From ctmock at gmail.com Sat Jun 7 13:48:18 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:48:18 -0500 Subject: [News] Oil Burden Newsletter- June 7, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: ?We need to solve our oil dependency once and for all. At this junction I consider it to be the highest national threat to our country. Editorials that speak of ?oil bubbles? will hinder our efforts for rel solutions.? Carlos T Mock, MD Commodities Oil $138.54 Silver Bullion $17.3 Gold Bullion $901 Platinum Bullion $ $2074 Euro $1.5756 Oi burden ? Revisited By Carlos T Mock, MD. June 7, 2007. Last tie the United States had an oil crises of this magnitude was in 1980. Even whe adjusted for inflation, crude oil at $137 a barrel is more expensive han at the peak of the oil spike in 1980. That is an alarming statistic. nstead of talking about Oil Bubbles we should be talking about Oil Burde: V?ronique Riches-Flores of Soci?t? G?n?rale measures the ?oil burden? ? he volume of oil consumed, multiplied by the average price and divided by nomnal gross domestic product. This gives the proportion of the world economy devoted to oil and accounts for the way the world has reduced its reliance on oil since 1980. The oil burden so meured has risen about 75 per cent during the past year, to its highest levelin almost 25 years. This must soon have an economic impact if prices do no quickly reverse. But prices would need to reach about $190 before theburden regained its peak of 1980. It is not clear that prices are at a poi where demand will fall. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06oil-burden-revisited.htm l Oil smashes to record above $137 a barrelBy Chris Flood. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: Jne 6 2008 13:37 | Last updated: June 6 2008 18:29. Oil roared to a new recrd on Friday yesterday as hedge funds that had bet on a decline in crde prices were forced to exit their short positions. Nymex July West Texas rude oil jumped $9.91 to a record of $137.0 a barrel, a record one-day gain in dollar terms, and taking the increase over the week to 8.1 per cent. ICE July Brent leapt $10.13 to a peak of $137.35 a barrel, gainin 7.8 per cent this week. The rally was also supported by comments from Israel?s transport minister suggesting an attack on Iran?s atomic facilities looked ?unavoidable? given the failure of sanctions to curb Tehran?s nuclear ambitions. Morgan Stanley warned oil prices could spike to $150 a barrel by Independence Day on July 4 as Middle East producers are sending recor volumes to Asia, while supplies into the Atlantic are hitting ?rock bottm?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/oil-smashes-to-record-ab ove-137-barrel.html Finncial Times Editorial Comment: Perversity in the price of oil and gas. Copyrght The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 2 2008 19:29 | Last updated: June 2 2008 19:29. One way of interpreting Indonesia?s long overdue departure from Opec is to say that the country became a net importer of oil because of poor management of supply: by failing to invest enough in exploration and development, Opec?s only Asia-Pacific member forfeited its place in the oil exporters? cartel. There is some truth in this. Indonesia, like many other territories endowed with oil and gas, has made life so awkward for foreign investors over the past two decades that its oil output has started falling sooner and declined faster than expected. It became a net importer in 2005 and quit Opec last week. But many countries, alarmed by the recent rise of oil prices to as high as $135 a barrel, are belatedly realising that the demand side of the energy equation is at least as important. Several Asian and Middle Eastern governments are reacting ? sensibly, if much too slowly ? by cutting the illogical subsidies for energy consumption that are playing havoc with their budgets. This applies not only to Indonesia, which remains a net energy exporter because of its sales of natural gas, but also to significant energy importers such as India. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment.html The Fed?s year of living dangerously By Clive Crook. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 1 2008 18:57 | Last updated: June 1 2008 18:57. The remarkable ability of the Federal Reserve to coast above the turbulence of US politics has been tested lately. The central bank has been forced to deal with a financial crisis at least partly of its own making. It has rightly come in for some criticism; it has had to explain itself. Even so, the Fed and its policies are hardly front and centre in the debate between the presidential candidates. Most voters say that they regard the economy and its troubles as the single most important issue facing the country. They want to hear what Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain propose to do about it but the Fed ? where the real economic power resides ? is mostly allowed to get on with the job unmolested. I wonder if this will continue to be true. When a central bank has an uncomplicated recession to deal with, it can cut interest rates. When it faces a clear-cut case of inflation, it can raise them. The worst nightmare of any central banker ? especially one with a tradition of political independence to defend ? is stagflation, when raising interest rates to curb inflation will provoke a recession or deepen one that has already begun. It is a problem that the US has not had to confront for 30 years. In 2008, an election year, the conditions are falling into place. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/feds-year-of-living-dang erously.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Dollar not a dirty word for Bernanke. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 5 2008 19:46 | Last updated: June 5 2008 19:46. It was entirely reasonable ? if somewhat risky ? for US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to imply in a speech that he does not want the dollar to weaken further. A falling currency increases inflation, all central banks worry about it and it is fine for the Fed to worry in public. Mr Bernanke?s remarks clarify the Fed?s thinking, even though they may do little to reduce the risk of dollar-driven inflation. The exchange rate as such is no business of central banks: indeed, targeting an exchange rate usually means losing control over interest rates. But because a falling currency raises import prices, inflation, and maybe consumer expectations of future inflation, central banks must follow it closely. Mr Bernanke?s comments fit with such a view. Mr Bernanke did not say: ?We think the dollar is too low.? He said: ?We are attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar for inflation and inflation expectations.? Nor was Mr Bernanke disagreeing with the US Treasury ? which would be stupid. His comments on the dollar mirrored, in milder form, comments made by Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, a day earlier. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_06.html Bernanke warns on weak dollar ? Reuters Limited. WASHINGTON, June 3 - US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday issued a rare warning on the risks that a weak dollar poses for inflation, but said U.S. interest rates are ?well positioned? for an economy facing both price pressures and threats to growth. ?We are attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar for inflation and inflation expectations and will continue to formulate policy to guard against risks to both parts of our dual mandate,? he said, referring to the U.S. central bank?s twin goals of ensuring sustainable growth and low inflation. Bernanke said the Fed and the U.S. Treasury were continuing to ?carefully monitor? developments in currency markets. The Fed?s interest rate cutting campaign -- which has taken benchmark rates to 2 percent from 5.25 percent since September -- and its infusion of billions of dollars into the financial system to ease a credit crunch have helped put a floor under the economy, he said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/bernanke-warns-on-weak-d ollar.html Act now to prick the oil price bubble By Meghnad Desai. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 5 2008 19:21 | Last updated: June 5 2008 19:21. Between February and May of this year the oil price went from below $90 to $128 a barrel, a monthly growth of 9 per cent. If the rise continued at this rate, it would mean an unprecedented doubling in price every eight months. In recent days, after the price briefly touched a high of $135, there has been a bout of profit-taking. Although the price has now fallen it has not yet dropped much below $125. The latest price rise has baffled many. What has happened to supply and demand to cause such a steep and sudden price rise? Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, said last week that ?the cause is clear: growing demand and too little supply?. China and India are buying more oil. Costs of exploration and extraction are going up. Nigeria and Venezuela are causing anxieties about supply. But these factors are not new. Nothing has happened in the real oil economy to justify such a sharp and steep rise in its price. There is a growing feeling that the latest sharp upsurge in the price of oil may be a speculative bubble rather than an outcome of market fundamentals. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission indicated last week that there may be ?system risk? and George Soros, the veteran investor, in testimony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, warned that commodity index funds, which treat oil as an asset rather than a commodity to be bought and sold for use, are creating a bubble. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/act-now-to-prick-oil-pri ce-bubble.html Your Lack of Money Oil surges and dollar slides on US jobs data By Michael Mackenzie in New York, James Politi in Washington and Chris Flood in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 6 2008 18:58 | Last updated: June 6 2008 18:58. Oil prices soared to a record high and the dollar slumped on Friday as the largest one-month rise in the US unemployment rate for 22 years tempered expectations of US interest rate rises later this year. The dollar had stabilised recently as markets priced in a US rate hike by year?s end, but the May employment report forced investors to rethink their positions. This sparked a fall in the dollar and a dramatic surge in dollar-denominated commodities such as oil and gold. Stocks fell sharply in Europe and the US as investors worried about a vicious cycle in which dollar weakness fuels higher oil prices, and rising energy costs further slow economic growth. Alan Ruskin, strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital, said: ?Dollar weakness and the rise in oil prices is very negative for the US and global economy. High oil prices are affecting parts of the world, such as Asia, that the credit crunch could not reach.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/oil-surges-and-dollar-sl ides-on-us-jobs.html Lehman targets up to $6bn in fresh capital By Ben White, Francesco Guerrera and Joanna Chung in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 6 2008 23:34 | Last updated: June 6 2008 23:34. Lehman Brothers is working on plans to announce early next week that it is raising $5bn-$6bn in fresh capital as the bank discloses a large second quarter loss, people briefed on the matter said. The earnings announcement, which had been expected for the week of June 16, is likely to be brought forward to address persistent rumours in the marketplace about Lehman?s financial condition. Lehman declined to comment on the timing of its earnings announcement or any capital raising plans. People briefed on the matter said they expected Lehman to announce earnings and the capital infusion at the same time, perhaps as early as Monday or Tuesday. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/lehman-targets-up-to-6bn -in-fresh.html State bankruptcy filings jump 27.2 percent in first quarter By Becky Yerak. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 4:51 PM CDT, June 3, 2008. More than 12,500 individuals and businesses filed for bankruptcy in Illinois in the first quarter of 2008, a 27.2 percent jump that mirrors national trends amid rising household debt. Consumer filings in the state increased 27.5 percent to 12,248, while business bankruptcies rose 14.5 percent to 260. Nationally, the total number of bankruptcies filed during the first three months of 2008 rose 26.9 percent, to 245,695, over the same period in 2007 in all bankruptcy court districts, according to data released Tuesday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. "This ninth consecutive quarterly increase in filings since Congress attempted to restrict access to bankruptcy relief demonstrates again the influence of rising household debt," Samuel Gerdano, executive director of American Bankruptcy Institute, said in a statement. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was enacted in late 2005. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/state-bankruptcy-filings -jump-272.html United Airlines to cut a fifth of its fleet By Daniel Pimlott in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 4 2008 13:30 | Last updated: June 4 2008 17:19. United Airlines said on Wednesday it would ground more than a fifth of its fleet, slash its domestic capacity by as much as 18 per cent by the end of next year, and cut as many as 1,600 jobs in the latest sign of the crisis gripping the US airline industry amid record oil prices and a slowing economy. The move to cut flights by the second largest US carrier comes as a drastic follow-up to merger talks with two rivals, United Airways and Continental, that both failed in little more than a month. United will now reduce its 460 strong fleet of aircraft by 100, 70 more than it had previously revealed in April, and cut its 55,000 workforce by nearly 3 per cent, including 500 jobs the company had already said it would axe. The shrinking in domestic flight capacity, which will be focused on marginal routes, is the biggest cut this year by any major US airline, exceeding the 12 per cent contraction that American Airlines unveiled last month in response to higher fuel costs and weaker demand. Delta Airlines has also been forced to cut capacity by 11 per cent, while smaller low fare carriers Airtran and JetBlue have both deferred buying new aircraft. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/united-airlines-to-cut-f ifth-of-its.html GM to close four truck plants By Bernard Simon in Toronto. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 3 2008 13:39 | Last updated: June 3 2008 15:16. General Motors plans to close four sport-utility vehicle and pick-up truck plants in North America as part of an accelerated plan to shift its focus towards smaller, more efficient vehicles in its core US market. The Detroit-based carmaker also announced that it may sell Hummer, long identified with behemoth gas-guzzlers, as part of a strategic review of the brand. Higher gasoline prices, now approaching a record $4 a gallon, ?are changing consumer behaviour, and rapidly?, Rick Wagoner, GM?s chief executive, said in a speech ahead of the company?s 100th annual meeting on Tuesday. He said that the shift had big implications not only for the mix of GM?s products but also its profitability. SUVs and pick-ups are among carmakers? biggest money-spinners. Mr Wagoner said that, as a result of the production cutbacks, the proportion of cars in GM?s North American output would rise from 50 per cent to 60 per cent within the next three years. Eighteen out of GM?s 19 forthcoming vehicle launches are cars and crossover vehicles, which look like SUVs but are built on car platforms. Two of the four plants to be closed are in the US, one in Canada and one in Mexico. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gm-to-close-four-truck-p lants.html Housing Illinois Average Rates 6/7/08 - 10:46 PM 30 Yr Fixed 6.08% 15 Yr Fixed 5.63% 30 Yr Fixed Jumbo 7.26% Toll urges action to lift US housing market By Daniel Pimlott in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 3 2008 13:56 | Last updated: June 3 2008 13:56. Toll Brothers, the largest US builder of luxury homes and apartments, on Tuesday called for greater government action to help boost demand for homes as it reported its third consecutive quarterly loss. The plea for help came as the builder of high-end homes said that buyers were still scarce in most of its markets in the second quarter. ?We believe Congress should jump-start demand for new homes with an initiative that will bring buyers off the sidelines and into the market, and thereby stop the downward spiral of home prices,? said Robert Toll, the company?s founder, chairman and chief executive. ?With a little motivation, the new home market could turn around, which would have a very positive impact on banks, bond prices and many other areas of the economy.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/toll-urges-action-to-lif t-us-housing.html International Fulbright scholarships restored to 7 Gaza students By MARK LAVIE. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 1:13 PM CDT, June 2, 2008. JERUSALEM - The U.S. has reinstated the Fulbright scholarships of seven Gaza Strip students blocked by Israel from leaving the Hamas-ruled territory, the State Department said Monday. The students were informed Thursday that their scholarships for the upcoming academic year would be deferred because they couldn't get out of Gaza, which Israel blockaded after the Islamic militants seized power a year ago. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. reversal came on orders from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who first heard about the scholarship snafu on Friday. "She wasn't pleased," McCormack said. Israel and the United States have tried not to point fingers in public over the scholarship incident, but each government clearly thinks the other made mistakes early on. Israeli officials say U.S. diplomats didn't ask for special exemptions for the Fulbright students, while U.S. officials say Israel should have recognized immediately that these were a special case. U.S. officials also blame themselves. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fulbright-scholarships-r estored-to-7.html Mess-o-potamia Financial Times Editorial Comment: Demographic time-bomb in Mideast. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 3 2008 19:22 | Last updated: June 3 2008 19:22. The bombs and the bluster in the Middle East are tediously familiar. Less so is what is arguably the most daunting strategic challenge facing the Arab countries: the youth bulge. As a special report in the Financial Times this week spelled out, up to two-thirds of Arabs are under 25 and more than one in four have no job, in a deeply troubled region with the world?s worst employment rate. A World Bank study on the Middle East and North Africa five years ago reckoned the region would need to create 80m-100m jobs by 2020. The future may become very bleak, not only for the region but for the world, if the generational transformation needed to meet this challenge is not attempted with at least some success. That sea change is not just about economics. Obviously, Arab governments need to do things such as invest more in infrastructure and enact a modern investment framework, as, for example, some of the Gulf city states have done. But the reasons for relative Arab failure to develop go very deep, as a seminal series of Arab Human Development reports begun in 2002 by the United Nations Development Programme ? written by Arab professionals and intellectuals ? unflinchingly laid bare. If one has to identify three overarching problems, they are a woeful education system, political autocracy and the absence of the rule of law ? and they are all related. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_04.html Senate report hits at prewar Iraq intelligence By Daniel Dombey in Washington and Demetri Sevastopulo at Guant?namo Bay. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 6 2008 02:59 | Last updated: June 6 2008 02:59. The Bush administration made unfounded claims about Iraq in the run-up to the 2003 war and failed to convey doubts and caveats about some of the intelligence it used, a US Senate committee charged on Thursday. But the long-awaited report, which comes after more than four years of studying the quality of the intelligence behind the war, was attacked by several of the Republicans on the committee as a partisan exercise. The US election campaign is already largely taken up by debate on future plans in Iraq and charges by Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, that the war should never have been authorised or waged. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/senate-report-hits-at-pr ewar-iraq.html Just whose Iraq is it, anyway? By Steve Chapman. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 5, 2008. ?I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude," President Bush said last year, a bit resentfully. "That's the problem here in America: They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq." Apparently not. It seems the rarest person in the world is a grateful Iraqi. This week, the Baghdad government said it would reject any agreement on U.S. forces that "violates Iraq's sovereignty." That came days after tens of thousands of Shiites took to the streets to protest a proposed deal that would keep American troops there for years to come. Followers of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, who rejects any such accord, turned out to hear a sheik who warned, "The cancer has spread and has to be removed." Afterward, reports The Washington Post, they chanted, "Get out, get out, occupier." Cancer? Occupier? That's not quite how it looks to American supporters of the war. They see the United States as the savior of the ordinary Iraqis who survived Saddam Hussein only to be victimized by violent extremists. We certainly have made some sacrifices on their behalf, including more than 4,000 troops killed in the war and hundreds of billions of dollars spent on it. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/just-whose-iraq-is-it-an yway.html Israel may strike Iran, deputy PM says By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem and Daniel Dombey in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 6 2008 12:01 | Last updated: June 6 2008 19:01. A senior member of the Israeli government has stated that an attack on Iran is becoming ?unavoidable? if Tehran is to be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons. The blunt warning that Israel?s government is ready to strike at its chief rival in the region was given by Shaul Mofaz, transport minister and a deputy prime minister, in a press interview published Friday. He said: ?If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it. The sanctions are ineffective.? The Iran-born Mr Mofaz added that ?attacking Iran, in order to stop its nuclear plans, will be unavoidable?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/israel-may-strike-iran-d eputy-pm-says.html Syria to allow probe of alleged nuclear site By GEORGE JAHN. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 11:18 AM CDT, June 2, 2008. VIENNA, Austria - Syria will allow in U.N. inspectors to probe allegations that the country was building a nuclear reactor at a remote site destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday. IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei did not say whether his inspectors would be granted access to the site during the planned June 22-24 visit. But a senior diplomat familiar with the details of the planned visit said agency personnel had been told they could visit the facility. The diplomat said agency experts were also interested in two other locations with possible undeclared nuclear facilities. The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, told The Associated Press that agency experts will also be asking for information on the possible existence of two plutonium reprocessing facilities separate from the destroyed building. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/syria-to-allow-probe-of- alleged-nuclear.html Car bombings in Baghdad leave at least 6 dead By SAMEER N. YACOUB. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 9:59 AM CDT, June 7, 2008. BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb and another car packed with explosives targeted Iraqi police patrols Saturday on opposite sides of Baghdad, killing at least six people, police said. The suicide attacker rammed into a police patrol mid-afternoon in Nisoor Square on the capital's west side, killing a civilian and a policeman, police said. Another five people were wounded. The other explosion took place nearly simultaneously across town at a crowded bus stop where passengers were lining up to catch rides to eastern Shiite neighborhoods, though police said the target was the passing convoy of a top Iraqi police general. Four people were killed and 18 wounded, Brig. Gen. Nazar Majeed among them, said an officer on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media. Three of the dead were policemen, he said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/car-bombings-in-baghdad- leave-at-least.html Despair mounts in Afghan food crisis - Insurgency, drug trade fuel intensifying hardship By Kim Barker. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 12:26 AM CDT, June 2, 2008. KABUL, Afghanistan ? Faced with skyrocketing food prices and no job, Mohammad Daud decided he had suffered enough. The 27-year-old swallowed 100 sleeping pills and died. His decision late last month reflects panic in this war-torn country over the price of food, especially wheat, the staple of the Afghan diet. Afghanistan, landlocked and drought-ridden, depends on aid and food imports to survive, and the world's food crisis has hit hard. "He became so disappointed, he killed himself," said Shuja Ullah, Daud's brother-in-law, who said Daud took care of his mother, his 11-year-old son and the four orphans of his two late brothers. "If he had food, why would he kill himself? He wouldn't. He could not afford to buy food for his family. Everyone felt so bad for him. But the government didn't." Few countries have suffered from the global squeeze on food like Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest nations, where most of the agricultural land is devoted to poppies. While other countries also struggle with supply and demand, the crisis here is compounded by the Taliban-led insurgency and the drug trade. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/despair-mounts-in-afghan -food-crisis.html Deadly blast strikes Danish Embassy in Pakistan By Kim Barker. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 9:00 AM CDT, June 2, 2008. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A powerful car bomb exploded just outside the Danish Embassy on Monday afternoon, killing at least eight people and raising questions about the lack of security for the embassy, which has been under threat since Danish newspapers published controversial cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad. The blast ended almost three months of calm in the restive country's capital, the same day that security was supposed to be tight. The army was deployed Monday in Islamabad as President Pervez Musharraf drove to Islamabad from his home in neighboring Rawalpindi. After the blast, the convoy of Musharraf, himself the target of three assassination attempts, immediately left the capital. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Al Qaeda leaders ? thought to be hiding along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan ? have threatened Danish and other European targets recently because of the cartoons. Analysts said the attack was aimed not just at the Danish, but at the new Pakistani government, which has been trying to sign peace deals with militants since winning office in February. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/deadly-blast-strikes-dan ish-embassy-in.html Australian PM attacks decision to join war in Iraq By ROD McGUIRK. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 10:50 AM CDT, June 2, 2008. CANBERRA, Australia - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd accused his predecessor of abusing intelligence information to justify entering the Iraq war, saying Monday that the Australian people were misled. In remarks to parliament on the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, which began Sunday, Rudd said the nation must learn from the errors of former Prime Minister John Howard, who sent 2,000 troops to support U.S. and British forces in the 2003 invasion. "We must learn from Australia's experience in the lead-up to going to war with Iraq and not repeat the same mistakes in the future," Rudd said. He criticized Howard's government for going to war without accurate information or a full assessment of the consequences. "Of most concern to this government was the manner in which the decision to go to war was made: the abuse of intelligence information, a failure to disclose to the Australian people the qualified nature of that intelligence," Rudd said. Before the invasion, Howard argued that Saddam Hussein had to be toppled to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. The weapons were not discovered and no definite links were established between Saddam and al-Qaida or other terror networks. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/australia-ends-iraq-comb at-operations.html National Chicago Tribune Editorial - A chance to clear the air. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 3, 2008. By now, most Americans are aware of global warming and accept the predictions of what will happen if something isn't done about carbon dioxide emissions. Global warming is real, created in part by humans, and we need to get serious about leading a global effort to muffle its worst potential effects. But what shape should that effort take? On Monday, the U.S. Senate began to take up a bill, sponsored by Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman and Republican Sen. John Warner, that is an ambitious starting point. The law would create what's known as a cap-and-trade system to cut carbon dioxide emissions. The government would set an annual limit, or cap, on how much carbon dioxide could be spewed from a range of sources, including power plants, heavy industry, manufacturing and transportation. The government would auction or otherwise distribute those allowances to companies. If a company produced less than its allotted allowance, it could sell that allowance or trade it to another company, allowing some to pollute above the cap. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-chance-to.html Storms bring new round of destruction to Midwest By DAVE KOLPACK. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 12:50 AM CDT, June 7, 2008. EMMAVILLE, Minn. - Strong storms smashed houses, deluged neighborhoods and left thousands without power across the Midwest on Friday in the latest round of fierce weather. Hot temperatures baked the region even as residents coped with the lack of electricity. A tornado raked a half-mile-wide path of destruction in northwestern Minnesota, where a house overlooking Pickerel Lake near Emmaville was destroyed, it's contents spilling down the hill. Wooden chairs and tables floated below. Flooding forced the evacuation of about a dozen homes in the central Iowa town of Cambridge. Heavy rains that began Thursday night seeped into most basements and at least one foundation collapsed, said Lori Morrissey, Story County's emergency management coordinator. "The ground is just fully saturated," Morrissey said. "The runoff from the community just all comes to that part of town." In Illinois, the Chicago Department of Aviation said high winds and storms were causing delays and cancellations at airports. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/storms-bring-new-round-o f-destruction.html Universal Studios fire damage blamed on low water pressure. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. June 2, 2008. UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Firefighters patrolled fire-damaged Universal Studios early Monday for flare-ups while authorities considered whether the blaze that gutted some of Hollywood's most famous backdrops was made worse by low water pressure. At one point, Sunday's fire was two city blocks wide, and low water pressure forced firefighters to get reserves from lakes and ponds on the 400-acre property. The blaze was contained to the back lot, but burned for more than 12 hours before the final flames were extinguished. "The water pressure situation was a challenge," Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael Freeman said. "This fire moved extremely fast." County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said authorities would investigate the water problems to see whether they reflect a larger shortfall in the area. "There's no question that there was a lack of adequate water pressure at least in the perception of a lot of firefighters," he said. "We're going to find out what the problem was." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/universal-studios-fire-d amage-blamed-on.html Bush Whacking ?Ever since the Fed began its rapid interest rate cuts last September, the danger has been that it would lose its inflation-fighting credibility. One expression of that would be investors dumping the dollar in order to protect the purchasing power of their money. That has been largely avoided, but the weak dollar has contributed to inflation, not least through the oil price. The employment report was the second blow for the dollar this week. On Thursday, the European Central Bank strongly indicated it would raise rates this summer owing to inflation worries, triggering fresh dollar selling and higher oil prices.? Carlos T Mock, MD The Sad State of Our Republic By Carlos T Mock, MD. June 7, 2008. Seven more months left in the Bush presidency and I can?t but pray he causes no more harm. Truth is, the Republic has never been in worst shape. After presiding over the largest attack to American soil ever, Mr. Bush has managed to turn the sympathy and respect of the entire world population into disdain and hate for our country. After setting to capture the perpetrator of the destruction caused by Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan Mr. Bush? haunted by past insecurities and pushed by oil executives and Cheney's Haliburton?started an unprovoked war against Iraq. In the fall of 2003, a few months after Saddam Hussein's overthrow, U.S. officials began to despair not finding stockpiles of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The resulting embarrassment caused a radical shift in administration rhetoric about the war in Iraq. President Bush no longer stressed Saddam's record or the threats from the Baathist regime as reasons for going to war. Rather, from that point forward, he focused almost exclusively on the larger aim of promoting democracy. This new focus compounded the damage to the president's credibility that had already been caused by the CIA's errors on Iraqi WMD. The president was seen as distancing himself from the actual case he had made for removing the Iraqi regime from power. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sad-state-of-our-republi c.html Now he's apologizing? By Clarence Page. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 1, 2008. WASHINGTON?Here's what President Bush's press secretary had to say about the latest former administration official to write a book that is sharply critical of the Bush White House: "Ask yourself why, one and a half years later, after he left the administration, he's all of a sudden, coming forward with these grave concerns?" the press secretary said. "If he had such grave concerns, why didn't he come out with them sooner?" No, that was not Bush's current press secretary, Dana Perino, talking about former press secretary Scott McClellan's new tell-all book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception." No, the press secretary quoted above is McClellan in a March 2004 news conference. He was responding to another book, "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror," by Richard A. Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism adviser. History repeats itself in ironic ways in Washington. Clarke's book charged that the Bush administration failed to take timely action against Al Qaeda before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It criticizes the war in Iraq as a hindrance and distraction from the real war against terror. It sounds, in short, a lot like McClellan's book. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/now-hes-apologizing.html Funnyman Cheney By Dennis O'Toole. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 5, 2008. Vice President Dick Cheney is a comedy machine. On Tuesday, the VP showed up at the National Press Club's open mic and just killed it. I mean, he tore the roof off the place. Talking about his family history, he said: "We had Cheneys on both sides of the family and we don't even live in West Virginia . . . [Here he paused like a pro, then chuckled with the crowd.] You can say those things when you're not running for re-election." Oh, snap! That's funny on so many levels. Here's how this joke works: Cheney is implying that incest is common in West Virginia. Get it? HAHAHAHA! Clearly, we are witnessing one of the finest comedians at the top of his game. Cheney is up there with greats like Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres and Michael Richards. Now, that said, I do have a few quibbles. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/funnyman-cheney.html Indecision 2008 "Like Bush, Clinton created a tightly controlled campaign backed by her party's establishment and based on the idea that she was the inevitable Democratic nominee." Bloomberg.com Hillary Clinton?s real lesson for women By Chrystia Freeland. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 3 2008 17:32 | Last updated: June 3 2008 17:32. This will probably be the week when Barack Obama finally clinches the Democratic nomination for this year?s US presidential election. The topsy-turvy contest has been humbling for the punditocracy, but I remain willing to predict one reaction to Mr Obama?s slow-motion victory with certainty ? many of Senator Hillary Clinton?s supporters will denounce the result as evidence that the US remains deeply sexist. The ?iron my shirt? heckler who confronted Mrs Clinton in New Hampshire will be recalled, as will the infamous ?Hillary Nutcracker? whose black pant-suit-clad thighs are ?promised to crack even the toughest nut? and which you can buy on Amazon for $19.67. The assertion by Gloria Steinem, the feminist, that ?gender is probably the most restricting force in American life? will be cited as prescient, and former vice-presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro?s warning that Mrs Clinton?s treatment ?sends a direct signal that sexism is OK in all of society? will become a rallying cry for her aggrieved backers. It is true, disappointing and unsurprising that Mrs Clinton has faced some sexist opposition in her quest to become the first female president of the US. But bias against women is not the reason Mrs Clinton will not get the nomination this year ? blame instead the catastrophic mismanagement of her campaign if you are looking for a single reason why the once inevitable candidate has become the runner-up. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/hillary-clintons-real-le sson-for-women.html Clinton to concede to Obama By Edward Luce in Washington DC. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 4 2008 23:30 | Last updated: June 5 2008 09:59. Hillary Clinton announced she would concede the Democratic nomination race to Barack Obama. In an email sent on Thursday the former First Lady said she would deliver on her earlier campaign promise to support Mr Obama if he became the Democratic nominee. It followed a feverish day in which Mrs Clinton was widely attacked for having taken her time to publicly concede defeat. ?On Saturday, I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy,? she said in the email. ?This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans....In the past few days, you have shown that support once again with hundreds of thousands of messages to the campaign, and again, I am touched by your thoughtfulness and kindness. I can never possibly express my gratitude, so let me say simply, thank you.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/clinton-to-concede-to-ob ama.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: An Obama-Clinton dream ticket? Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 4 2008 19:44 | Last updated: June 4 2008 19:44. The news that Barack Obama had crossed the finishing line, had secured the Democratic nomination, and was thus quite likely the next president of the United States was slow to reach Hillary Clinton. While Mr Obama was telling his ecstatic supporters that ?this is the moment? ? did he even promise to lower the oceans? ? Mrs Clinton was thanking her troops for her own historic victory (in the popular vote, correctly measured), explaining how they had made it possible, and asking their advice on what to do next, since she had noticed confusion in some quarters about who the winner really was. Predictably, therefore, as the Democrats chose for the first time a black man to run for the White House ? a historic moment, indeed ? Mrs Clinton contrived to make herself the main story. She has also become the biggest test so far of Mr Obama?s ability to lead. How he deals with his disappointed rival and her avid followers over the coming days is the most important decision he has to make between now and the general election. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment-obama.html I Am Not a Bargaining Chip, I Am a Democrat By Hilary Rosen. Copyright by the Huffington Post. Posted June 4, 2008 | 09:54 AM (EST). Like this story? Get Alerts of big news events. Enter your email address. Senator Clinton's speech last night was a justifiably proud recitation of her accomplishments over the course of this campaign, but it did not end right. She didn't do what she should have done. As hard and as painful as it might have been, she should have conceded, congratulated, endorsed and committed to Barack Obama. Therefore the next 48 hours are now as important to the future reputation of Hillary Clinton as the last year and a half have been. I am disappointed. As a long time Hillary Clinton supporter and more importantly, an admirer, I am sad that this historic effort has ended with such a narrow loss for her. There will be the appropriate "if onlys" for a long time to come. If only the staff shakeup happened earlier; if only the planning in caucus states had more focus; if only Hillary had let loose with the authentic human and connecting voice she found in the last three months of the campaign. If only. If only. I have written many times on this site about the talents of Hillary Clinton and why I thought she'd make a great President.... But not my vote. I will enthusiastically support Barack Obama's campaign. Because I am not a bargaining chip. I am a Democrat. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-am-not-bargaining-chip -i-am-democrat.html Interactive map: Nomination race Published: February 4 2008 21:17 | Last updated: June 4 2008 16:26. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c27416ba-d33c-11dc-b861-0000779fd2ac.html It Could Happen To You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIUBqVMaOT4 Financial Times Editorial Comment: US presidential election starts over. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 6 2008 19:48 | Last updated: June 6 2008 19:48. With the terms of Hillary Clinton?s surrender unclear, it is too soon to say that Barack Obama can turn his full attention to John McCain. He needs to deal with that distraction soon ? by telling Mrs Clinton, with elaborate courtesy, that she will not be his running mate ? and focus on his last remaining opponent. The debate that the United States wants over the next few months is between him and Mr McCain. Their differences are real and often stark. They have a lot to talk about. So far, they have fought a phoney war. Mr Obama has described the prospect of a McCain presidency as four more years of George Bush. That line delights Democrats, but does not move voters at large ? though one must admit that Mr McCain, with Republican loyalists in mind, has lately tried to validate the charge. Most voters are sick of Mr Bush, yet the polls show Mr Obama and Mr McCain running neck and neck. This White House is not, by default, going to drag the Republican down. Mr McCain will have to choose that defeat for himself, by turning into John McSame. Otherwise, Mr Obama will need another strategy. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment-us.html The world wants a vote in an epic presidential contest By Philip Stephens. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 5 2008 20:17 | Last updated: June 5 2008 20:17. These are times when everything is measured against prior expectations, when tomorrow?s news was discounted yesterday, and when to be anything but cynical is to be credulous. So perhaps we should not get too excited by the long-awaited confirmation that Barack Obama will lead the Democratic party into this November?s presidential election. We have known for many weeks ? some would say months ? that the senator from Illinois would win his party?s race. The big question has been when, and how, Hillary Clinton would reconcile herself to defeat. By this weekend we should have the answer. As for Mr Obama, surely he has lost his shine. His victory in Iowa, 50-odd primaries ago, mesmerised the world well beyond the US. The vaulting rhetoric, the legions drawn in from beyond politics, the ringing appeal for America to change: politics, it seemed, had been turned on its head. January was a lifetime ago. Familiarity has taken its toll. The fact that Mr Obama is black no longer seems, well, quite so extraordinary. After months in the trenches against Mrs Clinton, the man bidding to be the first African-American to win the White House now has some political mud on his shoes. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/world-wants-vote-in-epic -presidential.html Race, gender: Dueling discontents bubble up By Clarence Page. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 4, 2008. Now that Sen. Barack Obama has gathered enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, a new opponent has appeared on his horizon: the grievance reflex. That's a quirky trait in us human beings that makes us keenly aware of any unfair edge that somebody has over us?and just as easily ignores any unearned advantage that we might happen to have over them. You could see the grievance reflex at work during the final days of the Democratic nomination marathon. For example, the primaries ended as they began, with apologies. Remember when Sen. Joe Biden, the former Democratic presidential hopeful from Delaware, found himself apologizing for what he thought was a compliment? He referred to Obama as "clean" and "articulate," terms quickly condemned as condescending by some of us hypersensitive black folks, among other critics. That was child's play compared with Obama's recent resignation from his South Side church, Trinity United Church of Christ, after YouTube picked up video of a guest minister, the Rev. Michael Pfleger. With his clownish mockery of Sen. Hillary Clinton, the white South Side priest reignited the firestorm of controversy that Trinity's retired pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., lit under Obama's campaign in March. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/race-gender-dueling-disc ontents-bubble.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - Obama vs. McCain. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 4, 2008. Enough with all that tedious math over delegate counts. The 2008 primary season is now over and the surviving Democratic and Republican candidates can focus squarely, and only, on each other. Five months from Wednesday, Americans will elect Barack Obama or John McCain to the presidency of the United States of America. What a grand contest this promises to be. We've rooted openly for these two since we endorsed them for their respective party nominations before the Illinois primary: They're energetic, electrifying politicians who got where they are by flouting their parties' protocols of succession. They owe little to the establishment pols who often dictate whose turn to be nominated has arrived. These two are indebted only to themselves and to the millions of voters who believed in each of them when their prospects looked insurmountably bleak. One man makes history simply by prevailing: Illinois' Barack Obama is the first African-American that either major party has set forth as its presidential candidate. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-obama-vs.html Misplaced disdain - Candidates' attacks may come back at them By Steve Chapman. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 1, 2008. John McCain and Barack Obama are savvy politicians who have won numerous elections and stand poised to capture the biggest office of all. So obviously, each has a good ear for what will persuade voters and what won't. But even Pavarotti sometimes missed a high note. And lately both candidates have been noticeably off-key. McCain's bad moment came after Obama expressed bewilderment at his opposition to a new GI Bill expanding educational benefits for veterans. Instead of explaining the genuine flaws in the legislation, McCain decided to climb on his high horse. "And I will not accept from Sen. Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did," he said, dripping with contempt. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, and McCain's jibe demonstrated that his personality has an excess of acid content. Angry young men may be indulged, but angry old men tend to get dismissed. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/misplaced-disdain-candid ates-attacks.html Chicagoland Chicago makes cut, has Olympic-size to-do list By Kathy Bergen and Jon Hilkevitch. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 5, 2008. Chicago made it into the final phase of the competition to host the 2016 Olympics, but it has some heavy barbells to hoist if it is to capture the gold. The Second City ranks only third of the four finalists selected Wednesday in Athens by the International Olympic Committee's executive committee. Technical evaluations by an IOC working group cited weak spots in Chicago's transportation plan; construction budgets that appear to be too low; and financial guarantees that don't meet IOC requirements. Apparently United States Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth was on target this spring when he said the Chicago bid is nowhere near being No. 1 in the race for the Summer Games. Tokyo was judged to be the leader on technical issues, followed by Madrid. Rio de Janeiro followed Chicago. The IOC executive committee eliminated Prague; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan. Being No. 1 at this phase is hardly essential: Both London and Sochi, Russia, were No. 3 at this point in their separate competitions, and they went on to win the 2012 Summer Games and 2014 Winter Games, respectively. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-one-of-four-fina lists-for-2016.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - Get just one thing right. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 2, 2008. Find the logic here: The people who run the Illinois legislature passed a budget over the weekend and largely ignored everything Gov. Rod Blagojevich wanted. No surprise there. It was clear way back in February, when the governor served up his annual budget address, that he wasn't going to be a factor this year. When nobody trusts you?nobody trusts you. But in passing a budget that is way out of whack (lawmakers have pretty much admitted they don't have the money to pay for all the spending they approved) they have managed to make Blagojevich relevant again. Suddenly, he's Mr. Responsibility. He has to use his veto power to balance this budget. Imagine that. You have to go some to make Blagojevich look like the adult in Springfield. But that's what the legislature did. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-get-just-one.html Lawmakers back campaign cash crackdown Posted by Ray Long, Ashley Wiehle, and Jeffrey Meitrodt. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. Updated at 9:54 p.m. with Blagojevich comment. Without a single dissenting vote, Illinois lawmakers sent Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Saturday a measure aimed at reining in the widespread practice of pay-to-play politics that often allows big campaign contributors to land lucrative state contracts. The proposal is largely inspired by the Democratic governor, whose campaign fund has collected huge amounts of cash from state contractors. Despite the criticism, Blagojevich attempted to spin the bill?s passage as a positive, asking ?what took them so long?? ?I am looking forward to, with great enthusiasm, acting in a very positive way on that bill,? Blagojevich said. ?But I will say there?s a lot more work to do on that issue. In fact there?s significant things that I think we can do and hopefully move that process forward.? The legislation does not restrict contributions to lawmakers, critics noted, and may leave a loophole that would let the governor or others circumvent the restrictions. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/lawmakers-back-campaign- cash-crackdown.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - Rezko's guilty. Who's next? Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 5, 2008. The Justice Department's prosecution of Antoin "Tony" Rezko was always about prelude, never about climax. The jury's conviction of Rezko Wednesday on 16 criminal counts is one more point on a long investigative arc?an arc now pointed directly at Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other of his associates. That arc reaches beyond the horizon to points none of us can see. But prosecutor Christopher Niewoehner unequivocally?and forcefully?told the Rezko jurors during closing arguments where federal authorities now are concentrating: "This is a crime that involves the highest levels of power in Illinois." All of us have seen before how the office of U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald follows these investigative arcs in pursuit of official corruption (among others, see Ryan, George, and Sorich, Robert, both in extended engagements with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons). The feds now can exploit Rezko's conviction to learn whatever he or other political players will divulge about the Illinois culture of political sleaze. As Rezko abruptly transitions from newly christened convict to object of speculation?Will he seek to cut his prison time by cooperating with the FBI??there is much for the 12 million people of Illinois to ponder: http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-rezkos-guilty.html Rezko is not just Obama's problem?he's the GOP's By John Kass. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 5, 2008. Will Sen. Barack Obama declare that, if elected president, he would not pardon his fundraiser and personal real estate fairy, Tony Rezko, who was convicted Wednesday of multiple corruption charges in a Chicago federal court? Obama is Mr. Reform, isn't he? And that's a legitimate question, isn't it? The National Republican Party is making a big deal out of Rezko, with a snazzy new Barack-Rezko video, questioning Obama's judgment for buying that $1.6 million dream house, with the Rezkos purchasing the lot next door on the very same day in what looked like an old-fashioned back-scratching. "On the day Barack Obama hoped to unite his party after wheezing over the finish line and claiming the Democratic nomination, a jury in his hometown of Chicago convicted his longtime friend and fundraiser Tony Rezko of multiple felonies," said Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/rezko-is-not-just-obamas -problemhes.html GLBT California Supreme Court refuses to delay gay marriage - The ruling, on a 4-3 vote, means same-sex couples could tie the knot later this month. By Maura Dolan and Jessica Garrison. Copyright ? 2008, The Los Angeles Times. June 5, 2008. SAN FRANCISCO - Gay couples in California rushed to set wedding dates Wednesday after the California Supreme Court's unusually quick rejection of challenges to its historic decision permitting same-sex couples to wed. By rejecting petitions asking for reconsideration of the May 15 ruling, the court, in a 4-3 vote, removed the final obstacle to same-sex marriages starting June 17. The court also refused to delay enforcement of the decision until after the November election, when voters will decide whether to reinstate a ban on same-sex nuptials. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/california-supreme-court -refuses-to.html Gay marriage ban qualifies for California ballot. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:47 AM CDT, June 3, 2008. SAN FRANCISCO - California's Secretary of State says an initiative that would again outlaw gay marriage in the state has qualified for the November ballot. Debra Bowen says a random check of signatures submitted by the measure's sponsors showed that they had gathered enough for it to be put to voters. The measure would amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union "between a man and a woman." It would overturn the recent California Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state if it is approved by a majority of voters on Nov. 4. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gay-marriage-ban-qualifi es-for.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - OK of gay marriage is up to lawmakers, courts -- not N.Y. gov. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 2, 2008. Ellen DeGeneres and her girlfriend Portia de Rossi are engaged. She made the announcement on her talk show last month after the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage. Ellen is flush with excitement over the prospect of wedded bliss, and she has asked recent guests on her TV show to help her plan the nuptials. This has included Sen. John McCain, whom she asked to walk her down the aisle. She also had Laura and Jenna Bush on the other day, and they talked about the first daughter's recent wedding at the Bushes' Texas ranch. "Can we borrow it for our wedding?" DeGeneres asked. "Can we get the ranch?" Ellen is adept at using humor to drive home a larger point: Gay people should be allowed to marry. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-ok-of-gay.html Gay rights activists defy authorities with rallies. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 6:06 AM CDT, June 1, 2008. MOSCOW - Gay rights activists held small, scattered protests in Moscow on Sunday, flouting repeated refusals from city authorities for permission to hold parades or demonstrations. Activists repeatedly have tried to hold parades and rallies in the Russian capital to call attention to gay rights. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who has called homosexuality "satanic," has refused them permission. On Sunday, a small group of protesters gathered outside the famed Tchaikovsky music conservatory, chanting "No to homophobia" and other slogans, organizer Nikolai Alexeyev told Ekho Moskvy radio. Hundreds of riot police and journalists ringed the square in front of City Hall just a few blocks away in anticipation of a larger protest that had been promised but never materialized. Supporters unfurled a banner from a building over the square reading "Rights For Gays and Lesbians!" before police pulled it down. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gay-rights-activists-def y-authorities.html Out and proud, but hardly comprehensive - Look at Chicago gay life is missing a few things By Misha Davenport - mdavenport at suntimes.com. Copyright by The CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. June 1, 2008. http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/television/981741,SHO-Sunday-out01.art icle. He who controls the past commands the future. -- George Orwell. Having been around, participated in and reported on various gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered events and issues over the years, I'd be the first to tell you that no one will ever be able to meet the needs of everyone in such a diverse community. Jane Lynch narrates ?Out & Proud in Chicago,? a documentary about 150 years of gay life in the Windy City. "Out & Proud in Chicago" attempts to distill nearly 150 years of Chicago's LGBT history into a 90-minute documentary. "The documentary is driven by personal voices and personal stories," producer Dan Andries told me. "That's it's guts. That's its basic structure. Ultimately, it's also got to be 90 minutes long." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/out-and-proud-but-hardly -comprehensive.html Bomb Threat at WTTW Offends All of Chicago. The Chicago Commission on Human Relations, through its Chairman and Commissioner Dana V. Starks, condemns the bomb threat received by WTTW11 in clear reference to its upcoming television program ?Out & Proud in Chicago,? a presentation of the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Chicago. ?It is shameful and disgusting that this is how our LGBT community can be treated in Chicago. While we would like to believe that this kind of homophobia was a thing of the past, unfortunately it continues ?this time at the expense of WTTW, Northeastern Illinois University, and also the entire LGBT community,? said Starks. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/bomb-threat-at-wttw-offe nds-all-of.html Living Trusts ? A Smart Way to Avoid Probate By Roger McCaffrey-Boss. Copyright by Gay Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. June 3, 2008. The last four articles concerned what to do when someone dies and the legal responsibilities of being an executor for a probate estate of someone who dies. Being an executor of an estate can be a thankless, time-consuming and sometimes costly job and can involve considerable time, sometimes stretching over a period of up to three years. More and more LGBT couples are using revocable living trusts as a way to efficiently pass on their assets to their partners upon death and to insure that their partners will handle their personal affairs if they ever become incapacitated. A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement where a person executes a written trust document naming themselves as the trustee of their own trust and while alive they transfer their property to their trust so that the trust holds legal title to all their assets. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/living-trusts-smart-way- to-avoid.html Health Care Medicare drug plan costing seniors more By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. Copyright ? 2008, Los Angeles Times. June 5, 2008. WASHINGTON ? As if soaring prices for food and gasoline weren't enough of a worry, most senior citizens in Medicare's prescription program are paying considerably higher monthly premiums for coverage this year, according to a study to be released Thursday. Those in the 10 largest plans ? which account for nearly three-fourths of seniors signed up for drug coverage?are paying an average of $26.39 a month, or 16 percent more than last year, according to the analysis by Avalere Health, an information company serving the health-care industry. The rise is modest in dollar terms, and some of the top plans actually lowered their premiums for 2008. But on average, the percentage increase for the prescription plan is greater than the change in Medicare's Part B premium for outpatient care, which rose 3 percent in 2008. "A 16 percent increase is significant in and of itself, because premiums are rising rapidly at a time when Medicare beneficiaries are finding it harder to afford it," said Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere. "These are individuals on a fixed income who are facing rapidly rising prices elsewhere in the economy." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/medicare-drug-plan-costi ng-seniors-more.html Technology Apple relents on iPhones subsidy By Andrew Parker in London, Paul Taylor in New York and Richard Waters in San Francisco. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 6 2008 22:39 | Last updated: June 6 2008 22:39. The new version of the Apple iPhone is set to be sold at significantly lower prices than the existing one, in a tacit acknowledgement by the US technology company that its previous sales strategy was not sustainable. Apple has bowed to pressure from mobile phone operators and agreed they can subsidise the latest iPhone, expected to be unveiled by Steve Jobs, Apple?s chief executive, on Monday. The subsidy arrangements should increase Apple?s chances of hitting its target of selling 10m iPhones during 2008. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/apple-relents-on-iphones -subsidy.html Other A commuted sentence, and a life reborn By CAROL MARIN cmarin at suntimes.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 7, 2008. Ten days ago, I took a trip I wouldn't have predicted. This is a story about a near-execution, a graduation and a decision by former Gov. Jim Edgar that has delivered unexpected consequences. It's a story about rising up and reaching down. In January 1996, Guin Garcia, an inmate on Death Row at Dwight Correctional Center in Downstate Illinois, was on the verge of execution. Months earlier, Garcia, a 36-year-old convicted double murderer, had dropped her court appeals, said she was done "begging for her life" and put the wheels in motion for her death by lethal injection. It would mark the first execution of a woman in the U.S. in two decades. It became an international story. Garcia's biography wasn't pretty. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/commuted-sentence-and-li fe-reborn.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 yahoo.com Sat Jun 14 15:34:04 2008 From: ctmock at yahoo.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:34:04 -0500 Subject: [News] The "Other War" Newsletter- June 14, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: ?In public, defeat in Afghanistan is unthinkabl for western governments. In private, for many it already seems inevitable? at least if the western definition of ?victory? remains the vastly overlown goals set since the overthrow of the Taliban, within any timeframe that s likely to be acceptable to western electorates.? Anatol Lieven The dram of Afghan democracy is dead By Anatol Lieven. Copyright The Financial Tims Limited 2008. Published: June 11 2008 18:59 | Last updated: June 11 208 18:59. In public, defeat in Afghanistan is unthinkable for western governents. In private, for many it already seems inevitable ? at least if the wetern definition of ?victory? remains the vastly overblown goals set since theoverthrow of the Taliban, within any timeframe that is likely to be accepable to western electorates. In recent meetings involving Nato offiials I have been struck by the combination of public acknowledgment that, to chieve real and stable progrs in Afghanistan, western forces will probably have to remain there for a generation at least, and deep private scepticism that western publics will stay the course for aything like that long. Indeed, most plans have the hopeless aim of produing clear results within three years, for fear that otherwe Canada will not prolong its presence beyond 2011 and the whole Nato efort will begin to unravel. Similarly, public statements of faith in Afghan dmocracy are coupled with private expressions of near-despair when it comes tohopes of improving Hamid Karzai?s administration. Many western officials amit privately that any real hopes of creating a democratic Afghanisan are now dead. ?If we could get a moderately civilised and effective mlitary dictatorship, we?d be very lucky indeed,? was the grim comment of oe senior officer. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/208/06/dream-of-afghan-democrac y-is-dead.html May's combat deaths in Afghanistan outnumber Iraq By ROBERT BURNS. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 5:00 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. BRUSSELS, Belgium - It's a grim guge of U.S. wars going in opposite directions: American and allied combat deas in Afghanistan in May passed the monthly toll in Iraq for the first time Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the statistical comparison to dramatze his point to NATO defense ministers that they need to do more to get Afghaistan moving in a better direction. He wants more allied combat troops, moe trainers and more public commitment. More positively, the May death totas point to security improvements in Iraq that few thought likely a year ago. But the deterioration in Afghanistan suggests a troubling additional possiblity: a widening of the war to Pakistan, where the Taliban and al-Qaida have ound haven. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mays-cobat-deaths-in-af ghanistan.html A war that needs a definition of victory B Philip Stephens. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Pubished: June 12 2008 19:08 | Last updated: June 12 2008 19:08. The quesion that western donors to Afghanistan might have asked themselves at tis week?s Paris conference was an obvious one: why are we there? In th event it was easier to write the cheques. Winning in Afghanistan is perhapsthe most consistent mantra of western security policy. As long, that is, as no one defines what is meant by winning. President Hamid Karzai knows what he wants: another $50bn (?32bn, ?26bn) in forein development assistance to create something resembling a modern state. He wil not get that much, not least because it is beyond the capacity of hisgovernment to spend it honestly. The money, though, will keep flowing. The wst sees no other choice. Afghanistan is the good war ? a conflict fought inself-defence and one, unlike Iraq, blessed from the outset by the internaional community. No dodgy intelligence here. Barack Obama won the Democatic nomination for the coming US presidential election promising to pull outUS troops from Iraq. He wants a bigger effort in Afghanistan. http//iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/war-that-needs-definit n-of-victory.html Taliban free 1,200 from Afghan prison. Copyright by Th International Herald Tribune. By Carlotta Gall. Published: June 1, 2008. ISLAMABAD: In a brazen attack, Taliban fighters assaulted the mainprison in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Friday night, blowing up he mud walls, killing 15 guards and freeing aund 1,200 inmates. Among the escapees were about 350 Taliban members, including commanders, would-be suicide bombers and assassins, said the head of Kandahar's Provincl Council, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who is a brother of President Hamid Karzai ofAfghanistan. "It is very dangerous for security," Ahmed Wali Karzai said bytelephone from Kandahar. "They are the most experienced killers, and they al managed to escape." A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said that theattack was carried out by 30 insurgents on motorbikes and two suicide bombersand that they had freed about 400 Taliban members, The Associated Press eported. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/talibanfree-1200-from-a fghan-prison.html International Herald Tribune Editrial: A dangerous place. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 13, 2008. There is enormous confusion about what happeed Tuesday night on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Pakistani official say that U.S. artillery and airstrikes killed 11 of their paramilitary toops, and some are angrily demanding an end to all military cooperation. Th Bush administration says U.S. forces were firing in self-defense against Taiban fighters crossing into Afghanista. The incident is an urgent reminder of the terrible state of relations between the two countries - relations essential to the fight against terrorism - and how muc needs to be done to salvage them. Pakistanis have a host of grievance against the Americans, all made far worse by the Bush administration's decison to back President Pervez Musharraf long after he had squandered all of hispopular support. Musharraf and Pakistan's new democratically elected leders have also failed to tell their people that the fight against extrists is essential for their own country's stability and security. Washingto and Islamabad must now do everything they can to repair relations, startingwith a joint investigation and a full and public report of its findings. htp://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tribune-editorial_1921.html U.S. seeks 58 bases, Iraqi lawmakers say By Leila Fdel. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 11, 2008. BAGHDAD ? Iraqi awmakers say the United States is demanding 58 bases as part of a propose "status of forces" agreement that will allow U.S. troops to remain in the contry indefinitely. Leading members of the two ruling Shiite parties sai in a series of interviews that the Iraqi government rejected this proposal long with another U.S. demand that would effectively hand over the power t determine whether a hostile act from another country is aggression aganst Iraq. Lawmakers said they fear this power woul drag Iraq into a war between the United States and Iran. "The points that were put forth by the Americans were more abominable than the occupation," said Jalal al Din a-Saghir, a leading lawmaker from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. "We wre occupied by order of the Security Council," he said, referring to the 2004resolution mandating a U.S. military occupation in Iraq at the head of aninternational coalition. "But now we are being asked to sign for our on occupation. That is why we have absolutely refused all that we have seen sofar." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-seeks-58-bases-iaqi- lawmakers-say.html Iraq forces talks reach ?dead end? By Steve Negusin Cairo and Harvey Morris at the United Nations. Copyright The Financial Ties Limited 2008. Published: June 13 2008 18:29 | Last updated: June 13 2008 1:29. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said on Friday that initialnegotiations with the US on a bilateral status-of-forces agreement ad reached a ?dead end? because US proposals impinged on Iraqi sovereignty Mr Maliki?s first detailed comments on the reaty that will govern the long-term presence of US troops, replacing the existing United Nations mandate, underlined the pressure on his government not to give in to US deands. ?The first drafts presented left us at a dead end and deadlock,? Mr Mliki said in Jordan. ?So, we left these first drafts and the negotiation will continue with new ideas until we reach a formula that preserves Iraq sovereignty.? The treaty governing the future US troop presence in Iraqhas faced opposition in both Baghdad and Washington, leading some to predictthat it may not be signed by the time President George W. Bush leaves office n January. US and Iraqi officials have been holding negotiations on the ccord behind closed doors, and US officials had earlier said that they hoped o reach agreement by the end of July. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspo.com/2008/06/iraq-forces-talks-reach- dead-end.html Iraq suicide blas kills US soldier, wounds 18. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 11:51 AM CD, June 8, 2008. BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb exploded near an merican patrol base Sunday in northern Iraq, killing one soldier and woundin 20 other people, the U.S. mlitary said. Eighteen of the wounded were American soldiers and two were Iraqi contractors working at the base in Tamim province, according to a brief statement from the military Tamim has a mixed population of Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen, with the oil-ric city of Kirkuk as its capital. Brig. Sarhat Qadir, a senior officer in he Kirkuk police department, said the car bomb targeted a U.S. patrol base n a mostly Sunni Arab residential area in Rashad, about 25 miles southwest of Kirkuk. The suicide attacker rammed his vehicle into blast walls ouside the gates of the U.S. base, Qadir said. http://iretiredfromnewslettersblogspot.com/2008/06/iraq-suicide-blast-kills -us-soldier.html InternationalHerald Tribune Editorial: More useless saber-rattling over Tehran's ambition. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 1, 2008. Israeli leaders spent last week talking tough about Iran and thretening possible military action. The United States and the other major pwers need to address Tehran's nuclear ambitions, but with more assertive diplmacy - including greater financial pressures - not more threats or war planing. The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who is bedeviled by a corrupion scandal that could drive him from office, led the charge. "The Iranian hreat must be stopped by all possible means," he said in Washington, a da before meeting President George W. Bush at the White House. Then Isr's transportation minister, Shaul Mofaz, who is jockeying to replace Olmert as head of the governing Kadima Party if the prime minister is forced to resign, declard that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looks "unavoidabe." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-heraldtri bune-editorial.html International UK security official suspended ove lost file ? Reuters Limited. June 12, 2008. LONDON - The governmen said on Thursday it had suspended a senior intelligence official who eft a file with top secret documents about Iraq and al Qaeda on a train asMPs called for an inquiry. A passenger found the orange folder on a Lndon commuter train and handed it over to the BBC, which said it contained tp secret documents on Iraq?s security forces and the government?s latest assesment on al Qaeda. The sensitive papers had been in the possession f an unnamed official who worked in the Cabinet Office, the central governmet department that supports the work of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. ?I an confirm that he has been suspended,? a Cabinet Office spokesman said. The Cabinet Office said the intelligence official was authorised to take the seven-page file out of the office providing strict security guidelines were adhere to. The spokesman would not give details of the mislaid documents but did cofirm that they were secret. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/008/06/uk-security-official-sus pended-over.html China China clealy overtakes U.S. as leading emitter of climate-warming gases By Elisabth Rosenthal. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June13, 2008. China has now clearly overtaken the United States as the orld's leading emitter of climate-warming gases, a new study has found. The ncreasing emissions from China - up 8 percent in the past year - accounte for two-thirds of the growth in global greenhouse gas emissions in 2007 the study found. The report, released Friday by the Netherlands Envirnmental Assessment Agency, is an annual study. Last year, for the first ime, the researchers found that China had edged ahead of the United State as the world's leading emitter. But the results were not so clear-cut as tose released Friday, and many experts were skeptical of last year's finding.The International Energy Agency continued to say only that China was projeced to overtake the United States by the end of 2007. http://iretiredfromnwsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/china-clearly-overtakes- us-as-leading.html Iternational Herald Tribune Editorial: China's list of Olympic don'ts. Copyrght by The International Herald Tribun. Published: June 11, 2008. Now that the shock of the earthquake, which they could not control, in Sichuan province has dissipated somewhat, China's leaders are focusing again o something that they think they can control: people. Sports fans attending he 2008 Olympics in Beijing will have a long list of rules to carry in ther pockets along with their tickets. On its Web site last week, the Chinese Oympic organizing committee listed a set of restrictions for the 500,000overseas visitors expected in August. Olympic spectators are being told not t bring in "anything detrimental" to China, including printed materials, phots, records or movies. Religious or political banners or slogans are bannd. So are rallies, demonstrations and marches - unless approved by authorties in advance. It also says that visitors with mental illnesses and sexuall transmitted diseases will be barred from the country. We shudder at ho those judgments - many of them highly subjective or intrusive - will be ade. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herld-tri bune-editorial_12.html National International Herald Tribune Editorial: The U.S. Senate fails on climate change. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 11, 2008. Themost obvious lesson to be learned from the U.S. Senate's failure to mont any sort of grown-up debate on climate change last week is that the county needs a new occupant in the White House. By that we mean a president wo not only understands and cares deeply about the issue - which both Senatrs Barack Obama and John McCain say they do, and which President Bush clealy does not - but who is also willing to invest the time and the political caital necessary to push good legislation through Congress. The bill that did in the Senate sought to reduce American emissions of carbon dioxide an other greenhouse gases by nearly 70 percent by 2050, short of what most limate scientists believe is necessary but an important first step. Th Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, trumpeted climate change as "te most important issue facing the world today," and all of the players nsisted they understood the stakes. Yet after three-and-one-half daysof unhelpful partisan sniping, the Democratic leadership pulled the bil from the floor when only 48 senators ted to prevent a threatened Republican filibuster. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_9265.html Floods swallow Iowa cities - Thousands forced to flee in Des Moines By Jo Napolitan. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 1:17 PM CDT, June 14, 2008. IOWA CITY ? Powerful, surging rivers tormented Iowans Saturday, forcing thousands of people to flee in Des Moines and already flooded Cedar Rapids, and leaving parts of Iowa City under water, with volunteers trying to save books in the University of Iowa library. Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey on Saturdy ordered a curfew between 8:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. and also ordered that no ne other than those authorized by law enforcement were permitted within 100 yards of flood areas. Cedar apids, a city of more than 120,000 people, remains in the throes of unprecednted flooding, with the swollen Cedar River covering downtown and other areas. At least 400 city blocks were submerged as of early Saturday, and residents were asked to limit water usage to drinking only. The city's Web site warned that drivers on Interstate Highway 380, the main north-south road, must stay out of the left lane because it is being reserved for emergency vehicles. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/floods-swallow-iowa-citi es-thousands.html 4 dead, 48 injured as tornado hits Boy Scout camp By TIMBERLY ROSS. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 8:31 AM CDT, June 12, 2008. BLENCOE, Iowa - Frightened Boy Scouts huddled in a shelter as a tornado tore through their western Iowa campground, killing four teens and injuring 48 others who had little warning of the approaching twister. Tornadoes also raked Kansas on Wednesday, killing at least two people, destroying much of the small town of Chapman and causing extensive damage on the Kansas State University campus. Iowa rescue workers cut through downed branches and dug through debris amid rain and lightning Wednesday night to reach the camp where the 93 boys, ages 13 to 18, and 25 staff members were attending a weeklong leadership training camp. The tornado killed three 13-year-olds and one 14-year-old, said Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid America Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He did not release the names of the victims. Roitstein said a tornado siren went off at the camp, but the scouts had already taken cover before the siren sounded. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/4-dead-48-injured-as-tor nado-hits-boy.html Tornadoes maul homes, flip vehicles - Powerful storm system rumbles through suburbs before moving over lake By Monique Garcia. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 10:23 PM CDT, June 7, 2008. A series of tornadoes destroyed homes, toppled power lines and flipped vehicles Saturday as a small but powerful storm system moved through the region, cutting just south of Chicago before weakening and moving over Lake Michigan. The heaviest damage was in Will and southeastern Cook Counties, though more heavily populated areas were largely spared. There were no reports of serious injuries Saturday evening, but a handful of people were rescued from debris when their homes were leveled, according to the National Weather Service. Officials said it is unclear how many tornadoes touched down, but dozens of reports were received over 2 1/2 hours. The first call of a touchdown came at 4:45 p.m. near Dwight in Livingston County before the storm moved northeast through Will, Cook and Lake Counties in northeastern Indiana. The last report of a funnel cloud came in at 7:15 p.m. from Schererville, Ind. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tornadoes-maul-homes-fli p-vehicles.html Chicagoland Memo outlines Illinois gov's potential impeachment By RYAN KEITH. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:29 AM CDT, June 11, 2008. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The speaker of the Illinois House is circulating a memo outlining how legislative candidates can call for impeachment hearings against the governor, calling corruption during his tenure "a tumor." A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is also chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, said the memo is intended for candidates who have requested more information if voters ask about Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and potential impeachment. The memo sent to some House Democratic candidates, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, offers a rundown of Blagojevich's alleged "misdeeds and malfeasance" and detailed talking points on the merits of impeachment. "We should excise a tumor when it is first discovered; not leave it in the body to continue to spread and do further harm," the memo reads. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/memo-outlines-illinois-g ovs-potential.html Flooded Lake County declared 'disaster area' - Designation means funds, more sandbags By Carolyn Starks and Susan Kuczka. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 9:49 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. With an estimated 100 homes already damaged by floodwaters along the Fox River and Chain O' Lakes near Antioch?and more flooding forecast for early next week?officials on Friday issued a disaster declaration for northwest Lake County. "It seems like we've just been getting hit over and over and over," County Board Chairman Suzi Schmidt (R-Lake Villa) said during a news conference in Antioch Township, where local emergency officials outlined efforts to protect threatened homes and businesses. More than 500 tons of sand and 18,000 sandbags already have been distributed to homeowners and businesses near Illinois Highway 173 just south of the Wisconsin state line, and more will be on the way with the county's official disaster declaration, said C. Kent McKenzie, coordinator of the Lake County Emergency Management Agency. As of Friday, officials said, the swollen Fox River had risen 2 feet above flood stage and will continue rising until it crests next week, possibly Wednesday. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/flooded-lake-county-decl ared-disaster.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - The taking of Grant Park. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 8, 2008. The Chicago City Council has a vote coming on Wednesday. This vote isn't about placating labor unions, or opposing an invasion of Iran, or other topics that busy the aldermen. This vote is about undermining 172 years of courage by retailer A. Montgomery Ward and other superb stewards?some from City Hall. Those heroes behaved as though the grand dreams of their respective generations weren't as important as preserving Grant Park so generations of Chicago children and adults could enjoy its open spaces in the centuries to come. Today's aldermen may not be up to that measure. Many looked wiggly and anguished Wednesday?like grandparents struggling to play Twister?during a Zoning Committee meeting. In the end, they did just as Mayor Richard Daley wanted: By a 6-3 vote, they rubber-stamped a land grab that would give the private and clout-dripping Chicago Children's Museum a 99-year lease in this sacrosanct public park. To do that, the aldermen had to torpedo the prerogative that had given them final say over development decisions in their own wards. During the meeting, several aldermen verbally belittled their colleague, Brendan Reilly (42nd). They looked delusional, as if they thought the burial of Reilly's prerogative in this case beneath the mayor's underground museum would insulate them from suffering the same fate in their wards. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-taking-of.html Kids' museum site approved - City Council votes 33-16 for Grant Park plan; lawsuit in offing By Dan Mihalopoulos. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 11:20 PM CDT, June 11, 2008. Casting aside a generations-old City Council custom in favor of a more recent tradition?namely, following Mayor Richard Daley's lead?Chicago aldermen voted 33-16 Wednesday to approve a new Chicago Children's Museum in Grant Park. Ald. Brendan Reilly, whose 42nd Ward includes the project site, argued in vain that the largely underground museum would violate long-standing restrictions on construction in the downtown, lakefront park. Reilly warned of lawsuits from opponents who want to preserve the park, with taxpayers set to pay enormous legal bills to defend the council's decision. But a majority of the first-term alderman's colleagues rejected those arguments, saying the site along Randolph Street will prove ideal for the $100 million museum. In doing so, they also abandoned the unwritten rule that the alderman gets to decide development disputes in his or her ward. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/kids-museum-site-approve d-city-council.html R. Kelly verdict: Not guilty - State's Atty. Devine stands by prosecution By Stacy St. Clair. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 4:51 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. A Cook County jury Friday acquitted R&B superstar R. Kelly of child pornography charges, marking the end of a high-profile trial rich in courtroom drama and celebrity intrigue. Jurors put little stock in the prosecution's star witness, a woman who claimed she participated in sex acts with Kelly and the underage girl. But because the alleged victim and her family denied she was the woman in the video, jurors' sense of reasonable doubt held strong; likewise, the videotape of the sex acts was convincing, but not conclusive, jurors said. The initial vote taken after the case went to the jury was 9-3 in favor of acquittal. Subsequent votes during "heated but civil" deliberations moved back and forth, but never very far. "All of us felt the grayness of the case," said a man identified only as "Juror No. 2." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/r-kelly-verdict-not-guil ty-states-atty.html Your Lack of Money US inflation soars on rise in energy costs By James Politi and Chris Bryant in Washington, Joe Leahy in Mumbai and Chris Flood in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 13 2008 14:15 | Last updated: June 13 2008 18:53. Fears of accelerating global inflation were further heightened on Friday when US consumer prices surged by 0.6 per cent in May on the back of rising energy costs. The jump in the US consumer price index was the largest since last November, as items such as air fares and petrol became much more expensive. However core consumer prices ? which strip out food and energy costs ? were reasonably stable, rising only 0.2 per cent. The jump in US inflation came after it emerged that eurozone hourly labour costs rose by 3.3 per cent - faster rate for five years. In Asia, India?s inflation rate hit 8.75 per cent at the end of May - its highest level in seven years - prompting speculation that the central bank have to increase interest rates for the second time in a matter of weeks. Economists are warning India is likely to breach 10 per cent in figures to be released next week. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-inflation-soars-on-ri se-in-energy.html US trade gap widens as oil costs bite By Chris Bryant in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 10 2008 14:38 | Last updated: June 10 2008 16:25. The US trade deficit widened in April to its highest level in more than a year as the soaring cost of imported crude oil offset another record-setting month for US exports, a Commerce Department report revealed on Tuesday. The trade gap in goods and services rose by 7.8 per cent to $60.9bn from a downwardly revised $56.5bn the previous month, representing the biggest increase in more than two years. The US trade deficit is now at its widest since March 2007. The average price of a barrel of imported crude oil rose to $96.81 in April, the most on record, spurring a 4.5 per cent increase in total imports during the month to a record $216.4bn. Exports climbed by 3.3 per cent to a record $155.5bn, helped by aircraft, agricultural machinery and medical equipment sales. Although the weaker US dollar is encouraging foreign buyers to purchase US-made goods, the surging cost of imported commodities is offsetting some of that progress. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-trade-gap-widens-as-o il-costs-bite.html Retail sales jump by largest amount in 6 months By MARTIN CRUTSINGER. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 8:18 AM CDT, June 12, 2008. WASHINGTON - Retail sales jumped by the largest amount in six months in May as 57 million economic stimulus payments helped offset the headwinds buffeting consumers. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales soared 1 percent last month, the biggest increase since November. A wide variety of retailers enjoyed a good month, including the biggest increase at department stores and other general merchandise stores in a year. The May increase was double what economists had been expecting and indicated that the economy is getting a major boost from the $50 million in economic stimulus payments the government sent out in May, just under half of the total stimulus aimed at consumers. The Bush administration is hoping the stimulus payments will help offset the gloom from a prolonged slump in housing, a severe credit crisis, soaring energy bills and rising layoff notices and help the country avert a deep recession. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/retail-sales-jump-by-lar gest-amount-in.html AIG board may call emergency meeting By Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 14 2008 00:13 | Last updated: June 14 2008 00:13. Directors at American International Group, the troubled US insurer, were on Friday night discussing whether to hold an emergency meeting this weekend to consider the position of chief executive Martin Sullivan and try to quell a growing shareholder revolt. People close to the situation cautioned that no decision had been made over whether to hold the meeting. However, they said that contacts among directors had intensified during the past few days after three large shareholders criticised the company?s management for overseeing billions of dollars in mortgage-related losses and demanded a change at the top. AIG declined to comment. The company has recorded more than $30bn in credit-related writedowns and losses and last month announced the biggest quarterly loss in its history. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/aig-board-may-call-emerg ency-meeting.html Lehman suffers $2.8bn loss By Ben White and Francesco Guerrera in New York and Peter Thal Larsen in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 9 2008 12:44 | Last updated: June 9 2008 23:03. Shares in Lehman Brothers plunged on Monday as the bank disclosed a worse-than-expected $2.8bn second-quarter loss and said it would raise $6bn in common and preferred shares to bolster its financial position. The embarrassing second-quarter loss, Lehman?s first since going public in 1994, followed a decline in the value of its mortgage assets and losses on proprietary trading positions. Lehman also suffered as previously successful hedging strategies designed to cushion its mortgage exposure went awry./Lehman to raise $6bn after first quarterly loss By Peter Thal Larsen, Banking Editor. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 9 2008 12:44 | Last updated: June 9 2008 14:49. Lehman Brothers plunged to a loss of $2.8bn in the second quarter, the Wall Street bank said on Monday, as it outlined plans to strengthen its balance sheet by raising $6bn in common and preferred stock. The loss, Lehman?s first as a public company and far greater than most analysts had forecast, was triggered by marking to market the bank?s portfolio of complex debt securities, and by losses on proprietary trading positions. The bank also lost money as hedging contracts designed to cushion its exposure to the financial crisis went awry. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/lehman-to-raise-6bn-afte r-first.html Commodities Oil $134.86 Silver Bullion $16.55 Gold Bullion $870 Platinum Bullion $ $2036 Euro $1.5342 US petrol tops $4 a gallon for first time By Bernard Simon in Toronto. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 8 2008 22:54 | Last updated: June 8 2008 22:54. The average retail price of petrol in the US rose above $4 a gallon for the first time on Sunday, according to a daily survey by the AAA motoring organization. Many analysts have identified the $4 mark as a critical point in changing Americans? driving habits. US drivers are already abandoning big sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks for more fuel-efficient cars and crossover vehicles. Demand for public transport has also increased in many cities. Retail prices are set to move higher still, with crude oil posting its biggest one-day advance last Friday to hit a record of more than $139 a barrel. According to the AAA, Sunday?s average price of $4.005 for a gallon of regular gasoline was 9.3 per cent higher than a month earlier and 29,4 per cent up on the same day last year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-petrol-tops-4-gallon- for-first-time.html G8 ministers call for global action on oil By David Pilling in Aomori. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 8 2008 18:40 | Last updated: June 8 2008 18:40. Energy ministers of advanced nations expressed ?serious concerns? about soaring oil prices and urged producers to lift production through greater investment and provide more transparency on oil supply data. A joint communiqu? by the Group of Eight ministers, also signed by China, India and South Korea, stopped short of the tough language demanded by Kevin Rudd, Australia?s prime minister. He urged G8 leaders to ?apply the blowtorch to Opec?, which he blamed for the rise in crude oil prices to a record $138.54, after a $10.75 jump on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Ministers meeting in Aomori, northern Japan, said: ?Current high oil prices are unprecedented and against the interest of either consuming or producing nations.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/g8-ministers-call-for-gl obal-action-on.html Gazprom predicts oil will reach $250 By Carola Hoyos in Deauville and Javier Blas in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 10 2008 09:00 | Last updated: June 10 2008 13:22. Gazprom, Russia?s gas monopoly, on Tuesday predicted oil prices would reach $250 a barrel in 2009. The striking prediction came as the International Energy Agency, the developed world?s energy watchdog, warned that record high prices were needed to choke off demand in order to balance the oil market. It is the IEA?s most candid admission to date that oil supply is struggling to catch up with Asian demand, and follows the sharp rise in prices last week, which saw crude jump more than $16.24 in less than 36 hours to a record $139.12. Gazprom?s prediction came at a strategy presentation in Deauville, where Alexei Miller, chief executive, said: ?Today we are witnessing a very great change for hydrocarbons. The level is very high and we think it [the price of oil] will reach $250 a barrel.? A company spokesman specified that Gazprom believed that level would be hit in 2009. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gazprom-predicts-oil-wil l-reach-250.html Housing RATE +/- LAST WEEK 30 yr fixed mtg 6.29% 6.08% 15 yr fixed mtg 5.87% 5.63% 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 7.41% 7.26% 5/1 ARM 5.74% 5.34% 7/1 ARM 5.94% 5.60% Stubborn mortgage rates defy conventional wisdom By Susan Chandler. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 8, 2008. The Federal Reserve has aggressively cut interest rates. Houses are sitting around unsold. The stage appears to be set for mortgage rates to fall as lenders compete to attract that scarce quarry: the well-qualified home buyer. You wish. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have remained stubbornly above 6 percent for months. Interest rates on those loans are averaging 6.09 percent, mortgage investor Freddie Mac reported Thursday, an increase from the 6.08 percent the previous week. Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages declined slightly last week to 5.51 percent. In the Chicago area, most lenders were charging more than 6 percent on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. Rates on jumbo loans, those larger than $417,000, were considerably higher, more than 7 percent at most lenders. Northern Trust, one of the area's largest banks, was charging borrowers 7.5 percent for jumbo mortgages, while Harris Bank was offering them at 7.25 percent, according to Interest.com, a personal finance Web site. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/stubborn-mortgage-rates- defy.html Editorial Comment: Do your homework. Mortgage rates are based on Treasury Bill rates not the Fed Rate. T bill rates have been going up--a sure sign of the inflation that is coming. Pending home sales lift US housing hopes By James Politi in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 9 2008 16:13 | Last updated: June 9 2008 16:13. Hopes that bargain hunters might come to the rescue of the stricken US housing market rose on Monday when data showed that pending home sales unexpectedly increased by 6.3 per cent between March and April. According to the National Association of Realtors, an index of pending home sales in the US rose to 88.2 in April ? their highest reading since last October ? from a record low of 83 in March. Economists were on average expecting a slight decline in the index. The gains occurred mainly in the Midwest, the West and the South, suggesting that buyers were moving into the housing market in the areas that have suffered the steepest price declines. In contrast, pending home sales in the Northeast, which has been relatively less exposed to the mortgage crisis, fell 1.9 per cent. Pending home sales measure contracts that have been agreed but not yet completed, and the index is considered a leading indicator for home sales in the coming months. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/pending-home-sales-lift- us-housing.html Chicago-area's jumbo loan cap crimping home sales, agents say. Keeping Chicago, suburbs off priciest-places list holds guaranteed loan limit at $417,000, slows real estate recovery, local agents say. How the Economic Stimulus Act is not helping the Chicago area's By Susan Chandler. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 13, 2008. The Hinsdale area has more than 100 houses on the market with asking prices of $2 million. Vacant lots on Lincoln Park's east side are listed at $1.3 million to $1.5 million. A new single-family home in Bucktown will set you back about $1 million. No question parts of the Chicago area are expensive to call home. But a recent government decision to exclude the region from a tally of the nation's priciest areas is slowing the recovery of the local real estate market, agents say. "It hurts the entire marketplace," says David Hanna, president-elect of the Chicago Association of Realtors. "Inventory is not going to move if you can't get people in that upper bracket to buy stuff." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-areas-jumbo-loan -cap-crimping.html Crisis shifts to regional lenders By Saskia Scholtes and Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 8 2008 23:32 | Last updated: June 8 2008 23:32. Home equity loans are rapidly emerging as the next front of the credit crunch, as falling house prices and lax underwriting lead to growing losses for US regional banks that have huge portfolios of such loans on their balance sheets. The rising defaults on home equity loans, used by people to raise funds by taking out a second mortgage on their houses, underscore how the financial crisis is shifting from big banks? writedowns on complex derivatives to consumer-related problems for smaller banks. Mounting losses on home equity loans are likely to deepen the financial woes of many US regional lenders, increasing the risk that one of them might fail and raising the possibility of a wave of emergency mergers in the sector. ?Home equity loans are a wound on many banks? balance sheets: they are fast becoming a serious problem for small and large institutions,? said a Wall Street executive. Losses on home equity loans have more than tripled in the last six months to 1.54 per cent of outstanding loan volumes. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/crisis-shifts-to-regiona l-lenders.html Bush Bashing ?But Bush-bashing has become a bore. I won't indulge in it, except to say one more thing. The U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes described President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "a second-class intellect but a first-rate temperament." His endless malapropisms have made Bush's intellect the object of ridicule. But his mind was not the problem. It's a better mind than his "nukelar" dismemberment of English suggests. Bush's chip-on-the-shoulder temperament is another matter. He has proved mean, vindictive, surly, controlling and impatient, as befits a man with a guns-at-the-ready gait. There's nothing worse than a control-freak chief executive with no interest in details like the disbanding of the Iraqi Army or what storms levees can withstand.? Roger Cohen Cohen: Bush does Europe incognito By Roger Cohen. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 11, 2008. PARIS: An American president is in Europe and nobody cares. That's a moment. Of course, a couple of months ago an American president went to a NATO summit in Bucharest and said Georgia and Ukraine should be on a fast track to membership, and nobody listened. That was a moment, too. Last time I checked, NATO without the United States didn't amount to squat. The president had choreographed his Bucharest appearance with a prior stop in the Ukrainian capital. Did his NATO allies care that he would lose face? Nope. I care because, like this president, I think Georgia and Ukraine should join NATO as soon as possible. Lock in liberal systems where you can. But that's not my subject here. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/cohen-bush-does-europe-i ncognito.html International Herald Tribune Editorial: On Guant?namo: Justice 5, Brutality 4. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 13, 2008. For years, with the help of compliant Republicans and frightened Democrats in Congress, President George W. Bush has denied the protections of justice, democracy and plain human decency to the hundreds of men that he decided to label "unlawful enemy combatants" and throw into endless detention. Twice the Supreme Court swatted back his imperial overreaching, and twice Congress helped Bush try to open a gaping loophole in the Constitution. On Thursday, the court turned back the most recent effort to subvert justice with a stirring defense of habeas corpus, the right of anyone being held by the government to challenge his confinement before a judge. The court ruled that the detainees being held in Guant?namo Bay, Cuba, have that cherished right, and that the process for them to challenge their confinement is inadequate. It was a very good day for people who value freedom and abhor Bush's attempts to turn Guant?namo Bay into a constitutional-rights-free zone. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_14.html Indecision 2008 The Daily Show: Let The Character Assassinations Begin! http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/12/the-daily-show-let-the-character-as sassinations-begin/ Obama campaign launches Web counterattack - New site targets 'smears' about Democrat's patriotism, faith By Christi Parsons. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 3:43 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. WASHINGTON?Heard the one about how Sen. Barack Obama won't pledge allegiance to the flag? Now people can watch him do it?loud and clear, on tape, with his hand over his heart. What about the rumor that he took the Senate oath of office with his hand on the Quran? As of Thursday, it's easy to find a picture of him being sworn in with his family Bible. That evidence, and more, appears on a new Web site set up by the Democratic presidential candidate as part of his new effort to fight damaging rumors floating around about him. Up until now, Obama's strategy had been to ignore the rumors and hope most people would think they're false. But with the launch of the new site this week, the Obama team acknowledges the old approach was doing nothing to stem the tide of questionable?and in several cases demonstrably incorrect?snippets about Obama's life. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-campaign-launches- web.html Obama sure walks the talk By Garrison Keillor. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 12, 2008. Hot night, New York: a little breeze in the trees in the deep stone canyons as I look out my window, thousands of little lighted windows of private lives, one of which is mine. I'm reminded of this by the fact that a hundred feet away, a man stands at a window looking through binoculars that seem to be trained precisely on me?I feel (slightly) honored by his attention. This is what we do in the big city: We look at each other. I take my sandy-haired daughter on the subway down to Houston Street and she sits, holding my hand, gazing into faces and because it is the subway. I have to remind her of the five-second rule. You can stare at anybody for five seconds but then you have to look away. Look but don't make a scene. And now we are all staring at Barack Obama, who is?if you listen to him on the radio?a commanding presence and a towering candidate for president. I heard the speech he gave in St. Paul to an arena full of supporters and the man can give a speech. Nobody else surfs on applause like Obama and drives his point home, and it all sounds as if he were telling you what he thinks and not reading off a Plexiglas reflector. But when you look closely at him he is a skinny young black guy and this is going to be a problem for some folks. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-sure-walks-talk.ht ml Obama vs. McCain: Taxing and Spending The candidates' opening salvos reveal widely different views. Obama calls current policy "the most fiscally irresponsible in our history". Copyright by Business World by Jane Sasseen. June 12, 2008. They've parried over gas taxes (BusinessWeek.com, 4/15/08) and fixes for the housing crisis. Now, as the general election campaign kicks off, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have each begun to hammer away at the tax and spending programs being promoted by his rival. Obama, who has begun a two-week tour around the country to highlight his views on the economy, derides McCain's plans to extend the Bush Administration's tax cuts, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, and slash corporate taxes. Campaigning in St. Louis on June 10, Obama called the current Administration "the most fiscally irresponsible in our history" and argued that McCain would be even worse. "I've said John McCain is running to serve out a third term, but when it comes to taxes, that's not being fair to George Bush. Senator McCain wants to add $300 billion more in tax breaks and loopholes for big corporations and the wealthiest Americans," Obama said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-vs-mccain-taxing-a nd-spending.html Fall election hinges on race - Race permeates society, hides in different disguises By ANDREW GREELEY agreel at aol.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 11, 2008. The end of the longest primary last week was high drama. Some might want to compare it with the work of the great Greek playwrights, such as Euripides and Sophocles, for hubris and catharsis and purification. It is difficult, however, to see how characters such as Harold Ickes, Howard Wolfson and Terry McAuliffe would fit into such a drama. They might be better suited for a Swedish film by Ingmar Bergman or, even better, a surrealistic Italian play by Luigi Pirandello such as "Six Characters in Search of an Author" or perhaps "Right You Are, If You Think You Are." Sen. Barack Obama's victory, we are told by the cheering sections, was a great victory for the American dream. Racism may well be in retreat. In the immortal words of Humphrey Bogart: Not so fast, Louis. The United States looks pretty good now -- for a change. What if Obama is defeated? The whole world and most African Americans will scream "racism!" Better not to try at all than to try and fail. In fact, only a little more than half of the Democratic voters chose the senator from Illinois as their candidate. Were the other voters racist? Influenced by racism? Inclined to racism, which they hide even from themselves? Surely all of these factors were at work, but it is virtually impossible with the current research technology to sort them out. Moreover, is the voter a bigot who says -- to himself or others -- "He's too young for it," "I don't know anything about him," "He's an elitist," "He's just a lot of fancy talk," "The country isn't ready for a man like that," "He's weak in his support of Israel," "He's Muslim, possibly the anti-Christ!" Are these hints of lurking prejudice? Are the voters of regular members of the Democratic coalition -- Hispanics and union members -- against Obama partly because of racism? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fall-election-hinges-on- race-race.html It's a different country. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. By Paul Krugman. June 9, 2008. PRINCETON, New Jersey: Fervent supporters of Barack Obama like to say that putting him in the White House would transform America. With all due respect to the candidate, that gets it backward. Obama is an impressive speaker who has run a brilliant campaign - but if he wins in November, it will be because our country has already been transformed. Obama's nomination wouldn't have been possible 20 years ago. It's possible today only because racial division, which has driven U.S. politics rightward for more than four decades, has lost much of its sting. And the de-racialization of U.S. politics has implications that go far beyond the possibility that we're about to elect an African-American president. Without racial division, the conservative message - which has long dominated the political scene - loses most of its effectiveness. Take, for example, that old standby of conservatives: denouncing Big Government. Last week John McCain's economic spokesman claimed that Barack Obama is President Bush's true fiscal heir, because he's "dedicated to the recent Bush tradition of spending money on everything." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/its-different-country.ht ml Now it is time for Obama to be more ordinary By Clive Crook. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 8 2008 18:03 | Last updated: June 8 2008 18:03. When Barack Obama, having secured the presidential nomination, ended his victory speech last week, CNN sought its first reaction from Jesse Jackson ? not long ago, the standard-bearer for blacks in US politics. What did it mean for the US, Mr Jackson was asked, that the Democratic party would for the first time nominate a black man for president? It was a jarring transition, so much so that Mr Jackson?s reply is hard to recall. One?s first thought was, what does this have to do with him? It took a moment to remember. Race has intruded on Mr Obama?s campaign, to be sure. The raving reverend, Jeremiah Wright, threatened to sink it completely. Polls suggest that racism was a factor in Mr Obama?s defeats in West Virginia and elsewhere. In the end Mr Obama secured the nomination thanks to the overwhelming support of black Democrats. Quite possibly, race could cost him the general election in November. So yes, this election is partly about race. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/now-it-is-time-for-obama -to-be-more.html Hillary Clinton steps aside, urges supporters to back Obama By James Oliphant. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 8:48 AM CDT, June 8, 2008. WASHINGTON - She came. They wept. She conceded. Hillary Clinton on Saturday said she was suspending her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and throwing her full support behind her rival Barack Obama, ending 16 months of an intense and historic competition that seemed to cleave the party in half. The question remains whether her most fervent supporters will follow her lead on Obama. Clinton lavished praise on Obama, saying, "I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit" and said it was time for the Democratic Party to come together as a "family." The abrupt switch in her rhetoric was met with resistance by some of the thousands of supporters who gathered in Washington to hear the New York senator's concession speech. It was just Tuesday, after winning the South Dakota primary, that Clinton spoke of staying in the race. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/hillary-clinton-steps-as ide-urges.html McCain attacks Guant?namo ruling By Andrew Ward and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 13 2008 21:44 | Last updated: June 13 2008 21:44. John McCain on Friday described the decision by the Supreme Court to allow Guant?namo Bay prisoners to challenge their detention in US courts as ?one of the worst decisions in the history of this country?. The Republican presidential candidate said he agreed with the four dissenting justices on the nine-member court that foreign fighters held at the detention camp were not entitled to the rights of US citizens. He criticised Barack Obama, his Democratic opponent, for supporting the decision and said it highlighted the importance of nominating conservative judges to the Supreme Court. His remarks represented a hardening of his position from his more moderate initial response to the ruling on Thursday, signalling a strategic decision by the McCain campaign to make it an election issue. Mr McCain?s stance appeared designed to demonstrate his toughness on national security, while casting Mr Obama as soft on terrorists. It also looked calculated to spark debate on the future of the Supreme Court ? one of the most important election issues for many conservative voters. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-attacks-guantnamo -ruling.html Ron Paul says campaign to 'shift gears' By KELLEY SHANNON. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 12:31 AM CDT, June 13, 2008. HOUSTON - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Thursday night he is ending his campaign but will keep spreading his message by working to help elect libertarian-leaning Republicans to public office around the country. "The campaign is going to shift gears. It's going to accelerate. It's going to get much bigger," Paul told The Associated Press in an interview before a rally where he was making the announcement. "To me, it's a technical change." Paul formally announced the move -- his new "Campaign for Liberty" -- in a speech to supporters attending the Texas Republican Party state convention. He said he expected many at his Thursday night rally and other supporters from around the nation to attend an alternative mini-convention he will host Sept. 2 in Minnesota to coincide with the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. "Freedom is very popular. Not only is freedom popular, freedom works," Paul told supporters. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/ron-paul-says-campaign-t o-shift-gears.html GLBT Sen. Barack Obama's Pride message. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News Update Tues., June 10, 2008. Sen. Barack Obama released the following statement Sat., June 7, according to Advocate.com: ?I am proud to join with our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters in celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. "It's time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let's enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Let's repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country. Let's treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sen-barack-obamas-pride- message.html Recommendations on Marriage Strategy http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/lgbt/camarriage_joint_20080609.pdf GAY RIGHTS GROUP PRAISES DOMESTIC PARTNER AMENDMENT. Measure will protect same-sex couples married in other states. CHICAGO - The director of Illinois' state wide gay civil rights group praised Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney's introduction of an amendment that would allow same-sex couples employed by the City of Chicago other and married in other jurisdictions continue to receive domestic partner benefits in the city of Chicago. Under current law, same-sex couples are prohibited from receiving domestic partner benefits if one of the parties is married. "Given the recent decision in California to allow same-sex couples to marry we are concerned how that decision impacts same-sex couples in Illinois, particularly city employees who receive domestic partner benefits," said Rick Garcia, director of public policy of Equality Illinois. "Alderman Tunney stood up to the plate to ensure that gay and lesbian employees of the City not lose any of their hard-fought benefits." The ordinance was introduced in the City Council on June 11 and has been referred to the City Council Committee on Finance. The states of Massachusetts and California allow same-sex marriage as do the countries of Spain, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands and South Africa. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gay-rights-group-praises -domestic.html Chicago Free Press Editorial: One to Win. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June 11, 2008. By the time Chicago?s 39th annual celebration of Pride rolls through Lakeview June 29 thousands of gay and lesbian partners will have something they don?t have now: A piece of paper declaring, de facto, that they at last are recognized as fully equal to other citizens in our society. We?re talking about all the gays and lesbians who plan to get married in California as soon as that state starts issuing marriage licenses to them around June 17. It?s not just the thousands and thousands of Californians who?ll be getting married either. Since California doesn?t impose a waiting period to get a license and doesn?t require state residency, any gay and lesbian couple in the United States can go there, get a license, get married and go back home, happily and legally married, at least in the eyes of California, Massachusetts, Canada, maybe New York and a few other places. And make no mistake?that does have implications here and in other states that don?t yet recognize equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians. Just as New York?s governor is attacking barriers to marriage equality in his state, other governors will likely begin to do so as well. And courts are going to be hearing lots of cases very soon involving gay and lesbian couples who were married in California but can?t get recognized as partners by hospitals or insurance companies in Illinois or wherever. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-free-press-edito rial-one-to-win.html Harris: Pressure still needed on civil unions By Matt Simonette. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June 11, 2008. State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) announced June 9 that House Bill 1826, which would allow civil unions in Illinois, has cleared its final procedural hurdles. According to Harris, HB 1826 was moved to ?order of the third reading? in the House just before midnight on the last day of the spring session, meaning that the bill now can be called for a final vote whenever he deems it appropriate. The legislature is not officially scheduled to convene until November but since the state budget is largely unsettled, there is a chance lawmakers could be called into session by the governor over the summer. Harris said he is close to getting the number of votes he needs to secure HB 1826?s passage?60 votes, ?plus a handful to cover anyone who?s sitting on the fence,? he said?but supporters of the bill still need to contact their legislators and drive home the importance of a ?yes? vote. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/harris-pressure-still-ne eded-on-civil.html State of chaos - Same-sex ruling will complicate cases across U.S. By Andrew Koppelman. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 6, 2008. The California Supreme Court's decision that the state must recognize same-sex marriages doesn't bring anything really new to the scene. Massachusetts has had same-sex marriage for years. What the California decision will do is enormously increase the number of people in same-sex marriages, simply because California has six times as many residents as Massachusetts. Also, unlike Massachusetts, California has no bar on out-of-staters entering into same-sex marriages. There are five other states that give same-sex couples all the rights of married couples: Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon and Vermont. That's a big chunk of the country, comprising a fifth of the population. In New York, Gov. David Paterson is pushing a same-sex marriage bill and has ordered state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. What happens when people in those relationships cross state lines, as inevitably they will? Will those relationships ever be recognized in other states? Laws in 44 states declare that they will not. Illinois, for example, has a law declaring: "A marriage between two individuals of the same sex is contrary to the public policy of this state." But these laws do not always resolve the issue because cases will arise that the legislatures and voters were not thinking about and certainly did not intend to reach. They were primarily concerned about couples from their home states who might travel to another state, enter into a same-sex marriage or civil union there, immediately return home, and demand that their marriage be recognized. It didn't make sense to let people evade their home state's restrictions so easily. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/state-of-chaos-same-sex- ruling-will.html Producers proud of ?Out & Proud' debut by Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-06-11. The premiere night of a new documentary of the local LGBT community, WTTW-11's ?Out & Proud in Chicago,? was a ?huge success,? according to the program's producers. An estimated 75,000 households tuned in for the June 3 premiere of ?Out & Proud in Chicago,? and its producers said that they were astounded by the overwhelmingly positive response from those who called in that night to pledge a donation. ?Out & Proud? is a historical perspective of Chicago's LGBT community, hosted by actress Jane Lynch, which profiles various members of the community, from the famous to the ordinary. It will air throughout Pride Month. ?We reached a lot of people,? said co-producer Alexandra Silets. ?And that was just on the first play!? For ?Out & Proud? co-producers Dan Andries and Silets, the overwhelming response and high ratings the show received affirmed the importance of this labor of love they've dedicated themselves to for over a year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/producers-proud-of-out-p roud-debutout.html >From birthday to legend: The story of ?Night of 100 Drag Queens? By Rick Karlin. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June, 11, 2008. What started out as a few friends gathering for a birthday party has turned into one of Chicago?s most popular GLBT events. That?s not just my opinion?if you Google ?Night of 100 Drag Queens? you?ll get about 500 hits. In 1985 Sidetrack initiated ?Show Tune Night? on Mondays and I was instantly hooked. So, a couple of years later, when my birthday happened to fall on a Monday, it was a natural fit. That first year, 1987, was pretty low key; a dozen or so friends joined me to sing along and drain a few bottles of champagne. The next year, it was about 30 people and a very rude cake. By the time the 1980s were drawing to a close, the size of the crowd coming for my party was beginning to take over the bar. It was at about that time that Sidetrack added show tunes on Sunday afternoons. That solved the problem; I booked the bar for a couple hours before opening and had a private, by-invite-only party with a buffet. I also had asked my friends to take whatever they would have spent on a card or gift and instead add it to a fund to be donated to charity. I celebrated with my guests and when the bar opened, the buffet was available for regular customers, some of whom made donations as well. In 1989, I repeated the event with a surprise addition for my friends: Entertainment by two of my favorite drag performers?Vikki Spykke and the now ubiquitous Paula Sinclaire. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/from-birthday-to-legend- story-of-night.html CAN A WEB VIDEO INCREASE SAFER SEX AMONG GAY MEN? GROUNDBREAKING ONLINE VIDEO SERIES REINVENTS HIV PREVENTION FOR THE DIGITAL AGE. Grounded in Research, Dramatic Series Debuts Today at HIVBigDeal.org. www.hivbigdeal.org. New York (JUNE 12, 2008) ? Josh is a young gay man living in Manhattan who had unprotected sex ? and according to research, his story is startlingly effective in motivating other gay men to have safer sex and to get tested for HIV. Josh is the fictional star of ?HIV Is Still a Big Deal,? a groundbreaking online video series launching today at www.hivbigdeal.org. Reinventing HIV prevention for the digital age, the series combines the popularity and interactivity of online video with the power of research-based education methods designed to challenge misconceptions and prompt critical thinking. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/can-web-video-increase-s afer-sex-among.html Funeral Homes and Burial Arrangements - Know Your Rights By Roger McCaffrey-Boss. Copyright by Gat Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. June 10, 2008. Q: My lover and I have very specific plans for our burial services when we die. My lover wants to be cremated without any church or religious service. I would like to leave detailed instructions for the music and ritual. The last thing we want is for our families to come to Chicago and make their own arrangements contrary to our wishes. What can we do to make sure that each of us can make the burial arrangements for the other and ensure that our wishes are honored? Are there any problems we can run into with funeral homes or the funeral director? A: The law states that when you die your lover has no legal right to make burial arrangements for you, taking a back seat to family and relatives. Pursuant to the 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/2008/06/funeral-homes-and-burial -arrangements.html Health Care Researchers blame HPV for rise in throat cancer - HPV blamed for rise in throat cancer By Jeremy Manier. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 8, 2008. For five grueling months in 2006 and 2007, Carol Kanga suffered through treatment for a life-threatening case of throat cancer linked to an unlikely source: a sexually transmitted viral infection. Unable to swallow food or water during chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Kanga was fed through a stomach tube. Her one respite came on Thanksgiving, when she savored a single spoonful of weak broth. "The radiation basically burns the skin off the outside and inside of your throat," said Kanga, 52, a Rockville, Md., artist. "It's like there's a fire inside your neck." Kanga's treatment was successful, but the virus that struck her is causing increasing concern among some researchers who think it is causing a small-scale epidemic of throat cancer. That virus, scientists have proved only in the last two years, is human papillomavirus, or HPV?the same virus that's behind most cases of cervical cancer. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/researchers-blame-hpv-fo r-rise-in.html Tomatoes pulled off shelves amid salmonella outbreak By CARLA K. JOHNSON. Copyright by The Associated Press. June 10, 2008. CHICAGO (AP) ? Federal officials hunted for the source of a 16-state salmonella outbreak linked to three types of raw tomatoes, while the list of supermarkets and restaurants yanking those varieties from shelves and menus grew. McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Burger King, Kroger, Outback Steakhouse, Winn-Dixie and Taco Bell were among the companies that voluntarily withdrew red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes unless they were grown in certain states and countries. In addition, officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District ? the nation's second largest ? said Monday they have 'indefinitely suspended' serving uncooked tomatoes. The FDA is investigating the source of the outbreak, agency spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings said. 'We are working hard and fast on this one and hope to have something as quickly as possible,' Rawlings said Monday. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak, federal officials said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tomatoes-pulled-off-shel ves-amid.html Abortion foes take battle beyond Roe - Makeup of high court is political focal point, but activists cutting access with ruling intact By James Oliphant. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 10, 2008. WICHITA, Kan. ? Troy Newman appears to be just about the happiest person who ever set foot in an abortion clinic. "We're winning," Newman says excitedly. "We're winning the youth. We're winning the hearts and minds of the people." Except for his prematurely gray hair, Newman, the head of Operation Rescue, perhaps the most aggressive anti-abortion group in the nation, seems boyish and eager. "I just want to be the best pro-lifer I can be," he said. The organization has just moved into its new offices in Wichita, a shuttered abortion clinic that Newman helped hassle out of business. "Nothing warms my heart more than a closed abortion clinic," he said. He keeps souvenirs in his office of some of the clinics he has claimed credit for helping shut down. Newman has good reason to feel optimistic. Through the work of groups like his, the number of places where women can obtain abortions in the United States has shrunk by two-thirds since the early 1990s, to about 700. The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-rights think tank that has had a longtime connection to Planned Parenthood, estimates abortions are now unavailable in 87 percent of counties nationwide. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/abortion-foes-take-battl e-beyond-roe.html Death rates plunge, but chronic disease rises. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 11, 2008. The long-term trend is stunning. A smaller slice of the population is dying of once-fatal illnesses, including heart disease, stroke and, to a lesser extent, cancer. Another trend goes hand in hand with the development: the rapid growth in the ranks of Americans with chronic illness. It?s an example of the mixed blessings of modern medicine. Patients are living longer, but encountering a health care system that isn?t designed around their needs. Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports new numbers that shed light on the dilemma. In 2006, the death rate in the U.S. reached an all-time low of 776.4 people for every 100,000 residents, the agency?s preliminary estimates show. The numbers are adjusted for the age of the population. By contrast, in 1980, the age-adjusted death rate was 1,039.1 per 100,000, in 1990 it was 938.7 per 100,000, and in 2000 it was 869 per 100,000. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/death-rates-plunge-but-c hronic-disease.html End of line for doctors' signature scribbles? INSIDE HEALTH CARE BY BRUCE JAPSEN. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 12, 2008. The era of the indecipherable doctor's handwritten prescription may be closer to being history if some influential senators have their way. Momentum for a bill that would entice doctors to move to computerized prescribing systems is building in Washington, with several Democrats and Republicans supporting a measure to provide incentives for doctors through extra Medicare payments if they begin using so-called e-prescribing in 2009. If they don't do so by 2011, when such a requirement would begin, doctors would have their payments reduced. Supporters of the bill, such as Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the finance panel's ranking Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, have written a carrot-and-stick approach into the bill that they hope would increase the number of doctors using e-prescribing. By some estimates, only 35,000 U.S. doctors, or fewer than 7 percent, use e-prescribing. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/end-of-line-for-doctors- signature.html Immigration ?Language is not assimilation. Race is not assimilation. Passing for an American goes much further than race and language. Unlike you, I have blue eyes and I?m part Spanish and part Dutch. I am a third generation Puerto Rican and after twenty six years in Chicago the only thing that I can tell you for sure is that I no longer know what I am.? Carlos T Mock, MD. Immigration vs. Assimilation by Carlos T Mock, MD. June, 12, 2008. I have lived 26 years in the United States. I still struggle with the fundamental question ?Am I still a Puerto Rican?? I?ve been in the US since 1981. ?Can I consider myself American?? As a Puerto Rican living in the US, I no longer fit into my homeland. Every time I travel there, I?m considered un Americano. I?m always addressed in the English language. What?s worse, my Puerto Rican friends who live on the Island don?t seem to care about me anymore. They?ve gone their separate ways. On this side of the pond, in the United States, there are Puerto Ricans who have never been to Puerto Rico. They don?t speak Spanish, they don?t know our history or culture?yet, they declare themselves Puerto Rican. To them, I am less Puerto Rican, because, in their eyes I didn?t experience the same discrimination from the Anglo culture while growing up as they did. ?So, where do I fit?what am I?? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/immigration-vs-assimilat ion.html Over time, immigrants become fully American By TERESA PUENTE. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 9, 2008. Underlying the debate over immigration in the United States is the old question of assimilation, or as some people call it today, immigrant integration. Are we a melting pot or a salad? A recent study by the Manhattan Institute measured immigrant assimilation in the United States by creating a ranking for people by country of origin. Immigrants from Vietnam, Cuba and the Philippines show some of the highest rates of assimilation. German immigrants are both economically and culturally indistinguishable from U.S. citizens. Mexicans, however, are slower to assimilate. This led me to wonder why that is and to reflect on my own family's experience. I'm third-generation Mexican American, and I consider myself integrated and able to navigate life in the United States as well as Mexico. But how did my family integrate into American society? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/over-time-immigrants-bec ome-fully.html Editor?s Note. My response is above. Technology Financial Times Editorial Comment: Inclusive iPhone. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 10 2008 19:32 | Last updated: June 10 2008 19:32. The iPhone is amazingly amazing: Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive, had some substantive points to make in his address launching a new version of the mobile phone, not least that it will be cheaper (because of network operator subsidies); but he wanted to talk about its amazingness most of all. The iPhone has changed expectations of smartphones, but while the introduction of subsidies is a sensible move, it is also an admission that the device has failed to change the industry?s business model. The iPhone may not be amazing but it is rather clever. Apple, along with another spectacular success in consumer electronics, Nintendo, has shown the importance of improving the user interface. The iPhone?s touch screen makes mobile web browsing less difficult, and such interface innovations seem to have a direct appeal to consumers that whizzy new functions do not. For all its asserted amazingness, however, Apple has not sold all that many iPhones ? notably in Europe. Apple acolytes flocked to buy them but, as every technology executive knows, early adopters are easy. It is bridging the gap to the mass market that counts, and in the past year competitors have begun to catch up with the iPhone?s technology while selling at a lower, subsidised price. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_11.html Other Is Rover coughing? It could be dog flu. - Experts urge pet owners to be on the alert now that the disease has been confirmed in Illinois By Deborah L. Shelton and Kristen Kridel. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 12:29 AM CDT, June 14, 2008. Ira Alter didn't know dogs could even get the flu. But blood tests showed that is what struck his 4-year-old yellow Labrador, Buddy, whom Alter took to the emergency veterinarian at 3 a.m. recently when his uncharacteristically lethargic pet was coughing up a storm and spitting out white foam. "He just looked like he was a sick pup," said Alter, of Logan Square. "I've never seen him like that." Buddy is among the first documented cases in Illinois of canine influenza or "dog flu," an infectious but treatable disease that was first identified in racing greyhounds in Florida in 2004 and has spread to more than 20 states. Experts said pet owners should be on the alert but not overly alarmed now that the disease has been confirmed in Illinois. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/is-rover-coughing-it-cou ld-be-dog-flu.html NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 By DAVID ESPO and LAURIE KELLMAN. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:50 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, who pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of the powerful and influential as moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," died suddenly Friday while preparing for his weekly broadcast. The network's Washington bureau chief was 58. In addition to his weekly program, Russert appeared on the network's other news shows, was moderator for numerous political debates and wrote two best-selling books. President Bush, informed of Russert's death while at dinner in Paris, swiftly issued a statement of condolence that praised the NBC newsman as "an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades. Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it." NBC interrupted its regular programming with news of Russert's death, and in the ensuing moments, familiar faces such as Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams took turns mourning his loss. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/nbcs-tim-russert-dead-at -58.html Humor I'm Voting Republican http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQJ9Xp0xxU 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 Jun 14 15:35:02 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:35:02 -0500 Subject: [News] The "Other War" Newsletter- June 14, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: ?In public, defeat in Afghanistan is unthinkabl for western governments. In private, for many it already seems inevitable? at least if the western definition of ?victory? remains the vastly overlown goals set since the overthrow of the Taliban, within any timeframe that s likely to be acceptable to western electorates.? Anatol Lieven The dram of Afghan democracy is dead By Anatol Lieven. Copyright The Financial Tims Limited 2008. Published: June 11 2008 18:59 | Last updated: June 11 208 18:59. In public, defeat in Afghanistan is unthinkable for western governents. In private, for many it already seems inevitable ? at least if the wetern definition of ?victory? remains the vastly overblown goals set since theoverthrow of the Taliban, within any timeframe that is likely to be accepable to western electorates. In recent meetings involving Nato offiials I have been struck by the combination of public acknowledgment that, to chieve real and stable progrs in Afghanistan, western forces will probably have to remain there for a generation at least, and deep private scepticism that western publics will stay the course for aything like that long. Indeed, most plans have the hopeless aim of produing clear results within three years, for fear that otherwe Canada will not prolong its presence beyond 2011 and the whole Nato efort will begin to unravel. Similarly, public statements of faith in Afghan dmocracy are coupled with private expressions of near-despair when it comes tohopes of improving Hamid Karzai?s administration. Many western officials amit privately that any real hopes of creating a democratic Afghanisan are now dead. ?If we could get a moderately civilised and effective mlitary dictatorship, we?d be very lucky indeed,? was the grim comment of oe senior officer. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/208/06/dream-of-afghan-democrac y-is-dead.html May's combat deaths in Afghanistan outnumber Iraq By ROBERT BURNS. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 5:00 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. BRUSSELS, Belgium - It's a grim guge of U.S. wars going in opposite directions: American and allied combat deas in Afghanistan in May passed the monthly toll in Iraq for the first time Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the statistical comparison to dramatze his point to NATO defense ministers that they need to do more to get Afghaistan moving in a better direction. He wants more allied combat troops, moe trainers and more public commitment. More positively, the May death totas point to security improvements in Iraq that few thought likely a year ago. But the deterioration in Afghanistan suggests a troubling additional possiblity: a widening of the war to Pakistan, where the Taliban and al-Qaida have ound haven. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mays-cobat-deaths-in-af ghanistan.html A war that needs a definition of victory B Philip Stephens. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Pubished: June 12 2008 19:08 | Last updated: June 12 2008 19:08. The quesion that western donors to Afghanistan might have asked themselves at tis week?s Paris conference was an obvious one: why are we there? In th event it was easier to write the cheques. Winning in Afghanistan is perhapsthe most consistent mantra of western security policy. As long, that is, as no one defines what is meant by winning. President Hamid Karzai knows what he wants: another $50bn (?32bn, ?26bn) in forein development assistance to create something resembling a modern state. He wil not get that much, not least because it is beyond the capacity of hisgovernment to spend it honestly. The money, though, will keep flowing. The wst sees no other choice. Afghanistan is the good war ? a conflict fought inself-defence and one, unlike Iraq, blessed from the outset by the internaional community. No dodgy intelligence here. Barack Obama won the Democatic nomination for the coming US presidential election promising to pull outUS troops from Iraq. He wants a bigger effort in Afghanistan. http//iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/war-that-needs-definit n-of-victory.html Taliban free 1,200 from Afghan prison. Copyright by Th International Herald Tribune. By Carlotta Gall. Published: June 1, 2008. ISLAMABAD: In a brazen attack, Taliban fighters assaulted the mainprison in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Friday night, blowing up he mud walls, killing 15 guards and freeing aund 1,200 inmates. Among the escapees were about 350 Taliban members, including commanders, would-be suicide bombers and assassins, said the head of Kandahar's Provincl Council, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who is a brother of President Hamid Karzai ofAfghanistan. "It is very dangerous for security," Ahmed Wali Karzai said bytelephone from Kandahar. "They are the most experienced killers, and they al managed to escape." A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said that theattack was carried out by 30 insurgents on motorbikes and two suicide bombersand that they had freed about 400 Taliban members, The Associated Press eported. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/talibanfree-1200-from-a fghan-prison.html International Herald Tribune Editrial: A dangerous place. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 13, 2008. There is enormous confusion about what happeed Tuesday night on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Pakistani official say that U.S. artillery and airstrikes killed 11 of their paramilitary toops, and some are angrily demanding an end to all military cooperation. Th Bush administration says U.S. forces were firing in self-defense against Taiban fighters crossing into Afghanista. The incident is an urgent reminder of the terrible state of relations between the two countries - relations essential to the fight against terrorism - and how muc needs to be done to salvage them. Pakistanis have a host of grievance against the Americans, all made far worse by the Bush administration's decison to back President Pervez Musharraf long after he had squandered all of hispopular support. Musharraf and Pakistan's new democratically elected leders have also failed to tell their people that the fight against extrists is essential for their own country's stability and security. Washingto and Islamabad must now do everything they can to repair relations, startingwith a joint investigation and a full and public report of its findings. htp://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tribune-editorial_1921.html U.S. seeks 58 bases, Iraqi lawmakers say By Leila Fdel. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 11, 2008. BAGHDAD ? Iraqi awmakers say the United States is demanding 58 bases as part of a propose "status of forces" agreement that will allow U.S. troops to remain in the contry indefinitely. Leading members of the two ruling Shiite parties sai in a series of interviews that the Iraqi government rejected this proposal long with another U.S. demand that would effectively hand over the power t determine whether a hostile act from another country is aggression aganst Iraq. Lawmakers said they fear this power woul drag Iraq into a war between the United States and Iran. "The points that were put forth by the Americans were more abominable than the occupation," said Jalal al Din a-Saghir, a leading lawmaker from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. "We wre occupied by order of the Security Council," he said, referring to the 2004resolution mandating a U.S. military occupation in Iraq at the head of aninternational coalition. "But now we are being asked to sign for our on occupation. That is why we have absolutely refused all that we have seen sofar." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-seeks-58-bases-iaqi- lawmakers-say.html Iraq forces talks reach ?dead end? By Steve Negusin Cairo and Harvey Morris at the United Nations. Copyright The Financial Ties Limited 2008. Published: June 13 2008 18:29 | Last updated: June 13 2008 1:29. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said on Friday that initialnegotiations with the US on a bilateral status-of-forces agreement ad reached a ?dead end? because US proposals impinged on Iraqi sovereignty Mr Maliki?s first detailed comments on the reaty that will govern the long-term presence of US troops, replacing the existing United Nations mandate, underlined the pressure on his government not to give in to US deands. ?The first drafts presented left us at a dead end and deadlock,? Mr Mliki said in Jordan. ?So, we left these first drafts and the negotiation will continue with new ideas until we reach a formula that preserves Iraq sovereignty.? The treaty governing the future US troop presence in Iraqhas faced opposition in both Baghdad and Washington, leading some to predictthat it may not be signed by the time President George W. Bush leaves office n January. US and Iraqi officials have been holding negotiations on the ccord behind closed doors, and US officials had earlier said that they hoped o reach agreement by the end of July. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspo.com/2008/06/iraq-forces-talks-reach- dead-end.html Iraq suicide blas kills US soldier, wounds 18. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 11:51 AM CD, June 8, 2008. BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb exploded near an merican patrol base Sunday in northern Iraq, killing one soldier and woundin 20 other people, the U.S. mlitary said. Eighteen of the wounded were American soldiers and two were Iraqi contractors working at the base in Tamim province, according to a brief statement from the military Tamim has a mixed population of Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen, with the oil-ric city of Kirkuk as its capital. Brig. Sarhat Qadir, a senior officer in he Kirkuk police department, said the car bomb targeted a U.S. patrol base n a mostly Sunni Arab residential area in Rashad, about 25 miles southwest of Kirkuk. The suicide attacker rammed his vehicle into blast walls ouside the gates of the U.S. base, Qadir said. http://iretiredfromnewslettersblogspot.com/2008/06/iraq-suicide-blast-kills -us-soldier.html InternationalHerald Tribune Editorial: More useless saber-rattling over Tehran's ambition. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 1, 2008. Israeli leaders spent last week talking tough about Iran and thretening possible military action. The United States and the other major pwers need to address Tehran's nuclear ambitions, but with more assertive diplmacy - including greater financial pressures - not more threats or war planing. The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who is bedeviled by a corrupion scandal that could drive him from office, led the charge. "The Iranian hreat must be stopped by all possible means," he said in Washington, a da before meeting President George W. Bush at the White House. Then Isr's transportation minister, Shaul Mofaz, who is jockeying to replace Olmert as head of the governing Kadima Party if the prime minister is forced to resign, declard that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looks "unavoidabe." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-heraldtri bune-editorial.html International UK security official suspended ove lost file ? Reuters Limited. June 12, 2008. LONDON - The governmen said on Thursday it had suspended a senior intelligence official who eft a file with top secret documents about Iraq and al Qaeda on a train asMPs called for an inquiry. A passenger found the orange folder on a Lndon commuter train and handed it over to the BBC, which said it contained tp secret documents on Iraq?s security forces and the government?s latest assesment on al Qaeda. The sensitive papers had been in the possession f an unnamed official who worked in the Cabinet Office, the central governmet department that supports the work of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. ?I an confirm that he has been suspended,? a Cabinet Office spokesman said. The Cabinet Office said the intelligence official was authorised to take the seven-page file out of the office providing strict security guidelines were adhere to. The spokesman would not give details of the mislaid documents but did cofirm that they were secret. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/008/06/uk-security-official-sus pended-over.html China China clealy overtakes U.S. as leading emitter of climate-warming gases By Elisabth Rosenthal. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June13, 2008. China has now clearly overtaken the United States as the orld's leading emitter of climate-warming gases, a new study has found. The ncreasing emissions from China - up 8 percent in the past year - accounte for two-thirds of the growth in global greenhouse gas emissions in 2007 the study found. The report, released Friday by the Netherlands Envirnmental Assessment Agency, is an annual study. Last year, for the first ime, the researchers found that China had edged ahead of the United State as the world's leading emitter. But the results were not so clear-cut as tose released Friday, and many experts were skeptical of last year's finding.The International Energy Agency continued to say only that China was projeced to overtake the United States by the end of 2007. http://iretiredfromnwsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/china-clearly-overtakes- us-as-leading.html Iternational Herald Tribune Editorial: China's list of Olympic don'ts. Copyrght by The International Herald Tribun. Published: June 11, 2008. Now that the shock of the earthquake, which they could not control, in Sichuan province has dissipated somewhat, China's leaders are focusing again o something that they think they can control: people. Sports fans attending he 2008 Olympics in Beijing will have a long list of rules to carry in ther pockets along with their tickets. On its Web site last week, the Chinese Oympic organizing committee listed a set of restrictions for the 500,000overseas visitors expected in August. Olympic spectators are being told not t bring in "anything detrimental" to China, including printed materials, phots, records or movies. Religious or political banners or slogans are bannd. So are rallies, demonstrations and marches - unless approved by authorties in advance. It also says that visitors with mental illnesses and sexuall transmitted diseases will be barred from the country. We shudder at ho those judgments - many of them highly subjective or intrusive - will be ade. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herld-tri bune-editorial_12.html National International Herald Tribune Editorial: The U.S. Senate fails on climate change. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 11, 2008. Themost obvious lesson to be learned from the U.S. Senate's failure to mont any sort of grown-up debate on climate change last week is that the county needs a new occupant in the White House. By that we mean a president wo not only understands and cares deeply about the issue - which both Senatrs Barack Obama and John McCain say they do, and which President Bush clealy does not - but who is also willing to invest the time and the political caital necessary to push good legislation through Congress. The bill that did in the Senate sought to reduce American emissions of carbon dioxide an other greenhouse gases by nearly 70 percent by 2050, short of what most limate scientists believe is necessary but an important first step. Th Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, trumpeted climate change as "te most important issue facing the world today," and all of the players nsisted they understood the stakes. Yet after three-and-one-half daysof unhelpful partisan sniping, the Democratic leadership pulled the bil from the floor when only 48 senators ted to prevent a threatened Republican filibuster. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_9265.html Floods swallow Iowa cities - Thousands forced to flee in Des Moines By Jo Napolitan. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 1:17 PM CDT, June 14, 2008. IOWA CITY ? Powerful, surging rivers tormented Iowans Saturday, forcing thousands of people to flee in Des Moines and already flooded Cedar Rapids, and leaving parts of Iowa City under water, with volunteers trying to save books in the University of Iowa library. Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey on Saturdy ordered a curfew between 8:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. and also ordered that no ne other than those authorized by law enforcement were permitted within 100 yards of flood areas. Cedar apids, a city of more than 120,000 people, remains in the throes of unprecednted flooding, with the swollen Cedar River covering downtown and other areas. At least 400 city blocks were submerged as of early Saturday, and residents were asked to limit water usage to drinking only. The city's Web site warned that drivers on Interstate Highway 380, the main north-south road, must stay out of the left lane because it is being reserved for emergency vehicles. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/floods-swallow-iowa-citi es-thousands.html 4 dead, 48 injured as tornado hits Boy Scout camp By TIMBERLY ROSS. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 8:31 AM CDT, June 12, 2008. BLENCOE, Iowa - Frightened Boy Scouts huddled in a shelter as a tornado tore through their western Iowa campground, killing four teens and injuring 48 others who had little warning of the approaching twister. Tornadoes also raked Kansas on Wednesday, killing at least two people, destroying much of the small town of Chapman and causing extensive damage on the Kansas State University campus. Iowa rescue workers cut through downed branches and dug through debris amid rain and lightning Wednesday night to reach the camp where the 93 boys, ages 13 to 18, and 25 staff members were attending a weeklong leadership training camp. The tornado killed three 13-year-olds and one 14-year-old, said Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid America Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He did not release the names of the victims. Roitstein said a tornado siren went off at the camp, but the scouts had already taken cover before the siren sounded. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/4-dead-48-injured-as-tor nado-hits-boy.html Tornadoes maul homes, flip vehicles - Powerful storm system rumbles through suburbs before moving over lake By Monique Garcia. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 10:23 PM CDT, June 7, 2008. A series of tornadoes destroyed homes, toppled power lines and flipped vehicles Saturday as a small but powerful storm system moved through the region, cutting just south of Chicago before weakening and moving over Lake Michigan. The heaviest damage was in Will and southeastern Cook Counties, though more heavily populated areas were largely spared. There were no reports of serious injuries Saturday evening, but a handful of people were rescued from debris when their homes were leveled, according to the National Weather Service. Officials said it is unclear how many tornadoes touched down, but dozens of reports were received over 2 1/2 hours. The first call of a touchdown came at 4:45 p.m. near Dwight in Livingston County before the storm moved northeast through Will, Cook and Lake Counties in northeastern Indiana. The last report of a funnel cloud came in at 7:15 p.m. from Schererville, Ind. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tornadoes-maul-homes-fli p-vehicles.html Chicagoland Memo outlines Illinois gov's potential impeachment By RYAN KEITH. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:29 AM CDT, June 11, 2008. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The speaker of the Illinois House is circulating a memo outlining how legislative candidates can call for impeachment hearings against the governor, calling corruption during his tenure "a tumor." A spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is also chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, said the memo is intended for candidates who have requested more information if voters ask about Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and potential impeachment. The memo sent to some House Democratic candidates, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, offers a rundown of Blagojevich's alleged "misdeeds and malfeasance" and detailed talking points on the merits of impeachment. "We should excise a tumor when it is first discovered; not leave it in the body to continue to spread and do further harm," the memo reads. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/memo-outlines-illinois-g ovs-potential.html Flooded Lake County declared 'disaster area' - Designation means funds, more sandbags By Carolyn Starks and Susan Kuczka. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 9:49 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. With an estimated 100 homes already damaged by floodwaters along the Fox River and Chain O' Lakes near Antioch?and more flooding forecast for early next week?officials on Friday issued a disaster declaration for northwest Lake County. "It seems like we've just been getting hit over and over and over," County Board Chairman Suzi Schmidt (R-Lake Villa) said during a news conference in Antioch Township, where local emergency officials outlined efforts to protect threatened homes and businesses. More than 500 tons of sand and 18,000 sandbags already have been distributed to homeowners and businesses near Illinois Highway 173 just south of the Wisconsin state line, and more will be on the way with the county's official disaster declaration, said C. Kent McKenzie, coordinator of the Lake County Emergency Management Agency. As of Friday, officials said, the swollen Fox River had risen 2 feet above flood stage and will continue rising until it crests next week, possibly Wednesday. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/flooded-lake-county-decl ared-disaster.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - The taking of Grant Park. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 8, 2008. The Chicago City Council has a vote coming on Wednesday. This vote isn't about placating labor unions, or opposing an invasion of Iran, or other topics that busy the aldermen. This vote is about undermining 172 years of courage by retailer A. Montgomery Ward and other superb stewards?some from City Hall. Those heroes behaved as though the grand dreams of their respective generations weren't as important as preserving Grant Park so generations of Chicago children and adults could enjoy its open spaces in the centuries to come. Today's aldermen may not be up to that measure. Many looked wiggly and anguished Wednesday?like grandparents struggling to play Twister?during a Zoning Committee meeting. In the end, they did just as Mayor Richard Daley wanted: By a 6-3 vote, they rubber-stamped a land grab that would give the private and clout-dripping Chicago Children's Museum a 99-year lease in this sacrosanct public park. To do that, the aldermen had to torpedo the prerogative that had given them final say over development decisions in their own wards. During the meeting, several aldermen verbally belittled their colleague, Brendan Reilly (42nd). They looked delusional, as if they thought the burial of Reilly's prerogative in this case beneath the mayor's underground museum would insulate them from suffering the same fate in their wards. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-taking-of.html Kids' museum site approved - City Council votes 33-16 for Grant Park plan; lawsuit in offing By Dan Mihalopoulos. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 11:20 PM CDT, June 11, 2008. Casting aside a generations-old City Council custom in favor of a more recent tradition?namely, following Mayor Richard Daley's lead?Chicago aldermen voted 33-16 Wednesday to approve a new Chicago Children's Museum in Grant Park. Ald. Brendan Reilly, whose 42nd Ward includes the project site, argued in vain that the largely underground museum would violate long-standing restrictions on construction in the downtown, lakefront park. Reilly warned of lawsuits from opponents who want to preserve the park, with taxpayers set to pay enormous legal bills to defend the council's decision. But a majority of the first-term alderman's colleagues rejected those arguments, saying the site along Randolph Street will prove ideal for the $100 million museum. In doing so, they also abandoned the unwritten rule that the alderman gets to decide development disputes in his or her ward. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/kids-museum-site-approve d-city-council.html R. Kelly verdict: Not guilty - State's Atty. Devine stands by prosecution By Stacy St. Clair. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 4:51 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. A Cook County jury Friday acquitted R&B superstar R. Kelly of child pornography charges, marking the end of a high-profile trial rich in courtroom drama and celebrity intrigue. Jurors put little stock in the prosecution's star witness, a woman who claimed she participated in sex acts with Kelly and the underage girl. But because the alleged victim and her family denied she was the woman in the video, jurors' sense of reasonable doubt held strong; likewise, the videotape of the sex acts was convincing, but not conclusive, jurors said. The initial vote taken after the case went to the jury was 9-3 in favor of acquittal. Subsequent votes during "heated but civil" deliberations moved back and forth, but never very far. "All of us felt the grayness of the case," said a man identified only as "Juror No. 2." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/r-kelly-verdict-not-guil ty-states-atty.html Your Lack of Money US inflation soars on rise in energy costs By James Politi and Chris Bryant in Washington, Joe Leahy in Mumbai and Chris Flood in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 13 2008 14:15 | Last updated: June 13 2008 18:53. Fears of accelerating global inflation were further heightened on Friday when US consumer prices surged by 0.6 per cent in May on the back of rising energy costs. The jump in the US consumer price index was the largest since last November, as items such as air fares and petrol became much more expensive. However core consumer prices ? which strip out food and energy costs ? were reasonably stable, rising only 0.2 per cent. The jump in US inflation came after it emerged that eurozone hourly labour costs rose by 3.3 per cent - faster rate for five years. In Asia, India?s inflation rate hit 8.75 per cent at the end of May - its highest level in seven years - prompting speculation that the central bank have to increase interest rates for the second time in a matter of weeks. Economists are warning India is likely to breach 10 per cent in figures to be released next week. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-inflation-soars-on-ri se-in-energy.html US trade gap widens as oil costs bite By Chris Bryant in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 10 2008 14:38 | Last updated: June 10 2008 16:25. The US trade deficit widened in April to its highest level in more than a year as the soaring cost of imported crude oil offset another record-setting month for US exports, a Commerce Department report revealed on Tuesday. The trade gap in goods and services rose by 7.8 per cent to $60.9bn from a downwardly revised $56.5bn the previous month, representing the biggest increase in more than two years. The US trade deficit is now at its widest since March 2007. The average price of a barrel of imported crude oil rose to $96.81 in April, the most on record, spurring a 4.5 per cent increase in total imports during the month to a record $216.4bn. Exports climbed by 3.3 per cent to a record $155.5bn, helped by aircraft, agricultural machinery and medical equipment sales. Although the weaker US dollar is encouraging foreign buyers to purchase US-made goods, the surging cost of imported commodities is offsetting some of that progress. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-trade-gap-widens-as-o il-costs-bite.html Retail sales jump by largest amount in 6 months By MARTIN CRUTSINGER. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 8:18 AM CDT, June 12, 2008. WASHINGTON - Retail sales jumped by the largest amount in six months in May as 57 million economic stimulus payments helped offset the headwinds buffeting consumers. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales soared 1 percent last month, the biggest increase since November. A wide variety of retailers enjoyed a good month, including the biggest increase at department stores and other general merchandise stores in a year. The May increase was double what economists had been expecting and indicated that the economy is getting a major boost from the $50 million in economic stimulus payments the government sent out in May, just under half of the total stimulus aimed at consumers. The Bush administration is hoping the stimulus payments will help offset the gloom from a prolonged slump in housing, a severe credit crisis, soaring energy bills and rising layoff notices and help the country avert a deep recession. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/retail-sales-jump-by-lar gest-amount-in.html AIG board may call emergency meeting By Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 14 2008 00:13 | Last updated: June 14 2008 00:13. Directors at American International Group, the troubled US insurer, were on Friday night discussing whether to hold an emergency meeting this weekend to consider the position of chief executive Martin Sullivan and try to quell a growing shareholder revolt. People close to the situation cautioned that no decision had been made over whether to hold the meeting. However, they said that contacts among directors had intensified during the past few days after three large shareholders criticised the company?s management for overseeing billions of dollars in mortgage-related losses and demanded a change at the top. AIG declined to comment. The company has recorded more than $30bn in credit-related writedowns and losses and last month announced the biggest quarterly loss in its history. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/aig-board-may-call-emerg ency-meeting.html Lehman suffers $2.8bn loss By Ben White and Francesco Guerrera in New York and Peter Thal Larsen in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 9 2008 12:44 | Last updated: June 9 2008 23:03. Shares in Lehman Brothers plunged on Monday as the bank disclosed a worse-than-expected $2.8bn second-quarter loss and said it would raise $6bn in common and preferred shares to bolster its financial position. The embarrassing second-quarter loss, Lehman?s first since going public in 1994, followed a decline in the value of its mortgage assets and losses on proprietary trading positions. Lehman also suffered as previously successful hedging strategies designed to cushion its mortgage exposure went awry./Lehman to raise $6bn after first quarterly loss By Peter Thal Larsen, Banking Editor. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 9 2008 12:44 | Last updated: June 9 2008 14:49. Lehman Brothers plunged to a loss of $2.8bn in the second quarter, the Wall Street bank said on Monday, as it outlined plans to strengthen its balance sheet by raising $6bn in common and preferred stock. The loss, Lehman?s first as a public company and far greater than most analysts had forecast, was triggered by marking to market the bank?s portfolio of complex debt securities, and by losses on proprietary trading positions. The bank also lost money as hedging contracts designed to cushion its exposure to the financial crisis went awry. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/lehman-to-raise-6bn-afte r-first.html Commodities Oil $134.86 Silver Bullion $16.55 Gold Bullion $870 Platinum Bullion $ $2036 Euro $1.5342 US petrol tops $4 a gallon for first time By Bernard Simon in Toronto. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 8 2008 22:54 | Last updated: June 8 2008 22:54. The average retail price of petrol in the US rose above $4 a gallon for the first time on Sunday, according to a daily survey by the AAA motoring organization. Many analysts have identified the $4 mark as a critical point in changing Americans? driving habits. US drivers are already abandoning big sport-utility vehicles and pick-up trucks for more fuel-efficient cars and crossover vehicles. Demand for public transport has also increased in many cities. Retail prices are set to move higher still, with crude oil posting its biggest one-day advance last Friday to hit a record of more than $139 a barrel. According to the AAA, Sunday?s average price of $4.005 for a gallon of regular gasoline was 9.3 per cent higher than a month earlier and 29,4 per cent up on the same day last year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-petrol-tops-4-gallon- for-first-time.html G8 ministers call for global action on oil By David Pilling in Aomori. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 8 2008 18:40 | Last updated: June 8 2008 18:40. Energy ministers of advanced nations expressed ?serious concerns? about soaring oil prices and urged producers to lift production through greater investment and provide more transparency on oil supply data. A joint communiqu? by the Group of Eight ministers, also signed by China, India and South Korea, stopped short of the tough language demanded by Kevin Rudd, Australia?s prime minister. He urged G8 leaders to ?apply the blowtorch to Opec?, which he blamed for the rise in crude oil prices to a record $138.54, after a $10.75 jump on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. Ministers meeting in Aomori, northern Japan, said: ?Current high oil prices are unprecedented and against the interest of either consuming or producing nations.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/g8-ministers-call-for-gl obal-action-on.html Gazprom predicts oil will reach $250 By Carola Hoyos in Deauville and Javier Blas in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 10 2008 09:00 | Last updated: June 10 2008 13:22. Gazprom, Russia?s gas monopoly, on Tuesday predicted oil prices would reach $250 a barrel in 2009. The striking prediction came as the International Energy Agency, the developed world?s energy watchdog, warned that record high prices were needed to choke off demand in order to balance the oil market. It is the IEA?s most candid admission to date that oil supply is struggling to catch up with Asian demand, and follows the sharp rise in prices last week, which saw crude jump more than $16.24 in less than 36 hours to a record $139.12. Gazprom?s prediction came at a strategy presentation in Deauville, where Alexei Miller, chief executive, said: ?Today we are witnessing a very great change for hydrocarbons. The level is very high and we think it [the price of oil] will reach $250 a barrel.? A company spokesman specified that Gazprom believed that level would be hit in 2009. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gazprom-predicts-oil-wil l-reach-250.html Housing RATE +/- LAST WEEK 30 yr fixed mtg 6.29% 6.08% 15 yr fixed mtg 5.87% 5.63% 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 7.41% 7.26% 5/1 ARM 5.74% 5.34% 7/1 ARM 5.94% 5.60% Stubborn mortgage rates defy conventional wisdom By Susan Chandler. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 8, 2008. The Federal Reserve has aggressively cut interest rates. Houses are sitting around unsold. The stage appears to be set for mortgage rates to fall as lenders compete to attract that scarce quarry: the well-qualified home buyer. You wish. Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have remained stubbornly above 6 percent for months. Interest rates on those loans are averaging 6.09 percent, mortgage investor Freddie Mac reported Thursday, an increase from the 6.08 percent the previous week. Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages declined slightly last week to 5.51 percent. In the Chicago area, most lenders were charging more than 6 percent on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. Rates on jumbo loans, those larger than $417,000, were considerably higher, more than 7 percent at most lenders. Northern Trust, one of the area's largest banks, was charging borrowers 7.5 percent for jumbo mortgages, while Harris Bank was offering them at 7.25 percent, according to Interest.com, a personal finance Web site. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/stubborn-mortgage-rates- defy.html Editorial Comment: Do your homework. Mortgage rates are based on Treasury Bill rates not the Fed Rate. T bill rates have been going up--a sure sign of the inflation that is coming. Pending home sales lift US housing hopes By James Politi in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 9 2008 16:13 | Last updated: June 9 2008 16:13. Hopes that bargain hunters might come to the rescue of the stricken US housing market rose on Monday when data showed that pending home sales unexpectedly increased by 6.3 per cent between March and April. According to the National Association of Realtors, an index of pending home sales in the US rose to 88.2 in April ? their highest reading since last October ? from a record low of 83 in March. Economists were on average expecting a slight decline in the index. The gains occurred mainly in the Midwest, the West and the South, suggesting that buyers were moving into the housing market in the areas that have suffered the steepest price declines. In contrast, pending home sales in the Northeast, which has been relatively less exposed to the mortgage crisis, fell 1.9 per cent. Pending home sales measure contracts that have been agreed but not yet completed, and the index is considered a leading indicator for home sales in the coming months. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/pending-home-sales-lift- us-housing.html Chicago-area's jumbo loan cap crimping home sales, agents say. Keeping Chicago, suburbs off priciest-places list holds guaranteed loan limit at $417,000, slows real estate recovery, local agents say. How the Economic Stimulus Act is not helping the Chicago area's By Susan Chandler. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 13, 2008. The Hinsdale area has more than 100 houses on the market with asking prices of $2 million. Vacant lots on Lincoln Park's east side are listed at $1.3 million to $1.5 million. A new single-family home in Bucktown will set you back about $1 million. No question parts of the Chicago area are expensive to call home. But a recent government decision to exclude the region from a tally of the nation's priciest areas is slowing the recovery of the local real estate market, agents say. "It hurts the entire marketplace," says David Hanna, president-elect of the Chicago Association of Realtors. "Inventory is not going to move if you can't get people in that upper bracket to buy stuff." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-areas-jumbo-loan -cap-crimping.html Crisis shifts to regional lenders By Saskia Scholtes and Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 8 2008 23:32 | Last updated: June 8 2008 23:32. Home equity loans are rapidly emerging as the next front of the credit crunch, as falling house prices and lax underwriting lead to growing losses for US regional banks that have huge portfolios of such loans on their balance sheets. The rising defaults on home equity loans, used by people to raise funds by taking out a second mortgage on their houses, underscore how the financial crisis is shifting from big banks? writedowns on complex derivatives to consumer-related problems for smaller banks. Mounting losses on home equity loans are likely to deepen the financial woes of many US regional lenders, increasing the risk that one of them might fail and raising the possibility of a wave of emergency mergers in the sector. ?Home equity loans are a wound on many banks? balance sheets: they are fast becoming a serious problem for small and large institutions,? said a Wall Street executive. Losses on home equity loans have more than tripled in the last six months to 1.54 per cent of outstanding loan volumes. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/crisis-shifts-to-regiona l-lenders.html Bush Bashing ?But Bush-bashing has become a bore. I won't indulge in it, except to say one more thing. The U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes described President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "a second-class intellect but a first-rate temperament." His endless malapropisms have made Bush's intellect the object of ridicule. But his mind was not the problem. It's a better mind than his "nukelar" dismemberment of English suggests. Bush's chip-on-the-shoulder temperament is another matter. He has proved mean, vindictive, surly, controlling and impatient, as befits a man with a guns-at-the-ready gait. There's nothing worse than a control-freak chief executive with no interest in details like the disbanding of the Iraqi Army or what storms levees can withstand.? Roger Cohen Cohen: Bush does Europe incognito By Roger Cohen. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 11, 2008. PARIS: An American president is in Europe and nobody cares. That's a moment. Of course, a couple of months ago an American president went to a NATO summit in Bucharest and said Georgia and Ukraine should be on a fast track to membership, and nobody listened. That was a moment, too. Last time I checked, NATO without the United States didn't amount to squat. The president had choreographed his Bucharest appearance with a prior stop in the Ukrainian capital. Did his NATO allies care that he would lose face? Nope. I care because, like this president, I think Georgia and Ukraine should join NATO as soon as possible. Lock in liberal systems where you can. But that's not my subject here. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/cohen-bush-does-europe-i ncognito.html International Herald Tribune Editorial: On Guant?namo: Justice 5, Brutality 4. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 13, 2008. For years, with the help of compliant Republicans and frightened Democrats in Congress, President George W. Bush has denied the protections of justice, democracy and plain human decency to the hundreds of men that he decided to label "unlawful enemy combatants" and throw into endless detention. Twice the Supreme Court swatted back his imperial overreaching, and twice Congress helped Bush try to open a gaping loophole in the Constitution. On Thursday, the court turned back the most recent effort to subvert justice with a stirring defense of habeas corpus, the right of anyone being held by the government to challenge his confinement before a judge. The court ruled that the detainees being held in Guant?namo Bay, Cuba, have that cherished right, and that the process for them to challenge their confinement is inadequate. It was a very good day for people who value freedom and abhor Bush's attempts to turn Guant?namo Bay into a constitutional-rights-free zone. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_14.html Indecision 2008 The Daily Show: Let The Character Assassinations Begin! http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/12/the-daily-show-let-the-character-as sassinations-begin/ Obama campaign launches Web counterattack - New site targets 'smears' about Democrat's patriotism, faith By Christi Parsons. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 3:43 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. WASHINGTON?Heard the one about how Sen. Barack Obama won't pledge allegiance to the flag? Now people can watch him do it?loud and clear, on tape, with his hand over his heart. What about the rumor that he took the Senate oath of office with his hand on the Quran? As of Thursday, it's easy to find a picture of him being sworn in with his family Bible. That evidence, and more, appears on a new Web site set up by the Democratic presidential candidate as part of his new effort to fight damaging rumors floating around about him. Up until now, Obama's strategy had been to ignore the rumors and hope most people would think they're false. But with the launch of the new site this week, the Obama team acknowledges the old approach was doing nothing to stem the tide of questionable?and in several cases demonstrably incorrect?snippets about Obama's life. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-campaign-launches- web.html Obama sure walks the talk By Garrison Keillor. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 12, 2008. Hot night, New York: a little breeze in the trees in the deep stone canyons as I look out my window, thousands of little lighted windows of private lives, one of which is mine. I'm reminded of this by the fact that a hundred feet away, a man stands at a window looking through binoculars that seem to be trained precisely on me?I feel (slightly) honored by his attention. This is what we do in the big city: We look at each other. I take my sandy-haired daughter on the subway down to Houston Street and she sits, holding my hand, gazing into faces and because it is the subway. I have to remind her of the five-second rule. You can stare at anybody for five seconds but then you have to look away. Look but don't make a scene. And now we are all staring at Barack Obama, who is?if you listen to him on the radio?a commanding presence and a towering candidate for president. I heard the speech he gave in St. Paul to an arena full of supporters and the man can give a speech. Nobody else surfs on applause like Obama and drives his point home, and it all sounds as if he were telling you what he thinks and not reading off a Plexiglas reflector. But when you look closely at him he is a skinny young black guy and this is going to be a problem for some folks. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-sure-walks-talk.ht ml Obama vs. McCain: Taxing and Spending The candidates' opening salvos reveal widely different views. Obama calls current policy "the most fiscally irresponsible in our history". Copyright by Business World by Jane Sasseen. June 12, 2008. They've parried over gas taxes (BusinessWeek.com, 4/15/08) and fixes for the housing crisis. Now, as the general election campaign kicks off, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have each begun to hammer away at the tax and spending programs being promoted by his rival. Obama, who has begun a two-week tour around the country to highlight his views on the economy, derides McCain's plans to extend the Bush Administration's tax cuts, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, and slash corporate taxes. Campaigning in St. Louis on June 10, Obama called the current Administration "the most fiscally irresponsible in our history" and argued that McCain would be even worse. "I've said John McCain is running to serve out a third term, but when it comes to taxes, that's not being fair to George Bush. Senator McCain wants to add $300 billion more in tax breaks and loopholes for big corporations and the wealthiest Americans," Obama said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-vs-mccain-taxing-a nd-spending.html Fall election hinges on race - Race permeates society, hides in different disguises By ANDREW GREELEY agreel at aol.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 11, 2008. The end of the longest primary last week was high drama. Some might want to compare it with the work of the great Greek playwrights, such as Euripides and Sophocles, for hubris and catharsis and purification. It is difficult, however, to see how characters such as Harold Ickes, Howard Wolfson and Terry McAuliffe would fit into such a drama. They might be better suited for a Swedish film by Ingmar Bergman or, even better, a surrealistic Italian play by Luigi Pirandello such as "Six Characters in Search of an Author" or perhaps "Right You Are, If You Think You Are." Sen. Barack Obama's victory, we are told by the cheering sections, was a great victory for the American dream. Racism may well be in retreat. In the immortal words of Humphrey Bogart: Not so fast, Louis. The United States looks pretty good now -- for a change. What if Obama is defeated? The whole world and most African Americans will scream "racism!" Better not to try at all than to try and fail. In fact, only a little more than half of the Democratic voters chose the senator from Illinois as their candidate. Were the other voters racist? Influenced by racism? Inclined to racism, which they hide even from themselves? Surely all of these factors were at work, but it is virtually impossible with the current research technology to sort them out. Moreover, is the voter a bigot who says -- to himself or others -- "He's too young for it," "I don't know anything about him," "He's an elitist," "He's just a lot of fancy talk," "The country isn't ready for a man like that," "He's weak in his support of Israel," "He's Muslim, possibly the anti-Christ!" Are these hints of lurking prejudice? Are the voters of regular members of the Democratic coalition -- Hispanics and union members -- against Obama partly because of racism? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fall-election-hinges-on- race-race.html It's a different country. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. By Paul Krugman. June 9, 2008. PRINCETON, New Jersey: Fervent supporters of Barack Obama like to say that putting him in the White House would transform America. With all due respect to the candidate, that gets it backward. Obama is an impressive speaker who has run a brilliant campaign - but if he wins in November, it will be because our country has already been transformed. Obama's nomination wouldn't have been possible 20 years ago. It's possible today only because racial division, which has driven U.S. politics rightward for more than four decades, has lost much of its sting. And the de-racialization of U.S. politics has implications that go far beyond the possibility that we're about to elect an African-American president. Without racial division, the conservative message - which has long dominated the political scene - loses most of its effectiveness. Take, for example, that old standby of conservatives: denouncing Big Government. Last week John McCain's economic spokesman claimed that Barack Obama is President Bush's true fiscal heir, because he's "dedicated to the recent Bush tradition of spending money on everything." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/its-different-country.ht ml Now it is time for Obama to be more ordinary By Clive Crook. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 8 2008 18:03 | Last updated: June 8 2008 18:03. When Barack Obama, having secured the presidential nomination, ended his victory speech last week, CNN sought its first reaction from Jesse Jackson ? not long ago, the standard-bearer for blacks in US politics. What did it mean for the US, Mr Jackson was asked, that the Democratic party would for the first time nominate a black man for president? It was a jarring transition, so much so that Mr Jackson?s reply is hard to recall. One?s first thought was, what does this have to do with him? It took a moment to remember. Race has intruded on Mr Obama?s campaign, to be sure. The raving reverend, Jeremiah Wright, threatened to sink it completely. Polls suggest that racism was a factor in Mr Obama?s defeats in West Virginia and elsewhere. In the end Mr Obama secured the nomination thanks to the overwhelming support of black Democrats. Quite possibly, race could cost him the general election in November. So yes, this election is partly about race. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/now-it-is-time-for-obama -to-be-more.html Hillary Clinton steps aside, urges supporters to back Obama By James Oliphant. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 8:48 AM CDT, June 8, 2008. WASHINGTON - She came. They wept. She conceded. Hillary Clinton on Saturday said she was suspending her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and throwing her full support behind her rival Barack Obama, ending 16 months of an intense and historic competition that seemed to cleave the party in half. The question remains whether her most fervent supporters will follow her lead on Obama. Clinton lavished praise on Obama, saying, "I have seen his strength and determination, his grace and his grit" and said it was time for the Democratic Party to come together as a "family." The abrupt switch in her rhetoric was met with resistance by some of the thousands of supporters who gathered in Washington to hear the New York senator's concession speech. It was just Tuesday, after winning the South Dakota primary, that Clinton spoke of staying in the race. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/hillary-clinton-steps-as ide-urges.html McCain attacks Guant?namo ruling By Andrew Ward and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 13 2008 21:44 | Last updated: June 13 2008 21:44. John McCain on Friday described the decision by the Supreme Court to allow Guant?namo Bay prisoners to challenge their detention in US courts as ?one of the worst decisions in the history of this country?. The Republican presidential candidate said he agreed with the four dissenting justices on the nine-member court that foreign fighters held at the detention camp were not entitled to the rights of US citizens. He criticised Barack Obama, his Democratic opponent, for supporting the decision and said it highlighted the importance of nominating conservative judges to the Supreme Court. His remarks represented a hardening of his position from his more moderate initial response to the ruling on Thursday, signalling a strategic decision by the McCain campaign to make it an election issue. Mr McCain?s stance appeared designed to demonstrate his toughness on national security, while casting Mr Obama as soft on terrorists. It also looked calculated to spark debate on the future of the Supreme Court ? one of the most important election issues for many conservative voters. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-attacks-guantnamo -ruling.html Ron Paul says campaign to 'shift gears' By KELLEY SHANNON. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 12:31 AM CDT, June 13, 2008. HOUSTON - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said Thursday night he is ending his campaign but will keep spreading his message by working to help elect libertarian-leaning Republicans to public office around the country. "The campaign is going to shift gears. It's going to accelerate. It's going to get much bigger," Paul told The Associated Press in an interview before a rally where he was making the announcement. "To me, it's a technical change." Paul formally announced the move -- his new "Campaign for Liberty" -- in a speech to supporters attending the Texas Republican Party state convention. He said he expected many at his Thursday night rally and other supporters from around the nation to attend an alternative mini-convention he will host Sept. 2 in Minnesota to coincide with the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. "Freedom is very popular. Not only is freedom popular, freedom works," Paul told supporters. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/ron-paul-says-campaign-t o-shift-gears.html GLBT Sen. Barack Obama's Pride message. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News Update Tues., June 10, 2008. Sen. Barack Obama released the following statement Sat., June 7, according to Advocate.com: ?I am proud to join with our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters in celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. "It's time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let's enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Let's repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country. Let's treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sen-barack-obamas-pride- message.html Recommendations on Marriage Strategy http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/lgbt/camarriage_joint_20080609.pdf GAY RIGHTS GROUP PRAISES DOMESTIC PARTNER AMENDMENT. Measure will protect same-sex couples married in other states. CHICAGO - The director of Illinois' state wide gay civil rights group praised Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney's introduction of an amendment that would allow same-sex couples employed by the City of Chicago other and married in other jurisdictions continue to receive domestic partner benefits in the city of Chicago. Under current law, same-sex couples are prohibited from receiving domestic partner benefits if one of the parties is married. "Given the recent decision in California to allow same-sex couples to marry we are concerned how that decision impacts same-sex couples in Illinois, particularly city employees who receive domestic partner benefits," said Rick Garcia, director of public policy of Equality Illinois. "Alderman Tunney stood up to the plate to ensure that gay and lesbian employees of the City not lose any of their hard-fought benefits." The ordinance was introduced in the City Council on June 11 and has been referred to the City Council Committee on Finance. The states of Massachusetts and California allow same-sex marriage as do the countries of Spain, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands and South Africa. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gay-rights-group-praises -domestic.html Chicago Free Press Editorial: One to Win. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June 11, 2008. By the time Chicago?s 39th annual celebration of Pride rolls through Lakeview June 29 thousands of gay and lesbian partners will have something they don?t have now: A piece of paper declaring, de facto, that they at last are recognized as fully equal to other citizens in our society. We?re talking about all the gays and lesbians who plan to get married in California as soon as that state starts issuing marriage licenses to them around June 17. It?s not just the thousands and thousands of Californians who?ll be getting married either. Since California doesn?t impose a waiting period to get a license and doesn?t require state residency, any gay and lesbian couple in the United States can go there, get a license, get married and go back home, happily and legally married, at least in the eyes of California, Massachusetts, Canada, maybe New York and a few other places. And make no mistake?that does have implications here and in other states that don?t yet recognize equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians. Just as New York?s governor is attacking barriers to marriage equality in his state, other governors will likely begin to do so as well. And courts are going to be hearing lots of cases very soon involving gay and lesbian couples who were married in California but can?t get recognized as partners by hospitals or insurance companies in Illinois or wherever. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-free-press-edito rial-one-to-win.html Harris: Pressure still needed on civil unions By Matt Simonette. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June 11, 2008. State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) announced June 9 that House Bill 1826, which would allow civil unions in Illinois, has cleared its final procedural hurdles. According to Harris, HB 1826 was moved to ?order of the third reading? in the House just before midnight on the last day of the spring session, meaning that the bill now can be called for a final vote whenever he deems it appropriate. The legislature is not officially scheduled to convene until November but since the state budget is largely unsettled, there is a chance lawmakers could be called into session by the governor over the summer. Harris said he is close to getting the number of votes he needs to secure HB 1826?s passage?60 votes, ?plus a handful to cover anyone who?s sitting on the fence,? he said?but supporters of the bill still need to contact their legislators and drive home the importance of a ?yes? vote. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/harris-pressure-still-ne eded-on-civil.html State of chaos - Same-sex ruling will complicate cases across U.S. By Andrew Koppelman. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 6, 2008. The California Supreme Court's decision that the state must recognize same-sex marriages doesn't bring anything really new to the scene. Massachusetts has had same-sex marriage for years. What the California decision will do is enormously increase the number of people in same-sex marriages, simply because California has six times as many residents as Massachusetts. Also, unlike Massachusetts, California has no bar on out-of-staters entering into same-sex marriages. There are five other states that give same-sex couples all the rights of married couples: Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon and Vermont. That's a big chunk of the country, comprising a fifth of the population. In New York, Gov. David Paterson is pushing a same-sex marriage bill and has ordered state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. What happens when people in those relationships cross state lines, as inevitably they will? Will those relationships ever be recognized in other states? Laws in 44 states declare that they will not. Illinois, for example, has a law declaring: "A marriage between two individuals of the same sex is contrary to the public policy of this state." But these laws do not always resolve the issue because cases will arise that the legislatures and voters were not thinking about and certainly did not intend to reach. They were primarily concerned about couples from their home states who might travel to another state, enter into a same-sex marriage or civil union there, immediately return home, and demand that their marriage be recognized. It didn't make sense to let people evade their home state's restrictions so easily. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/state-of-chaos-same-sex- ruling-will.html Producers proud of ?Out & Proud' debut by Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-06-11. The premiere night of a new documentary of the local LGBT community, WTTW-11's ?Out & Proud in Chicago,? was a ?huge success,? according to the program's producers. An estimated 75,000 households tuned in for the June 3 premiere of ?Out & Proud in Chicago,? and its producers said that they were astounded by the overwhelmingly positive response from those who called in that night to pledge a donation. ?Out & Proud? is a historical perspective of Chicago's LGBT community, hosted by actress Jane Lynch, which profiles various members of the community, from the famous to the ordinary. It will air throughout Pride Month. ?We reached a lot of people,? said co-producer Alexandra Silets. ?And that was just on the first play!? For ?Out & Proud? co-producers Dan Andries and Silets, the overwhelming response and high ratings the show received affirmed the importance of this labor of love they've dedicated themselves to for over a year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/producers-proud-of-out-p roud-debutout.html >From birthday to legend: The story of ?Night of 100 Drag Queens? By Rick Karlin. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June, 11, 2008. What started out as a few friends gathering for a birthday party has turned into one of Chicago?s most popular GLBT events. That?s not just my opinion?if you Google ?Night of 100 Drag Queens? you?ll get about 500 hits. In 1985 Sidetrack initiated ?Show Tune Night? on Mondays and I was instantly hooked. So, a couple of years later, when my birthday happened to fall on a Monday, it was a natural fit. That first year, 1987, was pretty low key; a dozen or so friends joined me to sing along and drain a few bottles of champagne. The next year, it was about 30 people and a very rude cake. By the time the 1980s were drawing to a close, the size of the crowd coming for my party was beginning to take over the bar. It was at about that time that Sidetrack added show tunes on Sunday afternoons. That solved the problem; I booked the bar for a couple hours before opening and had a private, by-invite-only party with a buffet. I also had asked my friends to take whatever they would have spent on a card or gift and instead add it to a fund to be donated to charity. I celebrated with my guests and when the bar opened, the buffet was available for regular customers, some of whom made donations as well. In 1989, I repeated the event with a surprise addition for my friends: Entertainment by two of my favorite drag performers?Vikki Spykke and the now ubiquitous Paula Sinclaire. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/from-birthday-to-legend- story-of-night.html CAN A WEB VIDEO INCREASE SAFER SEX AMONG GAY MEN? GROUNDBREAKING ONLINE VIDEO SERIES REINVENTS HIV PREVENTION FOR THE DIGITAL AGE. Grounded in Research, Dramatic Series Debuts Today at HIVBigDeal.org. www.hivbigdeal.org. New York (JUNE 12, 2008) ? Josh is a young gay man living in Manhattan who had unprotected sex ? and according to research, his story is startlingly effective in motivating other gay men to have safer sex and to get tested for HIV. Josh is the fictional star of ?HIV Is Still a Big Deal,? a groundbreaking online video series launching today at www.hivbigdeal.org. Reinventing HIV prevention for the digital age, the series combines the popularity and interactivity of online video with the power of research-based education methods designed to challenge misconceptions and prompt critical thinking. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/can-web-video-increase-s afer-sex-among.html Funeral Homes and Burial Arrangements - Know Your Rights By Roger McCaffrey-Boss. Copyright by Gat Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. June 10, 2008. Q: My lover and I have very specific plans for our burial services when we die. My lover wants to be cremated without any church or religious service. I would like to leave detailed instructions for the music and ritual. The last thing we want is for our families to come to Chicago and make their own arrangements contrary to our wishes. What can we do to make sure that each of us can make the burial arrangements for the other and ensure that our wishes are honored? Are there any problems we can run into with funeral homes or the funeral director? A: The law states that when you die your lover has no legal right to make burial arrangements for you, taking a back seat to family and relatives. Pursuant to the 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/2008/06/funeral-homes-and-burial -arrangements.html Health Care Researchers blame HPV for rise in throat cancer - HPV blamed for rise in throat cancer By Jeremy Manier. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 8, 2008. For five grueling months in 2006 and 2007, Carol Kanga suffered through treatment for a life-threatening case of throat cancer linked to an unlikely source: a sexually transmitted viral infection. Unable to swallow food or water during chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Kanga was fed through a stomach tube. Her one respite came on Thanksgiving, when she savored a single spoonful of weak broth. "The radiation basically burns the skin off the outside and inside of your throat," said Kanga, 52, a Rockville, Md., artist. "It's like there's a fire inside your neck." Kanga's treatment was successful, but the virus that struck her is causing increasing concern among some researchers who think it is causing a small-scale epidemic of throat cancer. That virus, scientists have proved only in the last two years, is human papillomavirus, or HPV?the same virus that's behind most cases of cervical cancer. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/researchers-blame-hpv-fo r-rise-in.html Tomatoes pulled off shelves amid salmonella outbreak By CARLA K. JOHNSON. Copyright by The Associated Press. June 10, 2008. CHICAGO (AP) ? Federal officials hunted for the source of a 16-state salmonella outbreak linked to three types of raw tomatoes, while the list of supermarkets and restaurants yanking those varieties from shelves and menus grew. McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Burger King, Kroger, Outback Steakhouse, Winn-Dixie and Taco Bell were among the companies that voluntarily withdrew red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes unless they were grown in certain states and countries. In addition, officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District ? the nation's second largest ? said Monday they have 'indefinitely suspended' serving uncooked tomatoes. The FDA is investigating the source of the outbreak, agency spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings said. 'We are working hard and fast on this one and hope to have something as quickly as possible,' Rawlings said Monday. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak, federal officials said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tomatoes-pulled-off-shel ves-amid.html Abortion foes take battle beyond Roe - Makeup of high court is political focal point, but activists cutting access with ruling intact By James Oliphant. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 10, 2008. WICHITA, Kan. ? Troy Newman appears to be just about the happiest person who ever set foot in an abortion clinic. "We're winning," Newman says excitedly. "We're winning the youth. We're winning the hearts and minds of the people." Except for his prematurely gray hair, Newman, the head of Operation Rescue, perhaps the most aggressive anti-abortion group in the nation, seems boyish and eager. "I just want to be the best pro-lifer I can be," he said. The organization has just moved into its new offices in Wichita, a shuttered abortion clinic that Newman helped hassle out of business. "Nothing warms my heart more than a closed abortion clinic," he said. He keeps souvenirs in his office of some of the clinics he has claimed credit for helping shut down. Newman has good reason to feel optimistic. Through the work of groups like his, the number of places where women can obtain abortions in the United States has shrunk by two-thirds since the early 1990s, to about 700. The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-rights think tank that has had a longtime connection to Planned Parenthood, estimates abortions are now unavailable in 87 percent of counties nationwide. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/abortion-foes-take-battl e-beyond-roe.html Death rates plunge, but chronic disease rises. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 11, 2008. The long-term trend is stunning. A smaller slice of the population is dying of once-fatal illnesses, including heart disease, stroke and, to a lesser extent, cancer. Another trend goes hand in hand with the development: the rapid growth in the ranks of Americans with chronic illness. It?s an example of the mixed blessings of modern medicine. Patients are living longer, but encountering a health care system that isn?t designed around their needs. Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports new numbers that shed light on the dilemma. In 2006, the death rate in the U.S. reached an all-time low of 776.4 people for every 100,000 residents, the agency?s preliminary estimates show. The numbers are adjusted for the age of the population. By contrast, in 1980, the age-adjusted death rate was 1,039.1 per 100,000, in 1990 it was 938.7 per 100,000, and in 2000 it was 869 per 100,000. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/death-rates-plunge-but-c hronic-disease.html End of line for doctors' signature scribbles? INSIDE HEALTH CARE BY BRUCE JAPSEN. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 12, 2008. The era of the indecipherable doctor's handwritten prescription may be closer to being history if some influential senators have their way. Momentum for a bill that would entice doctors to move to computerized prescribing systems is building in Washington, with several Democrats and Republicans supporting a measure to provide incentives for doctors through extra Medicare payments if they begin using so-called e-prescribing in 2009. If they don't do so by 2011, when such a requirement would begin, doctors would have their payments reduced. Supporters of the bill, such as Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the finance panel's ranking Republican, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, have written a carrot-and-stick approach into the bill that they hope would increase the number of doctors using e-prescribing. By some estimates, only 35,000 U.S. doctors, or fewer than 7 percent, use e-prescribing. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/end-of-line-for-doctors- signature.html Immigration ?Language is not assimilation. Race is not assimilation. Passing for an American goes much further than race and language. Unlike you, I have blue eyes and I?m part Spanish and part Dutch. I am a third generation Puerto Rican and after twenty six years in Chicago the only thing that I can tell you for sure is that I no longer know what I am.? Carlos T Mock, MD. Immigration vs. Assimilation by Carlos T Mock, MD. June, 12, 2008. I have lived 26 years in the United States. I still struggle with the fundamental question ?Am I still a Puerto Rican?? I?ve been in the US since 1981. ?Can I consider myself American?? As a Puerto Rican living in the US, I no longer fit into my homeland. Every time I travel there, I?m considered un Americano. I?m always addressed in the English language. What?s worse, my Puerto Rican friends who live on the Island don?t seem to care about me anymore. They?ve gone their separate ways. On this side of the pond, in the United States, there are Puerto Ricans who have never been to Puerto Rico. They don?t speak Spanish, they don?t know our history or culture?yet, they declare themselves Puerto Rican. To them, I am less Puerto Rican, because, in their eyes I didn?t experience the same discrimination from the Anglo culture while growing up as they did. ?So, where do I fit?what am I?? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/immigration-vs-assimilat ion.html Over time, immigrants become fully American By TERESA PUENTE. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 9, 2008. Underlying the debate over immigration in the United States is the old question of assimilation, or as some people call it today, immigrant integration. Are we a melting pot or a salad? A recent study by the Manhattan Institute measured immigrant assimilation in the United States by creating a ranking for people by country of origin. Immigrants from Vietnam, Cuba and the Philippines show some of the highest rates of assimilation. German immigrants are both economically and culturally indistinguishable from U.S. citizens. Mexicans, however, are slower to assimilate. This led me to wonder why that is and to reflect on my own family's experience. I'm third-generation Mexican American, and I consider myself integrated and able to navigate life in the United States as well as Mexico. But how did my family integrate into American society? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/over-time-immigrants-bec ome-fully.html Editor?s Note. My response is above. Technology Financial Times Editorial Comment: Inclusive iPhone. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 10 2008 19:32 | Last updated: June 10 2008 19:32. The iPhone is amazingly amazing: Steve Jobs, Apple chief executive, had some substantive points to make in his address launching a new version of the mobile phone, not least that it will be cheaper (because of network operator subsidies); but he wanted to talk about its amazingness most of all. The iPhone has changed expectations of smartphones, but while the introduction of subsidies is a sensible move, it is also an admission that the device has failed to change the industry?s business model. The iPhone may not be amazing but it is rather clever. Apple, along with another spectacular success in consumer electronics, Nintendo, has shown the importance of improving the user interface. The iPhone?s touch screen makes mobile web browsing less difficult, and such interface innovations seem to have a direct appeal to consumers that whizzy new functions do not. For all its asserted amazingness, however, Apple has not sold all that many iPhones ? notably in Europe. Apple acolytes flocked to buy them but, as every technology executive knows, early adopters are easy. It is bridging the gap to the mass market that counts, and in the past year competitors have begun to catch up with the iPhone?s technology while selling at a lower, subsidised price. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_11.html Other Is Rover coughing? It could be dog flu. - Experts urge pet owners to be on the alert now that the disease has been confirmed in Illinois By Deborah L. Shelton and Kristen Kridel. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 12:29 AM CDT, June 14, 2008. Ira Alter didn't know dogs could even get the flu. But blood tests showed that is what struck his 4-year-old yellow Labrador, Buddy, whom Alter took to the emergency veterinarian at 3 a.m. recently when his uncharacteristically lethargic pet was coughing up a storm and spitting out white foam. "He just looked like he was a sick pup," said Alter, of Logan Square. "I've never seen him like that." Buddy is among the first documented cases in Illinois of canine influenza or "dog flu," an infectious but treatable disease that was first identified in racing greyhounds in Florida in 2004 and has spread to more than 20 states. Experts said pet owners should be on the alert but not overly alarmed now that the disease has been confirmed in Illinois. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/is-rover-coughing-it-cou ld-be-dog-flu.html NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 By DAVID ESPO and LAURIE KELLMAN. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 4:50 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, who pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of the powerful and influential as moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," died suddenly Friday while preparing for his weekly broadcast. The network's Washington bureau chief was 58. In addition to his weekly program, Russert appeared on the network's other news shows, was moderator for numerous political debates and wrote two best-selling books. President Bush, informed of Russert's death while at dinner in Paris, swiftly issued a statement of condolence that praised the NBC newsman as "an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades. Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it." NBC interrupted its regular programming with news of Russert's death, and in the ensuing moments, familiar faces such as Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams took turns mourning his loss. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/nbcs-tim-russert-dead-at -58.html Humor I'm Voting Republican http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQJ9Xp0xxU 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 Jun 21 11:56:07 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:56:07 -0500 Subject: [News] Newsletter- June 21, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong. - James Bryce, 1838 - 1922 International Financial Times Editorial Comment: Electoral terrorism sweeps Zimbabwe. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 18:30 | Last updated: June 20 2008 18:30. Will Zimbabwe be rescued from the living hell to which Robert Mugabe has consigned it? This weekend, the question dominates international attention as never before. Next Friday, Mr Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, will contest the second round of a presidential election that the Zimbabwean president has done everything in his power to steal. It would shame Zimbabwe ? and the entire continent of Africa ? if he were allowed to succeed. Mr Mugabe clings to power at any price. He has launched a terror campaign aimed at destroying the opposition. Mr Tsvangirai says at least 70 of his supporters have been killed. His number two has been jailed. Across the country, pro-Mugabe forces are conducting a merciless campaign of violence against their opponents. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_21.html China China locks down city for Olympic torch relay ? Reuters Limited. KASHGAR, China, June 17 ? China locked down the far-western former Silk Road city of Kashgar on Tuesday in preparation for the passage of the Olympic torch relay through the sensitive region populated by ethnic-minority Muslim Uighurs. Shops lining Wednesday?s torch route were shuttered and police stood guard on every street corner. Soldiers and firefighters patrolled the main square of a city seen as the heart of Islam in China?s oil-rich border region of Xinjiang. ?Nobody is allowed to watch the torch relay tomorrow unless you are being organised by your work unit. I feel a lot of regret,? said Chen Guangsheng, a Han Chinese resident of Kashgar who said her home was along the route. ?The police are coming to my house tonight to inspect it and to register everybody living there.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/china-locks-down-city-fo r-olympic-torch.html China increases energy prices By Geoff Dyer in Beijing and Javier Blas in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 15:35 | Last updated: June 19 2008 20:03. China raised energy prices across the board on Thursday in a big policy shift that risks stoking the country?s already high inflation. International oil prices fell immediately as Beijing said that petrol and diesel would go up by to 18 per cent and electricity tariffs rose by just less than 5 per cent. Oil prices ? already under pressure as Saudi Arabia is expected to announce on Sunday an increase in oil production ? fell more than $4 a barrel to $132.32./China to lift fuel prices by 18% ? Reuters Limited. Beijing, June 19 - China will announce a surprise increase of about 18 per cent increase in retail gasoline and diesel prices effective from Friday, the first increase in eight months, two industry sources told Reuters. ?Yes it?s real. They are going to raise the prices. We were told to wait in the office to receive the official notice,? said a fuel sales official with top refiner Sinopec Corp. The sources said gasoline and diesel prices will rise by Rmb1,000 ($145.50) a tonne. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/china-to-lift-fuel-price s-by-18.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Cut oil subsidies. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 19:02 | Last updated: June 20 2008 19:02. The queues of angry motorists outside Chinese petrol stations on Friday are a reminder of why cutting gasoline subsidies is difficult. They are also a reminder of why such cuts are a good idea. Other countries that subsidise energy ? especially poor countries ? should follow suit. For very similar reasons, countries that tax fuel, such as the US and the UK, should resist any temptation to cut their levies. China has announced an 18 per cent rise in the controlled price of diesel alongside a 5 per cent rise in the price of electricity. It joins India, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia, all of which have cut their subsidies in recent months, as the cost of maintaining them rose in line with the soaring price of oil. Exporters of oil, such as Iran, can maintain their subsidies as prices rise simply by forgoing some extra tax revenue. But for the oil-hungry importers of east Asia there is no escape: high petrol prices mean somebody has to lose out, and the only question is who. Use subsidies to keep prices down and the loser is the government; allow prices to rise and it is motorists who suffer. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment-cut.html Mess-o-potamia Nato launches anti-Taliban offensive By Jon Boone in Kandahar and Reuters. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 10:16 | Last updated: June 18 2008 07:30. Helicopter gunships and troops with small and heavy arms blasted a valley in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday as local and NATO forces launched a huge offensive against hundreds of Taliban insurgents, many of whom broke out of jail last week. The defence ministry in Kabul said on Wednesday that 20 Taliban guerrillas were killed in a NATO air strike and two Afghan army officers also died in the operation, in Arghandab district. The ministry said three Taliban group leaders were killed further south. Nato and Afghan troops began pouring into the south of Afghanistan after local officials reported that a strategically vital district next to the country?s second largest city was being overrun by Taliban fighters. Western officials said on Tuesday that 700 Afghan soldiers had been flown from the capital to take part in what was billed as a major operation to dislodge militants, who appeared to be following up on a spectacular jailbreak on Saturday when they freed around 400 of their compatriots. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/nato-launches-anti-talib an-offensive.html Another bad deal for Baghdad By Karl E. Meyer. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 17, 2008. With only perfunctory debate, the Bush administration is pressuring a divided Iraqi government to approve a security agreement that could haunt Washington's relations with Baghdad for years to come. The "strategic alliance" that President Bush is proposing eerily resembles, in spirit and in letter, a failed 1930 treaty between Britain and Iraq that prompted a nationalist eruption in Baghdad, a pro-Nazi military coup and a pogrom that foreshadowed the elimination of Baghdad's ancient Jewish community. The outline of the deal, which has not been made public, has been described by a high-level Iraqi insider, Ali A. Allawi, a moderate Shiite who was a post-invasion finance minister. Writing this month in The Independent of London, Allawi noted a disturbing parallel between the proposed alliance between the United States and Iraq and the earlier treaty that formally ended Iraq's post-World War I status as a British mandate. "The treaty gave Britain military and economic privileges in exchange for Britain's promise to end the mandate over the country," Allawi wrote. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/another-bad-deal-for-bag hdad-by-karl-e.html Lost army job tied to doubts on U.S. contractor in Iraq By James Risen. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 17, 2008. WASHINGTON: The U.S. Army official who managed the Pentagon's largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food, housing and other services to American troops. The official, Charles Smith, was the senior civilian overseeing the multibillion-dollar contract with KBR during the first two years of the war. Speaking out for the first time, Smith said that he was forced from his job in 2004 after informing KBR officials that the army would impose escalating financial penalties if they failed to improve their chaotic Iraqi operations. Army auditors had determined that KBR lacked credible data or records for more than $1 billion in spending, so Smith refused to sign off on the payments to the company. "They had a gigantic amount of costs they couldn't justify," he said in an interview. "Ultimately, the money that was going to KBR was money being taken away from the troops, and I wasn't going to do that." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/lost-army-job-tied-to-do ubts-on-us.html Bomb kills 51 in Iraqi street - Deadliest attack in months targets Shiites By Ned Parker and Usama Redha. Copyright by The Los Angeles Times. June 18, 2008. BAGHDAD ? A car bomb exploded on a bustling commercial street in western Baghdad's Shiite district of Hurriyah on Tuesday, killing at least 51 people and wounding 75, security officials said. The blast, which occurred about 5:45 p.m., devastated a pleasant shopping area and bus stop where residents had waited for mini-bus taxis and vendors sold falafel, burgers and juices. Rescuers lifted out the wounded and dead, while relatives searched for loved ones after the deadliest such attack in Baghdad since March. A 14-year-old girl, dressed in a black headdress and robe, towed a boy in hand and searched for her father. "Where are they going to take the injured?" she said in tears to other distraught pedestrians. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/bomb-kills-51-in-iraqi-s treet-deadliest.html U.S. says exercise by Israel seemed directed at Iran By Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune . Published: June 20, 2008. WASHINGTON: Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program. More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said. The exercise also included Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles, which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-says-exercise-by-isra el-seemed.html Tim Russert Blew It on Iraq. So Why Are We Canonizing Him? By Alexander Cockburn. Copyright by The Nation. Posted June 20, 2008. The delirium in the press at Tim Russert's passing has been strange. The delirium in the press at Tim Russert's passing has been strange. As a broadcaster he was not much better than average, which is saying very little. He could be a sharp questioner, but not when it really counted and when courage was required. He was tough with George Bush in a February 2004 interview. He taxed him with faking the reasons to attack Iraq. But in the years before the 2003 attack, I used to hear Russert being merciless to those questioning whether Saddam Hussein had the nukes and bioweapons alleged by the Bush Administration and its co-conspirators in the press, prominent among them Russert himself. Russert and his staff ignored efforts by watchdogs like Sam Husseini and others to get him to stop telling lies to the effect that it was Saddam who threw out the UNSCOM weapons inspectors, whereas it was Richard Butler, the head of UNSCOM, who pulled out the inspectors, apparently at the instigation of the United States. As Husseini correctly writes, "This lie, echoed through much of the political-media system around the time Russert told it, helped set the stage for the invasion after 9/11." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tim-russert-blew-it-on-i raq-so-why-are.html National US N-weapons parts missing, Pentagon says By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 05:13 | Last updated: June 19 2008 05:13. The US military cannot locate hundreds of sensitive nuclear missile components, according to several government officials familiar with a Pentagon report on nuclear safeguards. Robert Gates, US defence secretary, recently fired both the US Air Force chief of staff and air force secretary after an investigation blamed the air force for the inadvertent shipment of nuclear missile nose cones to Taiwan. According to previously undisclosed details obtained by the FT, the investigation also concluded that the air force could not account for many sensitive components previously included in its nuclear inventory. One official said the number of missing components was more than 1,000. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-n-weapons-parts-missi ng-pentagon.html Mississippi rising as next threat - Another battle with the elements looms in Midwest By Jason George, David Greising and Jo Napolitano. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 1:03 AM CDT, June 16, 2008. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa ? While Iowans battle flooding in small towns and larger cities, residents along the Mississippi River are trying to tame the power of North America's largest river as it swells with water from the Iowa and Cedar Rivers, as well as heavy flows from Illinois waterways. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said the Mississippi would be the next battleground. "It's likely we'll see major flooding in every city on the border, from New Boston on down. We're very concerned about that," he said. "That is going to be the next round here." Officials predict the Mississippi will crest along the Iowa-Illinois border by Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the exact location. On the Illinois side, authorities have evacuated the town of Gulfport, sending residents to stay in schools in nearby Biggsville. The bridge has been closed at Quincy, and more surely will follow. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mississippi-rising-as-ne xt-threat.html 26 Mississippi levees could overflow: feds - Weather or not? -- storm forecast key BY EILEEN SULLIVAN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 17, 2008. WASHINGTON -- The federal government predicts that 26 levees could overflow along the Mississippi River if the weather forecast is on the mark and a massive sandbagging effort fails to raise the level of the levees. Officials are placing millions of sandbags on top of the levees along the river in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri to prevent overflowing. There is no way to predict whether these levees will break, said Ron Fournier, a spokesman with the Army Corps of Engineers. ''That's a crystal ball that nobody has,'' he said. The levees in New Orleans broke during Hurricane Katrina, causing catastrophic flooding. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/26-mississippi-levees-co uld-overflow.html Chicagoland I don't trust you guys' - Angry taxpayers give Stroger earful By Jeff Long and Hal Dardick. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 11:32 PM CDT, June 16, 2008. Cook County Board President Todd Stroger finally kept his date Monday with taxpayers in the northwest suburbs, where some officials had threatened to secede from the county in anger over a sales tax increase he championed. Stroger and his staff were met with a combination of laughs and groans as they stood before about 200 northwest suburban politicians and residents to defend the $426 million tax hike. Many in the audience listened politely, but they were there to show their anger. "We are now starting to feel that we are now starting to get gouged," said state Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), who introduced legislation that would make it easier for Palatine to secede from the county. "Do you really understand the competitive disadvantage you're putting the northwest suburbs to?" http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-dont-trust-you-guys-an gry-taxpayers.html Fox River homes flooding By John Keilman. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 1:13 PM CDT, June 15, 2008. Water levels along the Chain of Lakes continued to rise Sunday, and with the crest not expected until Monday or later some homeowners were starting to abandon their properties, officials said. Mark Ring, Antioch Township Highway Commissioner, said his agency had delivered sand and bags to dozens of people in the area, but it wasn't enough to keep the water out of some homes. "People said they would try one more row [of sandbags], but some of it was for naught," he said. Still, the flooding was not expected to be the catastrophe it has been in Wisconsin, Iowa and elsewhere. Kent McKenzie, Lake County emergency management coordinator, said homeowners would be able to recover from the damage. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fox-river-homes-flooding .html River muscles over levees - 19 Illinois counties declared disaster areas By Jeffrey Meitrodt and Tim Jones. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 19, 2008. URSA, Ill. ? Despite a history of heart problems, Larry Ippensen lifted shovel after shovel of sand Wednesday afternoon with scraped and sunburned hands in a desperate sandbagging effort to save his 160-acre family farm from a nearby faltering levee. "If the levee goes, my crop is gone," said Ippensen, 62, who spent more than five hours filling bags with his two adult children and a 12-year-old grandson. For miles around Ippensen's corn and soybean farm, the Mississippi River ? raging at all-time flood highs or near them ? devoured thousands of acres of prime farmland. At least nine levees were overrun Wednesday alone and more than 20 in recent days. From the air, the river looks like a churning sea, swallowing acres and acres of farmland while sweeping over levees and submerging them. Only the tops of some farm houses and trees are visible in the worst-hit areas, where the water is already at least 10 feet deep and getting deeper every minute. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/river-muscles-over-levee s-19-illinois.html Fraud probe raises intriguing questions By CAROL MARIN cmarin at suntimes.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 18, 2008. There was a federal arrest at O'Hare Airport 13 days ago that was curious. A Las Vegas-to-Chicago flight landed, carrying a number of retired Chicago cops and at least one still on the force, Joseph A. Grillo. Grillo and the others had been working part-time jobs, doing security for one of the big trade shows in Vegas. He was coming home to his full-time job as an officer at the Grand Central District, which includes the 36th Ward on the Northwest Side. As Grillo, 45, walked off the plane, an FBI greeting party was there to surprise him. He was immediately arrested and charged, as was another man -- Collision Towing Co. owner Jim "Meatball" Athans -- with mail fraud in connection with an alleged towing scam. Grillo's attorney, Barry Sheppard, maintains his client is guilty of nothing and has an immaculate record. I guess there's no reason to doubt that the FBI, amid all its other city, county and state corruption probes, would be hell-bent on also uncovering a citywide towing fraud if it exists. But the odd part of this June 5 arrest was what an FBI agent was overheard saying to Grillo as he was being led away. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fraud-probe-raises-intri guing-questions.html Your Lack of Money IMF says US economy is set to ?stagnate? By Krishna Guha in Washington and Michael Mackenzie in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 22:04 | Last updated: June 20 2008 22:04. The US economy is likely to ?stagnate? in the second half of this year, the International Monetary Fund warned on Friday, as stock markets in the US and Europe fell to their lowest levels since March and US bank shares hit a five-year low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 12,000 for the first time since March, while the broader S&P 500 fell 1.9 per cent, as oil rallied and concerns about the financial sector intensified. The S&P financials index hit its lowest level since April 2003, 5 per cent below its March low. Commercial and regional banks have borne the brunt of the recent pullback, because of fears about rising housing and consumer debt delinquencies. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/imf-says-us-economy-is-s et-to-stagnate.html US producer prices soar on rising fuel costs By Chris Bryant in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 14:35 | Last updated: June 17 2008 15:12. Soaring energy costs in May spurred the biggest jump in wholesale prices in six months underscoring the looming challenge of inflationary pressures, which threaten to destabilise the US economy. Meanwhile, new residential housing starts fell to their lowest level in more than 17 years as builders continued to shun the enfeebled US real estate market. The producer price index for finished goods jumped by 1.4 per cent last month, bringing the total increase in the past year to 7.2 per cent. Economists had forecast a monthly increase of only 1 per cent. However, core producer prices, which strip out the impact of food and energy costs, rose by 0.2 per cent, only half the rate recorded the previous month. Federal Reserve officials have become more vociferous in recent weeks about the inflationary risks associated with the run-up in food and fuel costs. A warning from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke that he would ?strongly resist an erosion of longer-term inflation expectations? was taken by many traders as a signal that interest rate hikes are in the pipeline. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-producer-prices-soar- on-rising-fuel.html Market ?expects too many Fed rate rises? By Krishna Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 16 2008 23:15 | Last updated: June 16 2008 23:15. Financial markets are in danger of getting carried away with their expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate increases, some senior Fed officials believe. They do not dispute that the next move in US interest rates is very likely to be up. But they feel the market may be pricing in too much tightening too soon. Since March there has been a sharp rise in bond yields and expected interest rates, which gathered pace in recent days amid tough talk on inflation by Ben Bernanke, chairman. Just over a week ago, markets expected just one rate hike of a quarter percentage point before the end of the year. Now they expect three and possibly four. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/market-expects-too-many- fed-rate-rises.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Facing up to a fiscal conundrum. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 16 2008 19:16 | Last updated: June 16 2008 19:16. When the US economic downturn began, the country?s fiscal position was already weak. The administration nonetheless proposed an emergency stimulus ? mostly criticised as too miserly. Farther ahead, demographic pressures and the failure to curb rising healthcare costs (which drive up public spending on Medicare and Medicaid) make matters worse. Both presidential candidates are big on avowals of fiscal rectitude, but not on remedies. Their proposals on taxes and spending are quite different but have this much in common: if enacted, they would add mightily to the fiscal problem. Before the economy slowed, earlier budget forecasts ? admittedly unreliable at the best of times ? had turned out to be too pessimistic. Revenues had proved more buoyant than expected, and the deficit had shrunk. Thus voters and politicians have come to regard all fiscal gloom as exaggerated. Congress and the administration are expected to voice concern but do nothing, and indeed to spring boldly to the economy?s support with emergency tax cuts when demand slumps. Sooner or later, this complacency will have to confront a painful fiscal reality. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, the deficit was more than $300bn, roughly $170bn bigger than in the same period last year. Only about $50bn of that deterioration was due to the stimulus tax rebates that began to be paid out this spring (another $50bn or so of those rebates is still in the pipeline). Most of the rest was due not to slowing revenues but to sharply increased spending, with rises across the board. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_17.html Morgan Stanley slides as earnings sink 57% By Francesco Guerrera and Daniel Pimlott in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 18 2008 13:25 | Last updated: June 18 2008 15:14. Morgan Stanley reported second-quarter earnings in line with Wall Street expectations, as its investment banking and trading businesses continued to show the strains of the credit crisis. Its shares fell 5.4 per cent or $2.19 to $38.40 in early New York trading. The bank reported second-quarter net income of $1.026bn or 95 cents a share, down 57 per cent compared with $2.363bn, or $2.24, in the second quarter of last year. Analysts had expected around $1bn in net income for the period. Net revenues were $6.5bn, 38 per cent below last year?s second quarter. Non-interest expenses of $5.1bn, including severance expense of about $245m related to staff reductions, decreased 28 per cent from a year ago. The results showed steep drops in profits in Morgan Stanley?s investment banking and asset management business, which have suffered from the credit squeeze and the US housing crisis. The wealth management business was an exception, showing a slight rise in underlying profits. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/morgan-stanley-slides-as -earnings-sink.html Citi warns of further large writedowns By Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 23:45 | Last updated: June 19 2008 23:45. Citigroup on Thursday warned of further large writedowns and credit losses in the second quarter, saying its business remained under pressure amid ?unprecedented? market conditions. The announcement, made by Gary Crittenden, Citi?s chief financial officer, sent Citi shares more than 4 per cent lower in New York afternoon trading, although they recovered to close down 1 per cent. Citi?s warning, which comes after disappointing second-quarter results from Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley, is likely to compound investors? fears that the credit crunch will weigh on US financial companies for months to come. In a call with investors, Mr Crittenden said the company expected to report writedowns on its exposure to subprime mortgages, leveraged loans and monoline insurance when it unveiled quarterly results next month. Mr Crittenden said the writedowns were likely to be ?substantial? but lower than last quarter, when Citi suffered pre-tax writedowns of $10.5bn on those securities. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/citi-warns-of-further-la rge-writedowns.html Circuit City records $164m quarterly loss By Jonathan Birchall in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 17:37 | Last updated: June 19 2008 17:37. Circuit City, the struggling US electronics retailer, reported a further decline in its quarterly operating performance on Thursday, even as executives insisted that it was on the brink of a turnround. The retailer, which operates over 680 stores in the US, said it was suspending dividend payments, cutting capital spending and would use an asset-based loan to finance the build-up of goods for this year?s holiday. The retailer recorded a net loss of $164.8m for the quarter, or $1 per diluted share - more than three times its losses in the same period last year. Its cash position fell to $92.2m on May 31, from $364.1m a year earlier. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/circuit-city-records-164 m-quarterly.html Kinko?s and fuel costs lead FedEx to loss By Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 18 2008 15:46 | Last updated: June 18 2008 15:46. Fuel costs and writedowns from its struggling Kinko?s retail-store division wiped out FedEx?s quarterly profit and pressed the overnight-package company to deliver a disappointing outlook for this year?s results. FedEx, considered an economic bellwether for its role in facilitating global commerce, forecast a fiscal 2009 profit of $4.75 to $5.25 a share, below analysts? expectations. The company predicted it would earn 80 cents to $1 this period. ?Record-high fuel prices and the weak US economy dampened volume growth and substantially affected our bottom line,? Fred Smith, FedEx?s chief executive, said in a statement. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/kinkos-and-fuel-costs-le ad-fedex-to.html Commodities Oil $135.36 Silver Bullion $17.32 Gold Bullion $902 Platinum Bullion $ $2057 Euro $1.5614 On Oil and Solutions to the Oil crisis By William Rattan. 6/11/08. We are currently fighting a war over petroleum. Besides the war in Iraq, the price of gasoline has created havoc in our economy. An argument could be made that the severe weather that we?ve been experiencing the last several years, which has interrupted the flow of fuel to the United States, is due to our use of oil. Oil prices seem to be on an ever-upward trajectory affecting the price of everything it touches. Food prices have just started to go up and I don?t think that trend will change anytime soon. Most of the chemicals used in agriculture are made from petroleum. The fertilizers and pest controls are made from petroleum. The equipment used to plant, maintain and harvest the crops run on petroleum. The trucks and trains (and planes) that transport our food around the world to our tables run on petroleum. Every step of the process is dependent on this weak link in the world economy. We?ve seen it happen before and we?ll see it again in the future. And, the food chain is only one example. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/on-oil-and-solutions-to- oil-crisis.html International Herald Tribune Editorial: The big pander to big oil. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 19, 2008. It was almost inevitable that a combination of $4-a-gallon gas, public anxiety and politicians eager to win votes would produce political pandering on an epic scale. So it has, the latest instance being President George W. Bush's decision to ask Congress to end the federal ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along much of America's continental shelf. This is worse than a dumb idea. It is cruelly misleading. It will make only a modest difference, at best, to prices at the pump, and even then the benefits will be years away. It greatly exaggerates America's leverage over world oil prices. It is based on dubious statistics. It diverts the public from the tough decisions that need to be made about conservation. There is no doubt that a lot of people have been hurt by the high price of gas. But their suffering will not be relieved by drilling in restricted coastal areas. The Energy Information Administration says that even if both coasts were opened, prices would not begin to drop until 2030. The only real beneficiaries will be the oil companies that are trying to lock up every last acre of public land before their friends in power - Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney - exit the political stage. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_19.html McCain seeks to lift oil drilling ban By Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 00:15 | Last updated: June 17 2008 00:15. John McCain on Monday called for the lifting of a federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling in US waters as part of efforts to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources. The Republican presidential candidate said it should be left to US coastal states rather than the federal government to decide whether to exploit offshore reserves. He called for states to be granted a bigger share of royalties from their oil and gas to provide an incentive to open up to drilling. His remarks aligned him with Republicans in Congress who have been pushing legislation to increase domestic oil and gas production, amid mounting public concern about soaring energy prices. Mr McCain has faced criticism from some Republicans for siding with the Democrats in his opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-seeks-to-lift-oil -drilling-ban.html US floods hit food prices By Hal Weitzman in Pike County, Illinois, and Javier Blas in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 22:00 | Last updated: June 17 2008 22:00. Consumers were warned to expect even sharper increases in global food prices after US officials said that some of the country?s best farmland was facing its worst flooding for 15 years. Agriculture officials and traders said the damage could push up worldwide corn and soyabean prices, which have spiralled in recent days as floods have swamped crops in parts of Iowa, the US?s biggest corn-producing state. The warning comes at a time when high food prices are already sparking protests across the developing world. Corn futures in Chicago this week rose to record highs of more than $8 a bushel on fears that up to 5m acres of the crop could be lost, while soyabean prices hit a record of $15.93 a bushel. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-floods-hit-food-price s.html Housing Today's loan rates RATE LAST WEEK 30 yr fixed mtg 6.28% 6.29% 15 yr fixed mtg 5.88% 5.87% 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 7.40% 7.41% 5/1 ARM 5.75% 5.74% 7/1 ARM 5.98% 5.94% FBI eyes big business in mortgage fraud probe By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Hal Weitzman in Chicago. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 22:09 | Last updated: June 19 2008 22:09. Federal investigators are homing in on 19 ?large corporations? ? including investment banks, credit rating agencies, accounting firms and hedge funds ? as part of a broad probe into mortgage fraud. Robert Mueller, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, did not identify the companies on Thursday, but said the majority of the large corporate cases involved accounting fraud, insider trading and failures to disclose ? with criminal intent ? the proper evaluation of securitised loans and derivatives. Mr Mueller said the FBI was working closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the justice department to ?evaluate criminal intent?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fbi-eyes-big-business-in -mortgage-fraud.html Former Bear Stearns managers under arrest By Joanna Chung in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 03:00 | Last updated: June 19 2008 14:27. Two former managers of the Bear Stearns hedge funds that imploded last year surrendered to the FBI on Thursday and are expected to be charged with securities fraud by US prosecutors. They would be the first indictments against Wall Street executives to stem from the credit crisis. The two individuals will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon, US prosecutors said. The former managers, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, ran two funds at Bear's asset management unit that lost bets on subprime mortgage-backed securities, sparking demands for redemption from investors and repayment from creditors. Investors lost $1.6bn when the funds imploded in June last year and collapsed a month later. The collapse of the funds - the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit and Enhanced Leverage funds - was a blow for Bear in a battle for survival that eventually saw it sold to JPMorgan Chase in March. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/former-bear-stearns-mana gers-under.html Bush Bashing International Herald Tribune Editorial: Bush v. the Bill of Rights. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 18, 2008. President Bush and his allies are once again trying to scare Congress into expanding the president's powers to spy on Americans without a court order. This week, the White House and Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill hope to announce a "compromise" on a domestic spying bill. If they do, it will be presented as an indispensable tool for protecting the nation's security that still safeguards our civil liberties. The White House will paint opponents as weak-kneed liberals who do not understand and cannot stand up to the threat of terrorism. The bill is not a compromise. The final details are being worked out, but all indications are that many of its provisions are both unnecessary and a threat to the Bill of Rights. Bush and the congressional Republicans who support the bill have two real aims. They want to undermine the power of the courts to review the legality of domestic spying programs. And they want to give a legal shield to the telecommunications companies that broke the law by helping Bush carry out his warrantless wiretapping operation. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_3324.html Yesterday's Man' Leaves Europe by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Ali Frick, and Benjamin Armbruster ? Center for American Progress Action Fund. June 17, 2008. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. President Bush concluded his farewell journey through Europe in Belfast, Northern Ireland yesterday with attempts at rapprochement with leaders throughout the continent. "[L]ots has changed" since 2003, London School of Economics international relations professor Michael Cox noted. While Bush enjoyed warmer relations with Germany, Italy, and France -- mainly due to leadership changes in those countries -- most Europeans, like many Americans, are suffering from "Bush fatigue," as they are looking forward to the next president and "will be glad to see the back" of Bush. Anti-American sentiment in Europe runs high as a result of Bush's leadership. A recent poll by London's Daily Telegraph newspaper found that "[m]ore people in France, Germany and Britain view the United States as a 'force for evil' than good in the world." And despite Bush's seeming friendly relationship with conservative German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany's leading news source Der Spiegel reported last week that "senior politicians from Merkel's ruling grand coalition as well as from opposition parties have done away with diplomatic niceties, seizing on Bush's farewell visit to express their aversion to the president who remains vilified in Germany for launching the Iraq war." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/yesterdays-man-leaves-eu rope.html Indecision 2008 Here's what four more years would sound like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iWYAOMYmp0 Not Alex http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq30lapbC9c McCain risks ?flip-flop? jibes by voters By Edward Luce and Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 19:32 | Last updated: June 18 2008 07:36. Nobody is yet calling John McCain a ?flip-flopper?. But the Republican nominee?s increasingly finely balanced efforts to shore up his support among the shrinking Republican base while reaching out to independents is starting to fire up the critics. On Tuesday morning, he launched an advertisement reminding voters of his repeated clashes with President George W. Bush over climate change, which Mr McCain believes is real and requires urgent action. In the afternoon, he delivered a speech to the oil industry in Houston, calling for a lifting of the moratorium on offshore drilling in order to reduce petrol prices. Mr McCain?s shift on offshore drilling ? which contrasts with his strong support for upholding the moratorium in his 2000 bid for the Republican nomination ? could further chip away at his reputation for being a ?straight talker?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-risks-flip-flop-j ibes-by-voters.html Group muddies McCain message - Non-profit bent rules while supporting his agenda, raising money By Andrew Zajac. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 17, 2008. WASHINGTON ? Allies of Sen. John McCain opened a Washington think tank in 2001 to promote transparency and accountability in government, a signature issue for the Arizona Republican after his presidential primary loss to George W. Bush. For the next seven years, the non-profit Reform Institute churned out position papers and offered expert testimony on campaign finance reform, the need for bipartisanship and other issues, frequently supporting McCain's positions. But behind the scenes, the institute's practices have at times arguably been at odds with its reformist message, and with McCain's political identity as an enemy of special interests. In fact, the Reform Institute has stretched and may have broken rules governing charitable organizations, according to experts on tax law. The institute has twice omitted the names of donors in IRS filings. IRS rules require that charities identify their contributors to government regulators. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/group-muddies-mccain-mes sage-non-profit.html What if Hyde Park hosts Midwest White House? By LAURA WASHINGTON LauraSWashington at aol.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 16, 2008 What will happen to Hyde Park if a certain mansion on South Greenwood Street becomes the Midwestern White House? If U.S. Sen. Barack Obama ascends to the presidency in November, will Chicago's very own Hyde Park vanquish the Western White House in Crawford, Texas? Will Obama purchase a Ford pickup and start clearing brush along East 53rd Street? Will Hyde Park's desperately meager dining offerings improve? Will the neighborhood's pathetic nightlife scene pick up? These are crucial questions confronting Hyde Parkers, the national and international press corps, and the world leaders who will be compelled to spend time in the HP. My mother has lived in the Hyde Park/Kenwood area for 17 years. Her high-rise co-op overlooks Lake Michigan, Louis Farrakhan's mansion and Art "Oprah's Chef" Smith's sprawling culinary complex. She's looking forward to the descending hordes. The tour of the stars' homes is coming, she hears. "Security will probably be even better," she declared the other day. "The tourists will come and say, 'let's drive by the president's house.'" http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-if-hyde-park-hosts- midwest-white.html Obama in Father's Day sermon reminds dads that parenting doesn't end at conception By Jeff Long and Christi Parsons. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 1:18 PM CDT, June 15, 2008. CHICAGO - In a Father's Day address heavy with personal and political meaning, Democrat Barack Obama told worshipers at a Chicago church Sunday that government must do more to help families---but he also exhorted parents, especially fathers, to play their part by raising healthy children. In a popular South Side church, Obama (D-Ill.) decried the shortage of police on the streets and money for schools, as well as a proliferation of guns in the wrong hands. But America needs more than jobs and opportunity in its communities, the presidential candidate told the hometown congregation. "We also need families to raise our children," he said. "We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. It's the courage to raise one." Obama sounded a theme familiar from previous Father's Day speeches in which he called on fathers to rise to their duties. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-in-fathers-day-ser mon-reminds.html Gore endorses Obama, throws jabs at Bush - Al Gore Endorses Obama for President. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. June 17, 2008. DETROIT -- Al Gore made his debut in the 2008 presidential campaign Monday night, encouraging voters to back Barack Obama because ''take it from me, elections matter.'' The former vice president's speech at the Joe Louis Arena was part endorsement and part blistering attack on the man who denied him the White House eight years ago. ''After eight years of incompetence, neglect and failure, we need change,'' Gore said. ''After eight years when our Constitution has been dishonored and disrespected, we need changes.'' In 2000, Gore won the popular vote but lost the disputed election to George W. Bush, who captured Florida and its electoral votes after a divided Supreme Court ended the re-count of ballots. Since then, Gore has made combatting global warming his signature issue, and has been recognized worldwide for his effort -- from an Academy Award to the Nobel Prize. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gore-endorses-obama-thro ws-jabs-at-bush.html Obama reverses policy on using public funds By Edward Luce in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 17:12 | Last updated: June 19 2008 17:59. Barack Obama on Thursday became the first American presidential candidate since Richard Nixon to rely solely on private money to sustain his White House bid when he declared that he would opt out of the Watergate-era public financing system. Mr Obama?s decision, which he announced to supporters in a webcast, was met with strong criticism from John McCain, his Republican opponent who will rely on the $84m in public funds that are available, and also from centre-left reformers who said they felt bitterly betrayed by his move. The Obama campaign said the move did not compromise Mr Obama?s support for overhauling what he called a ?broken system? and had been motivated by the expectation that private groups operating under tax-exempt status ? so-called 527s ? would launch the same kind of attacks on Mr Obama that helped sink John Kerry in 2004. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-reverses-policy-on -using-public.html GLBT Sen. Barack Obama's Pride message. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News Update Tues., June 10, 2008. Sen. Barack Obama released the following statement Sat., June 7, according to Advocate.com: ?I am proud to join with our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters in celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. "It's time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let's enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Let's repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country. Let's treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sen-barack-obamas-pride- message.html Marriages an inspiration, not 'disaster' By Eric Zorn. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 19, 2008. Does your marriage feel a little less special today, straight couples? Does knowing that octogenarian lesbians Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon had a legal wedding this week in San Francisco diminish, in retrospect, your legal wedding? Does their bond profane yours? Not at our house it doesn't. My wife and I simply feel inspired. Martin and Lyon have been a couple for 56 years?twice as long as we've been together?and we see them as role models, not harbingers of the decline of the family. We celebrate their lifelong commitment and lasting love. We think the family could use a lot more of that and a lot less puritanical fretting about what name we put on the hopeful union of souls. We're honored, even a little humbled, to share this institution with Martin and Lyon. Another view: The Illinois Family Institute's blog refers to the legalization of same-sex nuptials this week in the Golden State as "the California marriage disaster." Such recognitions "do not and cannot exist, no matter what legal document the state issues homosexual couples," writes institute blogger Laurie Higgins. "There is an existential, ontological reality that supersedes the ill-begotten works of man." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/marriages-inspiration-no t-disaster.html History of Same Sex Marriage Jurisprudence by Carlos T Mock, MD, June 17, 2008 The history of same sax marriage jurisprudence could be traced back to the African-American civil rights movement. Until June 12, 1967, in some American states it was illegal for African-American adults to marry white ones. In, Loving v. Virginia. U.S. Supreme Court ruled (9 to 0) that anti-miscegenation laws are unconstitutional within the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice Warren said: "There can be no question that Virginia's miscegenation statutes rest solely upon distinctions drawn according to race. . . .Marriage is one of 'the basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival. . . . To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State." Civil unions for interracial marriages were never part of the equation. http://www.opednews.com/articles/History-of-Same-Sex-Marria-by-Carlos-T-Mock -080619-759.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - California leads the way in gay marriage. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 17, 2008. Monday marked another historic step toward the full acceptance of gay and lesbian couples in America. California became the second state to allow gay couples to marry, after Massachusetts did four years ago. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is taking advantage of it. So is George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek." Plus thousands of other average, everyday folks you probably have never heard of. It's wonderful for gays and lesbians to receive the rights, benefits and responsibilities that come with marriage. The New York Times on Sunday, though, reported that marriage has been a mixed bag for gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts. Some have found wedded bliss. Some haven't. Some argue over the in-laws, money and when to start a family. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-california.html Norway passes law approving gay marriage. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: 6/17/08, 12:25 PM EDT. OSLO, Norway (AP) - Gay couples in Norway will be granted the same rights as heterosexuals to marry, adopt and undergo artificial insemination under a new equality law passed Tuesday. Norway's upper house of parliament voted 23-17 in favor of the gender-neutral marriage law on the same day that gay couples were marrying in California. The law replaces 1993 legislation that gave gays the right to enter civil unions similar to marriage but did not allow church weddings or adoption. It takes effect Jan. 1. "We are so overjoyed. We have worked for this for so long," said Jon Reidar Oeyan, leader of the Norwegian National Association of Lesbian and Gay Liberation. "Now we are going to celebrate," he said. "I didn't dare until I heard the chairman of the upper house bang the hammer." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/norway-passes-law-approv ing-gay.html Recommendations on Marriage Strategy http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/lgbt/camarriage_joint_20080609.pdf Tunney bill tweaks DP ordinance By Matt Simonette. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June 18, 2008. Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) last week introduced a bill he said would modify the city?s domestic partner benefit law to extend protections to gay and lesbian city employees who marry in constituencies where gay marriage is legal. Tunney and local GLBT advocates said the bill was ?technical,? but would address a loophole that would likely be raised should gays and lesbians marry in California or other states where same-sex marriage has been legalized. Currently, city employees are prohibited from receiving domestic partnership benefits if one of the partners is already married. The amendment to the ordinance would allow same-sex couples married in other jurisdictions to receive partner benefits in the city of Chicago. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tunney-bill-tweaks-dp-or dinance.html California Marriage - Benefits and Problems? Copyright by Gay Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. June 19, 2008. Q: After many years together, my lover and I would like to get married. Can we go to California and get married? A: Yes. There is no residency requirement to marry in California. Yes. On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that barring same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional. Beginning June 17, same-sex couples will be able to marry in California. Q: My partner and I live in Illinois. If we marry in California, will our marriage be valid here? A: If you live in another state and get married in California, you will be legally married. However, depending on where you live, your home state may not respect your marriage. Many states, including Illinois, have passed discriminatory marriage laws, and in those states, state and local governments will not respect your California marriage. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/california-marriage-bene fits-and.html Forum tackles gay sex and the Internet - Extended for the Online Edition by Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-06-18. How is the Internet changing gay sex? This was just one of many topics tackled during LifeLube.org and Project CRYSP's June 12 forum, ?Driving Tips for Sex on the Superhighway.? Held at Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, and moderated by the Feast of Fools podcast, the forum sought to discuss the dos and don'ts of hooking up online; the responsibility of Web sites such as Manhunt and Adam4Adam when things go wrong; and more. The panelists were Stephen Adelson, former general manager of Manhunt ( one of many sites used by gay men to meet each other ) and current executive director of Internet Intervention Inc.; Beau Gratzer, director of Howard Brown Health Center's HIV/STD Prevention; and Brian Mustanski, assistant professor of psychiatry at University of Illinois at Chicago. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/orum-tackles-gay-sex-and -internet.html New fears of Anglican schism over homosexuality By Laurie Goodstein. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 19, 2008. Once a decade, hundreds of bishops of the international Anglican Communion meet in Canterbury, England, for the Lambeth Conference. This summer, in the most tangible demonstration yet of the church's divide over homosexuality, hundreds of bishops are boycotting the Lambeth Conference and attending a rival meeting for conservative Anglicans in Jerusalem. Setting the tone for their meeting, the conservatives issued a strongly worded theological manifesto Thursday, declaring that they saw no possibility for reconciliation with the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada, which have accepted a gay bishop and same-sex unions. The conservatives say that after years of emergency meetings and ultimatums, they have been "ignored," "demonized" and "marginalized." "There is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion," the document said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-fears-of-anglican-sc hism-over.html Health Care Preemie puzzle - Federal study probes spike in early births -- pre-term babies can face lifelong challenges BY KARA SPAK Staff Reporter. kspak at suntimes.com. June 17, 2008. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. Michelle Archer was due with her babies at the end of July. On May 3, her twins Mikayla and Dominic were born. Now, Archer and the twins' father, Rich Graziano, are spending days and nights at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, holding their tiny babies still attached to monitors and learning about the unique challenges they will be dealing with for the rest of their preemies' lives. "I think it will be stressful, and I think I will be highly organized," Archer said of life with premature twins. Because her children will likely have suppressed immune systems, day care is out. Now, she, Graziano and the twins are working out a caretaking schedule to use when the twins come home. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/preemie-puzzle-federal-s tudy-probes.html Technology The Electric Car Lives Backed by U.S. venture capital, Norwegian company Think is betting its Ox concept vehicle can prove the electric car's time has finally arrived http://images.businessweek.com/story/08/600/0618_car.jpg by Matt Vella. Copyright by Business Week. Clean, quiet, and relatively profitable to produce, electric vehicles have had a rough start in the U.S.: Five years after General Motors (GM) nixed its innovative EV1 electric car program, just a handful of automakers have committed to making and selling electric vehicles on a mass scale any time soon. Enter Think Global, a Norwegian upstart plotting a U.S. invasion via pint-size, affordable electric cars. Think has been selling gas-free, Lilliputian city cars in Europe and will start peddling them to fuel-crunched Americans in 2009. The company's newly formed North American division has high hopes for Think's existing models?and even higher ones for the upcoming Th!nk Ox, a concept unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier this year. An electrified people's car for the 21st century, the Ox is a preview of Think's next-generation production vehicle, due out in 2011. Roughly the size of a Toyota (TM) Prius, the Ox can travel between 125 and 155 miles before needing a recharge, and zips from zero to 60 miles per hour in about 8.5 seconds. Its lithium-ion batteries can be charged to 80% capacity in less than an hour, and slender solar panels integrated into the roof power the onboard electronics. Inside, the hatchback includes a bevy of high-tech gizmos such as GPS navigation, a mobile Internet connection, and a key fob that lets drivers customize the car's all-digital dashboard. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the company's current vehicles cost less than $25,000. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/electric-car-lives.html Microsoft braced for post-Gates era By Richard Waters in San Francisco. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 03:04 | Last updated: June 20 2008 03:04. Five years ago, Steve Ballmer felt compelled to shake the Microsoft rank-and-file out of a worrying sense of complacency. A disruptive new competitor was forcing the software company to ?challenge old habits and seriously rethink business-as-usual,? he warned in an internal e-mail. The Microsoft chief executive was right to be worried. He was wrong, however, about where the real competitive danger lay. The source of his fears at the time was the Linux open source operating system. A search engine by the name of Google did not even figure in the rallying call to the troops ? indeed, it was absent from other public discussion of Microsoft?s competitive position that year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/microsoft-braced-for-pos t-gates-era.html Other It's 'August: Osage County' and a huge night for Chicago at the Tonys. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 16, 2008. 2008 TONY AWARDS. NEW YORK?In an unprecedented New York night for the Chicago theater, the Broadway transfer of Steppenwolf Theatre Company?s searing production of ?August: Osage County? dominated the 62nd annual Tony Awards here on Sunday. And thus Radio City Musical Hall hosted a long, emotional parade of winning Chicagoans. Tracy Letts won the Tony for Best Play. Anna D. Shapiro won for Best Director of a Play. Deanna Dunagan won for Best Leading Actress in a Play. Rondi Reed won for Best Featured Actress in a Play. And Todd Rosenthal snagged Best Scenic Design. The production won in every category in which it was nominated, with the exception of lighting design. And one of its leading producers was Steve Traxler of the Chicago-based Jam Theatricals. Both Reed and Dunagan said after the awards that almost the entire original cast of ?August: Osage County? was headed to the National Theatre in London for a production there. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/its-august-osage-county- and-huge-night.html Humor The Daily Show With Jon Stewart ? Baracknophobia http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=173522&title=headl ines-baracknophobia 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 Jun 21 12:02:54 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:02:54 -0500 Subject: [News] Newsletter- June 21, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong. - James Bryce, 1838 - 1922 International Financial Times Editorial Comment: Electoral terrorism sweeps Zimbabwe. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 18:30 | Last updated: June 20 2008 18:30. Will Zimbabwe be rescued from the living hell to which Robert Mugabe has consigned it? This weekend, the question dominates international attention as never before. Next Friday, Mr Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, will contest the second round of a presidential election that the Zimbabwean president has done everything in his power to steal. It would shame Zimbabwe ? and the entire continent of Africa ? if he were allowed to succeed. Mr Mugabe clings to power at any price. He has launched a terror campaign aimed at destroying the opposition. Mr Tsvangirai says at least 70 of his supporters have been killed. His number two has been jailed. Across the country, pro-Mugabe forces are conducting a merciless campaign of violence against their opponents. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_21.html China China locks down city for Olympic torch relay ? Reuters Limited. KASHGAR, China, June 17 ? China locked down the far-western former Silk Road city of Kashgar on Tuesday in preparation for the passage of the Olympic torch relay through the sensitive region populated by ethnic-minority Muslim Uighurs. Shops lining Wednesday?s torch route were shuttered and police stood guard on every street corner. Soldiers and firefighters patrolled the main square of a city seen as the heart of Islam in China?s oil-rich border region of Xinjiang. ?Nobody is allowed to watch the torch relay tomorrow unless you are being organised by your work unit. I feel a lot of regret,? said Chen Guangsheng, a Han Chinese resident of Kashgar who said her home was along the route. ?The police are coming to my house tonight to inspect it and to register everybody living there.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/china-locks-down-city-fo r-olympic-torch.html China increases energy prices By Geoff Dyer in Beijing and Javier Blas in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 15:35 | Last updated: June 19 2008 20:03. China raised energy prices across the board on Thursday in a big policy shift that risks stoking the country?s already high inflation. International oil prices fell immediately as Beijing said that petrol and diesel would go up by to 18 per cent and electricity tariffs rose by just less than 5 per cent. Oil prices ? already under pressure as Saudi Arabia is expected to announce on Sunday an increase in oil production ? fell more than $4 a barrel to $132.32./China to lift fuel prices by 18% ? Reuters Limited. Beijing, June 19 - China will announce a surprise increase of about 18 per cent increase in retail gasoline and diesel prices effective from Friday, the first increase in eight months, two industry sources told Reuters. ?Yes it?s real. They are going to raise the prices. We were told to wait in the office to receive the official notice,? said a fuel sales official with top refiner Sinopec Corp. The sources said gasoline and diesel prices will rise by Rmb1,000 ($145.50) a tonne. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/china-to-lift-fuel-price s-by-18.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Cut oil subsidies. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 19:02 | Last updated: June 20 2008 19:02. The queues of angry motorists outside Chinese petrol stations on Friday are a reminder of why cutting gasoline subsidies is difficult. They are also a reminder of why such cuts are a good idea. Other countries that subsidise energy ? especially poor countries ? should follow suit. For very similar reasons, countries that tax fuel, such as the US and the UK, should resist any temptation to cut their levies. China has announced an 18 per cent rise in the controlled price of diesel alongside a 5 per cent rise in the price of electricity. It joins India, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia, all of which have cut their subsidies in recent months, as the cost of maintaining them rose in line with the soaring price of oil. Exporters of oil, such as Iran, can maintain their subsidies as prices rise simply by forgoing some extra tax revenue. But for the oil-hungry importers of east Asia there is no escape: high petrol prices mean somebody has to lose out, and the only question is who. Use subsidies to keep prices down and the loser is the government; allow prices to rise and it is motorists who suffer. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment-cut.html Mess-o-potamia Nato launches anti-Taliban offensive By Jon Boone in Kandahar and Reuters. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 10:16 | Last updated: June 18 2008 07:30. Helicopter gunships and troops with small and heavy arms blasted a valley in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday as local and NATO forces launched a huge offensive against hundreds of Taliban insurgents, many of whom broke out of jail last week. The defence ministry in Kabul said on Wednesday that 20 Taliban guerrillas were killed in a NATO air strike and two Afghan army officers also died in the operation, in Arghandab district. The ministry said three Taliban group leaders were killed further south. Nato and Afghan troops began pouring into the south of Afghanistan after local officials reported that a strategically vital district next to the country?s second largest city was being overrun by Taliban fighters. Western officials said on Tuesday that 700 Afghan soldiers had been flown from the capital to take part in what was billed as a major operation to dislodge militants, who appeared to be following up on a spectacular jailbreak on Saturday when they freed around 400 of their compatriots. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/nato-launches-anti-talib an-offensive.html Another bad deal for Baghdad By Karl E. Meyer. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 17, 2008. With only perfunctory debate, the Bush administration is pressuring a divided Iraqi government to approve a security agreement that could haunt Washington's relations with Baghdad for years to come. The "strategic alliance" that President Bush is proposing eerily resembles, in spirit and in letter, a failed 1930 treaty between Britain and Iraq that prompted a nationalist eruption in Baghdad, a pro-Nazi military coup and a pogrom that foreshadowed the elimination of Baghdad's ancient Jewish community. The outline of the deal, which has not been made public, has been described by a high-level Iraqi insider, Ali A. Allawi, a moderate Shiite who was a post-invasion finance minister. Writing this month in The Independent of London, Allawi noted a disturbing parallel between the proposed alliance between the United States and Iraq and the earlier treaty that formally ended Iraq's post-World War I status as a British mandate. "The treaty gave Britain military and economic privileges in exchange for Britain's promise to end the mandate over the country," Allawi wrote. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/another-bad-deal-for-bag hdad-by-karl-e.html Lost army job tied to doubts on U.S. contractor in Iraq By James Risen. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 17, 2008. WASHINGTON: The U.S. Army official who managed the Pentagon's largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food, housing and other services to American troops. The official, Charles Smith, was the senior civilian overseeing the multibillion-dollar contract with KBR during the first two years of the war. Speaking out for the first time, Smith said that he was forced from his job in 2004 after informing KBR officials that the army would impose escalating financial penalties if they failed to improve their chaotic Iraqi operations. Army auditors had determined that KBR lacked credible data or records for more than $1 billion in spending, so Smith refused to sign off on the payments to the company. "They had a gigantic amount of costs they couldn't justify," he said in an interview. "Ultimately, the money that was going to KBR was money being taken away from the troops, and I wasn't going to do that." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/lost-army-job-tied-to-do ubts-on-us.html Bomb kills 51 in Iraqi street - Deadliest attack in months targets Shiites By Ned Parker and Usama Redha. Copyright by The Los Angeles Times. June 18, 2008. BAGHDAD ? A car bomb exploded on a bustling commercial street in western Baghdad's Shiite district of Hurriyah on Tuesday, killing at least 51 people and wounding 75, security officials said. The blast, which occurred about 5:45 p.m., devastated a pleasant shopping area and bus stop where residents had waited for mini-bus taxis and vendors sold falafel, burgers and juices. Rescuers lifted out the wounded and dead, while relatives searched for loved ones after the deadliest such attack in Baghdad since March. A 14-year-old girl, dressed in a black headdress and robe, towed a boy in hand and searched for her father. "Where are they going to take the injured?" she said in tears to other distraught pedestrians. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/bomb-kills-51-in-iraqi-s treet-deadliest.html U.S. says exercise by Israel seemed directed at Iran By Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune . Published: June 20, 2008. WASHINGTON: Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program. More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said. The exercise also included Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 900 miles, which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-says-exercise-by-isra el-seemed.html Tim Russert Blew It on Iraq. So Why Are We Canonizing Him? By Alexander Cockburn. Copyright by The Nation. Posted June 20, 2008. The delirium in the press at Tim Russert's passing has been strange. The delirium in the press at Tim Russert's passing has been strange. As a broadcaster he was not much better than average, which is saying very little. He could be a sharp questioner, but not when it really counted and when courage was required. He was tough with George Bush in a February 2004 interview. He taxed him with faking the reasons to attack Iraq. But in the years before the 2003 attack, I used to hear Russert being merciless to those questioning whether Saddam Hussein had the nukes and bioweapons alleged by the Bush Administration and its co-conspirators in the press, prominent among them Russert himself. Russert and his staff ignored efforts by watchdogs like Sam Husseini and others to get him to stop telling lies to the effect that it was Saddam who threw out the UNSCOM weapons inspectors, whereas it was Richard Butler, the head of UNSCOM, who pulled out the inspectors, apparently at the instigation of the United States. As Husseini correctly writes, "This lie, echoed through much of the political-media system around the time Russert told it, helped set the stage for the invasion after 9/11." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tim-russert-blew-it-on-i raq-so-why-are.html National US N-weapons parts missing, Pentagon says By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 05:13 | Last updated: June 19 2008 05:13. The US military cannot locate hundreds of sensitive nuclear missile components, according to several government officials familiar with a Pentagon report on nuclear safeguards. Robert Gates, US defence secretary, recently fired both the US Air Force chief of staff and air force secretary after an investigation blamed the air force for the inadvertent shipment of nuclear missile nose cones to Taiwan. According to previously undisclosed details obtained by the FT, the investigation also concluded that the air force could not account for many sensitive components previously included in its nuclear inventory. One official said the number of missing components was more than 1,000. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-n-weapons-parts-missi ng-pentagon.html Mississippi rising as next threat - Another battle with the elements looms in Midwest By Jason George, David Greising and Jo Napolitano. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 1:03 AM CDT, June 16, 2008. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa ? While Iowans battle flooding in small towns and larger cities, residents along the Mississippi River are trying to tame the power of North America's largest river as it swells with water from the Iowa and Cedar Rivers, as well as heavy flows from Illinois waterways. Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said the Mississippi would be the next battleground. "It's likely we'll see major flooding in every city on the border, from New Boston on down. We're very concerned about that," he said. "That is going to be the next round here." Officials predict the Mississippi will crest along the Iowa-Illinois border by Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the exact location. On the Illinois side, authorities have evacuated the town of Gulfport, sending residents to stay in schools in nearby Biggsville. The bridge has been closed at Quincy, and more surely will follow. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mississippi-rising-as-ne xt-threat.html 26 Mississippi levees could overflow: feds - Weather or not? -- storm forecast key BY EILEEN SULLIVAN. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 17, 2008. WASHINGTON -- The federal government predicts that 26 levees could overflow along the Mississippi River if the weather forecast is on the mark and a massive sandbagging effort fails to raise the level of the levees. Officials are placing millions of sandbags on top of the levees along the river in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri to prevent overflowing. There is no way to predict whether these levees will break, said Ron Fournier, a spokesman with the Army Corps of Engineers. ''That's a crystal ball that nobody has,'' he said. The levees in New Orleans broke during Hurricane Katrina, causing catastrophic flooding. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/26-mississippi-levees-co uld-overflow.html Chicagoland I don't trust you guys' - Angry taxpayers give Stroger earful By Jeff Long and Hal Dardick. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 11:32 PM CDT, June 16, 2008. Cook County Board President Todd Stroger finally kept his date Monday with taxpayers in the northwest suburbs, where some officials had threatened to secede from the county in anger over a sales tax increase he championed. Stroger and his staff were met with a combination of laughs and groans as they stood before about 200 northwest suburban politicians and residents to defend the $426 million tax hike. Many in the audience listened politely, but they were there to show their anger. "We are now starting to feel that we are now starting to get gouged," said state Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine), who introduced legislation that would make it easier for Palatine to secede from the county. "Do you really understand the competitive disadvantage you're putting the northwest suburbs to?" http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-dont-trust-you-guys-an gry-taxpayers.html Fox River homes flooding By John Keilman. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 1:13 PM CDT, June 15, 2008. Water levels along the Chain of Lakes continued to rise Sunday, and with the crest not expected until Monday or later some homeowners were starting to abandon their properties, officials said. Mark Ring, Antioch Township Highway Commissioner, said his agency had delivered sand and bags to dozens of people in the area, but it wasn't enough to keep the water out of some homes. "People said they would try one more row [of sandbags], but some of it was for naught," he said. Still, the flooding was not expected to be the catastrophe it has been in Wisconsin, Iowa and elsewhere. Kent McKenzie, Lake County emergency management coordinator, said homeowners would be able to recover from the damage. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fox-river-homes-flooding .html River muscles over levees - 19 Illinois counties declared disaster areas By Jeffrey Meitrodt and Tim Jones. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 19, 2008. URSA, Ill. ? Despite a history of heart problems, Larry Ippensen lifted shovel after shovel of sand Wednesday afternoon with scraped and sunburned hands in a desperate sandbagging effort to save his 160-acre family farm from a nearby faltering levee. "If the levee goes, my crop is gone," said Ippensen, 62, who spent more than five hours filling bags with his two adult children and a 12-year-old grandson. For miles around Ippensen's corn and soybean farm, the Mississippi River ? raging at all-time flood highs or near them ? devoured thousands of acres of prime farmland. At least nine levees were overrun Wednesday alone and more than 20 in recent days. From the air, the river looks like a churning sea, swallowing acres and acres of farmland while sweeping over levees and submerging them. Only the tops of some farm houses and trees are visible in the worst-hit areas, where the water is already at least 10 feet deep and getting deeper every minute. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/river-muscles-over-levee s-19-illinois.html Fraud probe raises intriguing questions By CAROL MARIN cmarin at suntimes.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 18, 2008. There was a federal arrest at O'Hare Airport 13 days ago that was curious. A Las Vegas-to-Chicago flight landed, carrying a number of retired Chicago cops and at least one still on the force, Joseph A. Grillo. Grillo and the others had been working part-time jobs, doing security for one of the big trade shows in Vegas. He was coming home to his full-time job as an officer at the Grand Central District, which includes the 36th Ward on the Northwest Side. As Grillo, 45, walked off the plane, an FBI greeting party was there to surprise him. He was immediately arrested and charged, as was another man -- Collision Towing Co. owner Jim "Meatball" Athans -- with mail fraud in connection with an alleged towing scam. Grillo's attorney, Barry Sheppard, maintains his client is guilty of nothing and has an immaculate record. I guess there's no reason to doubt that the FBI, amid all its other city, county and state corruption probes, would be hell-bent on also uncovering a citywide towing fraud if it exists. But the odd part of this June 5 arrest was what an FBI agent was overheard saying to Grillo as he was being led away. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fraud-probe-raises-intri guing-questions.html Your Lack of Money IMF says US economy is set to ?stagnate? By Krishna Guha in Washington and Michael Mackenzie in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 22:04 | Last updated: June 20 2008 22:04. The US economy is likely to ?stagnate? in the second half of this year, the International Monetary Fund warned on Friday, as stock markets in the US and Europe fell to their lowest levels since March and US bank shares hit a five-year low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 12,000 for the first time since March, while the broader S&P 500 fell 1.9 per cent, as oil rallied and concerns about the financial sector intensified. The S&P financials index hit its lowest level since April 2003, 5 per cent below its March low. Commercial and regional banks have borne the brunt of the recent pullback, because of fears about rising housing and consumer debt delinquencies. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/imf-says-us-economy-is-s et-to-stagnate.html US producer prices soar on rising fuel costs By Chris Bryant in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 14:35 | Last updated: June 17 2008 15:12. Soaring energy costs in May spurred the biggest jump in wholesale prices in six months underscoring the looming challenge of inflationary pressures, which threaten to destabilise the US economy. Meanwhile, new residential housing starts fell to their lowest level in more than 17 years as builders continued to shun the enfeebled US real estate market. The producer price index for finished goods jumped by 1.4 per cent last month, bringing the total increase in the past year to 7.2 per cent. Economists had forecast a monthly increase of only 1 per cent. However, core producer prices, which strip out the impact of food and energy costs, rose by 0.2 per cent, only half the rate recorded the previous month. Federal Reserve officials have become more vociferous in recent weeks about the inflationary risks associated with the run-up in food and fuel costs. A warning from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke that he would ?strongly resist an erosion of longer-term inflation expectations? was taken by many traders as a signal that interest rate hikes are in the pipeline. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-producer-prices-soar- on-rising-fuel.html Market ?expects too many Fed rate rises? By Krishna Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 16 2008 23:15 | Last updated: June 16 2008 23:15. Financial markets are in danger of getting carried away with their expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate increases, some senior Fed officials believe. They do not dispute that the next move in US interest rates is very likely to be up. But they feel the market may be pricing in too much tightening too soon. Since March there has been a sharp rise in bond yields and expected interest rates, which gathered pace in recent days amid tough talk on inflation by Ben Bernanke, chairman. Just over a week ago, markets expected just one rate hike of a quarter percentage point before the end of the year. Now they expect three and possibly four. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/market-expects-too-many- fed-rate-rises.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Facing up to a fiscal conundrum. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 16 2008 19:16 | Last updated: June 16 2008 19:16. When the US economic downturn began, the country?s fiscal position was already weak. The administration nonetheless proposed an emergency stimulus ? mostly criticised as too miserly. Farther ahead, demographic pressures and the failure to curb rising healthcare costs (which drive up public spending on Medicare and Medicaid) make matters worse. Both presidential candidates are big on avowals of fiscal rectitude, but not on remedies. Their proposals on taxes and spending are quite different but have this much in common: if enacted, they would add mightily to the fiscal problem. Before the economy slowed, earlier budget forecasts ? admittedly unreliable at the best of times ? had turned out to be too pessimistic. Revenues had proved more buoyant than expected, and the deficit had shrunk. Thus voters and politicians have come to regard all fiscal gloom as exaggerated. Congress and the administration are expected to voice concern but do nothing, and indeed to spring boldly to the economy?s support with emergency tax cuts when demand slumps. Sooner or later, this complacency will have to confront a painful fiscal reality. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, the deficit was more than $300bn, roughly $170bn bigger than in the same period last year. Only about $50bn of that deterioration was due to the stimulus tax rebates that began to be paid out this spring (another $50bn or so of those rebates is still in the pipeline). Most of the rest was due not to slowing revenues but to sharply increased spending, with rises across the board. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_17.html Morgan Stanley slides as earnings sink 57% By Francesco Guerrera and Daniel Pimlott in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 18 2008 13:25 | Last updated: June 18 2008 15:14. Morgan Stanley reported second-quarter earnings in line with Wall Street expectations, as its investment banking and trading businesses continued to show the strains of the credit crisis. Its shares fell 5.4 per cent or $2.19 to $38.40 in early New York trading. The bank reported second-quarter net income of $1.026bn or 95 cents a share, down 57 per cent compared with $2.363bn, or $2.24, in the second quarter of last year. Analysts had expected around $1bn in net income for the period. Net revenues were $6.5bn, 38 per cent below last year?s second quarter. Non-interest expenses of $5.1bn, including severance expense of about $245m related to staff reductions, decreased 28 per cent from a year ago. The results showed steep drops in profits in Morgan Stanley?s investment banking and asset management business, which have suffered from the credit squeeze and the US housing crisis. The wealth management business was an exception, showing a slight rise in underlying profits. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/morgan-stanley-slides-as -earnings-sink.html Citi warns of further large writedowns By Francesco Guerrera in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 23:45 | Last updated: June 19 2008 23:45. Citigroup on Thursday warned of further large writedowns and credit losses in the second quarter, saying its business remained under pressure amid ?unprecedented? market conditions. The announcement, made by Gary Crittenden, Citi?s chief financial officer, sent Citi shares more than 4 per cent lower in New York afternoon trading, although they recovered to close down 1 per cent. Citi?s warning, which comes after disappointing second-quarter results from Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley, is likely to compound investors? fears that the credit crunch will weigh on US financial companies for months to come. In a call with investors, Mr Crittenden said the company expected to report writedowns on its exposure to subprime mortgages, leveraged loans and monoline insurance when it unveiled quarterly results next month. Mr Crittenden said the writedowns were likely to be ?substantial? but lower than last quarter, when Citi suffered pre-tax writedowns of $10.5bn on those securities. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/citi-warns-of-further-la rge-writedowns.html Circuit City records $164m quarterly loss By Jonathan Birchall in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 17:37 | Last updated: June 19 2008 17:37. Circuit City, the struggling US electronics retailer, reported a further decline in its quarterly operating performance on Thursday, even as executives insisted that it was on the brink of a turnround. The retailer, which operates over 680 stores in the US, said it was suspending dividend payments, cutting capital spending and would use an asset-based loan to finance the build-up of goods for this year?s holiday. The retailer recorded a net loss of $164.8m for the quarter, or $1 per diluted share - more than three times its losses in the same period last year. Its cash position fell to $92.2m on May 31, from $364.1m a year earlier. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/circuit-city-records-164 m-quarterly.html Kinko?s and fuel costs lead FedEx to loss By Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 18 2008 15:46 | Last updated: June 18 2008 15:46. Fuel costs and writedowns from its struggling Kinko?s retail-store division wiped out FedEx?s quarterly profit and pressed the overnight-package company to deliver a disappointing outlook for this year?s results. FedEx, considered an economic bellwether for its role in facilitating global commerce, forecast a fiscal 2009 profit of $4.75 to $5.25 a share, below analysts? expectations. The company predicted it would earn 80 cents to $1 this period. ?Record-high fuel prices and the weak US economy dampened volume growth and substantially affected our bottom line,? Fred Smith, FedEx?s chief executive, said in a statement. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/kinkos-and-fuel-costs-le ad-fedex-to.html Commodities Oil $135.36 Silver Bullion $17.32 Gold Bullion $902 Platinum Bullion $ $2057 Euro $1.5614 On Oil and Solutions to the Oil crisis By William Rattan. 6/11/08. We are currently fighting a war over petroleum. Besides the war in Iraq, the price of gasoline has created havoc in our economy. An argument could be made that the severe weather that we?ve been experiencing the last several years, which has interrupted the flow of fuel to the United States, is due to our use of oil. Oil prices seem to be on an ever-upward trajectory affecting the price of everything it touches. Food prices have just started to go up and I don?t think that trend will change anytime soon. Most of the chemicals used in agriculture are made from petroleum. The fertilizers and pest controls are made from petroleum. The equipment used to plant, maintain and harvest the crops run on petroleum. The trucks and trains (and planes) that transport our food around the world to our tables run on petroleum. Every step of the process is dependent on this weak link in the world economy. We?ve seen it happen before and we?ll see it again in the future. And, the food chain is only one example. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/on-oil-and-solutions-to- oil-crisis.html International Herald Tribune Editorial: The big pander to big oil. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 19, 2008. It was almost inevitable that a combination of $4-a-gallon gas, public anxiety and politicians eager to win votes would produce political pandering on an epic scale. So it has, the latest instance being President George W. Bush's decision to ask Congress to end the federal ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along much of America's continental shelf. This is worse than a dumb idea. It is cruelly misleading. It will make only a modest difference, at best, to prices at the pump, and even then the benefits will be years away. It greatly exaggerates America's leverage over world oil prices. It is based on dubious statistics. It diverts the public from the tough decisions that need to be made about conservation. There is no doubt that a lot of people have been hurt by the high price of gas. But their suffering will not be relieved by drilling in restricted coastal areas. The Energy Information Administration says that even if both coasts were opened, prices would not begin to drop until 2030. The only real beneficiaries will be the oil companies that are trying to lock up every last acre of public land before their friends in power - Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney - exit the political stage. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_19.html McCain seeks to lift oil drilling ban By Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 00:15 | Last updated: June 17 2008 00:15. John McCain on Monday called for the lifting of a federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling in US waters as part of efforts to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources. The Republican presidential candidate said it should be left to US coastal states rather than the federal government to decide whether to exploit offshore reserves. He called for states to be granted a bigger share of royalties from their oil and gas to provide an incentive to open up to drilling. His remarks aligned him with Republicans in Congress who have been pushing legislation to increase domestic oil and gas production, amid mounting public concern about soaring energy prices. Mr McCain has faced criticism from some Republicans for siding with the Democrats in his opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-seeks-to-lift-oil -drilling-ban.html US floods hit food prices By Hal Weitzman in Pike County, Illinois, and Javier Blas in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 22:00 | Last updated: June 17 2008 22:00. Consumers were warned to expect even sharper increases in global food prices after US officials said that some of the country?s best farmland was facing its worst flooding for 15 years. Agriculture officials and traders said the damage could push up worldwide corn and soyabean prices, which have spiralled in recent days as floods have swamped crops in parts of Iowa, the US?s biggest corn-producing state. The warning comes at a time when high food prices are already sparking protests across the developing world. Corn futures in Chicago this week rose to record highs of more than $8 a bushel on fears that up to 5m acres of the crop could be lost, while soyabean prices hit a record of $15.93 a bushel. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-floods-hit-food-price s.html Housing Today's loan rates RATE LAST WEEK 30 yr fixed mtg 6.28% 6.29% 15 yr fixed mtg 5.88% 5.87% 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 7.40% 7.41% 5/1 ARM 5.75% 5.74% 7/1 ARM 5.98% 5.94% FBI eyes big business in mortgage fraud probe By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Hal Weitzman in Chicago. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 22:09 | Last updated: June 19 2008 22:09. Federal investigators are homing in on 19 ?large corporations? ? including investment banks, credit rating agencies, accounting firms and hedge funds ? as part of a broad probe into mortgage fraud. Robert Mueller, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, did not identify the companies on Thursday, but said the majority of the large corporate cases involved accounting fraud, insider trading and failures to disclose ? with criminal intent ? the proper evaluation of securitised loans and derivatives. Mr Mueller said the FBI was working closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the justice department to ?evaluate criminal intent?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/fbi-eyes-big-business-in -mortgage-fraud.html Former Bear Stearns managers under arrest By Joanna Chung in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 03:00 | Last updated: June 19 2008 14:27. Two former managers of the Bear Stearns hedge funds that imploded last year surrendered to the FBI on Thursday and are expected to be charged with securities fraud by US prosecutors. They would be the first indictments against Wall Street executives to stem from the credit crisis. The two individuals will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon, US prosecutors said. The former managers, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, ran two funds at Bear's asset management unit that lost bets on subprime mortgage-backed securities, sparking demands for redemption from investors and repayment from creditors. Investors lost $1.6bn when the funds imploded in June last year and collapsed a month later. The collapse of the funds - the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit and Enhanced Leverage funds - was a blow for Bear in a battle for survival that eventually saw it sold to JPMorgan Chase in March. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/former-bear-stearns-mana gers-under.html Bush Bashing International Herald Tribune Editorial: Bush v. the Bill of Rights. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 18, 2008. President Bush and his allies are once again trying to scare Congress into expanding the president's powers to spy on Americans without a court order. This week, the White House and Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill hope to announce a "compromise" on a domestic spying bill. If they do, it will be presented as an indispensable tool for protecting the nation's security that still safeguards our civil liberties. The White House will paint opponents as weak-kneed liberals who do not understand and cannot stand up to the threat of terrorism. The bill is not a compromise. The final details are being worked out, but all indications are that many of its provisions are both unnecessary and a threat to the Bill of Rights. Bush and the congressional Republicans who support the bill have two real aims. They want to undermine the power of the courts to review the legality of domestic spying programs. And they want to give a legal shield to the telecommunications companies that broke the law by helping Bush carry out his warrantless wiretapping operation. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_3324.html Yesterday's Man' Leaves Europe by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Satyam Khanna, Matt Corley, Ali Frick, and Benjamin Armbruster ? Center for American Progress Action Fund. June 17, 2008. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. President Bush concluded his farewell journey through Europe in Belfast, Northern Ireland yesterday with attempts at rapprochement with leaders throughout the continent. "[L]ots has changed" since 2003, London School of Economics international relations professor Michael Cox noted. While Bush enjoyed warmer relations with Germany, Italy, and France -- mainly due to leadership changes in those countries -- most Europeans, like many Americans, are suffering from "Bush fatigue," as they are looking forward to the next president and "will be glad to see the back" of Bush. Anti-American sentiment in Europe runs high as a result of Bush's leadership. A recent poll by London's Daily Telegraph newspaper found that "[m]ore people in France, Germany and Britain view the United States as a 'force for evil' than good in the world." And despite Bush's seeming friendly relationship with conservative German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany's leading news source Der Spiegel reported last week that "senior politicians from Merkel's ruling grand coalition as well as from opposition parties have done away with diplomatic niceties, seizing on Bush's farewell visit to express their aversion to the president who remains vilified in Germany for launching the Iraq war." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/yesterdays-man-leaves-eu rope.html Indecision 2008 Here's what four more years would sound like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iWYAOMYmp0 Not Alex http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq30lapbC9c McCain risks ?flip-flop? jibes by voters By Edward Luce and Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 17 2008 19:32 | Last updated: June 18 2008 07:36. Nobody is yet calling John McCain a ?flip-flopper?. But the Republican nominee?s increasingly finely balanced efforts to shore up his support among the shrinking Republican base while reaching out to independents is starting to fire up the critics. On Tuesday morning, he launched an advertisement reminding voters of his repeated clashes with President George W. Bush over climate change, which Mr McCain believes is real and requires urgent action. In the afternoon, he delivered a speech to the oil industry in Houston, calling for a lifting of the moratorium on offshore drilling in order to reduce petrol prices. Mr McCain?s shift on offshore drilling ? which contrasts with his strong support for upholding the moratorium in his 2000 bid for the Republican nomination ? could further chip away at his reputation for being a ?straight talker?. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-risks-flip-flop-j ibes-by-voters.html Group muddies McCain message - Non-profit bent rules while supporting his agenda, raising money By Andrew Zajac. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 17, 2008. WASHINGTON ? Allies of Sen. John McCain opened a Washington think tank in 2001 to promote transparency and accountability in government, a signature issue for the Arizona Republican after his presidential primary loss to George W. Bush. For the next seven years, the non-profit Reform Institute churned out position papers and offered expert testimony on campaign finance reform, the need for bipartisanship and other issues, frequently supporting McCain's positions. But behind the scenes, the institute's practices have at times arguably been at odds with its reformist message, and with McCain's political identity as an enemy of special interests. In fact, the Reform Institute has stretched and may have broken rules governing charitable organizations, according to experts on tax law. The institute has twice omitted the names of donors in IRS filings. IRS rules require that charities identify their contributors to government regulators. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/group-muddies-mccain-mes sage-non-profit.html What if Hyde Park hosts Midwest White House? By LAURA WASHINGTON LauraSWashington at aol.com. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 16, 2008 What will happen to Hyde Park if a certain mansion on South Greenwood Street becomes the Midwestern White House? If U.S. Sen. Barack Obama ascends to the presidency in November, will Chicago's very own Hyde Park vanquish the Western White House in Crawford, Texas? Will Obama purchase a Ford pickup and start clearing brush along East 53rd Street? Will Hyde Park's desperately meager dining offerings improve? Will the neighborhood's pathetic nightlife scene pick up? These are crucial questions confronting Hyde Parkers, the national and international press corps, and the world leaders who will be compelled to spend time in the HP. My mother has lived in the Hyde Park/Kenwood area for 17 years. Her high-rise co-op overlooks Lake Michigan, Louis Farrakhan's mansion and Art "Oprah's Chef" Smith's sprawling culinary complex. She's looking forward to the descending hordes. The tour of the stars' homes is coming, she hears. "Security will probably be even better," she declared the other day. "The tourists will come and say, 'let's drive by the president's house.'" http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-if-hyde-park-hosts- midwest-white.html Obama in Father's Day sermon reminds dads that parenting doesn't end at conception By Jeff Long and Christi Parsons. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 1:18 PM CDT, June 15, 2008. CHICAGO - In a Father's Day address heavy with personal and political meaning, Democrat Barack Obama told worshipers at a Chicago church Sunday that government must do more to help families---but he also exhorted parents, especially fathers, to play their part by raising healthy children. In a popular South Side church, Obama (D-Ill.) decried the shortage of police on the streets and money for schools, as well as a proliferation of guns in the wrong hands. But America needs more than jobs and opportunity in its communities, the presidential candidate told the hometown congregation. "We also need families to raise our children," he said. "We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. It's the courage to raise one." Obama sounded a theme familiar from previous Father's Day speeches in which he called on fathers to rise to their duties. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-in-fathers-day-ser mon-reminds.html Gore endorses Obama, throws jabs at Bush - Al Gore Endorses Obama for President. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. June 17, 2008. DETROIT -- Al Gore made his debut in the 2008 presidential campaign Monday night, encouraging voters to back Barack Obama because ''take it from me, elections matter.'' The former vice president's speech at the Joe Louis Arena was part endorsement and part blistering attack on the man who denied him the White House eight years ago. ''After eight years of incompetence, neglect and failure, we need change,'' Gore said. ''After eight years when our Constitution has been dishonored and disrespected, we need changes.'' In 2000, Gore won the popular vote but lost the disputed election to George W. Bush, who captured Florida and its electoral votes after a divided Supreme Court ended the re-count of ballots. Since then, Gore has made combatting global warming his signature issue, and has been recognized worldwide for his effort -- from an Academy Award to the Nobel Prize. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gore-endorses-obama-thro ws-jabs-at-bush.html Obama reverses policy on using public funds By Edward Luce in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 19 2008 17:12 | Last updated: June 19 2008 17:59. Barack Obama on Thursday became the first American presidential candidate since Richard Nixon to rely solely on private money to sustain his White House bid when he declared that he would opt out of the Watergate-era public financing system. Mr Obama?s decision, which he announced to supporters in a webcast, was met with strong criticism from John McCain, his Republican opponent who will rely on the $84m in public funds that are available, and also from centre-left reformers who said they felt bitterly betrayed by his move. The Obama campaign said the move did not compromise Mr Obama?s support for overhauling what he called a ?broken system? and had been motivated by the expectation that private groups operating under tax-exempt status ? so-called 527s ? would launch the same kind of attacks on Mr Obama that helped sink John Kerry in 2004. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-reverses-policy-on -using-public.html GLBT Sen. Barack Obama's Pride message. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News Update Tues., June 10, 2008. Sen. Barack Obama released the following statement Sat., June 7, according to Advocate.com: ?I am proud to join with our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters in celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. "It's time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let's enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Let's repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country. Let's treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sen-barack-obamas-pride- message.html Marriages an inspiration, not 'disaster' By Eric Zorn. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 19, 2008. Does your marriage feel a little less special today, straight couples? Does knowing that octogenarian lesbians Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon had a legal wedding this week in San Francisco diminish, in retrospect, your legal wedding? Does their bond profane yours? Not at our house it doesn't. My wife and I simply feel inspired. Martin and Lyon have been a couple for 56 years?twice as long as we've been together?and we see them as role models, not harbingers of the decline of the family. We celebrate their lifelong commitment and lasting love. We think the family could use a lot more of that and a lot less puritanical fretting about what name we put on the hopeful union of souls. We're honored, even a little humbled, to share this institution with Martin and Lyon. Another view: The Illinois Family Institute's blog refers to the legalization of same-sex nuptials this week in the Golden State as "the California marriage disaster." Such recognitions "do not and cannot exist, no matter what legal document the state issues homosexual couples," writes institute blogger Laurie Higgins. "There is an existential, ontological reality that supersedes the ill-begotten works of man." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/marriages-inspiration-no t-disaster.html History of Same Sex Marriage Jurisprudence by Carlos T Mock, MD, June 17, 2008 The history of same sax marriage jurisprudence could be traced back to the African-American civil rights movement. Until June 12, 1967, in some American states it was illegal for African-American adults to marry white ones. In, Loving v. Virginia. U.S. Supreme Court ruled (9 to 0) that anti-miscegenation laws are unconstitutional within the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice Warren said: "There can be no question that Virginia's miscegenation statutes rest solely upon distinctions drawn according to race. . . .Marriage is one of 'the basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival. . . . To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State." Civil unions for interracial marriages were never part of the equation. http://www.opednews.com/articles/History-of-Same-Sex-Marria-by-Carlos-T-Mock -080619-759.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - California leads the way in gay marriage. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 17, 2008. Monday marked another historic step toward the full acceptance of gay and lesbian couples in America. California became the second state to allow gay couples to marry, after Massachusetts did four years ago. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is taking advantage of it. So is George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek." Plus thousands of other average, everyday folks you probably have never heard of. It's wonderful for gays and lesbians to receive the rights, benefits and responsibilities that come with marriage. The New York Times on Sunday, though, reported that marriage has been a mixed bag for gay and lesbian couples in Massachusetts. Some have found wedded bliss. Some haven't. Some argue over the in-laws, money and when to start a family. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-california.html Norway passes law approving gay marriage. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: 6/17/08, 12:25 PM EDT. OSLO, Norway (AP) - Gay couples in Norway will be granted the same rights as heterosexuals to marry, adopt and undergo artificial insemination under a new equality law passed Tuesday. Norway's upper house of parliament voted 23-17 in favor of the gender-neutral marriage law on the same day that gay couples were marrying in California. The law replaces 1993 legislation that gave gays the right to enter civil unions similar to marriage but did not allow church weddings or adoption. It takes effect Jan. 1. "We are so overjoyed. We have worked for this for so long," said Jon Reidar Oeyan, leader of the Norwegian National Association of Lesbian and Gay Liberation. "Now we are going to celebrate," he said. "I didn't dare until I heard the chairman of the upper house bang the hammer." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/norway-passes-law-approv ing-gay.html Recommendations on Marriage Strategy http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/lgbt/camarriage_joint_20080609.pdf Tunney bill tweaks DP ordinance By Matt Simonette. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June 18, 2008. Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) last week introduced a bill he said would modify the city?s domestic partner benefit law to extend protections to gay and lesbian city employees who marry in constituencies where gay marriage is legal. Tunney and local GLBT advocates said the bill was ?technical,? but would address a loophole that would likely be raised should gays and lesbians marry in California or other states where same-sex marriage has been legalized. Currently, city employees are prohibited from receiving domestic partnership benefits if one of the partners is already married. The amendment to the ordinance would allow same-sex couples married in other jurisdictions to receive partner benefits in the city of Chicago. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tunney-bill-tweaks-dp-or dinance.html California Marriage - Benefits and Problems? Copyright by Gay Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. June 19, 2008. Q: After many years together, my lover and I would like to get married. Can we go to California and get married? A: Yes. There is no residency requirement to marry in California. Yes. On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that barring same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional. Beginning June 17, same-sex couples will be able to marry in California. Q: My partner and I live in Illinois. If we marry in California, will our marriage be valid here? A: If you live in another state and get married in California, you will be legally married. However, depending on where you live, your home state may not respect your marriage. Many states, including Illinois, have passed discriminatory marriage laws, and in those states, state and local governments will not respect your California marriage. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/california-marriage-bene fits-and.html Forum tackles gay sex and the Internet - Extended for the Online Edition by Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2008-06-18. How is the Internet changing gay sex? This was just one of many topics tackled during LifeLube.org and Project CRYSP's June 12 forum, ?Driving Tips for Sex on the Superhighway.? Held at Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, and moderated by the Feast of Fools podcast, the forum sought to discuss the dos and don'ts of hooking up online; the responsibility of Web sites such as Manhunt and Adam4Adam when things go wrong; and more. The panelists were Stephen Adelson, former general manager of Manhunt ( one of many sites used by gay men to meet each other ) and current executive director of Internet Intervention Inc.; Beau Gratzer, director of Howard Brown Health Center's HIV/STD Prevention; and Brian Mustanski, assistant professor of psychiatry at University of Illinois at Chicago. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/orum-tackles-gay-sex-and -internet.html New fears of Anglican schism over homosexuality By Laurie Goodstein. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 19, 2008. Once a decade, hundreds of bishops of the international Anglican Communion meet in Canterbury, England, for the Lambeth Conference. This summer, in the most tangible demonstration yet of the church's divide over homosexuality, hundreds of bishops are boycotting the Lambeth Conference and attending a rival meeting for conservative Anglicans in Jerusalem. Setting the tone for their meeting, the conservatives issued a strongly worded theological manifesto Thursday, declaring that they saw no possibility for reconciliation with the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada, which have accepted a gay bishop and same-sex unions. The conservatives say that after years of emergency meetings and ultimatums, they have been "ignored," "demonized" and "marginalized." "There is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion," the document said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-fears-of-anglican-sc hism-over.html Health Care Preemie puzzle - Federal study probes spike in early births -- pre-term babies can face lifelong challenges BY KARA SPAK Staff Reporter. kspak at suntimes.com. June 17, 2008. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. Michelle Archer was due with her babies at the end of July. On May 3, her twins Mikayla and Dominic were born. Now, Archer and the twins' father, Rich Graziano, are spending days and nights at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, holding their tiny babies still attached to monitors and learning about the unique challenges they will be dealing with for the rest of their preemies' lives. "I think it will be stressful, and I think I will be highly organized," Archer said of life with premature twins. Because her children will likely have suppressed immune systems, day care is out. Now, she, Graziano and the twins are working out a caretaking schedule to use when the twins come home. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/preemie-puzzle-federal-s tudy-probes.html Technology The Electric Car Lives Backed by U.S. venture capital, Norwegian company Think is betting its Ox concept vehicle can prove the electric car's time has finally arrived http://images.businessweek.com/story/08/600/0618_car.jpg by Matt Vella. Copyright by Business Week. Clean, quiet, and relatively profitable to produce, electric vehicles have had a rough start in the U.S.: Five years after General Motors (GM) nixed its innovative EV1 electric car program, just a handful of automakers have committed to making and selling electric vehicles on a mass scale any time soon. Enter Think Global, a Norwegian upstart plotting a U.S. invasion via pint-size, affordable electric cars. Think has been selling gas-free, Lilliputian city cars in Europe and will start peddling them to fuel-crunched Americans in 2009. The company's newly formed North American division has high hopes for Think's existing models?and even higher ones for the upcoming Th!nk Ox, a concept unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier this year. An electrified people's car for the 21st century, the Ox is a preview of Think's next-generation production vehicle, due out in 2011. Roughly the size of a Toyota (TM) Prius, the Ox can travel between 125 and 155 miles before needing a recharge, and zips from zero to 60 miles per hour in about 8.5 seconds. Its lithium-ion batteries can be charged to 80% capacity in less than an hour, and slender solar panels integrated into the roof power the onboard electronics. Inside, the hatchback includes a bevy of high-tech gizmos such as GPS navigation, a mobile Internet connection, and a key fob that lets drivers customize the car's all-digital dashboard. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the company's current vehicles cost less than $25,000. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/electric-car-lives.html Microsoft braced for post-Gates era By Richard Waters in San Francisco. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 03:04 | Last updated: June 20 2008 03:04. Five years ago, Steve Ballmer felt compelled to shake the Microsoft rank-and-file out of a worrying sense of complacency. A disruptive new competitor was forcing the software company to ?challenge old habits and seriously rethink business-as-usual,? he warned in an internal e-mail. The Microsoft chief executive was right to be worried. He was wrong, however, about where the real competitive danger lay. The source of his fears at the time was the Linux open source operating system. A search engine by the name of Google did not even figure in the rallying call to the troops ? indeed, it was absent from other public discussion of Microsoft?s competitive position that year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/microsoft-braced-for-pos t-gates-era.html Other It's 'August: Osage County' and a huge night for Chicago at the Tonys. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 16, 2008. 2008 TONY AWARDS. NEW YORK?In an unprecedented New York night for the Chicago theater, the Broadway transfer of Steppenwolf Theatre Company?s searing production of ?August: Osage County? dominated the 62nd annual Tony Awards here on Sunday. And thus Radio City Musical Hall hosted a long, emotional parade of winning Chicagoans. Tracy Letts won the Tony for Best Play. Anna D. Shapiro won for Best Director of a Play. Deanna Dunagan won for Best Leading Actress in a Play. Rondi Reed won for Best Featured Actress in a Play. And Todd Rosenthal snagged Best Scenic Design. The production won in every category in which it was nominated, with the exception of lighting design. And one of its leading producers was Steve Traxler of the Chicago-based Jam Theatricals. Both Reed and Dunagan said after the awards that almost the entire original cast of ?August: Osage County? was headed to the National Theatre in London for a production there. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/its-august-osage-county- and-huge-night.html Humor The Daily Show With Jon Stewart ? Baracknophobia http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=173522&title=headl ines-baracknophobia 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 Jun 28 18:02:12 2008 From: ctmock at gmail.com (Carlos Mock) Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:02:12 -0500 Subject: [News] The Sad State of Our Republic Newsletter- June 28, 2008 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: ?Five years of war combined with th worst tax policies turned a 200 billion surplus inherited from the Clintonadministration into a trillion dollar deficit. In the process, Mr. Bush,helped by his choice of Fed Chairman, has created the worst economic crisis ince the 1929 depression. The unproven Bernanke, overreacted to the Busheconomic policies?tax cuts for the rich, the larges expansion of the federal government since the 1965 Social Security Act, subprime crises?and started an aggressive interest rate cut. He gave the bleing to the Bear Stearns demise and takeover. He started printing money toover the credit crunch?all of which has devaluated the dollar to a point were commodities like food and petroleum have risen to unprecedented level creating inflation. Unfortunately now we are in a vicious cycle. Ever sice the Fed began its rapid interest rate cuts last September, the danger ha been that it would lose its inflation-fighting credibility. One expressio of that would be investors dumping the dollar in order to protect the purhasing power of their money. That has been largely avoided, but the weak dolar has contributed to inflation, not least through the oil price. The employent report was the second blow for the dollar this week. On Thursday, te European Central Bank strongly indicated it would raise rates this smmer owing to inflation worries, triggering fresh dollar selng and higher oil prices. The employment data is of particular significance at present. Personal savings are almost exhausted in the US and credit availability is much reduced with th result that consumers, and the broader economy, are more dependent tha ever on their pay checks. James Knightley, at ING, said: ?This is badnews for the household sector which is already having to cope with negativ real wage growth, falling house prices and more expensive borrowing. Thiswill continue to depress consumer spending and will keep activity depressd for longer than financial markets are currently discounting.? Carlos T Mo The Sad State of Our Republic by Carlos T Mock. June 28, 2008. Seven moe months left in the Bush presidency and I can?t but pray he causes no mor harm. Truth is, the Republic has never been in worst shape. After presding over the largest attack to American soil ever, Mr. Bush has managed toturn the sympathy and respect of the entire world population into disdainand hate for our country. After setting to capture the perpetrator of thedestruction caused by Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan Mr. Bush? haunted by pst insecurities and pushed by oil executives and Cheney's Haliburton?strted an unprovoked war against Iraq. In the fall of 2003, a few months afterSaddam Hussein's overthrow, U.S. officials began to despair not finding stokpiles of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. The resulting embarrassment cased a radical shift in administration rhetoriabout the war in Iraq. President Bush no longer stressed Saddam's record or the threats from the Baathist regime as reasons for going to war. Rather, from that point forwa, he focused almost exclusively on the larger aim of promoting democracy. Tis new focus compounded the damage to the president's credibility that had aleady been caused by the CIA's errors on Iraqi WMD. The president was seen as istancing himself from the actual case he had made for removing he Iraqi regime from power. http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Sad-Stae-of-Our-Repub-by-Carlos-T-Mock -080617-829.html Global markets reel afte first-half carnage By Michael Mackenzie in New York, Javier Blas in London nd Andrew Wood in Hong Kong. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. ublished: June 27 2008 18:58 | Last updated: June 27 2008 22:26. Global eqities were on Friday heading for their worst first-half performance in 6 years after a week in which oil surged to a record and there were renewe worries about the health of the financial system and global growth. A igh of $142.99 a barrel for oil sparked a tumble in Asian markets and slling in Europe and New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday closd just shy of 20 per cent below its record high set in October and ison cusp of entering an official bear market. Fears of inflation and slwer growth caused by higher energy costs are weighing on equities. Yet as stocks suffer, the surge in oil and other commodities during 2008 has the Reuters-Jefferies CRB sp index on track for its largest gain in 35 years. The index has risen 30.1 er cent since January, the largest increase since the 30.2 per cent gain in he first half of 1973. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/200806/global-markets-reel-afte r-first-half.html Stagflation fears in eurone rise By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt. Copyright The Financia Times Limited 2008. Published: June 23 2008 10:05 | Last updaed: June 23 2008 18:27. The eurozone on Monday slid closer to stagflation ?low growth combined with rising inflation ? as private sector output conracted this month for the first time in five years. Weak economic dat indicated soaring oil prices had hit growth in June, but not enough to stp the European Central Bank going ahead next week with a planned quarter prcentage point rise to 4.25 per cent in its main interest rate. The eurzone purchasing managers? index dropped from 51.1 in May to 49.5 in Jue, the first contraction in activity since July 2003. The risk of a recesion in the 15-country region had increased, analysts said. That contrated with the robust growth seen at the start of the year. But the same survy also showed inflationary pressures mounting ? especially in the service sector, where prices rose at the fastest rate for more than seven years. That will alarm the ECB, whih saw the annual eurozone inflation rate leap to 3.7 per cent in May, te highest for 16 years, and is braced for a rise as high as 4 per cent in comng months. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/stagfltion-fears-in-eur ozone-rise.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Fedcannot ignore global inflation. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 208. Published: June 25 2008 19:43 | Last updated: June 25 2008 19:43. I there were a Central Bank of the World its monetary policy committee ould glance at today?s inflation rates and expectations of future inflationand then raise interest rates. There is no such bank, but there is somehing close: the US Federal Reserve, the monetary policy of which is mirroed by many countries in the Middle East and Asia. The Fed may not wantthat responsibility, but it would be wise to worry because, like it or not,low Fed interest rates are contributing to global inflation. The Fed set interest rates for Asian countries because, explicitly or not, they managetheir exchange rates aganst the dollar. If US interest rates are low, countries targeting the dollar are obliged to follow, because otherwise investors will sell dollars to buy their currency.The result is that Asian countries have been notably slow to tighten monetay policy in response to the rapid rise in commodity prices. To take thre examples: headline inflation in Indonesia is now 10.4 per cent, while interst rates remain at 8.5 per cent; inflation of 9.6 per cent in the Philippine is more than 4 percentage points above base rates; and while inflation in ndia has reached 11 per cent, policy rates have only just risen to 8.5 per cet. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-edioria l-comment-fed_25.html Fed interest rate strategy poses risks By Krishn Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published June 24 2008 18:51 | Last updated: June 24 2008 20:56. Might the Federal eserve be taking too many chances on prices? On Wednesday, it is expected t keep interest rates on hold at 2 per cent, and avoid any signal that rate rises are imminent, while indicating some increased concern about inflation. Economists see thre big risks to the strategy of not moving rates up quickly unless challengedby a further rise in inflation expectations. First, the Fed may be wrong t assume that oil prices will soon level out, as implied by futures prices. Second, it may be relying too much on unemployment as a disinflationary counerweight to oil. It may also be underestimating how fragile inflation expetations are. All Fed policymakers are aware of these risks. What divides haws from doves is the degree to which they worry about them relative to the riss to growth. The Fed assumes that oil prices will soon level out ? an estimte based in large part on the information from futures prices. Some econoists think this approach is flawed. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspo.com/2008/06/fed-interest-rate-strate gy-poses-risks.html Economy: From bad o worse By Michael A. Lev. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 28, 008. American consumers haven'ound so much extra money in their pockets since the Ford administration. Thanks to the economic stimulus checks that went out as a recession-fighter, diposable incomes jumped 5.7 percent in May, the government said Friday. And yt to look at investor sentiment, all remains not well. Wall Street experiencd a terrible June swoon this week that brought the Dow Jones industrial aveage within a whisker Friday of being declared a dreaded bear market. That best rears its head when stocks drop 20 percent, and since its October peak he Dow has plummeted 19.9 percent. The fact is that a positive blip in conumer spending doesn't appear to be nearly enough to offset all the worriome news that continues to shadow an economy struggling through a mortgage cisis and reeling from high food and energy prices. http://iretiredfromnewsltters.blogspot.com/2008/06/economy-from-bad-to-wors e.html U.S. Economy: onsumer Confidence, House Prices Slide By Shobhana Chandra and Timothy R. Homn. Copyright by Bloomberg News. June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among Amricans dropped to the lowest level in 16 years and house prices fell the mot on record, raising the risk that consumers will cut back on purchass after spending their tax rebates. The Conference Board's confidence ndex fell to 50.4 in June, lower than forecast, from 57.2 in May. Home pricesin 20 cities dropped 15.3 percet in April from a year earlier, according to S&P/Case-Shiller, the most since the group began collecting data. Consumers, whose spending accounts for more than two thirds of gros domestic product, are being hurt by the housing slump, rising unemploymen and higher food and fuel bills. ?We've seen this dive in confidence in the ast two months at the same time these stimulus checks'' have been mailed, Chis Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York, said in a Bloomberg Tlevision interview. ``It tells me if we see this pop in spending, it's not ging to last.'' http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-econom-consumer-conf idence-house.html Siemens will reportedly cut 17,200 jobs. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: June 28, 200. FRANKFURT, Germany: Conglomerate Siemens AG, wracked by a wide-ranging corruption scandal, will cut up to 4 percent of its work force worldwide, or about 17,200 jobs a pair of newspapers reported Saturday. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung reportedthat the Munich-based company was set to shed the jobs ? mostly white-colar and administrative ? without citing any sources. The Wall Street Journa also reported a similar figure, citing a person who was familiar with the mater. Siemens did not comment on either report, only to say that it did notcomment on market rumors. The German paper said that of the cuts to te company's global work force of approximately 435,000 staffers, sme 6,400 could come in Germany, where it employs around 136,000 people. http/iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/siemens-will-reportedly- cut-1200-jobs.html UAL to shed 950 pilots By Justin Baer in New York. Copyrigt The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 23 2008 23:20 | Lat updated: June 23 2008 23:20. United Airlines plans to shed 950, or bout 14 per cent, of its 6,600 pilots, part of the US carrier?s attempt to slash expenses as it prepares for deepening losses from record fuel costs and falling demand. United unveiled plans this month to dro as much as 18 per cent of its domestic flight schedule by the end of next ear, grounding more than a fifth of its fleet and trimming as many as 1,600 slaried positions from its workforce. ?As we reduce the size of our flet and take actions companywide to enable United to compete in an environmentof record fuel prices, we must take the difficult, but necessary step reduce the number of people we have to run our business,? the Chicago-baed company said in a statement. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/208/06/ual-to-shed-950-pilots.h tml Whitehall Jewelers files Chapter 11. Copright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 3:32 PM CDT, June 23, 2008. Whitehall Jeweles Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection on Monday with an $80 millio financing package that requires it to put its assets on the auction bloc in less than a month. Whitehall, which recently acquired nearly 80 stores rom another jeweler in Chapter 11 proceedings, said the terms of its $80 milon bankruptcy loan require it to win bankruptcy court approval of a deal to sell its assets by July 18. The Chicago company is asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmngton, Del., for permission to hold an auction on July 16, at which it wil consider "all alternatives regarding a disposition of substantially al of the assets." Whitehall said such options include selling all or a portionof its business as a going concern or selling the rights to liquidate itsinventory. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/whitehalljewelers-files -chapter-11.html International Who will rid us of this tyrat? By Robert I. Rotberg. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. ublished: June 27, 2008. After Idi Amin terrorized and killed his own Ugadans throughout the 1970s, President Julius Nyerere of neighborin Tanzania finally sent his army across the border to end the mayhem and retore stability. Who will now do the same for beleaguered Zimbabwe? Who wll remove despotic Robert Mugabe from his besmirched and exposed presidenc? Presidential contender Morgan Tsvangirai's courageous decisn to boycott Zimbabwe's runoff election - after Mugabe's thugs broke up yet another opposition rally by swinging iron bars and sticks at potential Tsvangirai voters - compels the Africa Union, the UN Security Council and major powers finally to act. Tsvangiraisaid that he and his supporters were facing war, not an election, and they wold "not be part of that war." Serious UN sanctions are a first step. http://retiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/who-will-rid-us-of-this- tyranthtml Mandela laments Mugabe?s ?tragic failure? By Tom Burgis in Pretoria ad William Wallis in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 008. Published: June 25 2008 08:51 | Last updated: June 25 2008 23:40. Zibabwe?s neighbours increased diplomatic pressure on Robert Mugabe on Wednesay night as Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, broke years o silence to describe Zimbabwe?s crisis as a ?tragic failure of leadership. Mr Mandela chose what is potentially one of his last international apearances to add his moral voice to the mounting criticism across Africa of M Mugabe?s role in the collapse of what was once one of the continent?s mos prosperous countries. He described Zimbabwe in the context of some of th world?s enduring disasters, saying: ?Nearer to home we had seen the outbrek of violence against fellow Africans in our own country and the tragic falure of leadership in our neighbouring Zimbabwe,? and implored younger geneations to ?rid the world of such suffering?. His remarks were brief but wll be far harder for Mr Mugabe to dismiss than criticisms from former colonil power Britain and other western countries. http://iretiredfromnewslettersblogspot.com/2008/06/mandela-laments-mugabes- tragic-failure.html Tsvangirai seeks refuge in Dutch embassy By Tom Burgis in Johannesburg ad Tony Hawkins in Harare and agencies. Copyright The Financl Times Limited 2008. Published: June 22 2008 14:36 | Last updated: June 23 2008 15:39. Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has pulled out of a preidential election because of violence, sought refuge overnight in the Dutchembassy, officials of that country said on Monday. There was no immediat confirmation from Tsvangirai?s Movement for Democratic Change. The Dutch oreign ministry said he had not requested asylum but was welcome to stay for is own security. Earlier the MDC said police raided its Harare headquarers and took away more than 60 victims of the violence, in which it says neary 90 of its supporters have been killed by militias backing President Robert ugabe. Those detained included women and children. Mr Tsvangirai, the challnger to Zimbabwe?s Robert Mugabe, on Sunday pulled out of a presidential run-ff and pleaded for international action to prevent more violence in his counry. ?We can?t ask the people to cast their vote on June 27 when that vote ill cost their lives,? Mr Tsvangirai told reporters in Harare, the captal. ?We will no longer participate in this violent sham of an election.? htp://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tsvangirai-seeks-refuge- i-dutch.html Mess-o-potamia Al-Qaida in Iraq says it was behind Anbar atack By ROBERT H. REID. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 1:33 PM CDT, June 28, 2008. BAGHDAD - An al-Qaida front organization claimed responsibility Saturday for a suicide bombing that killed more han 20 people -- including three Marines -- as the U.S. military stepped up pessure on extremists in northern Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq posted he claim on a militant Web site, saying the bomber blew himself up among gathering of the "heads of apostasy" -- a reference to U.S.-backed Sunni trial leaders who were attending a meeting Thursday in Karmah, 20 miles west o Baghdad. "They sold their souls to the American devil for a cheap price," te statement said. "Therefore, the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraqhave launched an open war against them." The dead included the commander o Marines in the area, Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai of Pago Pago, American Samoa, aswell as the mayor of Karmah, several key tribal figures and two interpretes, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogpot.com/2008/06/al-qaida-in-iraq-says-it -was-behind.html 3 U.S. soldierskilled by bomb in Mosul region By Richard A. Oppel Jr. Copyright by The Iternational Herald Tribune. Published: June 25, 2008. BAGHDAD: Three U.S.soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb in Ninewa Provinceon Tuesday night in the second large explosion to strike the Mosul region n a day and further evidence that Sunni Arab guerrillas remain very active i the northern city despite recent Iraqi military operations. Few dtails of the attack were released by the American military, which said thatan improvised explosive device killed the soldiers and interpreter abut 10:45 p.m. At least 25 American service members have been killed in Iraq his month, compared to 19 in May, according to Icasualties.org, a We site that tracks deaths. Iraqi tops have fanned out in force in Mosul to try to quell the insurgency there led by Baathist fighters and Sunni extremist guerrillas. Violence has dropped in the city in recet months, but according to officials knowledgeable about the fighting, many o Mosul's most fearsome guerrillas have been pursued by U.S. special operatios forces operating in secret rather than Iraqi troops. It remains to be see whether the Iraqi forces can keep the Mosul insurgency in check, or wether the guerrillas will reassert their presence, as they have in the past http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/3-us-soldiers-kille-by- bomb-in-mosul.html Police: Female suicide bomber kills 15 in Iraq ByHAMID AHMED. Copyright 2008 Associated Press. 9:14 AM CDT, June 22, 208. BAGHDAD - A female suicide bomber struck near a government compound norteast of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 40, poice said. At least 21 suicide attacks have been carried out this year by wmen. The bomber detonated her explosives in front of a heavily guarded ara that includes the courthouse, the post office and the governor's offices i the city of Baqouba, a police officer said. he 15 killed included seven policemen, the officer said, giving the casualty toll on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information. Th attack occurred about 1 p.m., a time when large numbers of people wer visiting the compound. A car bomb across the street from the compound killd at least 40 people in April. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/208/06/police-female-suicide-bo mber-kills-15.html Afghan bombs kill 10 troopBy Stephen Graham. Copyright by The Associated Press. 9:36 PM CDT, June 1, 2008. KABUL, Afghanistan ? Roadside bombs killed five foreign troop and five government soldiers Saturday, part of a surge of violence that hs made Afghanistan's battlefields deadlier for foreign forces than those inIraq. In the deadliest incident, a roadside bomb hit a coalition convoy west f the main southern city of Kandahar, killing four troops and wounding two thers. Coalition spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fanning said gunmen opened fire on he damaged vehicles and three Afghans also were hurt. He declined to relese the nationality of the troops, who were involved in training Afghn forces. To the east, a Polish soldier from the separate NATO-led force died when a bomb hit his patrol after midnight in Paktika province Jacek Poplawski, a Polish military spokesman in Warsaw, said four other soldiers were wounded. In a separate incident, attackers detonated bombs and opeed fire on vehicles carrying Afghan troops in Zabul and Kunar provinces, killing five soldiers and wounding three. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/afghan-bombs-kill0-tro ops.html Pakistan agency accused of plotting attack on Karzai By Abdul Waheed Wafa and Graham Bowley. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 25, 2008. KABUL: The Afghanistan government publicly accuse the Pakistani intelligence service Wednesday of organizing the plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai at a parade in Kabul in April. At a time of rising tension between the two neighbors, the accusation is by far the most serious leveled by Afghanistan against Pakistan and it is the first time the Afghan authorities have described specific and public allegations tat Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, had been involved in te attack on Karzai. During a news conference in Kabul, Sayeed Ansari, the spokesman for the Afghan inteligence service, said the accusation had been based on documents uncovered duing the investigation into the assassination attempt, confessions from 16 suspects detained after the attack and cellphone contacts. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/pakistan-agency-accused- of-plotting.html Obsessing about Iran By H.D.S. Greenway. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 24, 2008. The war drums are beating hard in this the last summer of the Bush presidency. Israel practices bombing runs far out in the Mediterranean, refueling more than 100 fighter bombers in midair, in what is advertised as practice against Iranian nuclear facilities. President George W. Bush goes to Europe to garner support and issue threats in the cause of confrontation. Israeli politicians line up to replace the politically ailing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as he struggles to swim against a current of corruption charges, jockeying for who can make the most belligerent threats against Iran. Is the Bush White House talking itself into attacking Iran as its moral duty to save the world from Iran? Condoleezza Rice's State Department is hoping for a diplomatic solution, and Robert Gates, at Defense, is not the attack dog that his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, was. For the moment they seem to have Bush's ear. But although our supernationalist vice president, Dick Cheney, may not wield the influence he did in Bush's first term, he retains his unshakable belief in the use of force. And Bush retains his messianic streak. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obsessing-about-iran.htm l National International Herald Tribune Editorial: The U.S. Supreme Court shoots down gun ban. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 27, 2008. Thirty-thousand Americans are killed by guns every year - on the job, walking to school, at the shopping mall. The Supreme Court on Thursday all but ensured that even more Americans will die senselessly, with its wrongheaded and dangerous ruling striking down key parts of the District of Columbia's gun-control law. In a radical break from 70 years of Supreme Court precedent, Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, declared that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to bear arms for nonmilitary uses, even though the amendment clearly links the right to service in a "militia." The ruling will give gun-rights advocates a powerful new legal tool to try to strike down gun-control laws across the nation. This is a decision that will cost innocent lives, cause immeasurable pain and suffering and turn America into a more dangerous country. It will also diminish America's standing in the world, sending yet another message that the U.S. values gun rights over human life. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_28.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Gun ruling helps only criminals. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 27, 2008. Thursday's landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision gutting a Washington, D.C., handgun ban can best be viewed, from Chicago's perspective, as a tax on Chicago citizens. A tax to be paid in blood and money. Because of the court's ruling, Chicago residents, in the not too distant future, likely will be able to buy handguns and keep them in their homes for the first time in more than 25 years. That new freedom will come at a high cost for our citizens. Today, Chicago effectively bans its residents from privately possessing handguns -- a law in effect since the early 1980s -- and that's not going to change anytime soon. First, there will be reams of litigation, with Chicago taxpayers footing part of the hefty bill. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-gun-ruling.html Roberts' record on high court defies '05 pledges of centrism By James Oliphant. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 3:12 PM CDT, June 28, 2008. WASHINGTON ? With his third term as chief justice coming to a close amid three explosive cases last week, John Roberts has proved to be almost everything conservatives hoped and liberals feared. Despite pledges during his 2005 confirmation hearing to hew to judicial centrism, Roberts has shown himself to be a reliable member of the Supreme Court's right flank?rarely, if ever, disagreeing with its positions on civil rights, gun control, the death penalty, affirmative action and a host of other issues. That may come as no surprise to those who paid close attention to Roberts' career before his elevation to the high court, but the picture is at odds with the non-ideological face he presented after his nomination. "I come before this committee with no agenda, no platform," Roberts told the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2005. "I will approach every case with an open mind." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/roberts-record-on-high-c ourt-defies-05.html International Herald Tribune Editorial: Justice and decency in the face of horror. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 26, 2008. For the law to be just, it must temper society's anger over even the most horrible acts with decency and restraint. The U.S. Supreme Court exemplified that principle on Wednesday, striking down the death penalty for the rape of a child. While acknowledging the horror of the crime, Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion drew on widely shared standards of decency, constitutional law and real-world impact to explain why the Constitution forbids punishing it with death. The 5-4 ruling also laid down a critical standard: In cases of crimes against individuals (which excludes treason and espionage) the death penalty can be applied only when the victim's life is taken. Kennedy wrote that the defendant's rape of his 8-year-old stepdaughter was an act "that cannot be recounted in these pages in a way sufficient to capture in full the hurt and horror inflicted." But the Eighth Amendment, he noted, requires that a penalty be a "graduated and proportioned" response. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_27.html Chicagoland Mayor Daley calls Supreme Court's gun-ban reversal 'a very frightening decision' High court strikes down Washington D.C. law in ruling that could have implications for similar 1982 Chicago Weapons Ordinance By Melissa Patterson and Jeff Coen. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 2:34 PM CDT, June 26, 2008. An angry Mayor Richard Daley on Thursday called the Supreme Court's overturning of the Washington D.C. handgun ban "a very frightening decision" and vowed to fight vigorously any challenges to Chicago's ban. That challenge was not long in coming. Hours after the high court's ruling was made public Thursday, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association sued the city and the mayor in an effort to overturn Chicago's quarter-century ban on handguns. City officials expressed confidence the city would prevail in any court challenge, asserting, among other things, that the 2nd Amendment as part of the Bill of Rights restricts the federal government and does not apply to state and local governments. "It's a big blow to those of us who believe in common sense gun laws," Gov. Rod Blagojevich said during an appearance at a West Side community agency to announce a summer jobs program. "And as a result, it's the wrong decision." Earlier, Daley expressed outrage at the 5-4 court decision. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mayor-daley-calls-suprem e-courts-gun.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Madigan's lawsuit nails mortgage firm. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 26, 2008. To get a sense of Angelo Mozilo, the chairman of the nation's biggest mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp., consider how he reacted recently when a customer e-mailed him because he feared he was losing his home. "Disgusting," Mozilo wrote in an e-mail about the man's plea -- one of many the company received based on an advocacy group's form letter. Unfortunately for Mozilo, rather than forwarding that e-mail within his company, as he intended, he hit the "reply" button, sending it back to the customer, who posted it on a Web site. "Disgusting" also happens to sum up our reaction to the allegations in a lawsuit against Countrywide filed Wednesday by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-madigans.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Madigan, time to tap funds, ease squeeze. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 25, 2008. House Speaker Madigan, the ball is in your court. Gov. Blagojevich lobbed it there Tuesday after he laid out $1.5 billion in painful cuts to social services, health care and transit that the governor says he must make if the House doesn't come up with new revenue. We're in this mess because the budget, which legislators passed May 31 and is supposed to go into effect next Tuesday, is $2 billion out of wack, according to the governor's office. The Senate passed several revenue bills to help support the budget, but the House, led by Madigan, rejected them. Madigan should reconsider at least one of those bills, the so-called fund sweeps bill. This is a relatively noncontroversial bill, which could generate as much as $530 million toward ending that $2 billion deficit. Madigan should let this bill move forward -- to help reduce the deficit and to show he can do more than just cast stones. Madigan helped create the problem we're in now, by handing Blagojevich a massively unbalanced budget, but has shown no interest in fixing it. It's time for Madigan to give an inch. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-madigan.html Chicago ranks first in architecture and design, according to study. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 27, 2008. I don't put much stock in studies, but this one is hard to ignore: It rates Chicago the top U.S. city for architecture and design. The survey comes from the North American division of a worldwide architecural firm--the division is based in New York--so it's hard to say the fix was in for Chicago. The study includes a Zogby poll, which found that 87 percent of the Chicago residents surveyed rated the architecture of their city as excellent or good. Guess they haven't seen any of our hideous three-flat condos. A spokeswoman for the firm that did the study, RMJM Hillier, denied in an interview that the survey is an attention-getting stunt. "We wanted to do something to spark a dialogue," she said. "It's quite serious." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-ranks-first-in-a rchitecture-and.html Commodities Oil $140.21 Silver Bullion $17.52 Gold Bullion $927 Platinum Bullion $ $2064 Euro $1.5762 ?The American people must demand that our government fix the solution. We need a Manhattan style project or something similar to Kennedy?s call for the Space Race. We?re spending billions of dollars a year in Iraq to secure oil for our economy. We?re running trillions of dollars in debt. What?s a few billion dollars compared to that. We are the United States. We do big things. We started the ?grand experiment? of Democracy. We started the industrial revolution, invented the telephone, the computer, got to the moon, developed the Internet, and the mobile phone. Now we even have a surrogate scratching in the dirt on Mars. We?ve cured hundreds of diseases, extending life expectancy easily into the 70 to 80 year range. There are already several solutions in consideration that may or may not work out in the long run. Every university in the country should have massive amounts of funding to find the solution for this problem (a readily available alternative to a gasoline powered car) in 10 years. Let the Middle East go back to life in the 10th century, as many of them seem to want. We would no longer have to spend money in that region to keep millennial tribal fights under control. Our economy will get back to the business of producing the next wonderful way of life not having to peer around the corner trying to guess when the next ransom note is going to arrive from OPEC.? William Rattan. On Oil and Solutions to the Oil crisis By William Rattan. 6/11/08. We are currently fighting a war over petroleum. Besides the war in Iraq, the price of gasoline has created havoc in our economy. An argument could be made that the severe weather that we?ve been experiencing the last several years, which has interrupted the flow of fuel to the United States, is due to our use of oil. Oil prices seem to be on an ever-upward trajectory affecting the price of everything it touches. Food prices have just started to go up and I don?t think that trend will change anytime soon. Most of the chemicals used in agriculture are made from petroleum. The fertilizers and pest controls are made from petroleum. The equipment used to plant, maintain and harvest the crops run on petroleum. The trucks and trains (and planes) that transport our food around the world to our tables run on petroleum. Every step of the process is dependent on this weak link in the world economy. We?ve seen it happen before and we?ll see it again in the future. And, the food chain is only one example. The solution is not a gas tax holiday or a never-ending investigation into the oil companies? motivations; the United States hasn?t controlled the oil markets in decades. We are no longer the largest producers of oil and we are quickly getting stiff competition for the use of oil from countries such as China and India. They?ve only just begun to get addicted to the stuff. Depending upon the opinions I read, there may well be enough oil in the ground to last us forever, but that oil is getting exponentially more difficult to reach and process ? increasing the cost every year just to produce it. And much of it is not under North America. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/on-oil-and-solutions-to- oil-crisis.html Oil burden ? Revisited By Carlos T Mock, MD. June 7, 2007. Last time the United States had an oil crises of this magnitude was in 1980. Even when adjusted for inflation, crude oil at $137 a barrel is more expensive than at the peak of the oil spike in 1980. That is an alarming statistic. Instead of talking about Oil Bubbles we should be talking about Oil Burden: V?ronique Riches-Flores of Soci?t? G?n?rale measures the ?oil burden? ? the volume of oil consumed, multiplied by the average price and divided by nominal gross domestic product. This gives the proportion of the world economy devoted to oil and accounts for the way the world has reduced its reliance on oil since 1980. The oil burden so measured has risen about 75 per cent during the past year, to its highest level in almost 25 years. This must soon have an economic impact if prices do not quickly reverse. But prices would need to reach about $190 before the burden regained its peak of 1980. It is not clear that prices are at a point where demand will fall. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/oil-burden-revisited.htm l Oil hits record above $142 a barrel By Chris Flood. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 27 2008 09:01 | Last updated: June 27 2008 20:57. Oil prices surged to a record above $142 a barrel, driven higher by a cocktail of supply concerns, dollar weakness, inflation fears and fresh turmoil in equity markets. Nymex August West Texas Intermediate hit a record $142.26 a barrel before easing back to trade 86 cents higher at $140.50, up 3.8 per cent this week. ICE August Brent hit a peak at $142.13 a barrel before slipping back to trade 76 cents higher at $140.59, up 4.2 per cent this week. Libya?s threat to cut its oil production and a warning from Opec?s president that crude prices could surge as high as $170 a barrel this summer provided a green light for traders to buy. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/oil-hits-record-above-14 2-barrel.html Oil blame game By Paul Krugman. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 27, 2008. The U.S. Congress has always had a soft spot for "experts" who tell members what they want to hear, whether it's supply-side economists declaring that tax cuts increase revenue or climate-change skeptics insisting that global warming is a myth. Right now, the welcome mat is out for analysts who claim that out-of-control speculators are responsible for $4-a-gallon gas. Back in May, Michael Masters, a hedge fund manager, made a big splash when he told a Senate committee that speculation is the main cause of rising prices for oil and other raw materials. He presented charts showing the growth of the oil futures market, in which investors buy and sell promises to deliver oil at a later date, and claimed that "the increase in demand from index speculators" - his term for institutional investors who buy commodity futures - "is almost equal to the increase in demand from China." Many economists scoffed: Masters was making the bizarre claim that betting on a higher price of oil - for that is what it means to buy a futures contract - is equivalent to actually burning the stuff. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/oil-blame-game.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Cut oil subsidies. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 20 2008 19:02 | Last updated: June 20 2008 19:02. The queues of angry motorists outside Chinese petrol stations on Friday are a reminder of why cutting gasoline subsidies is difficult. They are also a reminder of why such cuts are a good idea. Other countries that subsidise energy ? especially poor countries ? should follow suit. For very similar reasons, countries that tax fuel, such as the US and the UK, should resist any temptation to cut their levies. China has announced an 18 per cent rise in the controlled price of diesel alongside a 5 per cent rise in the price of electricity. It joins India, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia, all of which have cut their subsidies in recent months, as the cost of maintaining them rose in line with the soaring price of oil. Exporters of oil, such as Iran, can maintain their subsidies as prices rise simply by forgoing some extra tax revenue. But for the oil-hungry importers of east Asia there is no escape: high petrol prices mean somebody has to lose out, and the only question is who. Use subsidies to keep prices down and the loser is the government; allow prices to rise and it is motorists who suffer. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment-cut.html More offshore oil drilling? Not so fast. By David McGrath. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 24, 2008. I live on Dauphin Island, 3 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Alabama. As I read the political positioning by the president and presidential candidates on whether to rescind restrictions on offshore oil drilling as a solution to soaring gas prices, I can only shake my head while gaping at the brightly lit crown of oil and natural gas rigs that surround my community. At first, I liked the ubiquitous metal platforms, as close as a quarter mile from the beach, because they constitute good fishery habitat for my favorite sport. Resembling the motorized contraptions we kids used to build out of erector sets, and towering several hundred feet into the sky, with sluices and cranes protruding like porcupine quills, they also serve as "repellent" for spring breakers, shooing most of the tourists to the Florida Panhandle, and regions south. But I changed my tune after recent accidents involving the platforms, part of more than 300 accidents worldwide in the last 25 years, according to a British study. The scariest for me occurred last September when a cloud of poisonous gas was expelled by a nearby natural gas rig and drifted over the island, sickening dozens of residents and forcing the evacuation of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab School. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-offshore-oil-drilli ng-not-so-fast.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Drilling for offshore oil won't fix any problems. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 23, 2008. President Bush's plan to lift a ban on most offshore oil drilling is off base for many reasons -- and protecting the environment isn't even at the top of the list. Sure, we want to protect marine ecosystems in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans against possible oil spills. Sure, we want to protect our oceans and beaches against toxic metals and other substances. That's what is at risk if Congress runs with President Bush's plan to lift a 27-year-old moratorium on most oil and gas drilling off America's coasts. Despite that, this page might be willing to consider lifting the ban if that would significantly lower gas prices and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil, particularly since advances in drilling technology have lessened the odds of a spill. There is little to suggest that is the case. Expanded offshore drilling is not expected to have a "significant impact on domestic crude oil and gas production or prices until 2030," according to a federal Energy Information Administration report. That's not much help for Americans paying $4 a gallon or more for gas today. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-drilling.html Chicago Tribune Editorial - Revenge of the Prius driver. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 28, 2008. Used to be, when you pulled up to the light next to one of those big, brawny, incredibly massive SUVs, you felt inadequate in your puttering little sedan. Admit it. You did. The sport-utility vehicle driver, perched high in leathered luxury, commanded the road in a vehicle so oversized that it often could just barely squeeze into a single parking space. But now, with $4 a gallon gas, the driver of a scrawny car with 13-inch tires experiences another emotion when he or she sees one of those rumbling beasts idling at the stop light, consuming massive quantities of gas: pity. Yes, those who resisted the supersized SUV fever of the past decades now feel pretty good about the decision to scorn the gas-gulping off-road vehicle made for people whose idea of off-road is a series of potholes on the Edens Expressway. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-revenge-of.html International Herald Tribune Editorial: Running on vapors. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 23, 2008. Honda Motor chose a good week to introduce its new hydrogen-powered car. With gas prices rising, we could hardly be more eager for an alternative energy source, especially one that claims to have no bad effects on the environment: A car powered by a ubiquitous, inexhaustible gas that emits nothing worse than water. Hydrogen has long been the dream of car visionaries. During the oil crisis of the late 1970s, there was a $33,000 Dodge Omni retooled to run on hydrogen. Today, Toyota and General Motors have prototype hydrogen cars. But there is still work to be done. The FCX Clarity is meant to look like a regular car built in a regular factory. But Honda is only making 200 between now and 2010. Honda's president said that the Clarity costs several hundred thousand dollars to make. The lease of $600 a month is heavily subsidized. And to lease one, you must live in a small slice of Southern California, close to one of the few hydrogen fueling stations in the country. There's also a subsidy on that. It costs the fueling station at the University of California, Irvine, about $10 a kilogram for hydrogen that it will sell for $5, according to Scott Samuelsen, director of the university's National Fuel Cell Research Center. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_23.html Why must our holiday euros cost so much? By Christopher Johnson. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 22 2008 19:28 | Last updated: June 22 2008 19:28. My bank has charged me ?50 ($98.5) for a service that should have been free. My daughter lives in France with her three children. I made them a gift of ?2,000, which had to be converted into euros. The bank quoted an exchange rate of ?1.216 to the pound, which made ?2,432. The market rate quoted on the front page of the Financial Times was ?1.246, which would have made my ?2,000 into ?2,492. So ?60 (about ?50) went missing somewhere in the system. About 2? per cent had been deducted from my ?2,000. I also had a ?20 charge for transferring money through the international banking system, which would have been more acceptable if the exchange rate had been better. My daughter?s bank will also make a charge. I once had to send her some euros when she was changing banks and did not have an account. The charge for sending ?1,500 by Western Union, the dominant money transmission service, was ?60, and the exchange rate was poor. Different banks and foreign exchange dealers quote a wide variety of exchange rates, but even the best do not get nearer than 2 per cent to the market rate, and the worst can range up to about 5 per cent. They boast about zero per cent commission, but all sorts of hidden charges are added and the exchange rate is seldom mentioned. There is no real competition, because most travellers get foreign currency from their own banks and have to pick it up themselves or pay for home delivery. There is little chance to shop around at the money shops and cashpoints at airports and stations, which do not offer the best rates. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/why-must-our-holiday-eur os-cost-so-much.html Housing Today's loan rates RATE +/- LAST WEEK 30 yr fixed mtg 6.27% 6.28% 15 yr fixed mtg 5.84% 5.88% 30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 7.38% 7.40% 5/1 ARM 5.70% 5.75% 7/1 ARM 5.99% 5.98% Area home sales plunge; prices steady - Bottom may soon be in sight, analysts say. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 27, 2008. Home sales in the nine-county Chicago area were down 29 percent in May compared with a year ago while prices were fairly stable, dipping just 0.5 percent, to $251,000, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors, as a housing industry in crisis continued to struggle. Nationally, sales of existing homes rose slightly in May compared with April, only the second increase in the past 10 months. Prices, however, kept plunging and analysts said the large number of unsold homes indicated the prolonged slump in housing was far from over. Some analysts, though, are beginning to speculate that the bottom of the market soon may be in sight. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/area-home-sales-plunge-p rices-steady.html Bush Bashing International Herald Tribune Editorial: Dealing with the trauma Copyright by The International Herald Tribune Published: June 23, 2008 The harsh emotional and mental costs of sending troops to frequent and long deployments in a war without clear battle lines became apparent last month, when the Pentagon released data on suicides and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2007, there were 115 suicides among active-duty service members, an increase over a total of 102 in 2006 and the highest figure since the Pentagon began keeping data on suicides in 1980. Last year, the services also registered their highest number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases - 14,000, an increase of 46 percent over 2006. As one step to reduce the pressure on its ranks, the Department of Defense has already announced it would end the 15-month deployments in Iraq required by the surge of 2007. For the longer term, a drawdown in U.S. forces in Iraq would reduce the need for the frequent deployments. Other preventive steps have included recruiting more mental-health professionals and a new Department of Veterans Affairs practice of checking on the condition of discharged service members, including those who have not reported any health problems. Such calls are aimed at getting care to those who are suffering from the depression, anxiety, emotional numbness, sleeplessness, and nightmares of the stress disorder without reaching out for help. When it comes to troops and their families reaching out for help, the old expression associated with life in the armed forces - "hurry up and wait" - cannot be tolerated. International Herald Tribune Editorial: Another rebuke on Guant?namo. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 25, 2008. One of Guant?namo's many horrors is just how long people have been held there in a cruel legal limbo. Huzaifa Parhat has been detained for six long years, despite his insistence that he was an innocent swept up in the chaos in Afghanistan. It is welcome news that a federal appeals court has now ruled, in the first decision of its kind, that Parhat was improperly labeled an "enemy combatant." We hope this means Parhat and the roughly 270 other detainees being held in Guant?namo will be given quick and fair opportunities to challenge their detention. Parhat is one of 17 Uighur Muslims, a Chinese ethnic minority, being held at the U.S. Navy base in Guant?namo. Their supporters maintain that they were captured by mistake and had no hostile intentions toward the United States. After a hearing before a combatant status review tribunal - a kangaroo court that rules without a real hearing or reliable evidence - Parhat was designated an enemy combatant. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_25.html Court voids finding on Guant?namo detainee By William Glaberson. Copyright by the International Herald Tribune. Published: June 24, 2008. In the first civilian judicial review of the government's evidence for holding any of the Guant?namo Bay detainees, a federal appeals court has ordered that one of them be released or given a new military hearing. The ruling, made known Monday in a notice from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, overturned a Pentagon tribunal's decision in the case of one of 17 Guant?namo detainees who are ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim minority from western China. The imprisonment of the 17 Uighurs (pronounced WEE-goors) has drawn wide attention because of their claim that although they were in Afghanistan when the United States invaded in 2001, they were never enemies of this country and were mistakenly swept into Guant?namo. The court's decision was a new setback for the Bush administration, which has suffered a string of judicial defeats on Guant?namo policy, most recently in a Supreme Court ruling on June 12 that dealt with a separate issue of detainee rights. The Uighur case was argued long before that ruling by the justices. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/court-voids-finding-on-g uantnamo.html U.S. to pay millions for anthrax innuendo By Scott Shane and Eric Lichtblau. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 28, 2008. WASHINGTON: The U.S. government will pay $4.6 million to settle a lawsuit from Steven Hatfill, a former U.S. Army biodefense researcher intensively investigated as a "person of interest" in the deadly anthrax letters of 2001, the Justice Department announced Friday. The settlement, consisting of $2.825 million in cash and an annuity worth $1.8 million that will pay Hatfill $150,000 a year for 20 years, brings to an end a five-year legal battle. Hatfill, who worked at the army's laboratory at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland, in the late 1990s, was the subject of a flood of news media coverage beginning in mid-2002, after television cameras showed FBI agents in biohazard suits searching his apartment near the army base. John Ashcroft, then the attorney general, later called him a "person of interest" in the case on national television. In a news conference in August 2002, Hatfill tearfully denied that he had anything to do with the anthrax letters and said irresponsible news media coverage based on government leaks had destroyed his reputation. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/us-to-pay-millions-for-a nthrax-innuendo.html Indecision 2008 Financial Times Editorial Comment: Campaign finance rules in a mess. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 22 2008 18:54 | Last updated: June 22 2008 18:54. More than 30 years ago, following the Watergate scandal, the US provided for the partial public funding of presidential elections. Candidates would get public money to supplement cash they raised in return for accepting curbs on their spending. It worked, after a fashion: since 1976, every presidential candidate has taken public money for his general election campaign. Last week Barack Obama announced he would not. This understandable though hypocritical decision further undermines the country?s campaign finance rules. In the end, however, this may be no bad thing. Mr Obama?s fund-raising prowess means he can spurn public money with strings attached. Left alone, he will have an enormous financial advantage over John McCain. He would have been foolish, no doubt, to surrender this ? a rare prospect for a Democrat, since Republican contenders have typically been better funded. Unfortunately, before Mr Obama discovered his Midas touch, he said he would accept public funds and called for the system to be upheld. Moreover, he has justified his new position dishonestly, complaining that special interests were financing Mr McCain?s campaign. In fact, roughly 2 per cent of what Mr McCain has raised has come from lobbyists and political action committees (and the Democrats have usually relied on those sources more than Republicans). Mr Obama?s reputation for plain dealing has suffered a setback. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment_23.html McCain News Flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYs8X0DZNI4 McCain aide hits nerve with terror remark By Edward Luce and Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 24 2008 00:10 | Last updated: June 24 2008 00:10. John McCain?s right-hand man hit a raw nerve on Monday when he said another terrorist attack on US soil would prove a ?big advantage? to the Republican nominee?s general election chances. The comments by Charlie Black, who is arguably Mr McCain?s most experienced adviser, put into words what many Republicans and Democrats have privately been stating for months. Mr Black, 60, who is a veteran of every Republican presidential campaign since the 1980s and served in the Reagan and Bush Senior administrations, immediately apologised for his remarks, which were published in an interview with Fortune Magazine. Mr McCain, whom opinion polls show is trailing Barack Obama, his Democratic rival, by between six and 15 points, said: ?I cannot imagine why he would say it. I strenuously disagree?.?.?.?It?s not true. I have worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another terrorist attack on America.? The Obama campaign said: ?The fact that John McCain?s top adviser says that a terrorist attack on American soil would be a ?big advantage? for their political campaign is a complete disgrace and is exactly the kind of politics that needs to change.? http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-aide-hits-nerve-w ith-terror.html Beer battle could give McCain hangover By Andrew Ward in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 27 2008 17:12 | Last updated: June 27 2008 17:12. When InBev launched its $46bn takeover bid for Anheuser-Busch this month, US politicians expressed horror at the prospect of America?s biggest brewer falling under European control. For one political family, however, there is more than national pride at stake as the maker of Budweiser resists its Belgian suitor. Cindy McCain, wife of John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, is the controlling shareholder in a wholesaler that sells $300m of Anheuser products a year. Hensley & Co has exclusive rights to distribute Anheuser brands in the McCains? home city of Phoenix, Arizona, and counts itself as the US?s third-largest Anheuser distributor. Senate disclosures show Mrs McCain owns more than $1m of shares in Anheuser, putting her in line for a windfall if InBev forces the deal through. But analysts say the potential financial benefits must be weighed against uncertainty over how the takeover would affect her business. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/beer-battle-could-give-m ccain-hangover.html Obama and Clinton stage unity rally By Edward Luce. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 27 2008 20:04 | Last updated: June 27 2008 20:04. After sixteen months of often bitter disunity, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on Friday staged a ?Unity Rally? in the town of Unity, New Hampshire ? just in case anyone might have missed the point. Instead of calling Mr Obama ?na?ve and irresponsible?, as she often had on the campaign trail, Mrs Clinton praised the Democratic nominee?s ?grit, determination and grace?. Instead of referring to the former First Lady as someone who would ?do or say anything to get elected?, Mr Obama waxed lyrical about ?this great leader standing next to me.? The only explicit reference to the rancour that had tinged so many of their exchanges came when Mrs Clinton referred to their ?spirited dialogue? on the campaign trail ? ?that was the nicest way I could think of phrasing it,? she added. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-and-clinton-stage- unity-rally.html Obama moving toward center - Democrat edging away from left on some issues in effort to woo independent voters By Janet Hook. Copyright ? 2008, The Los Angeles Times. 3:17 PM CDT, June 28, 2008. Washington ? He would expand the government's wiretap powers and allow states to execute certain rapists. He talks tough against Iran. When the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns, he did not complain. This collection of policy stances would fit many Republican candidates?but they are the recent profile outlined by a man once called the most liberal Democrat in the Senate: Barack Obama. Obama, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, has begun staking out centrist or even hawkish positions in recent weeks on foreign policy, trade, the death penalty and other hot-button issues as he introduces himself to independent and swing voters, many of whom know little about him or have heard criticisms that he is too liberal. Candidates often adjust their policy stances after the primary season, when their chief goal is usually to win their party's most ideologically driven voters. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, has also changed tack on a wide array of issues. But Obama has drawn attention for the number of issues on which he has taken a centrist stance in recent days. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-moving-toward-cent er-democrat.html Obama Accuses Dr. Dobson of 'Making Stuff Up' ? 2008 Newsmax. June 26, 2008. LOS ANGELES ? Barack Obama said Tuesday that evangelical leader James Dobson was "making stuff up" when he accused the presumed Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible. Dobson used his Focus on the Family radio program to highlight excerpts of a speech Obama gave in June 2006 to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. Speaking to reporters on his campaign plane before landing in Los Angeles, Obama said the speech made the argument that people of faith, like himself, "try to translate some of our concerns in a universal language so that we can have an open and vigorous debate rather than having religion divide us." Obama added, "I think you'll see that he was just making stuff up, maybe for his own purposes." In his program, Dobson focused on examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy. For instance, Obama said Leviticus suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination. Obama also cited Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application." http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/obama-accuses-dr-dobson- of-making-stuff.html Don't go mum on us, Obama By Garrison Keillor. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 26, 2008. I was at a playground with my daughter the other day, reading "The Two Kinds of Decay" by Sarah Manguso (good book) and watching my girl as she stood at the perimeter of children playing and studied them, exactly as I did when I was a kid, working up the nerve to plunge into the fray. She is braver than I?she plunges. I tended to retreat and have been backpedaling ever since. I was sitting on a bench in the shade with the nannies and mommies, most of them on cell phones, talking about problem men, problem cleaning ladies, problem mothers, and the woman sitting next to me got up to go see to her child, and then stopped and came back and got her purse out of the stroller and took it with her. I was offended. I am an author, not a purse snatcher. Does a purse snatcher sit on a bench reading the latest Manguso book? When she came back I wanted to tell her, "I am not a crook," but remembered Richard Nixon saying that and how the very words immediately told you what a liar he was, so I sat and brooded, and then it occurred to me that if you play it cool and don't talk to people, then people are entitled to assume the worst. I hadn't said so much as "Good morning" to her and so she was wary. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/dont-go-mum-on-us-obama. html International Herald Tribune Editorial: Rebranding Michelle Obama. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 25, 2008. Barack Obama's campaign has been working to soften and sweeten his wife's image, but the real problem is that such an effort even seems necessary. Michelle Obama has been fielding scurrilous attacks that both presidential candidates and both parties should denounce. She has been called "Obama's baby mama," slang for an unwed mother; she has faced allegations that she used the slur "whitey" in a speech, and the much discussed fist-bump that she shared with her husband earlier this month has been absurdly dissected as a terrorist gesture. It's fair to challenge a candidate's family members when they act as campaign surrogates. But campaigns shouldn't tolerate malicious falsehoods. Barack Obama defends his wife on his "Fight the Smears" Web site, but one site can't clean up all the muck. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune-editorial_5896.html GLBT Chicago Tribune Editorial - For civil unions. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 23, 2008. The battle over same-sex marriage affords no apparent room for compromise. Supporters think it's a matter of simple justice for gays to get the same legal treatment as heterosexual couples. Opponents think extending marriage to gays and lesbians means drastically redefining a foundation of society that has deep religious significance. It's hard to see how to give both sides a large measure of what they want. Or is it? In 2007, California created a simple means of accommodating the opposing camps: domestic partnerships (also known as civil unions), which offer same-sex couples the same rights and responsibilities that go with marriage under state law, but without upsetting the traditional definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Recently, of course, the California Supreme Court ruled that gays must be allowed to marry, on the grounds that providing domestic partnerships but not marriage for same-sex couples violated the state constitution. California started to perform same-sex marriages in the last week. So how will this impact Illinois? Not much, perhaps. Few people expect the Illinois Supreme Court would overturn state law defining marriage. And even fewer think the Illinois legislature would pass legislation to redefine marriage. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-for-civil.html Chicago Free Press Editorial: Happy Pride. Copyright by Chicago Free Press. June 25, 2008. Every year when Pride rolls around, we inevitably hear the same complaints: It?s become too commercial, there are too many politicians, it?s not political enough, the flamboyant few get all the attention. All of those things are true, of course, but it?s too easy?and far too simplistic?to act as if Pride is somehow pass? or not worth celebrating anymore. There are many GLBTs who came out to a far different world. Not that long ago, people risked arrest just going to a gay bar?there are those among us who?ve seen people commit suicide because they were outed by news reports of Chicago Police raids on gay bars. As for the politicians, less than 50 years ago, the only time elected officials boasted about being around gay people was when they went along on police raids of gay bars in order to grab a few headlines. How things have changed?now the Chicago Police have a float in the Pride Parade, with gay and lesbian officers proudly wearing their uniforms and waving rainbow flags. And, yes, there are many politicians who make sure to march in the Pride Parade now?it?s essential if a politician wants to win office on Chicago?s North Side lakefront. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-free-press-edito rial-happy.html Mayor honors LGBTs at reception. Copyright by Windy City times. 2008-06-25. More than 700 people attended Mayor Richard M. Daley's annual Pride Month reception of the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues at the G.A.R. Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph, on June 17. Text by John Lendman; photos by Kat Fitzgerald ( see more at www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com/photos/MayorPridereception2008 and www.MysticImagesPhotography.com ) CCHR LGBT Director Bill Greaves read the mayor's pride proclamation, officially declaring June as Pride Month in preparation for the 39th annual Pride Parade./Hundreds attend mayor?s reception By Matt Simonette. Copyright bhy Chicago Free Press. June 25, 2008. At his annual reception at the honoring GLBT Chicagoans last week, Mayor Richard M. Daley again reaffirmed his support of gay marriage and heralded the contributions GLBTs make to the community. Holding up a pro-gay marriage button that he had just been handed, Daley said at the Cultural Center June 17 that he supports marriage equality and does so openly and publicly. ?This is all about human rights and civil rights,? he said. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mayor-honors-lgbts-at-re ception.html Sen. Barack Obama's Pride message. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News Update Tues., June 10, 2008. Sen. Barack Obama released the following statement Sat., June 7, according to Advocate.com: ?I am proud to join with our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters in celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. "It's time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let's enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Let's repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country. Let's treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sen-barack-obamas-pride- message.html Mormon gays tread lightly in latest bid for acceptance - Meeting with church leaders called historic By Bonnie Miller Rubin. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 3:11 PM CDT, June 28, 2008. SALT LAKE CITY ? When he was 16, David Nielson divulged his attraction to men, knowing it could cost him the two great pillars of his life: his parents and his Mormon faith. "When you come out, the philosophy here has always been, 'Say goodbye to your family because they will say goodbye to you,' " said the postal worker, 24. "But, I believe?and hope?that the climate is finally changing." While the church still teaches that gay sex is a sin and actively opposes gay marriage?which it will do from pulpits across California this Sunday?a first-ever meeting between Mormon officials and members of an advocacy group for non-straight Mormons, might suggest that such acceptance is more than wishful thinking. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mormon-gays-tread-lightl y-in-latest-bid.html GET TESTED JUNE 27. Copyright by Chicago Free Press. June 25, 2008. I encourage Americans to join the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its partners June 27 in our nationwide effort to reduce the number of people in this country who don?t know their HIV status. The CDC estimates that about one-fourth of the more than one million people living with HIV in the United States don?t know they are infected. HIV testing is a critical step in reducing HIV infections. CDC once again strongly supports National HIV Testing Day, an annual campaign organized by the National Association of People with AIDS. The theme of the campaign is significant: ?Take the Test. Take Control.? Knowing your HIV status empowers you to help prevent the spread of the disease. If you are infected, you can take steps to protect your health and that of your partners as well as seek life-extending medical treatment. People who learn they are not infected can take steps to help ensure they remain uninfected. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/get-tested-june-27.html LGBT Parenting - 10 Years Later By Roger McCaffrey-Boss. Copyright by Gay Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss. June 26, 2008. People often ask my partner and I how does it feel to be parents, as 10 years ago my partner, Christopher and I became parents, having adopted two boys, one in 1997 who just turned 10 and the other in 2000, who is now eight. It used to be that our biggest concern was daycare, nursery schools and play dates. Now that both boys are in public school, second and fourth grade, our lives revolve around homework, reading, school vacations and making sure our kids are active with sports and dance classes. Last weekend, our oldest son had two soccer games, one day in Libertyville and the other in Oak Park. While the oldest was in Libertyville, the youngest had a dance recital in Oak Park. Needless to say, we have become carpooling soccer parents racing to fill our children?s schedules. As hard as the infant and toddler stages were (being always on the alert for sources of danger to the children), that stage was easy in comparison to the current mental demands of homework, school assignments and research projects. Sometimes the school demands become overwhelming with the learning of math facts, spelling lists and learning to type all while in third grade. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/lgbt-parenting-10-years- later.html Health Care Chicago Tribune Editorial - Doctors vs. health care. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 28, 2008. About 1,000 retail medical clinics have opened their doors at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS/Caremark and elsewhere around the country. Most are open around the clock, don't require appointments and are staffed by nurse practitioners who treat a variety of common ailments. The clinics have been a godsend for patients seeking accessible, affordable and convenient care. But the powerful Illinois State Medical Society wants to slam clinic doors shut in this state. It has proposed a bill that would regulate these clinics almost to the point of extinction. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-tribune-editoria l-doctors-vs.html Rotavirus shot puts cases at new low - Report finds big drop among U.S. Children By Thomas H. Maugh II. Copyright by The Los Angeles Times. June 26, 2008. A rotavirus vaccine approved in 2006 is having a significant impact in the United States, delaying the onset of the rotavirus season by three months and reducing its severity by about half, federal officials said Wednesday. The incidence of rotavirus activity during the first months of 2008 was the lowest it has been since the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began monitoring the disease 15 years ago, researchers reported in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The highly contagious rotavirus is the leading cause of severe vomiting and diarrhea in infants and young children around the world. Each year in the U.S., it causes as many as 272,000 emergency room visits, up to 70,000 hospitalizations and 20 to 60 deaths. Worldwide, an estimated 500,000 children die from the virus each year. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/rotavirus-shot-puts-case s-at-new-low.html Teen pregnancies at 30-year low - Recent rise could be anomaly or sign of bigger problem By Lisa Anderson. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 3:06 PM CDT, June 28, 2008. NEW YORK ? News of a cluster of at least 17 pregnant teenagers at a small Massachusetts high school recently made headlines around the world, but it came at a time when teen pregnancies and abortions in the United States actually are at their lowest points in 30 years. Pregnancies ? whether they end in birth, miscarriage or abortion ? among women age 15 to 19 dropped to 72.2 per 1,000 women in 2004, down from a peak of 117 per 1,000 women in 1990, according to the latest data compiled by New York's Guttmacher Institute, which focuses on reproductive health research, policy analysis and education. While some 700,000 women age 15 to 19 become pregnant every year, the rate has declined 36 percent since it peaked in 1990. The rate of abortions among teens also plummeted, to 19.8 per 1,000 women in 2004 from a high of 43.5 per 1,000 in 1988. That's the good news. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/teen-pregnancies-at-30-y ear-low-recent.html Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - Pregnancy is no game. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 24, 2008. The story was disturbing: A group of teenage girls allegedly had made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. In the most recent school year, 17 girls got pregnant at a high school in Gloucester, Mass., where four girls got pregnant the year before. The school nurse administered more than 150 pregnancy tests, and some of the girls were actually disappointed when the results were negative. When they received positive test results, some greeted the news with high fives and plans for baby showers, Time magazine reported. On Monday, the story became murkier, as Gloucester officials, facing a storm of international media coverage, backpedaled, saying they had no independent confirmation of a pact being made. Pact or not, what's clear is some of these girls at least informally talked about getting pregnant at the same time together. In short, they treated pregnancy like a game. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-sun-times-editor ial-pregnancy.html Technology Hot air clouds the energy debate By Clive Crook. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 22 2008 18:58 | Last updated: June 22 2008 18:58. Week in and week out, Washington gives master classes in making simple questions complicated. It is a bipartisan effort of mutually assured irrelevance. Perfected over years, a combination of tribal ideology, empty posturing and feverish displacement activity generally does the trick. You see it everywhere, but nowhere more than in energy policy. The US constitution makes it difficult for politicians to do much (except fight wars) and this avoids a lot of damage that would otherwise result. But now and then some intelligent policymaking is needed, and energy is again a case in point. Nowadays most Americans want to see action on global warming. Sensing the mood, both presidential candidates advocate a cap-and-trade approach to reducing carbon emissions. However, even more than they want to see global warming addressed, Americans demand cheap fuel for their urban assault vehicles. So the candidates must cater to that appetite as well ? with petrol tax holidays and new plans for offshore drilling (John McCain) or windfall taxes to punish oil company gouging and ?help families to pay for their skyrocketing energy costs? (Barack Obama). The US does not know whether to tax energy or subsidise it, promote domestic oil production or forbid it, treat ExxonMobil and Chevron as champions or pariahs. So it does all of the above. What it knows for sure is that it wants energy security, energy independence and clean air ? plus the inalienable right to recreational trucks (not to mention freezing its citizens in summer and broiling them in winter) as though energy were a free good. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/hot-air-clouds-energy-de bate.html Financial Times Editorial Comment: Dot whatever. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 27 2008 19:25 | Last updated: June 27 2008 19:25. Is this the end of dotcom? At a meeting this week in Paris, regulators voted to allow companies to buy their own ?top-level domains?. TLDs are the last segment of an internet domain name (for example, the ?com? in FT.com). At the mo ment, businesses must choose the suffix for their website address from a list based on what kind of organisation they are, and where they are. But no longer. Rightly, websites will soon be able to choose their own TLD. Many of these new addresses will be quite predictable (like drink. pepsi, eat.mcdonalds or hillary.clinton2012). But the sky will be the limit (unless, of course, you buy ?.outerspace?). Businesses can set up any domain they want. A prize should go to the first to offer a haiku as a web address. However, this change is not without perils. It might have a detrimental impact on international development. Tuvalu receives $4m a year from licensing the rights to its country domain name, ?.tv?. The Federated States of Micronesia (?.fm?), Djibouti (?.dj?) and Tonga (?.to?) are also likely to suffer. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria l-comment-dot.html Immigration International Herald Tribune Editorial: Giving refuge to victims of mutilation. Copyright by The International Herald Tribune. Published: June 23, 2008. Three women from Guinea won a court victory in Manhattan this month in their struggle to win asylum as victims of the barbaric form of persecution known as female genital cutting. In doing so, they have shined a light on the urgent need for consistent humane policies that treat women's rights as fundamental human rights. The government isn't there yet, judging from the withering opinion of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Ruling unanimously, the judges said the Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest immigration tribunal in the country, had committed "significant errors" and ignored its own regulations in denying asylum to the women, Salimatou Bah, Mariama Diallo and Haby Diallo. It ordered the board to reconsider the cases. Among other misjudgments, the judges said, the board had wrongly assumed that the women were safe from future persecution because their genitals had already been cut. The board had likened the women's injuries to the loss of a limb - a bad thing but not something that happens more than once. The ritual mutilation of girls to promote chastity and thwart sexual desire is a perpetual injury, one of the judges wrote. It is performed without anesthesia, often with dirty instruments, and leads to disfigurement, severe complications and lifelong trauma. The judges also found that the board had erred by failing to consider the women's risk of persecution by other means. In societies where genital cutting is endemic, beatings, rape, forced marriage and sex trafficking are commonplace, too. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/international-herald-tri bune.html Other The `Humble Majority' places faith in one another By Eric Zorn. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 26, 2008. It's long seemed to me that humility is the appropriate response to the vastness of the universe and the wonders and horrors of life on Earth. And I'm glad to learn this week that I seem to have a lot of company. In reading the results of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life's poll of American religious beliefs and practices, the number that jumped out at me was 70. That's the percentage of adults affiliated with a faith tradition who said they agree with the statement, "Many religions can lead to eternal life." This includes 79 percent of Catholics, 82 percent of Jews and 83 percent of those who attend "mainline" Protestant churches. And of course it doesn't include the 16 percent of those polled who reported not being affiliated with any religion. It all adds up to whopping proof of the existence of what I'm calling the Humble Majority?the roughly three-quarters of us who feel that, at some point, the great riddles of life are, in fact, riddles. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/humble-majority-places-f aith-in-one.html Tribune delivers 'jolt' in Orlando By Phil Rosenthal. Copyright ? 2008, Chicago Tribune. 9:33 PM CDT, June 22, 2008. The redesigned Orlando Sentinel that hit doorsteps Sunday morning was loud enough to not just wake up folks in central Florida but down in Ft. Lauderdale, here in Chicago, as far away as Los Angeles and everywhere else parent Tribune Co. owns a paper. "We want a jolt," said Howard Greenberg, Tribune Co.'s publisher for both Orlando and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Ft. Lauderdale. "We want people to take notice, particularly younger people." Colors are splashy, reports shorter. Lots of graphic flourishes, stories told in unusual ways. Like this. So what? I'm in Chicago: The Chicago Tribune is planning its own redesign in response to Tribune Co.'s call for tighter allocation of space for news and other cuts. Chicago Tribune Editor Ann Marie Lipinski informed staff last week that "a rethought and redesigned Tribune" will launch in mid-September. In the meantime, the Saturday paper will be used for experimentation. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tribune-delivers-jolt-in -orlando.html Humor Newly brewed words. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/newly-brewed-words.html Oh McCain! From Lunatics & Liars / Cartoon satire of John McCain's straight talk express. http://www.lunaticsandliars.com/watch?v=bd79e8818a7cc2915b4b2241640d0952 He Said It First: C**t http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euu_DMhsXQo Sobriety and Pronunciation http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sobriety-and-pronunciati on.html Where the Hell is Matt? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY 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: