/small-us-banks-feel-pinc
h.html

Factories feel pain as their costs rise. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune.
July 2, 2008. Each week, Ira Cooper opens a letter from another supplier
with the same message as the last: We're raising our prices, effective
immediately. We can't tell you how long the new prices will last. "We used
to get quotes good for six months," said Cooper, president of QED Inc., a
lighting company based in Lexington, Ky. "Now you're lucky if you can get a
quote good for 15 days." Manufacturers of everything from wallpaper to
cereal are feeling the same hit. The Institute for Supply Management said
Tuesday that its index of prices manufacturers pay for raw materials hit
91.5 in June, up from 87 in May and the highest reading since 1979. Its
overall index of manufacturing activity was 50.2, barely breaking a
five-month contraction streak. Any reading above 50 signals growth. "While
it may be too soon to say that manufacturing has begun to start growing
again, it is possible that a bottom is being reached," said Joel Naroff,
president of Naroff Economic Advisors Inc. in Holland, Pa. At the same time,
"Fed members may not be as happy with the costs index moving into the
stratosphere."
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/factories-feel-pain-as-t
heir-costs-rise.html

Auto sales hit 17-year low - Normally strong June sees 18 percent slide By
Rick Popely. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. July 2, 2008. June
didn't bust out all over for the auto industry. It just went bust. Though
it's usually one of the strongest sales months, this June was the industry's
worst in 17 years, according to figures reported Tuesday. And there's no
sign of improvement with carmakers on track to sell fewer than 15 million
vehicles this year, the lowest annual total since 1995. "Nobody expected it
would be this bad," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive
Research. Industry sales in June slid 18 percent, to 1.19 million, a level
typical of traditionally slow January. For the first half, sales fell 10
percent, to 7.4 million vehicles.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/auto-sales-hit-17-year-l
ow-normally.html

Ford Motor's June sales skid 27.9 percent By TOM KRISHER and DEE-ANN DURBIN.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 11:57 AM CDT, July 1, 2008. DETROIT -
Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales tumbled 27.9 percent in June as high gas prices
and a weak economy continued to cause trouble for Ford and the rest of the
auto industry. Ford was the first automaker to report sales data Tuesday.
Analysts had predicted June auto sales could drop by double-digits to their
lowest monthly rate in 16 years. Ford sales sank to a new 52-week low, while
rival General Motors Corp. shares are trading near their lowest level in
more than a half century. Dearborn-based Ford blamed the latest sales
decline on high gas prices and low consumer confidence, which sent buyers to
the sidelines. It reported steep drops in June sales of pickup trucks and
sport utility vehicles, including a 41 percent year-over-year decline for
the F-Series pickup, a perennial best-seller, and a 52 percent drop for the
Ford Explorer SUV. U.S. auto sales had already fallen for seven straight
months as of May, the longest period of consecutive monthly drops in eight
years, according to the auto information Web site Edmunds.com.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/ford-motors-june-sales-s
kid-279-percent.html

Starbucks to close 600 stores nationwide - Slow consumer spending leads to
more cutbacks By Wailin Wong. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. 9:56 PM
CDT, July 1, 2008. You might have to walk a whole extra block to get your
latte. Starbucks Corp. will begin shuttering 600 stores nationwide at the
end of July, cutting about 7 percent of its global workforce as it sheds
unprofitable locations and responds to a drop-off in consumer spending.
The Seattle-based company said Tuesday that the store closings, coupled with
a scaled-back expansion plan for its next fiscal year, will help the
specialty coffee giant meet its longer-term targets for profitability. While
Chief Financial Officer Pete Bocian said in a conference call, "We believe
absolutely we're seeing a major impact from the economy," he also
acknowledged that Starbucks' aggressive growth strategy of recent years
created problems with cannibalized sales and market saturation. Looking
ahead, management will use a "much higher level of scrutiny on store
performance to make sure we take action earlier," Bocian said.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/starbucks-to-close-600-s
tores.html

Deal to let Tribune draw against $300 million in future assets By James P.
Miller. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. 2:05 PM CDT, July 3, 2008.
Tribune Co. said Friday that it signed a $300 million asset-backed
commercial paper facility with Barclay's Bank PLC, in essence raising cash
against future trade receivables due to the company. The debt-heavy Chicago
media concern, which went private late last year through an $8.2 billion
leveraged buyout led by real estate magnate Sam Zell, said that it initially
borrowed $225 million under the facility.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/deal-to-let-tribune-draw
-against-300.html

GM considers marching Chevy Beat mini-car into U.S. Market. Copyright by
the Associated Press. July 4, 2008. DETROIT — General Motors Corp. is
considering a new Chevrolet mini-car for the United States as it reworks its
product lineup to cope with a dramatic consumer shift from trucks to cars
linked to high gas prices, a spokesman said Thursday. GM spokesman Dee
Allen said bringing the Chevrolet Beat, which is about the size of a Honda
Fit or Toyota Yaris mini-car, to the U.S. is among the options the company
is studying. "It is certainly one of the things that is being looked at from
a portfolio perspective," Allen said. The comments came as GM shares have
been trading near their lowest levels in more than a half-century, raising
investor worries about the automaker's future and its ability to adjust
quickly to demand for more fuel-efficient cars.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/gm-considers-marching-ch
evy-beat-mini.html

Chrysler explores Chinese partnership By John Reed in London. Copyright The
Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: July 3 2008 09:13 | Last updated:
July 3 2008 12:23. Chrysler has signed a memorandum of understanding with
China’s Great Wall Motor to explore long-term business ties in areas
including distribution, components and technology. Chrysler is the smallest
of Detroit’s three struggling automakers, and has been scouting for foreign
partnerships to complement its shrinking, core US business, which is
currently focused on large vehicles. Chrysler said in a statement issued on
Wednesday that the move was part of the company’s drive for greater
involvement in China’s auto industry. Daphne Zheng, a Chrysler spokeswoman,
told the Financial Times the company would “assess the feasibility of a
number of options,” and that no decisions had been made yet. She added: “We
are talking to a number of Chinese automakers as part of our ongoing efforts
to explore growth opportunities in this important market.”
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/chrysler-explores-chines
e-partnership.html

Virgin rips 3 airlines' proposed alliance- American nearing pact with
potential partners. Copyright by The Associated Press. July 4, 2008.
LONDON — An alliance between British Airways PLC, American Airlines and
Iberia SA should be blocked, competitor Virgin Atlantic Ltd. said Thursday,
amid reports the trio are close to applying for U.S. antitrust immunity to
form a trans-Atlantic joint venture. The three airlines aim to reach an
accord on profit and revenue sharing this month, the Financial Times
reported, citing executives at the carriers. "[British Airways] has been in
talks with American Airlines and Iberia for some time, but no decisions have
been reached," said British Airways spokeswoman Cathy West. British Airways
and AMR Corp.'s American, the world's largest carrier, have failed in the
past to win an exemption from U.S. antitrust laws to work more closely
together because of their dominance at London's Heathrow Airport, where the
pair have more than half the capacity to and from the U.S.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/virgin-rips-3-airlines-p
roposed.html

Financial Times Editorial Comment: LA Confrontational. Copyright The
Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: July 3 2008 19:25 | Last updated:
July 3 2008 19:25. Think of it as Kramer vs Kramer remade by Billy Wilder.
An amicable break-up turns sour as two ex-partners battle to get what they
want – at a moment of crucial change in the movie business. With a superstar
cast, the intriguing tale of a possible strike by Hollywood actors is
gripping Tinseltown. It started with a dramatic split. The Screen Actors
Guild and the smaller American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
fell out after a 27-year partnership when one discovered that the other had
gone behind its back to lure away the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful .
The two unions are now negotiating separately about how actors should
benefit from film sales on DVD and online. The unions need to co-operate
but, predictably, want different things. The negotiations are a
cliffhanger. When authorities such as Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Tom
Hanks and Kevin Spacey are at the table, all bets are off. Thank goodness
that George Clooney has offered to mediate.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/financial-times-editoria
l-comment-la.html

Commodities

Oil $144.18
Silver Bullion $18.25
Gold Bullion $932
Platinum Bullion $ $2033
Euro $1.5689

Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Bin Laden's Dream Comes True

Osama bin Laden said that he wanted oil prices to be $144 a barrel :

''If bin Laden takes over and becomes king of Saudi Arabia, he'd turn
off the tap,'' said Roger Diwan, a managing director of the Petroleum
Finance Company, a consulting firm in Washington. ''He said at one point
that he wants oil to be $144 a barrel'' -- about six times what it sells for
now.

Guess what oil closed at today? $144 a barrel. That article is from October
2001, which means oil prices have raised sixfold since the 9/11 attacks.
Many of the Bush administration policies have helped instead of hindered
Osama bin Laden and his minions. The Iraq war, energy policy, the weak
dollar policy, and the slow shredding of the constitution have done some of
Osama's work for him. It could be argued, and I would agree, that Bush has
done a lot more damage to America then bin Laden ever could.

Housing

Today's loan rates

RATE LAST WEEK
30 yr fixed mtg 6.25% 6.27%
15 yr fixed mtg 5.77% 5.84%
30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 7.30% 7.38%
5/1 ARM 5.58% 5.70%
7/1 ARM 5.86% 5.99%

The McCain Residences: A Google Earth Tour: Inspired by the McCains' recent
tax default, I decided to go on a little tour
of their many homes across the nation. Enjoy!
http://www.jedreport.com/2008/06/the-mccain-resi.html

International Herald Tribune Editorial: Inflation, oil dependence and the
Fed's next step. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published:
June 30, 2008. Last month, Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman,
broke from the usually banal official pronouncements about the dollar to
talk bluntly about the risks of inflation. He told an international
conference that a weakening dollar had caused an "unwelcome rise" in
inflation and pledged to guard against such dangers. Until this recent
round of comments - which other Fed officials have now joined - the Fed had
focused on the turmoil in the financial markets and slowing growth, not
rising prices. With the markets relatively calm during most of June, it
apparently felt freer to raise warnings about inflation. The Fed's decision
last Wednesday to hold interest rates steady - after a string of cuts to
stabilize financial markets and support the economy - underscored its
growing concern about prices. Then came Thursday and Friday. The stock
market plunged into bear market territory, leaving no doubt that the credit
crunch persists and the economy is still very fragile. At the same time, oil
prices surged, sharply increasing inflationary pressure.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri
bune-editorial_30.html

Bush Bashing

Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Bin Laden's Dream Comes True

Osama bin Laden said that he wanted oil prices to be $144 a barrel :

Army criticizes itself in Iraq invasion report. Army history of Iraq war's
first two years says U.S. was unprepared for chaos. U.S.-led coalition
didn't have enough troops after Saddam Hussein's fall, report says "This is
a recipe for disaster," one general recalls saying of one decision.
Copyright by CNN News. June 30, 2008 (CNN) -- The U.S. Army's official
history of the Iraq war shows military chiefs made mistake after mistake in
the early months of the conflict. Failures to recognize the chaos engulfing
the country and to send in enough troops to restore order after the 2003
invasion have long been highlighted by critics, but a new report shows the
Army assessing itself. Frank opinions from officers serving in the 18
months from the start of war to Iraqi elections in January 2005 reveal there
were concerns at the time, not just about assumptions made by planners but
at decisions taken once U.S.-led coalition forces had control of Iraq. "I
flipped," Gen. Jack Keane, then the Army's deputy chief of staff, told the
historians of his reaction to a June 2003 decision to transfer control of
all coalition troops away from the land forces command that had been
preparing for the mission.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/army-criticizes-itself-i
n-iraq-invasion.html

Bush used phony patriotism to start war By ANDREW GREELEY agreel at aol.com.
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. July 2, 2008. The Russians call World
War II "The Great Patriotic War." The current longest of our wars could well
be called the same thing. It is a war that originated in the orgy of
patriotism ("U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!") that followed the attack on the World
Trade Center and Pentagon and has been sustained by the patriotism of those
who support it ("Our soldiers are defending American freedom") and false
promises of some latter-day prophets ("We are winning the war in Iraq.") It
is likely to be revived by the Iranian attack that the McCainites see as
their main chance of winning the election. The president was right in his
spontaneous reaction when he first heard of the attack -- "This is war!" The
subtext was, "Now I'll be a wartime president and people will forget about
Florida and how Antonin Scalia stole the election." The Arabs had killed
3,000 Americans; we had to kill at least that many of them. The issue was:
Which Arabs? The obvious target was Saudi Arabia. Most of the terrorists
were from that country, indeed products of the religious education that the
country provided for its devout young men. But the Saudi royal family has
excellent relations with the American oil companies. So very early in the
discussions the neo-cons in the administration began to promote the idea of
attacking Iraq. The road to Jerusalem, they argued, is through Baghdad. The
administration's neo-cons were (and are) very heavy thinkers. They write
great memos. The days when the country was hesitating, some of them found a
story about cooperation between al-Qaida and the Iraq government that seemed
to legitimate an attack on Iraq. Some of their allies in the media, most
notably the Wall Street Journal, insisted that this fable was true.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/bush-used-phony-patrioti
sm-to-start-war.html

Judges cite nonsense poem in Guantanamo case By MATT APUZZO. Copyright 2008
Associated Press. 2:03 PM CDT, June 30, 2008. WASHINGTON - A federal
appeals court reviewing evidence at Guantanamo Bay compared a Bush
administration legal argument to one made by a hapless, dimwitted character
in a 19th century nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll. The U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit cited the 1876 poem, "The Hunting of
the Snark," in ruling that the military improperly labeled a Chinese Muslim
as an enemy combatant. The ruling was issued last week but an unclassified
version of the opinion was released only Monday. It was the first time a
court has reviewed the military's decision-making and considered whether a
detainee should be held. The ruling provides guidance to federal district
judges, who are about to begin reviewing dozens of such cases now that the
Supreme Court says detainees can challenge their detention in federal court.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/judges-cite-nonsense-poe
m-in-guantanamo.html

U.S. interrogators were taught Chinese coercion techniques at Guantánamo By
Scott Shane. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published:
July 2, 2008. WASHINGTON: The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay
in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the
effects of "coercive management techniques" for possible use on prisoners,
including "sleep deprivation," "prolonged constraint" and "exposure." What
the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had
been copied verbatim from a 1957 air force study of Chinese techniques used
during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from
American prisoners. The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid
evidence of the way Chinese interrogation methods that the United States
long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the
military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central
Intelligence Agency. Some methods were used against a small number of
prisoners at Guantánamo before 2005, when Congress banned the use of
coercion by the military. The CIA is still authorized by President George
W. Bush to use a number of secret "alternative" interrogation methods.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/us-interrogators-were-ta
ught-chinese.html

International Herald Tribune Editorial: More waste, fraud and abuse.
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: July 1, 2008.
Congressman Henry Waxman recently asked a question for which we would also
like an answer: "How did a company run by a 21-year-old president and a
25-year-old former masseur get a sensitive $300 million contract to supply
ammunition to Afghan forces?" Waxman raised the issue after executives of a
Miami Beach arms dealer, AEY, were indicted on fraud charges this month,
accused of pawning off tens of millions of banned and decrepit Chinese
cartridges on the U.S. Army to supply Afghan security forces. The Pentagon's
folly with the fly-by-night trafficker is just the latest example of the
Bush administration's cynically cozy contracting practices and shockingly
weak oversight that have wasted billions of dollars of taxpayers' money.
Congressional investigators took testimony from a U.S. military attaché who
accused the American ambassador in Albania of helping to cover up the
Chinese ammunition's origins. The ambassador, John Withers, denies
wrongdoing. But Waxman is wisely working to map the dimensions of fraud and
waste.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/international-herald-tri
bune-editorial_01.html

International Herald Tribune Editorial: Prosecuting war profiteers.
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: July 3, 2008.
Unless the U.S. Congress closes a gaping hole in the law against war
profiteering, companies ripping off taxpayers in the Iraq and Afghanistan
wars may never be fully prosecuted. This is because the latest conflicts are
not declared wars. The anti-fraud law dating to World War II allows
prosecution of contractors up to three years after a war ends. But this
statute of limitations was omitted from the resolutions authorizing military
force in Iraq and Afghanistan, which carried no formal war declaration.
Investigators say that current war fraud runs into untold billions,
including faulty ammunition and vehicles and not-so-bullet-proof vests.
Investigative officials and the inspector general for Iraq reconstruction
have testified that they're hampered by the ongoing conflicts and need more
time to catch contract thieves after they end. The solution is a bipartisan
bill clarifying that "war" absolutely includes congressional authorizations
of military force.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/international-herald-tri
bune-editorial_03.html

Indecision 2008

Obama "Dignity" TV Ad
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1185304443?bctid=1634707861

Can Obama rescue Bush legacy? By Jonah Goldberg. Copyright © 2008, Chicago
Tribune. July 2, 2008. Breaking news! The ultimate White House insider
plans a tell-all book about the Bush years. With boasts of unprecedented
access to the president's thinking, it will run counter to almost everything
we have been told about Bush's radical presidency. Who will be the latest
to break the code of silence after former White House press secretary Scott
McClellan? George W. Bush. At least that's what went through my mind
listening to the president during a meeting with journalists in the Oval
Office Monday. The session, maddeningly and often foolishly punctuated by
long, off-the-record musings and soliloquies, mostly dealt with foreign
policy.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/can-obama-rescue-bush-le
gacy.html

McCain shuffles staff as criticism mounts By Andrew Ward in Washington.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: July 3 2008 00:04 |
Last updated: July 3 2008 00:04. John McCain has reshuffled his senior
campaign staff amid mounting Republican concern at his ability to compete
with Barack Obama in November’s election. The Republican presidential
candidate has put Steve Schmidt, a combative former aide to Dick Cheney, the
vice-president, in charge of day-to-day operations in an effort to sharpen
his campaign. Rick Davis, a longtime McCain ally, will remain campaign
manager but shift his focus to long-term strategy. The shake-up follows
weeks of grumbling among conservative commentators and some Republican
operatives at Mr McCain’s performance. Critics say his campaign has been
erratic and error-prone and slow to build grassroots operations in swing
states. McCain officials dismiss much of the criticism as Washington
tittle-tattle, pointing out that Mr Obama’s average five-point lead in
recent national opinion polls is hardly insurmountable. They argue it should
be Democrats who are alarmed by the tightness of the race, given the
strength of political headwinds blowing against the Republicans. But
Wednesday’s staff changes indicate that some of the concerns are shared by
Mr McCain.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/mccain-shuffles-staff-as
-criticism.html

Blogs bring new reality to US polls By Richard Waters in San Francisco.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008.Published: June 30 2008 22:12 |
Last updated: June 30 2008 22:12. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have
crossed swords with the biggest names in the media world, but that did not
help either recently when they came up against a 61-year-old Californian
amateur brandishing a $40 Sony digital voice recorder. Mayhill Fowler, a
blogger for political maven Arianna Huffington’s Huffington Post website,
represents something new in election-year politics. For all their mastery
of the TV soundbite, the stump speech and the staged debate, it is becoming
increasingly difficult with “citizen journalists” joining the fray for
campaign media managers to influence how their candidate’s message is
disseminated. “The campaigns work harder and harder to prevent disasters
but, inevitably, there will be cracks in the façade,” says Ms Fowler, an
enthusiast who has paid her own way to be on the campaign trail almost
continuously since late December.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/blogs-bring-new-reality-
to-us-polls.html

GLBT

Historic Pride 2008: Pride perseveres by Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Windy
City Times. 2008-07-02. A rather unique Pride Parade made history as it
welcomed John Pennycuff and Robert Castillo ( pictured ) , who married in
San Francisco last Friday. Photo by Kat Fitzgerald. See many more by Tracy
Baim, Robb Olson, Amy Wooten and Kat Fitzgerald at
www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com/photos/PrideParade2008-AmyWooten2 and at
www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com/photos/PrideParade2008-KatFitzgerald. Chicago
proved that, rain or shine, it is going to celebrate Pride./450,000 turn out
on streets of Boystown By Matt Simonette. Copyright by Chicago Free Press.
June 2, 2008. A few downpours and delays were not enough to dampen the
spirit of most revelers who turned out for the 2008 Gay Pride Parade in
Chicago. Parade officials estimated that about 450,000 people lined the
parade route from Belmont and Halsted to Halsted and Broadway, and back down
Broadway to Diversey. More than 250 entries registered for the parade and
represented a breadth of community, political and business interests. One
parade viewer, looking at a bus sporting the names of several prominent law
firms, commented, “Thank God we’ve become so boring.”
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/historic-pride-2008-prid
e-perseveres.html

Politics, pageantry mingle at Chicago gay pride parade - Participants seek
support for same-sex marriage By Kristen Kridel. Copyright © 2008, Chicago
Tribune. 11:37 PM CDT, June 29, 2008 The first sign that the throngs
lining East Lakeview streets Sunday could see on the convertible of Robert
Castillo and John Pennycuff was a big thank-you to California on the hood.
Smaller posters on the sides and back boasted "Just married." "Yeah,
California!" a man shouted to the local newlyweds, who took advantage of the
California Supreme Court's decision last month to overturn a ban on gay
marriage. Support for same-sex marriages surfaced in various ways during
Chicago's 39th annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade. Castillo and Pennycuff
planned their wedding trip so they could return just in time to take a
celebratory lap along the route, parade coordinator Richard Pfeiffer said.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/politics-pageantry-mingl
e-at-chicago.html

Michelle Obama pledges support for GLBT rights By Samantha Gross. Copyright
by The Associated Press. July 2, 2008. NEW YORK—Barack Obama will fight
for equal rights for gays just as he fought to help working-class families
overcome poverty, the Democratic presidential hopeful’s wife told a gay
Democratic group June 26. Recalling his past work as a community organizer
to help struggling families, Michelle Obama said he would take the same
approach as president. “Barack believes that we must fight for the world as
it should be, a world where together we work to reverse discriminatory
laws,” she said at a Manhattan fundraiser for the Democratic National
Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council. Michelle Obama also drew a
connection between the struggles for gay rights and civil rights. “We are
all only here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to
Stonewall, in the pursuit of a more perfect union,” she said at the event,
held days before the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots between gays
and New York police, and the city’s annual gay pride parade./Chicago Free
Press Editorial: A chance for change. Copyright by Chicago Free Press.
July 2, 2008. It was a great speech Michelle Obama gave to the Democratic
National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council June 26 in New York.
Obama went point by promising point, pledging her husband’s active support
to pass employment protections for GLBTs, end the military’s ban on openly
gay and lesbian personnel and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which
prohibits federal recognition of the marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
“Barack believes that we must fight for the world as it should be, a world
where together we work to reverse discriminatory laws,” Michelle Obama said.
“The world as it is should be one that rejects discrimination of all kinds.”
She showed just how much she gets it by eloquently connecting two iconic
moments in the struggles blacks and GLBTs have waged for equality.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/michelle-obama-pledges-s
upport-for-glbt.html

Greg Harris talks civil unions by JOHN LENDMAN. Copyright by The Windy City
Times. 2008-07-02. With the dust settling on the Great California
gay-marriage rush, state legislators in Illinois are working on passing the
Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act ( House Bill 1826
) as a model for the rest of the Nation to follow. Windy City Times
recently spoke with the only openly gay member of the legislature, State
Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, the sponsor of HB 1826, on why this may be the
most important piece of legislation this year. Rep. Greg Harris: Did you
see the Chicago Tribune Today? The lead editorial is in support of civil
unions in Illinois. It's like the biggest Republican newspaper in the state;
it's a big deal. Windy City Times: Yeah, that is surprising. How is House
Bill 1826 progressing in the general assembly?
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/greg-harris-talks-civil-
unions.html

Cook Co. commissioners pass same-sex measure. News Update Tues., July 1,
2008. Copyright by The Windy City Times by Amy Wooten. Cook County
commissioners just approved a measure that changes a county ordinance to
benefit same-sex couples that get married in another state. The Cook County
State's Attorney Office told Windy City Times that the measure, spearheaded
by Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley, was passed July 1. Two
commissioners—Liz Doody-Gorman and Gregg Goslin—voted against the measure,
which changed the ordinance so that same-sex couples who work for the county
won't lose their benefits if they are married elsewhere. If the measure
didn't pass, couples would not have been allowed to remain registered with
Cook County and receive domestic-partner benefits. The approval follows a
recent California decision legalizing gay marraige. Since June 17, gay and
lesbian couples across the U.S., including couples from Cook County, have
flocked to California to tie the knot.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/cook-co-commissioners-pa
ss-same-sex.html

Historic trans hearing takes place in Congress by Bob Roehr. Copyright by
The Windy City Times. 2008-07-02. The first every federal hearing on
workplace protection from transgender persons took place June 26 before the
education and labor subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Shannon Minter. Reps. Barney Frank ( left ) and Tammy Baldwin testified at
the June 26 hearing. Photos by Bob Roehr Subcommittee Chairman Robert
Andrews, D-N.J., said under federal law it is permissible to fire persons,
or refuse to hire them, because they are transgender or are perceived to be
gender non-conforming. “To me, this makes no sense whatsoever.” Employment
should depend only upon how well one does the job. He added, “We don't
measure our duty by the quantity of those who are aggrieved, we measure it
by the depth of the grievance of those who are being discriminated against.”
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/historic-trans-hearing-t
akes-place-in.html

Dyke March: Different neighborhood, same message by Yasmin Nair. Copyright
by The Windy City Time. 2008-07-02. This year, Dyke March moved to Pilsen,
and attracted over a thousand people, according to organizers—the largest
contingent in its history. In the weeks beforehand, several questions were
raised, including one often voiced anonymously: Are there any queers in
Pilsen? More photos at
www.windycitymediagroup.com/photos/DykeMarch2008-EmmanuelGarcia and at
www.windycitymediagroup.com/photos/DykeMarch2008-TracyBaim Others wondered:
What would happen when mostly white tranny fags, dykes, lesbians, queers,
and gender-fuckers found themselves in the midst of a vibrant neighborhood
that's embattled by immigration raids; where the predominant language is
Spanish; and whose residents have frequently been painted as homophobic?
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/dyke-march-different-nei
ghborhood-same.html

Schism means two Black Prides by MARK CORECE. Copyright by The Windy City
Times. 2008-07-02. Due to conflict and disputes, 2007 was an unstable year
for Windy City Black Pride. After a successful pride celebration with former
president Charles Nelson, the then-9-year-old organization began to wilt
when accusations of Nelson being “incompetent” and an “overzealous leader”
bothered board members. Although some form of celebration has been around
since the early ‘90s, Windy City Black Pride was not official until 1998 (
not being recognized nationally until 2000 ) ; it was spearheaded by Ken
Pickens, who remained president until 2000, according to current treasurer
Keith McCoy. Thayer Johnson followed Pickens from 2001-2003 and each year
following 2003 a new president has surfaced; 2004 being a year with no
president at all. Some may have predicted this given the presidential
turnover of Chicago's Black pride.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/schism-means-two-black-p
rides.html

Ryan White’s mom talks about fight with AIDS By Matt Simonette. Copyright
by The Chicago Free Press. July 2, 2008. The Center on Halsted observed
National HIV Awareness Day June 27 with a morning-long forum that included a
keynote presentation given by Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of Ryan White.
White-Ginder described her son’s initial bouts with hemophilia, his
diagnosis with AIDS, their community’s hostile reaction and the family’s
eventual activist work. White-Ginder said of her son, “He was only supposed
to live three to six months. Instead he lasted five and a half years.” By
getting his story across, she added, “He felt like he had something to live
for.” “Ryan felt like he had a responsibility to let everyone know what it
was like to live with AIDS,” she said. Ryan was infected from using Factor
8, an experimental drug that was to treat his hemophilia.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/ryan-whites-mom-talks-ab
out-fight-with.html

Appointment of Agent to Control Disposition of Remains By Roger
McCaffrey-Boss. Copyright by Gay Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss.
July 2, 2008. Q: We are planning to get married in California next month.
We have wills but wonder if our marriage will offer us any extra benefits?
What else beside a will do you suggest that we have? A: Even though you may
be married in California, that will carry no legal benefit in Illinois. A
periodic review of changes in the estate planning laws, tax laws and
updating your powers of attorney are essential to all couples if you want to
have a worry free legal support system, even though married. The following
are four points that I think relevant for 2008 to all married and
non-married couples. Appointment of Agent To Control Disposition of
Remains. Pursuant to the new Disposition of Remains Act, effective January
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/2008/07/appointment-of-agent-to-
control.html

Health Care

Sense of crisis prevails in US healthcare By Nicholas Timmins Public Policy
Editor. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 30
2008 22:19 | Last updated: June 30 2008 22:19. America’s healthcare system
is broken. If there is one statement on which the majority of Republicans
and Democrats agree – along with employers and individuals and even some
health plans – that is it. Fixing it will be another matter. Hard numbers
explain the sense of crisis – and why all the presidential candidates in
recent US primaries felt the need to offer at least a partial blueprint for
reform. Since 2000, premiums have risen 91 per cent on average, while wages
have risen 24 per cent, and there are now 47m people – 16 per cent of the
population – without insurance for all or part of the year, though they
include the young, fit and well-off who eschew cover. But as worrying for
the sense of national wellbeing is what is happening to a 25m-strong group
known as the “under-insured”, whose plight is taking the healthcare crisis
to the heart of the middle class.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/sense-of-crisis-prevails
-in-us.html

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Stalling on AIDS bill puts more lives at risk.
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 29, 2008. Congressional
foot-dragging on a $50 billion, five-year plan to extend the fight against
the global AIDS pandemic has gone on long enough. A band of fiscally
conservative Republican senators is blocking a vote on the bipartisan
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. In April, the House passed its
version of the bill that targets HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in
Africa and other parts of the world. The bill is a compromise, containing
elements we disagree with, but it's better than nothing. A key issue was
whether countries would be told how to spend money dedicated to HIV/AIDS or
would they have the automony to spend it as they saw fit.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor
ial-stalling-on.html

Chicago Tribune Editorial - Docs and secret shoppers. Copyright © 2008,
Chicago Tribune. June 30, 2008. Ever sat simmering in the doctor's office,
waiting for a delayed appointment? Ever had to deal with rude, unhelpful or
otherwise surly desk clerks, assistants, nurses or other staff in the same
office? Ever felt treated like a chart or a statistic, not a human being?
We're guessing that many readers are nodding their heads right about now.
But we're also guessing that many of them either don't complain to the
doctor or don't complain effectively. And maybe doctors and their staffs
aren't listening all that carefully. A committee of the American Medical
Association recently suggested another way to gauge performance in the
doctor's office: Send in a secret shopper. Secret shoppers are dispatched
to retail stores, restaurants and hotels to pose as customers in order to
measure customer service and quality. So why not send them into doctor's
offices to do the same?
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria
l-docs-and.html

Technology

Microsoft to sell Office, OneCare for $70 a year By JESSICA MINTZ.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 8:00 AM CDT, July 2, 2008. SEATTLE -
Microsoft Corp. will begin selling its Office programs to consumers on a
subscription basis starting mid-July, in a bid to reach thrifty PC buyers
who would otherwise pass on productivity software. The software bundle,
which also includes Microsoft's Live OneCare computer security software,
will be sold at nearly 700 Circuit City stores for $70 per year. Bryson
Gordon, a group product manager for the Office group, said in an interview
that the agreement with Circuit City Stores Inc. is not exclusive, and that
the bundle will be available at other retailers and on PCs sold by the likes
of Dell Inc. in the future. Subscription pricing for software has become
commonplace in businesses but is a relatively new concept for consumers. The
Microsoft Equipt bundle -- formerly code-named "Albany" -- includes Word,
Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, plus OneCare and a handful of existing free
Windows Live applications.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/microsoft-to-sell-office
-onecare-for-70.html

AT&T offers new option of iPhone without contract By PETER SVENSSON.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 10:55 AM CDT, July 1, 2008. NEW YORK -
AT&T Inc. will sell the new version of the iPhone without a service contract
for $400 more than the price with a two-year plan, a break from the rules
set when Apple Inc.'s popular touch-screen gadget debuted last year. Two
new models of iPhones go on sale July 11 for $199 and $299, depending on the
amount of memory, with two-year AT&T contracts. The contract-free versions
will cost $599 and $699 and will be sold sometime "in the future," AT&T
said. The phones sold under contract are subsidized by AT&T, which expects
to make the money back through monthly service fees over the life of the
contract. Without a contract, users can cancel service without incurring an
early termination fee. But both contract and contract-free phones will be
"locked" to work only on AT&T's network, and the monthly service plans
available will be the same, said AT&T spokesman Michael Coe. The plans add a
$30 monthly charge for data like e-mail and Web surfing on top of a calling
plan.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/at-offers-new-option-of-
iphone-without.html

Other

Ebay ordered to pay €38m to LVMH over fakes By Nikki Tait in Brussels and
Richard Waters in San Francisco. Copyright The Financial Times Limited
2008. Published: June 30 2008 13:13 | Last updated: June 30 2008 20:31. A
French court has hit at the heart of Ebay’s business model by ordering the
online retailer to pay almost €40m to LVMH, the French luxury goods maker,
for failing to do enough to block sales of counterfeit goods. The world’s
biggest e-commerce company was also ordered to block sales of genuine
bottles of perfume made by four LVMH brands after the court ruled that it
had breached the selective distribution agreements LVMH uses to control
where and how the perfume is sold. Ebay said it would appeal against both
rulings, claiming the decisions could have much broader implications for
online commerce by imposing restrictions on the way goods can be sold and
hence consumer choice. The French ruling comes as a US court prepares to
issue its verdict in a similar high-profile case brought by Tiffany,
bringing to a head the long-running dispute between Ebay and owners of some
of the world’s most famous luxury brands.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/ebay-ordered-to-pay-38m-
to-lvmh-over.html

Humor

A worldwide poll
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/worldwide-poll.html

9 Dangerous Words Women Use
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/9-dangerous-words-women-
use.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

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