[News] The Stress Newsletter - March 22, 2008

[Carlos Mock]

Thought for the day
> 
> Handle every stressful situation like a dog.
> If you can't eat it or hump it.
> Pee on it and walk away.



Your Lack of Money

Central banks float rescue ideas By Chris Giles and Krishna Guha in London.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008.  Published: March 21 2008 22:02
| Last updated: March 21 2008 22:02.  Central banks on both sides of the
Atlantic are actively engaged in discussions about the feasibility of mass
purchases of mortgage-backed securities as a possible solution to the credit
crisis.  Such a move would involve the use of public funds to shore up the
market in a key financial instrument and restore confidence by ending the
current vicious circle of forced sales, falling prices and weakening balance
sheets  The conversations, part of a broader exchange as to possible future
steps in battling financial turmoil, are at an early stage. However, the
fact that such a move is being discussed at all indicates the depth of
concern that exists over the health of the banking system.  It shows how far
the policy debate has shifted in recent weeks as the crisis has spread to
prime mortgage assets in the US and engulfed Bear Stearns, the investment
bank. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/central-banks-float-resc
ue-ideas.html

Treasury bonds, for a new low price of just $100 by William Neikirk.
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune.  March 22, 2008.  Now here’s a twist: A
Republican Treasury Department appears to be looking out for the truly small
investor.  The question is: What took them so long?  The answer might be:
The government has a bigger debt to cover and wants to expand the list of
people who want to buy government securities directly.  On Monday, April 7,
all marketable Treasury bills, notes, bonds and the Treasury
Inflation-Protected Securities will be available for sale in minimum (and
multiple) entries of $100. The figure was last changed in the Clinton
administration, when the minimum purchase was dropped to $1,000.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/treasury-bonds-for-new-l
ow-price-of.html

Visa's record IPO a windfall for banks - Stock surges 28.4% on initial day
of trading.  Copyright by Bloomberg News.  March 20, 2008.  NEW YORK—Visa
Inc.'s $17.9 billion initial public offering, the largest ever in the U.S.,
helped replenish the coffers of its U.S. bank owners, including JPMorgan
Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc., as they brace for more losses tied to
mortgages and debt markets.  Visa stock surged $12.50, or 28.4 percent, to
$56.50, on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday on its first day of
trading.  The six biggest banks that hold Class B shares in San
Francisco-based Visa might have made nearly $3.2 billion from the IPO,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That total could grow depending on
how many of the 40.6 million overallotment shares the banks sell to meet
additional demand.  On Tuesday, underwriters sold 406 million Class A shares
for $44 each. That's $2 more than the highest price predicted in Visa's
prospectus.  Visa overcame turbulent market conditions to shatter the U.S.
record IPO of $10.6 billion, set by AT&T Wireless eight years ago.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/visas-record-ipo-windfal
l-for-banks.html

CIT Group draws $7.3bn in emergency aid By Stacy-Marie Ishmael in New York.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008.  Published: March 20 2008 17:56
| Last updated: March 20 2008 21:23.  CIT Group, the largest independent
commercial finance company in the US, on Thursday said it drew on $7.3bn in
emergency credit lines and will sell assets to meet funding requirements.
Shares closed 17.3 per cent down after falling as much as 45 per cent in an
otherwise upbeat market. The cost of protecting CIT’s debt against default
soared to a record, suggesting investors had lost confidence in the company.
CIT, which leases aircraft and trains and provides financing to companies,
is the latest company to run afoul of the deepening credit crisis, having
lost access to the short-term financing it needs to fund its long-term
assets.  Jeffrey Peek, chief executive, blamed the “protracted disruption”
in the capital markets as well as recent credit ratings downgrades for the
decision to tap the credit lines.  The funds will be used to pay debt
maturing this year, including commercial paper, a form of short-term
financing. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/cit-group-draws-73bn-in-
emergency-aid.html. Editorial comment: Are they next?

Borders Book Stores May Be Sold By DAVID RUNK .  Copyright by The Associated
Press .  7:54 AM CDT, March 20, 2008.  DETROIT - Borders, the nation's
second-largest bookseller, said Thursday it may put itself up for sale and
has lined up $42.5 million in financing to help the chain continue
operations.  Shares tumbled more than 17 percent, or $1.23, to $5.87 at the
open of trade.  Borders has lost market share both to online companies and
to discounters like Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  Borders Group Inc. said the
financing commitment comes from investment funds affiliated with Pershing
Square Capital Management LP, a major shareholder, and includes an offer to
buy Borders' international businesses.  "This takes care of our financial
needs through 2008 and into 2009," Borders CEO George Jones told The
Associated Press. "So this gives us the ability to be able to evaluate those
opportunities and see what the best options might be as far as other things
we might do."  
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/borders-book-stores-may-
be-sold.html



Gold and Commodities

Oil $101.47
Silver Bullion $17.03
Gold Bullion $917
Platinum Bullion $ $1858

Commodities tumble in broad correction By Chris Flood.  Copyright The
Financial Times Limited 2008.  Published: March 20 2008 10:48 | Last
updated: March 20 2008 17:57.  Oil prices sank below the $100 level on
Thursday and gold fell as commodity markets continued to correct after a
sharp sell-off in the previous session.  Traders said funds were
de-leveraging their positions, reducing risk exposures and moved into the
safety of cash before the Easter break.  “The potential for further
speculative liquidation across the commodities complex remains high in the
near term, (but) the window of opportunity for a substantial pullback in
commodity prices will likely close over the next few months,” said David
Greely of Goldman Sachs.  In energy markets, oil prices fell for a second
session but short-covering before the Easter break helped WTI and Brent pare
their losses by the end of trading in New York.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/commodities-tumble-in-br
oad-correction.html



Housing

On Wall Street: Like banks, homeowners need leeway By Saskia Scholtes.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008.  Published: March 21 2008 17:21
| Last updated: March 21 2008 17:21.  As millions of American homeowners
confront falling house prices and record foreclosures, it’s hard not to be
troubled by the Federal Reserve’s extraordinary role in orchestrating the
rescue of Bear Stearns this week.  To many on main street, it looked like
the Fed helped Wall Street avoid paying for its mistakes. After all, Bear
Stearns played no small part in fuelling the credit crisis that brought it
to the brink of bankruptcy last weekend. It seemed like rough justice to
bail out Bear before throwing homeowners a lifeline.  But a bail-out it was
not.  Bear Stearns was instead roundly punished for the risk-taking that
brought it to its knees. The fifth-largest US investment bank was sold to
JPMorgan for $2 a share on Sunday, a near vertical drop from the $160 share
price it enjoyed in February last year.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-wall-street-like-bank
s-homeowners.html

Leery Lenders Demand More From Borrowers By ALAN ZIBEL and J.W. ELPHINSTONE.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press.  3:25 AM CDT, March 21, 2008.  WASHINGTON -
Just when consumers and the U.S. economy need banks to lend more freely, the
mortgage industry is making it harder to borrow -- even for those with good
credit.  Mortgage insurers, whose backing is required for borrowers who
can't afford the traditional 20 percent down payment on a home, have already
flagged nearly a quarter of the nation's ZIP codes where they refuse to
insure some home loans.  That encompasses a wide variety of neighborhoods:
McMansions in Scottsdale, Ariz.; luxury Miami condos; 1960 ranch houses in
Flint, Mich.; and early 20th century kit homes in Metuchen, N.J.  The entire
states of California, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio and Nevada -- which
have seen the highest foreclosure rates and the worst price declines -- are
blackballed on some mortgage insurers' lists.  Banks that have lost billions
because of bad bets during the housing boom are now reverting to strict
lending standards not seen in nearly 20 years, according to industry data
and interviews with lenders.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/leery-lenders-demand-mor
e-from.html

$200 billion added to loan pool - Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac limits changed By
Mary Umberger.  Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune.  March 20, 2008.  Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac became the latest enlistees in the housing war
Wednesday, when new regulations gave them an opening to pump up to $200
billion of liquidity into the beleaguered mortgage market.  The two
government-sponsored entities agreed to buy more mortgages after their
regulator reduced the amount of capital they must hold to insulate
themselves from losses. It was a big move welcomed by some but greeted with
skepticism by others, because the housing problems and credit crunch run so
deep.  Wall Street embraced the news, with shares of Fannie rising $2.49, to
$30.71, and Freddie up $3.88 to $29.90.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/200-billion-added-to-loa
n-pool-fannie.html


International

Bin Laden threatens Europe - Warns of 'severe' reaction to prophet cartoons.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press.  March 20, 2008.  CAIRO, Egypt -- Osama bin
Laden, in a new audio message posted Wednesday, condemned the publication of
drawings that he said insulted the Prophet Muhammad and warned Europeans of
a ''severe'' reaction to come.  The message, which appeared on a militant
Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo
of the extremist group's media wing al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin
Laden aiming with an assault rifle.  ''The response will be what you see and
not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make
victorious our messenger of God,'' said a voice believed to be bin Laden's,
without specifying what action would be taken.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/bin-laden-threatens-euro
pe-warns-of.html

Delanoe touted for president By Gary Barlow.  Copyright by The Chicago Free
Press.  Wed, 03/19/2008 - 15:30.  Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe’s easy
reelection win in France’s March 16 local elections has fueled speculation
that he could challenge French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2012
presidential election.  If that happens and Delanoe wins, he would be the
first openly gay person to lead a major country.  Sarkozy’s Union for a
Popular Movement lost control of dozens of municipalities, including
conservative Toulouse, as well as Strasbourg, Blois, Reims, Caen and Amiens.
Sarkozy’s popularity has plummeted in the 10 months since he defeated
another Socialist leader, Segolene Royal, for the presidency. Sarkozy
promised market-oriented reforms of the French economy but has scaled back
some of those proposals as the country’s economic indicators remain
sluggish. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/delanoe-touted-for-presi
dent.html

Russia holds TNK-BP employee for ‘spying’ By Catherine Belton in Moscow.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008.  Published: March 20 2008 16:25
| Last updated: March 20 2008 16:25.  The diplomatic row between Russia and
the UK threatened to spill over into the business sector on Thursday after
Russia’s security service said it had detained an employee of TNK-BP, BP’s
Russian oil joint venture, for spying.  Only one day after police raided
BP’s Moscow office and those of TNK-BP, Russia’s Federal Security Service
said it had detained two brothers, one of whom worked at TNK-BP, for
industrial espionage.  The FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB,
named the two brothers as Alexander and Ilya Zaslavsky, and said they had
been detained on March 12 for ”collecting classified commercial information
for a series of foreign oil and gas companies in order to gain concrete
advantages over their Russian competitors”.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/russia-holds-tnk-bp-empl
oyee-for-spying.html


China

Pelosi urges world to condemn Beijing By Amy Yee in Dharamsala and agencies.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008.  Published: March 20 2008 14:20
| Last updated: March 21 2008 10:55.  Tibetans in China’s tense southwestern
province of Sichuan on Friday said they believed several people had been
killed in anti-Chinese protests there after Beijing state media said police
shot and wounded four rioters ‘‘in self defense’’.  Meanwhile, US House of
Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after meeting the Dalai Lama, the
Tibetans’ spiritual leader, that the free world would lose its moral
authority to speak about human rights if it did not condemn Chinese
oppression in Tibet.  ”The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the
conscience of the world,” Ms Pelosi told a gathering of about 2000 Tibetans
after meeting the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, the seat of his
government-in-exile.  The same government-in-exile on Thursday accused China
of spreading “propaganda” and “lies” alleging Tibetans instigated violent
protests. It also urged pro-Tibet demonstrators strictly to adhere to
non-violence as China sends more troops into Tibetan-inhabited provinces to
quell violent protests that erupted last week.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/pelosi-urges-world-to-co
ndemn-beijing.html

Opposition Wins Taiwan Presidential Vote By PETER ENAV.  Copyright 2008
Associated Press.  8:33 AM CDT, March 22, 2008.  TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's
opposition candidate cruised to victory in the presidential election
Saturday, promising to expand economic ties with China while protecting the
island from being swallowed up politically by its giant communist neighbor.
Fireworks lit up the sky over Ma Ying-jeou's headquarters, and cheering
supporters put up victory posters before the former Taipei mayor climbed on
stage and declared victory.  "People want a clean a government instead of a
corrupt one," said Ma, also a former justice minister. "They want a good
economy, not a sluggish one. They don't want political feuding. They want
peace across the Taiwan Strait. No war."  Across town, a crying crowd
gathered at the campaign office for ruling party candidate Frank Hsieh, a
former premier. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/opposition-wins-taiwan-p
residential.html

Anti-China protests in Tibet illustrate reach of YouTube, but access to
Internet video is far from universal.  China shuts down access to
video-sharing Web site By Wailin Wong and Eric Benderoff .  Copyright ©
2008, Chicago Tribune.  11:47 PM CDT, March 21, 2008.  In June 1989, a
single photograph of a solitary young man staring down a line of tanks
became the iconic image of the Tiananmen Square protests.  Almost 20 years
later, the anti-Chinese protests in Tibet are the subject of thousands of
videos captured by professional media outlets, plus the residents and
tourists.  Anyone with a camera and access to the Internet or a wireless
phone network can upload a video from an international hot spot.The
proliferation of user-generated content, whether shot with skill or a shaky
hand, is transforming how people around the world take note. That now
includes places where anti-government news images were scarce or
non-existent. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/anti-china-protests-in-t
ibet-illustrate.html



Mess-o-potamia

There is no such thing as a war for free By J. E. Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes.
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune.  March 20, 2008.  Five years ago, as the
Bush administration was preparing to attack Iraq, it claimed that the war
would cost $50 billion to $60 billion. We are now spending for military
operations alone that amount every three months—and that sum does not even
include future costs, such as disability and health benefits for returning
troops. We estimate conservatively that by the time the war is over, it will
have cost America in excess of $3 trillion, an amount so vast it is hard to
fathom. The only way to grasp such numbers is to translate them into what a
day or an hour of fighting costs, what economists refer to as the
opportunity costs, what else we might have purchased. Many are worried about
China's growing influence in Africa. But what we spend in aid to Africa
amounts to but 10 days of upfront costs of fighting in Iraq. President Bush
talked about the enormous financial problems facing Social Security, saying
that drastic reforms—even privatization—were needed. Well, for one-sixth of
the cost of an Iraq war, one could put Social Security on firm financial
footing for at least the next 50 to 75 years.  War is always expensive, but
this war is particularly expensive. It is now the nation's second longest
(after Vietnam) and the second costliest (after the all-encompassing World
War II). The cost per troop, even adjusted for inflation, is some eight
times greater than earlier wars. Many of these costs arise because the
administration tried to persuade the American people that they could have a
war for free. The government kept upfront costs down, not spending money on,
for instance, vehicles that would have protected our troops against
improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, which have led to so many deaths and
disabilities, even after they were urgently requested. This war is
distinctive in the huge number of injuries, some 15 times the number of
fatalities—a tribute to modern medicine, but an unfunded liability in excess
of $600 billion, costs that we will be paying for decades. (The
administration has done all it can to hide these numbers; working through
veterans groups, we had to use the Freedom of Information Act to get the
full scope of the injuries.)
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/there-is-no-such-thing-a
s-war-for-free.html

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Today’s task is to mend broken Iraq.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008.  Published: March 19 2008 19:32
| Last updated: March 19 2008 19:32.  Five years after it was invaded, Iraq
has been broken as a country. Already traumatised by tyranny and war, it has
now been torn asunder by an occupation that was certain to ignite violent
insurgency, and by a savage sectarian struggle for supremacy. Triumphalist
claims by President George W. Bush that the year-long US troops “surge” has
turned Iraq around merely add another sorry chapter to this saga of serial
delusion and epic bungling.  By any measure, Iraqi society has all but
dissolved. Ethno-sectarian cleansing has cut through the tissue of the
nation like acid, not just by region but street by street. Iraq has not just
fragmented into three big chunks, a Shia south, Sunni centre and Kurdish
north; Iraqis were never that neat. The country has unravelled into a
terrifying patchwork under the control of competing militias in a
multi-sided civil war. Yes, Saddam Hussein, a vile dictator, has gone. But
dozens of little Saddams have taken his place.  Probably hundreds of
thousands have died. There has been a middle-class exodus, of teachers and
doctors, civil servants and entrepreneurs: a haemorrhage of Iraq’s future.
About one in six Iraqis has been uprooted by this cataclysm. The 2003
invasion was supposed to enable Mr Bush and his acolyte, Tony Blair, to
pursue a radical new freedom agenda (tough on terrorism, tough on the causes
of terrorism) and bring democracy to Iraq and the Arabs. Instead it has
scattered Iraqis across the Middle East.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/financial-times-editoria
l-comment_20.html

Obama mocks McCain, Clinton on Iraq by Mike Dorning.  Copyright © 2008,
Chicago Tribune.  March 20, 2008.  FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Sen. Barack Obama
mocked rivals Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton as he delivered a
speech here today highlighting his early opposition to the Iraq war on the
fifth anniversary of the conflict’s start.  Speaking at a community college
near Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd Airborne Division and the Army Special
Operations Command, the Illinois Democrat honed in on McCain’s mix-up in the
Middle East yesterday in which the Arizona senator said that Iran was
providing support to Al Qaeda in Iraq, one of the Sunni insurgent groups
there.  In fact, U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran is providing
assistance to Shia militias, which are struggling against Sunni insurgent
groups including Al Qaeda in Iraq.  “Just yesterday, we heard Senator McCain
(R-Ariz.) confuse Sunni and Shia, Iran and al Qaeda,” Obama said. “Maybe
that is why he voted to go to war with a country that had no Al Qaeda ties.
Maybe that is why he completely fails to understand that the war in Iraq has
done more to embolden America’s enemies than any strategic choice that we
have made in decades.”
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/bama-mocks-mccain-clinto
n-on-iraq.html

National

Tips ruling is made to order for baristas - Starbucks must repay $100
million for gratuities shared with supervisors, a San Diego judge rules. By
Roger Vincent and Andrea Chang.  Copyright by The Los Angeles Times .  March
21, 2008.  Starbucks got caught with its hand in the tip jar and was ordered
Thursday to pay California baristas more than $100 million  In a San Diego
County class-action lawsuit, a judge ordered the coffee giant to pay back
tips, with interest, that the company had handed over to shift supervisors.
Some baristas could receive more than $10,000, according to their attorney.
The ruling was met with cheers by California baristas. "I'm stoked," said
Leekeisha Smith, who makes coffee drinks in the Starbucks at Sunset
Boulevard and La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles.  "Wow. I'm just shocked that
we'll get that [money] back." Smith, 23, said she found out about the
lawsuit from a letter sent to employees.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/tips-ruling-is-made-to-o
rder-for.html


Bush Whacking

Rice apologises to Obama for breach © Reuters Limited. March 21, 2008.  US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologized on Friday to Senator Barack
Obama after it emerged that State Department contract workers improperly
viewed the Democratic presidential candidate’s passport files.  ”I told him
that I was sorry and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if I
learned that somebody had looked into my passport file and therefore, I will
stay on top of it and get to the bottom of it,” Ms Rice told reporters.  The
passport files of Senator Hillary Clinton, Mr Obama’s rival for the
Democratic nomination, and Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential
candidate, were also were improperly accessed by State Department workers, a
US official said on Friday  The official, who asked not to be named because
of the sensitivity of the matter, declined further comment.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/rice-apologises-to-obama
-for-breach.html


Indecision 2008

Obama breaks the secret code By Christopher Caldwell.  Copyright The
Financial Times Limited 2008.  Published: March 21 2008 18:22 | Last
updated: March 21 2008 18:22.  Towards the end of his speech about race on
Tuesday, Barack Obama made an observation that was raw enough to knock any
attentive American listener out of his chair.  Mr Obama was talking about
one of his campaign volunteers, a white woman in her 20s, who as a girl had
proclaimed that her favourite food was mustard sandwiches, in the hope of
making her single mother feel less bad about being poor. This girl had kept
her faith in other people, Mr Obama said, even though “perhaps somebody told
her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who
were on welfare and too lazy to work”.  All Americans have heard such talk;
no recent politician has ever been remotely brave enough to allude to it,
even when quoting a hypothetical third party. It is not clear whether Mr
Obama’s 37-minute address will help or hinder him on his road to the White
House. But it is potentially a great service to his country. For one morning
at least, Mr Obama left off trying to inspire and chose instead to explain.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/obama-breaks-secret-code
.html

Obama wins support from Richardson © Reuters Limited.  March 21, 2008.
PORTLAND, Oregon. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson endorsed Barack Obama’s
bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president, Obama’s aides said on
Friday, in a boost for the Illinois senator.  ”I can confirm that he (Bill
Richardson) is endorsing (Obama) and that he will be at the rally in
Portland tomorrow,” said an official with the Obama campaign.  Richardson’s
endorsement has been fiercely sought by both Obama and his rival Sen.
Hillary Clinton in part because as a Hispanic he is seen as influential
within the Latino community, which could be a key voting bloc in the
November presidential election.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/obama-wins-support-from-
richardson.html

International Herald Tribune Editorial: Obama's courageous speech on race
and religion.  Copyright by The International Herald Tribune .  Published:
March 19, 2008.  There are moments - increasingly rare in risk-abhorrent
modern campaigns - when politicians are called upon to bare their
fundamental beliefs. In the best of these moments, the speaker does not just
salve the current political wound, but also illuminates larger, troubling
issues that America is wrestling with.  Inaugural addresses by Abraham
Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind, as does John F. Kennedy's
1960 speech on religion, with its enduring vision of the separation between
church and state. Senator Barack Obama, who has not faced such tests of
character this year, faced one on Tuesday. It is hard to imagine how he
could have handled it better.  Obama had to address race and religion, the
two most toxic subjects in politics. It was not a moment to which Obama came
easily. He hesitated uncomfortably long in dealing with the controversial
remarks of his spiritual mentor and former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah
Wright Jr., who denounced the United States as endemically racist, murderous
and corrupt. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/international-herald-tri
bune-editorial_20.html

Saying a mouthful - Obama makes audacious move in race talk By Clarence
Page.  Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune.  March 19, 2008.  If political
campaigns were political movies, Barack Obama's Big Speech deserves a Big
Oscar. The Big Speech is a key characteristic of political films and TV
shows, from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" to "West Wing," Slate's David
Edelstein once wrote: "The candidate either bravely affirms principles over
politics and is transfigured, or cravenly yields to expediency and is
damned."  Obama's Big Speech about race in Philadelphia went further than
that. He bravely fought to save his presidential campaign by affirming
principles over expediency as an argument for improving politics.  Obama's
campaign was in crisis, thanks to the polarizing rhetoric of his spiritual
mentor and former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, of Trinity United Church
of Christ on the South Side.  Sound bites of Wright characterizing the
United States as fundamentally racist and the government as corrupt and
murderous were being replayed endlessly on talk shows and the Internet.
Obama's supporters, as well as reporters and other voters, were demanding
answers.  
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/saying-mouthful-obama-ma
kes-audacious.html


Chicago Tribune Editorial: The uncommon candidate.  Copyright © 2008,
Chicago Tribune.  March 20, 2008.  It's not exactly like answering the phone
at 3 a.m. to handle a national security crisis, but Sen. Barack Obama's
handling of two incendiary political controversies in the last week has
shown he is calm and confident under pressure.  On Friday, Obama sat down
with the Tribune and Sun-Times and said, in effect, "ask me anything you
want about my dealings with Tony Rezko," the politically connected developer
who is now on trial on corruption charges. No shortcuts. No unanswered
questions. He answered, patiently and in detail. We can't recall a similar
discussion with any political figure.  Obama took a risk. He's now on the
record in minute detail about every aspect of his relationship with Rezko.
Every possible inconsistency, every shading, can now be picked apart. But by
choosing to be utterly transparent, he established a level of trust.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/chicago-tribune-editoria
l-uncommon.html


Chicagoland

Name on Levine's lips at trial: Blagojevich - Governor said talk to Rezko,
witness testifies By Jeff Coen and Bob Secter.  Copyright © 2008, Chicago
Tribune.  11:20 PM CDT, March 19, 2008.  Stuart Levine wanted to thank Gov.
Rod Blagojevich for a favor, and he did it in a big way.  Just months into
Blagojevich's new administration in 2003, the Democrat had decided to keep
Levine, a Republican, on a state board that regulated hospital expansion.
To express his gratitude, Levine chartered a plane to ferry Blagojevich and
others to a series of fundraisers in New York on Oct. 29 of that year. On
the flight back, Levine brought up to Blagojevich his reappointment to the
hospital board post, Levine testified Wednesday at the federal corruption
trial of Blagojevich friend and fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko.  Blagojevich
snapped, "Never discuss any state board with me," according to Levine.
"Discuss them with either Tony Rezko or [Blagojevich fundraiser] Chris
Kelly."  
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/name-on-levines-lips-at-
trial.html

Purpose of school `moment of silence' revealed By Eric Zorn.  Copyright by
The Chicago Tribune.  March 20, 2008.  All along, proponents of the new
state mandate requiring public school students to observe a brief period of
silence at the start of every classroom day have piously insisted that, oh,
no, the mandate is not intended to encourage students to pray.  Now, ladies
and gentlemen, I give you chief sponsor of the bill, Sen. Kimberly Lightford
(D.-Maywood), speaking during a panel discussion on "Chicago Tonight"
Wednesday:  We do it in the Illinois General Assembly. Before we convene,
any day in the General Assembly, we have to say a prayer with a priest, a
rabbi or some sort of clergy to start our day. And I believe it’s a huge
contradiction not for it to be a suggestion that our youth do it...  Atheist
activist Rob Sherman of Buffalo Grove, who is behind a federal class-action
suit challenging the mandate and was seated next to Lightford on the panel,
made note of her admission shortly thereafter.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/purpose-of-school-moment
-of-silence.html

Technology


The risk for iPhone users: They know too much - The device makes it easy to
search for data on the run. That can quickly turn a casual conversation into
the Pursuit of Truth. By Michelle Quinn.  Copyright by The Los Angeles
Times.  March 22, 2008.  ‘SMART’ PHONE: The iPhone helps users track down
information and cultivate a reputation as a know-it-all. (Gina Ferazzi  When
she whipped out her iPhone, Erica Sadum could feel her husband's eyes roll.
But she had a point to prove. And in less than a minute, she was able to
report to the skeptics around the dinner table that Menno Simons, whose
followers are known as Mennonites, was in fact born in 1496.  Apple Inc.'s
iPhone, which went on sale nine months ago, isn't the only so-called smart
phone that provides itinerant access to the Web. But its wide screen and
top-quality browser make it easy to use and read, which means it can in
seconds change a lighthearted conversation into the Pursuit of Truth.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/risk-for-iphone-users-th
ey-know-too.html



GLBT

Norway moves toward marriage.  Copyright by The Associated Press.  Wed,
03/19/2008 - 15:29.  OSLO, Norway—The Norwegian government proposed a 
marriage law March 14 that would give gay couples the same rights as 
heterosexuals, including church weddings, adoption and assisted pregnancies.  
The new legislation would replace a 1993 law that granted gays the right to 
enter civil unions similar to marriage but did not give them other benefits 
enjoyed by married couples.  “This new marriage law is a step forward along 
the lines of voting rights for all and equality laws,” said Minister of 
Children and Equality Anniken Huitfeldt.  The measure gives gays the right 
to a church wedding but does not require any minister or religious 
organization to perform the ceremony. The proposal also grants the right to 
assisted pregnancies to lesbians and allows gays to be considered as 
adoptive parents.  
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/norway-moves-toward-marr
iage.html

Congress Moves to Repeal HIV-Positive Travel Ban by Bob Roehr.  Copyright by 
The Windy City Times.  2008-03-19.  A bipartisan effort to repeal U.S. 
travel restrictions on persons who are HIV-positive is moving forward in the 
Senate. The language amendment has been added to legislation reauthorizing 
PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief.  The effort is 
being led by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who 
introduced a similar stand alone repeal bill last December. Smith was not 
able to participate in a March 11 news conference on the measure.  The 
travel restrictions were first imposed in 1987, at the height of AIDS 
hysteria, by then-Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C. The arch-conservative inserted 
language into a bill that directed the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services to add HIV to the list of medical conditions barring immigrants and 
visitors to the United States.  The Department of Health and Human Services 
sought to loosen the restriction in the early 1990s but Congress took the 
opposite tack, writing the ban into immigration law. It is the only disease 
specifically mentioned in that statute.  
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/congress-moves-to-repeal
-hiv-positive.html

HIV notification bill fails in House.  Copyright by The Windy City Times.  
2008-03-19.  A bill that would have repealed an Illinois law that requires 
health departments to notify school principals of a student's HIV status was 
defeated in the House, 62-43.  The HIV notification bill was sponsored by 
State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, out of concern for student safety. 
Current law notifies the school principal, who has the power to notify other 
school officials if necessary, such as the school nurse. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/hiv-notification-bill-fa
ils-in-house.html

Helping Trans Kids Out of the Shadows by Jacob Anderson-Minshall.  © 2008 
Jacob Anderson-Minshall.  2008-03-19.  “How does a 14-year-old shoot a 
15-year-old in the back of the head because he's wearing high heels?” trans 
activist Jenn Burleton mused about the recent murder of southern California 
teen. “More than any other source of childhood abuse, teasing, and 
bullying—femininity in male children kills.”  Dedicated to preventing 
another causalty, the founder and executiveirector of TransActive Education 
& Advocacy ( transactiveonline.org ) , a Portland, Ore.-based organization, 
works with parents and schools to support transgender and gender-variant 
children.  “This work is not just for trans kids,” she insists. “Because all 
children are victims of gender expression oppression.”  A lesbian-identified 
trans woman who recently celebrated her 25th anniversary with her partner, 
Burleton previously co-founded Trans Youth Family Allies ( TYFA—formerly 
Trans Youth Family Advocates ) a national organization providing support for 
trans kids and their families, where she served as the inaugural executive 
director and board president.  Once a trans teen herself, in the mid-1960s, 
the then-12-year-old Burleton became one of the first—albeit, 
unsanctioned—trans youth to begin hormone treatments—after she discovered 
Dr. Harry Benjamin's The Transsexual Phenomenon and began stealing her 
mother's Premarin. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/helping-trans-kids-out-o
f-shadows.html

Obama pastor backs gay rights - Rev. Wright supported gay ministry, but 
failed to adopt ‘affirming’ status for church.  By LOU CHIBBARO JR., .  
Copyright by The Washington Blade.  Mar 20, 10:12 AM.  Democratic 
presidential candidate Barack Obama’s controversial ex-pastor in Chicago has 
largely supported gay rights and has welcomed gays into his 8,000-member 
congregation at Trinity United Church of Christ, according to activists who 
know him.  The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently retired as the Trinity 
Church pastor, has been hit with a firestorm of criticism after news media 
outlets began airing video recordings of some of his fiery and racially 
charged sermons, including one in which he blamed U.S. foreign policy for 
the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.  In a speech in Philadelphia on 
Tuesday, Obama distanced himself from Wright’s strident political positions 
but refused to “disown” his pastor of nearly 20 years, reiterating his 
praise for Wright as his spiritual mentor.  With Obama competing with rival 
presidential contender Hillary Clinton for gay votes in the upcoming 
Pennsylvania primary, revelations of Wright’s controversial sermons have 
raised questions among some activists about whether Obama’s longtime pastor 
was among the preachers who delivered fire-and-brimstone sermons attacking 
homosexuality. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/obama-pastor-backs-gay-r
ights-rev.html

U.S. syphilis rates climb for seventh year in a row By Matt Simonette.  
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press.  Wed, 03/19/2008 - 15:27.  The U.S. 
syphilis rate climbed for the seventh consecutive year, according to data 
released last week at the 2008 National STD Prevention Conference held at 
the Chicago Hilton and Towers.  The number of new cases is relatively 
low—11,181 in 2007—but the increasing numbers worry public health officials. 
The 2007 figures represent a 12-percent jump from 2006. About 64 percent of 
those new cases are gay men.  “The resurgence of syphilis among men who have 
sex with men since 2000 represents a formidable challenge to our STD 
prevention efforts, but one that can be overcome,’’ said the CDC’s Dr. Kevin 
Fenton March 12.  The syphilis rate among men increased 14 percent in 2007, 
said Dr. Hillard Weinstock of the CDC. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/us-syphilis-rates-climb-
for-seventh.html

Out Chicago author, Dwight Okita, is Amazon finalist.  Copyright by The 
Windy City Times.  2008-03-19.  Out Chicago author Dwight Okita has been 
chosen as a finalist for an Amazon.com publishing contest. Okita is one of 
10 finalists for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.  The openly gay local 
writer has also been active in Chicago as a performance poet and playwright. 
If Okita wins, he will receive a publishing contract.  People can cast their 
vote through March 31 at www.amazon.com/abna .  
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/out-chicago-author-dwigh
t-okita-is.html




Other

CVS settles Medicaid overbilling charges By Ameet Sachdev.  Copyright © 
2008, Chicago Tribune.  March 19, 2008.  CVS Caremark Corp. agreed Tuesday 
to pay $36.7 million to settle charges it routinely overbilled Medicaid for 
a popular generic antacid drug, cheating federal and state governments out 
of millions of dollars over more than six years.  Prosecutors say the 
pharmacy chain illegally substituted a more expensive capsule form of the 
drug instead of the prescribed tablets to increase its Medicaid 
reimbursement. Switching the form of the drug did not endanger patients, 
federal officials said.  "Switching medication from tablets to capsules 
might seem harmless, but when that is done solely to increase profit … 
pharmacies must know that they are subjecting themselves to the possibility 
of triple damages, civil penalties and attorney fees," U.S. Atty. Patrick 
Fitzgerald said in a statement.  The CVS investigation, which began more 
than five years ago, is the second that targeted Medicaid fraud at 
pharmacies brought by the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago. In 2006, 
Omnicare Inc., a leading supplier of drugs to nursing homes, paid $49.5 
million to settle allegations similar to those in the CVS case. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/cvs-settles-medicaid-ove
rbilling.html

7 charged in 2 rings that sold fraudulent art, prints - Cops say they played 
key roles in global rings that sold at least $5 million worth of fake pieces 
to thousands of people  By Michael Higgins and Jeff Coen.  Copyright © 2008, 
Chicago Tribune.  March 20, 2008.  Two Northbrook art dealers played key 
roles in international art-fraud rings that reaped more than $5 million 
selling thousands of fake "limited-edition" prints around the world, federal 
prosecutors charged Wednesday.  In one case with links to Europe, a dealer 
sold so much fake art that distributors warned her to cut back, prosecutors 
alleged. She was among those charged in the two indictments unsealed in 
Chicago's federal court.  One of the Northbrook dealers, Michael Zabrin, 
spoke in code as he discussed the counterfeit prints over the telephone with 
his European contacts, according to the charges. Zabrin went so far as to 
provide many customers with certificates that purported to prove the 
authenticity of the limited-edition prints, but prosecutors said they were 
fraudulent as well. 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/7-charged-in-2-rings-tha
t-sold.html

llinois-shaped corn flake sells for $1,350 on eBay Copyright 2008 Associated 
Press.  12:17 AM CDT, March 22, 2008.  CHICAGO - Two sisters from Virginia 
sold their Illinois-shaped corn flake on eBay Friday night for $1,350.  "We 
were biting our nails all the way up to the finish, seeing what would 
happen," said Melissa McIntire, 23. "There's a lot of relief involved."  The 
winner of the auction, which lasted more than a week, is the owner of a 
trivia Web site who wants to add the corn flake to a traveling museum.  
"We're starting a collection of pop culture and Americana items," said Monty 
Kerr of Austin, Texas. "We thought this was a fantastic one." 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/llinois-shaped-corn-flak
e-sells-for.html


Humor

Be careful who you vote this year 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/be-careful-who-you-vote-
this-year.html

Retired People 
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/retired-people.html

The One-Semester-of-Spanish love song  
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw





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: <http://lists.carlostmock.com/pipermail/news/attachments/20080322/ecf640e6/attachment-0001.html>