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