[News] The "Other War" Newsletter- June 14, 2008
Carlos Mock
ctmock at yahoo.com
Sat Jun 14 15:34:04 CST 2008
“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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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-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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 communiqué 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 Guantánamo: 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 Guantánamo 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 Guantánamo 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 Guantánamo 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 Guantánamo Bay
prisoners to challenge their detention in US courts as “one of the worst
decisions in the history of this country”. The Republican presidential
candidate said he agreed with the four dissenting justices on the
nine-member court that foreign fighters held at the detention camp were not
entitled to the rights of US citizens. He criticised Barack Obama, his
Democratic opponent, for supporting the decision and said it highlighted the
importance of nominating conservative judges to the Supreme Court. His
remarks represented a hardening of his position from his more moderate
initial response to the ruling on Thursday, signalling a strategic decision
by the McCain campaign to make it an election issue. Mr McCain’s stance
appeared designed to demonstrate his toughness on national security, while
casting Mr Obama as soft on terrorists. It also looked calculated to spark
debate on the future of the Supreme Court – one of the most important
election issues for many conservative voters.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/mccain-attacks-guantnamo
-ruling.html
Ron Paul says campaign to 'shift gears' By KELLEY SHANNON. Copyright 2008
Associated Press. 12:31 AM CDT, June 13, 2008. HOUSTON - Republican
presidential candidate Ron Paul said Thursday night he is ending his
campaign but will keep spreading his message by working to help elect
libertarian-leaning Republicans to public office around the country. "The
campaign is going to shift gears. It's going to accelerate. It's going to
get much bigger," Paul told The Associated Press in an interview before a
rally where he was making the announcement. "To me, it's a technical
change." Paul formally announced the move -- his new "Campaign for Liberty"
-- in a speech to supporters attending the Texas Republican Party state
convention. He said he expected many at his Thursday night rally and other
supporters from around the nation to attend an alternative mini-convention
he will host Sept. 2 in Minnesota to coincide with the Republican National
Convention in St. Paul. "Freedom is very popular. Not only is freedom
popular, freedom works," Paul told supporters.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/ron-paul-says-campaign-t
o-shift-gears.html
GLBT
Sen. Barack Obama's Pride message. Copyright by The Windy City Times. News
Update Tues., June 10, 2008. Sen. Barack Obama released the following
statement Sat., June 7, according to Advocate.com: “I am proud to join with
our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered brothers and sisters in
celebrating the accomplishments, the lives, and the families of all LGBT
people during this Pride season. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is
exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is
about who we are as Americans. "It's time to live up to our founding
promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect.
Let's enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and
protect workers against discrimination based upon sexual orientation and
gender identity or expression. Let's repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and
demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world
is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country.
Let's treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full
equality under the law.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/sen-barack-obamas-pride-
message.html
Recommendations on Marriage Strategy
http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/lgbt/camarriage_joint_20080609.pdf
GAY RIGHTS GROUP PRAISES DOMESTIC PARTNER AMENDMENT. Measure will protect
same-sex couples married in other states. CHICAGO - The director of
Illinois' state wide gay civil rights group praised Chicago Alderman Tom
Tunney's introduction of an amendment that would allow same-sex couples
employed by the City of Chicago other and married in other jurisdictions
continue to receive domestic partner benefits in the city of Chicago. Under
current law, same-sex couples are prohibited from receiving domestic partner
benefits if one of the parties is married. "Given the recent decision in
California to allow same-sex couples to marry we are concerned how that
decision impacts same-sex couples in Illinois, particularly city employees
who receive domestic partner benefits," said Rick Garcia, director of public
policy of Equality Illinois. "Alderman Tunney stood up to the plate to
ensure that gay and lesbian employees of the City not lose any of their
hard-fought benefits." The ordinance was introduced in the City Council on
June 11 and has been referred to the City Council Committee on Finance. The
states of Massachusetts and California allow same-sex marriage as do the
countries of Spain, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands and South Africa.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/gay-rights-group-praises
-domestic.html
Chicago Free Press Editorial: One to Win. Copyright by The Chicago Free
Press. June 11, 2008. By the time Chicago’s 39th annual celebration of
Pride rolls through Lakeview June 29 thousands of gay and lesbian partners
will have something they don’t have now: A piece of paper declaring, de
facto, that they at last are recognized as fully equal to other citizens in
our society. We’re talking about all the gays and lesbians who plan to get
married in California as soon as that state starts issuing marriage licenses
to them around June 17. It’s not just the thousands and thousands of
Californians who’ll be getting married either. Since California doesn’t
impose a waiting period to get a license and doesn’t require state
residency, any gay and lesbian couple in the United States can go there, get
a license, get married and go back home, happily and legally married, at
least in the eyes of California, Massachusetts, Canada, maybe New York and a
few other places. And make no mistake—that does have implications here and
in other states that don’t yet recognize equal marriage rights for gays and
lesbians. Just as New York’s governor is attacking barriers to marriage
equality in his state, other governors will likely begin to do so as well.
And courts are going to be hearing lots of cases very soon involving gay and
lesbian couples who were married in California but can’t get recognized as
partners by hospitals or insurance companies in Illinois or wherever.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-free-press-edito
rial-one-to-win.html
Harris: Pressure still needed on civil unions By Matt Simonette. Copyright
by The Chicago Free Press. June 11, 2008. State Rep. Greg Harris
(D-Chicago) announced June 9 that House Bill 1826, which would allow civil
unions in Illinois, has cleared its final procedural hurdles. According to
Harris, HB 1826 was moved to “order of the third reading” in the House just
before midnight on the last day of the spring session, meaning that the bill
now can be called for a final vote whenever he deems it appropriate. The
legislature is not officially scheduled to convene until November but since
the state budget is largely unsettled, there is a chance lawmakers could be
called into session by the governor over the summer. Harris said he is
close to getting the number of votes he needs to secure HB 1826’s passage—60
votes, “plus a handful to cover anyone who’s sitting on the fence,” he
said—but supporters of the bill still need to contact their legislators and
drive home the importance of a “yes” vote.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/harris-pressure-still-ne
eded-on-civil.html
State of chaos - Same-sex ruling will complicate cases across U.S. By Andrew
Koppelman. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 6, 2008. The
California Supreme Court's decision that the state must recognize same-sex
marriages doesn't bring anything really new to the scene. Massachusetts has
had same-sex marriage for years. What the California decision will do is
enormously increase the number of people in same-sex marriages, simply
because California has six times as many residents as Massachusetts. Also,
unlike Massachusetts, California has no bar on out-of-staters entering into
same-sex marriages. There are five other states that give same-sex couples
all the rights of married couples: Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
Oregon and Vermont. That's a big chunk of the country, comprising a fifth of
the population. In New York, Gov. David Paterson is pushing a same-sex
marriage bill and has ordered state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages
from other states. What happens when people in those relationships cross
state lines, as inevitably they will? Will those relationships ever be
recognized in other states? Laws in 44 states declare that they will not.
Illinois, for example, has a law declaring: "A marriage between two
individuals of the same sex is contrary to the public policy of this state."
But these laws do not always resolve the issue because cases will arise that
the legislatures and voters were not thinking about and certainly did not
intend to reach. They were primarily concerned about couples from their home
states who might travel to another state, enter into a same-sex marriage or
civil union there, immediately return home, and demand that their marriage
be recognized. It didn't make sense to let people evade their home state's
restrictions so easily.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/state-of-chaos-same-sex-
ruling-will.html
Producers proud of ‘Out & Proud' debut by Amy Wooten. Copyright by The
Windy City Times. 2008-06-11. The premiere night of a new documentary of
the local LGBT community, WTTW-11's “Out & Proud in Chicago,” was a “huge
success,” according to the program's producers. An estimated 75,000
households tuned in for the June 3 premiere of “Out & Proud in Chicago,” and
its producers said that they were astounded by the overwhelmingly positive
response from those who called in that night to pledge a donation. “Out &
Proud” is a historical perspective of Chicago's LGBT community, hosted by
actress Jane Lynch, which profiles various members of the community, from
the famous to the ordinary. It will air throughout Pride Month. “We reached
a lot of people,” said co-producer Alexandra Silets. “And that was just on
the first play!” For “Out & Proud” co-producers Dan Andries and Silets, the
overwhelming response and high ratings the show received affirmed the
importance of this labor of love they've dedicated themselves to for over a
year.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/producers-proud-of-out-p
roud-debutout.html
>From birthday to legend: The story of ‘Night of 100 Drag Queens’ By Rick
Karlin. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June, 11, 2008. What started
out as a few friends gathering for a birthday party has turned into one of
Chicago’s most popular GLBT events. That’s not just my opinion—if you Google
“Night of 100 Drag Queens” you’ll get about 500 hits. In 1985 Sidetrack
initiated “Show Tune Night” on Mondays and I was instantly hooked. So, a
couple of years later, when my birthday happened to fall on a Monday, it was
a natural fit. That first year, 1987, was pretty low key; a dozen or so
friends joined me to sing along and drain a few bottles of champagne. The
next year, it was about 30 people and a very rude cake. By the time the
1980s were drawing to a close, the size of the crowd coming for my party was
beginning to take over the bar. It was at about that time that Sidetrack
added show tunes on Sunday afternoons. That solved the problem; I booked the
bar for a couple hours before opening and had a private, by-invite-only
party with a buffet. I also had asked my friends to take whatever they would
have spent on a card or gift and instead add it to a fund to be donated to
charity. I celebrated with my guests and when the bar opened, the buffet was
available for regular customers, some of whom made donations as well. In
1989, I repeated the event with a surprise addition for my friends:
Entertainment by two of my favorite drag performers—Vikki Spykke and the now
ubiquitous Paula Sinclaire.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/from-birthday-to-legend-
story-of-night.html
CAN A WEB VIDEO INCREASE SAFER SEX AMONG GAY MEN? GROUNDBREAKING ONLINE
VIDEO SERIES REINVENTS HIV PREVENTION FOR THE DIGITAL AGE. Grounded in
Research, Dramatic Series Debuts Today at HIVBigDeal.org.
www.hivbigdeal.org. New York (JUNE 12, 2008) – Josh is a young gay man
living in Manhattan who had unprotected sex – and according to research, his
story is startlingly effective in motivating other gay men to have safer sex
and to get tested for HIV. Josh is the fictional star of “HIV Is Still a
Big Deal,” a groundbreaking online video series launching today at
www.hivbigdeal.org. Reinventing HIV prevention for the digital age, the
series combines the popularity and interactivity of online video with the
power of research-based education methods designed to challenge
misconceptions and prompt critical thinking.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/can-web-video-increase-s
afer-sex-among.html
Funeral Homes and Burial Arrangements - Know Your Rights By Roger
McCaffrey-Boss. Copyright by Gat Chicago Magazine and Roger McCaffrey-Boss.
June 10, 2008. Q: My lover and I have very specific plans for our burial
services when we die. My lover wants to be cremated without any church or
religious service. I would like to leave detailed instructions for the music
and ritual. The last thing we want is for our families to come to Chicago
and make their own arrangements contrary to our wishes. What can we do to
make sure that each of us can make the burial arrangements for the other and
ensure that our wishes are honored? Are there any problems we can run into
with funeral homes or the funeral director? A: The law states that when you
die your lover has no legal right to make burial arrangements for you,
taking a back seat to family and relatives. Pursuant to the Disposition of
Remains Act, effective January 1, 2006, unless a decedent has left
directions in writing for the disposition of the decedent’s remains as
provided in the Crematory Regulation Act, only certain persons, in the
priority listed, have the right to control the disposition, including
cremation, of the decedent’s remains. None of them listed include your LGBT
partner.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/funeral-homes-and-burial
-arrangements.html
Health Care
Researchers blame HPV for rise in throat cancer - HPV blamed for rise in
throat cancer By Jeremy Manier. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 8,
2008. For five grueling months in 2006 and 2007, Carol Kanga suffered
through treatment for a life-threatening case of throat cancer linked to an
unlikely source: a sexually transmitted viral infection. Unable to swallow
food or water during chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Kanga was fed
through a stomach tube. Her one respite came on Thanksgiving, when she
savored a single spoonful of weak broth. "The radiation basically burns the
skin off the outside and inside of your throat," said Kanga, 52, a
Rockville, Md., artist. "It's like there's a fire inside your neck."
Kanga's treatment was successful, but the virus that struck her is causing
increasing concern among some researchers who think it is causing a
small-scale epidemic of throat cancer. That virus, scientists have proved
only in the last two years, is human papillomavirus, or HPV—the same virus
that's behind most cases of cervical cancer.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/researchers-blame-hpv-fo
r-rise-in.html
Tomatoes pulled off shelves amid salmonella outbreak By CARLA K. JOHNSON.
Copyright by The Associated Press. June 10, 2008. CHICAGO (AP) — Federal
officials hunted for the source of a 16-state salmonella outbreak linked to
three types of raw tomatoes, while the list of supermarkets and restaurants
yanking those varieties from shelves and menus grew. McDonald's, Wal-Mart,
Burger King, Kroger, Outback Steakhouse, Winn-Dixie and Taco Bell were among
the companies that voluntarily withdrew red plum, red Roma or round red
tomatoes unless they were grown in certain states and countries. In
addition, officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District — the
nation's second largest — said Monday they have 'indefinitely suspended'
serving uncooked tomatoes. The FDA is investigating the source of the
outbreak, agency spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings said. 'We are working hard
and fast on this one and hope to have something as quickly as possible,'
Rawlings said Monday. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with
the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of
the outbreak, federal officials said.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/tomatoes-pulled-off-shel
ves-amid.html
Abortion foes take battle beyond Roe - Makeup of high court is political
focal point, but activists cutting access with ruling intact By James
Oliphant. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 10, 2008. WICHITA, Kan.
— Troy Newman appears to be just about the happiest person who ever set foot
in an abortion clinic. "We're winning," Newman says excitedly. "We're
winning the youth. We're winning the hearts and minds of the people."
Except for his prematurely gray hair, Newman, the head of Operation Rescue,
perhaps the most aggressive anti-abortion group in the nation, seems boyish
and eager. "I just want to be the best pro-lifer I can be," he said. The
organization has just moved into its new offices in Wichita, a shuttered
abortion clinic that Newman helped hassle out of business. "Nothing warms my
heart more than a closed abortion clinic," he said. He keeps souvenirs in
his office of some of the clinics he has claimed credit for helping shut
down. Newman has good reason to feel optimistic. Through the work of groups
like his, the number of places where women can obtain abortions in the
United States has shrunk by two-thirds since the early 1990s, to about 700.
The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-rights think tank that has had a
longtime connection to Planned Parenthood, estimates abortions are now
unavailable in 87 percent of counties nationwide.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/abortion-foes-take-battl
e-beyond-roe.html
Death rates plunge, but chronic disease rises. Copyright © 2008, Chicago
Tribune. June 11, 2008. The long-term trend is stunning. A smaller slice
of the population is dying of once-fatal illnesses, including heart disease,
stroke and, to a lesser extent, cancer. Another trend goes hand in hand
with the development: the rapid growth in the ranks of Americans with
chronic illness. It’s an example of the mixed blessings of modern medicine.
Patients are living longer, but encountering a health care system that isn’t
designed around their needs. Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention reports new numbers that shed light on the dilemma. In 2006,
the death rate in the U.S. reached an all-time low of 776.4 people for every
100,000 residents, the agency’s preliminary estimates show. The numbers are
adjusted for the age of the population. By contrast, in 1980, the
age-adjusted death rate was 1,039.1 per 100,000, in 1990 it was 938.7 per
100,000, and in 2000 it was 869 per 100,000.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/death-rates-plunge-but-c
hronic-disease.html
End of line for doctors' signature scribbles? INSIDE HEALTH CARE BY BRUCE
JAPSEN. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. June 12, 2008. The era of the
indecipherable doctor's handwritten prescription may be closer to being
history if some influential senators have their way. Momentum for a bill
that would entice doctors to move to computerized prescribing systems is
building in Washington, with several Democrats and Republicans supporting a
measure to provide incentives for doctors through extra Medicare payments if
they begin using so-called e-prescribing in 2009. If they don't do so by
2011, when such a requirement would begin, doctors would have their payments
reduced. Supporters of the bill, such as Senate Finance Committee chairman
Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the finance panel's ranking Republican, Sen.
Charles Grassley of Iowa, have written a carrot-and-stick approach into the
bill that they hope would increase the number of doctors using
e-prescribing. By some estimates, only 35,000 U.S. doctors, or fewer than 7
percent, use e-prescribing.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/end-of-line-for-doctors-
signature.html
Immigration
“Language is not assimilation. Race is not assimilation. Passing for an
American goes much further than race and language. Unlike you, I have blue
eyes and I’m part Spanish and part Dutch. I am a third generation Puerto
Rican and after twenty six years in Chicago the only thing that I can tell
you for sure is that I no longer know what I am.” Carlos T Mock, MD.
Immigration vs. Assimilation by Carlos T Mock, MD. June, 12, 2008. I have
lived 26 years in the United States. I still struggle with the fundamental
question “Am I still a Puerto Rican?” I’ve been in the US since 1981. “Can I
consider myself American?” As a Puerto Rican living in the US, I no longer
fit into my homeland. Every time I travel there, I’m considered un
Americano. I’m always addressed in the English language. What’s worse, my
Puerto Rican friends who live on the Island don’t seem to care about me
anymore. They’ve gone their separate ways. On this side of the pond, in the
United States, there are Puerto Ricans who have never been to Puerto Rico.
They don’t speak Spanish, they don’t know our history or culture—yet, they
declare themselves Puerto Rican. To them, I am less Puerto Rican, because,
in their eyes I didn’t experience the same discrimination from the Anglo
culture while growing up as they did. “So, where do I fit—what am I?”
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/immigration-vs-assimilat
ion.html
Over time, immigrants become fully American By TERESA PUENTE. Copyright by
The Chicago Sun-Times. June 9, 2008. Underlying the debate over
immigration in the United States is the old question of assimilation, or as
some people call it today, immigrant integration. Are we a melting pot or a
salad? A recent study by the Manhattan Institute measured immigrant
assimilation in the United States by creating a ranking for people by
country of origin. Immigrants from Vietnam, Cuba and the Philippines show
some of the highest rates of assimilation. German immigrants are both
economically and culturally indistinguishable from U.S. citizens. Mexicans,
however, are slower to assimilate. This led me to wonder why that is and to
reflect on my own family's experience. I'm third-generation Mexican
American, and I consider myself integrated and able to navigate life in the
United States as well as Mexico. But how did my family integrate into
American society?
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/over-time-immigrants-bec
ome-fully.html Editor’s Note. My response is above.
Technology
Financial Times Editorial Comment: Inclusive iPhone. Copyright The
Financial Times Limited 2008. Published: June 10 2008 19:32 | Last updated:
June 10 2008 19:32. The iPhone is amazingly amazing: Steve Jobs, Apple
chief executive, had some substantive points to make in his address
launching a new version of the mobile phone, not least that it will be
cheaper (because of network operator subsidies); but he wanted to talk about
its amazingness most of all. The iPhone has changed expectations of
smartphones, but while the introduction of subsidies is a sensible move, it
is also an admission that the device has failed to change the industry’s
business model. The iPhone may not be amazing but it is rather clever.
Apple, along with another spectacular success in consumer electronics,
Nintendo, has shown the importance of improving the user interface. The
iPhone’s touch screen makes mobile web browsing less difficult, and such
interface innovations seem to have a direct appeal to consumers that whizzy
new functions do not. For all its asserted amazingness, however, Apple has
not sold all that many iPhones – notably in Europe. Apple acolytes flocked
to buy them but, as every technology executive knows, early adopters are
easy. It is bridging the gap to the mass market that counts, and in the past
year competitors have begun to catch up with the iPhone’s technology while
selling at a lower, subsidised price.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/financial-times-editoria
l-comment_11.html
Other
Is Rover coughing? It could be dog flu. - Experts urge pet owners to be on
the alert now that the disease has been confirmed in Illinois By Deborah L.
Shelton and Kristen Kridel. Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune. 12:29 AM
CDT, June 14, 2008. Ira Alter didn't know dogs could even get the flu. But
blood tests showed that is what struck his 4-year-old yellow Labrador,
Buddy, whom Alter took to the emergency veterinarian at 3 a.m. recently when
his uncharacteristically lethargic pet was coughing up a storm and spitting
out white foam. "He just looked like he was a sick pup," said Alter, of
Logan Square. "I've never seen him like that." Buddy is among the first
documented cases in Illinois of canine influenza or "dog flu," an infectious
but treatable disease that was first identified in racing greyhounds in
Florida in 2004 and has spread to more than 20 states. Experts said pet
owners should be on the alert but not overly alarmed now that the disease
has been confirmed in Illinois.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/is-rover-coughing-it-cou
ld-be-dog-flu.html
NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 By DAVID ESPO and LAURIE KELLMAN. Copyright
2008 Associated Press. 4:50 PM CDT, June 13, 2008. WASHINGTON - Tim
Russert, who pointedly but politely questioned hundreds of the powerful and
influential as moderator of NBC's "Meet the Press," died suddenly Friday
while preparing for his weekly broadcast. The network's Washington bureau
chief was 58. In addition to his weekly program, Russert appeared on the
network's other news shows, was moderator for numerous political debates and
wrote two best-selling books. President Bush, informed of Russert's death
while at dinner in Paris, swiftly issued a statement of condolence that
praised the NBC newsman as "an institution in both news and politics for
more than two decades. Tim was a tough and hardworking newsman. He was
always well-informed and thorough in his interviews. And he was as
gregarious off the set as he was prepared on it." NBC interrupted its
regular programming with news of Russert's death, and in the ensuing
moments, familiar faces such as Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell and Brian
Williams took turns mourning his loss.
http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/nbcs-tim-russert-dead-at
-58.html
Humor
I'm Voting Republican http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQJ9Xp0xxU
New! Carlos now has an online store. Order your books directly from Carlos
and have them signed and dedicated. http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/
In Pride (orgullo),
Carlos T. Mock, MD
Www.carlostmock.com
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a Stonewall
Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie
from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007. Nominated for a
Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a
Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
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