By Jason Leopold
Questionable Trading Practices May Have Led To Bear Stearns' Collapse
Last March, Scott Coren and Michael Nannizzi, analysts at Bear Stearns, issued a report upgrading the stock of New Century Financial, a company that provides sub-prime mortgages to low-income homebuyers, from "underperform" to "peer-perform." What Coren and Nannizzi's research note on New Century didn't say was that Bear Stearns was one of the Wall Street banks that financed New Century's mortgage operation.

By Eric Lotke
Conservatism Is Dying
Conservatism as we've known it since Ronald Reagan is failing-ground down in the desert of Iraq, drowned in the floods of Hurricane Katrina, foreclosed by the housing crisis and poisoned by toys imported from China

By ALONE
WINTER SOLDIER BLACKOUT CONTINUES: Look In The Mirror America!!!!!
Well, America, I plead with you to spend at least one hour watching some of the hour-long recordings of those presentations. Go on the web and get hooked on to the biggest news story of 2008 and the most important stories of the past decade-the real stories of our new heroes, WINTER SOLDIERS 2008. Penny Coleman says, "If America listens to what they say, the war would be over tomorrow."

By Chris Lugo
Let's Bring The Troops Home Now
Opinion Editorial written by Chris Lugo, progressive candidate for US Senate, Tennessee on the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.

By Joel S. Hirschhorn
Time To Fight Junk Mail
The U.S. Postal Service is our enemy. While countermeasures have been created to deal with the invasion of telemarketing phone calls and spam emails, we continue to be bombarded by junk mailings. The solution that the USPS is opposing is a do-not-mail list or registry that households could choose to join.

By Kathlyn Stone
Military Veterans To Deliver Citizen Arrest Warrants For Bush And Cheney
The warrants are "for multiple violations of the Constitution and international war crimes," according to a statement issued by Veterans for Peace, a national organization

By William Cormier
Time Magazine States That Americans Don't Care About Losing Our Civil Rights
Time Magazine wrote an article stating that Americans don't seem to care about the erosion of our civil rights. The article is absurd on its face, and the only purpose I can surmise for an article that is absolutely false is that they want those who read it to believe that the majority of America doesn't care - so why should they? Can anyone spell Propaganda?

By Kenneth Briggs
Florida's Democratic Presidential Primary
Florida's condition could not be worse.

By Jonathan Leigh Solomon
A WHITE RACIST – COMMITTED TO "A MORE PERFECT UNION"
A white man, committed to racial equality and unity, discusses his own bigotry.

By C.L. Pagano
Spring Equinox & Libra Full Moon, 2008
Spring is finally here in the Northern Hemisphere along with the first full moon of Spring. Aries and Libra are all about how individuals relate to each other. Obama's beautiful speech exemplifies how this full moon needs to play out. Are we going to be courageous (Aries) enough to relate to other people (and countries) in a fair and balanced (Libra) way or will we continue to strong-arm the world and disrespect others?

By JGideon
'Daily Voting News' For March 18, 2008
a collection of local, state, national and international articles on electronic voting and election issues

By Marti Oakley
States Claiming Ownership Of Newborn's DNA
Program since 1996 harvesting and testing newborn DNA and then claiming they own the DNA

By Jane Stillwater
Special "Extreme Makeover, Home Edition" Issue
Is the re-hab at my housing co-op actually finally gonna happen now? Or will the Board of Directors get their way and get rid of their prime whistle-blower -- ME! And will my two-month-old granddaughter end up living on the streets? The Stillwater family is deserving. Our home deserves an extreme makeover! Where is Ty Pennington when we need him? "Move the bus!"

By Eric
CPAC: Conservatives Pout And Complain
Three days at the 2007 I just spent three days at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the preeminent national gathering of the conservative movement.

By Melinda Pillsbury-Foster
Earth Day No. 38 - The Summer Of Love, Two.
You most likely think that Earth Day is in April. Surprise! You have been celebrating Pour Oil on the Earth Day all of these years. Now, you need to wake up and climb off the grids. The website will be up next week; the Summer of Love is about to happen. This time the sounds will announce a real freedom, peace, and a new America.

By Robert Weiner And John Larmett
Brokered Convention Could Help Party
This well written and interesting article examines how going against conventional wisdom could help Democrats in the quest for a Presidential nominee

By Dr. Betty Martini, Founder, Mission Possible, And Dr. Art Evangelista
Hawaii AspartameTask Force Resolution By Rep. Green, M.D.; Former FDA Investigator Art Evangelista Details Neurotoxicity
Former FDA Investigator Dr. Arthur Evangelista details Neurotoxicity of artificial sweetener; Legislative Support Letter for Hawaii Resolution sponsored by sole Physician in Hawaii Legislature, Dr. Josh Green, M.D.

By Ryan Morrison
Conversations With History
An online interview with military strategist Thomas P.M. Barnett offers an intimate (and disturbing) look into the Pentagon and its thinking regarding American foreign policy.

By Michael Morris
The True Sprit Of Love – Update

By Mike Palecek
"Cost Of Freedom" Tour/Day 8
Old home week in west Texas at La Tuna federal prison.

By Barbara Peterson
The Born Again Conspiracy
Bush's grab for wealth and power - What does Christianity have to do with it?

By Jim Scherrer
The Effect Of Politics On Paradise
Mexico has been governed by US friendly Harvard graduates for the past seven years and will be for at least the next five years, thus assuring a safe and secure investing environment for retiring North Americans.

By Wally
Call For A National Dialogue For Real Change..
Politicians represent Corporate Autocracy...Not People's Democracy

By Tumerica
Bear Stearns Bearish, Baring Bare Backside Of Unbearable Heaviness Of Bearing Bad Loans

By Michael Morris
Understanding The American Economy?
Where is our Nation going and what was it thinking?

By David Swanson
American Petroleum Institute To Grant Congress Permission To Stop Funding Iraq War And Occupation
The activist group No War, No Warming today announced that they will be celebrating outside the headquarters of the American Petroleum Institute Wednesday morning beginning at 8:30 a.m. The API is located at 1220 L St. NW, at the corner of 13th and L.

By Beth Birnbaum
Elliot Spitzer, Patriot
At least he didn't turn to a foreign-owned company for sex.

By SDrobny
MSNBC MORNING JOE REPORTING ON REV. WRIGHT: IS THERE A DOUBLE STANDARD? YES!!!!!
The choice of Joe Scarborough by MSNBC to host a morning show is an example of political cowardice by Dan Abrams its program director. Other than Keith Olbermann, MSNBCs lineup is decidedly right of center.

By Bill Knell
Gordon Ramsay: The Bad Boy Chef From Hell's Kitchen Teaches Good Business
Reality TV introduced me to the Chef from Hell and I found him to be a terrific resource for entrepreneurs and business people.

By Bill Knell
Are You A Source Of Frustration Or Inspiration In The Workplace?
We all know them. People who can't do it and just don't seem to get it. Something as simple as handling email, logging on and off a computer or even using a messaging system are tasks that they can never seem to master. Instead, they do things their way and seem blissfully ignorant of the frustration that they bring to the workplace.

By Bill Knell
Why Is My Life Such A Mess?
One of the greatest cures for hopelessness is to make stability a never-ending goal in our life.

By Walter Uhler
My Protest To The Times: "Effete Warmonger Kristol/Sanitizing Five Years In Iraq"
William Kristol committed another sourcing blunder when accusing Barack Obama. Worse, the Times has attempted to shift legitimate opinion toward acceptance of a large and permanent force in the Middle East.

By Vi Ransel
The Conservation Of Charity
An image of Compassionate Conservatism at work...

By WelshTerrier2
The Demise Of The Democrats
Guess who just got some very good news from the latest Zogby poll? If you guessed Ralph Nader and his supporters, you win. Nader is polling above 5% nationally. That's really bad news for Democrats. Turning your back on progressives may not be the best political strategy after all.

By Mike Folkerth
Math? Who Needs It? This Is America:
Why do Americans have negative savings? Read on to find out, it's the math you know?

By Richard Volaar
Randi Rhodes: Piling On In Racist America
America has lost its mind, its way and desperately needs a "cerebral enema."

By Ed Tubbs
It's Been A Bad Seven Years For Accounting.
I can count the plagues that assaulted the pharaoh: water to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, stricken livestock, pestilence, hail, locusts, darkness, and the deaths of all first-born. The plagues of the Bush/GOP years are beyond counting. And other than to sham pretense and show, none have been for a good purpose.

By Amy Fried
Obama's Speech On Race
Obama's speech on race calls us to a higher level of discourse. Can we - and the MSM - meet him there?

By Allen L Roland
BEAR STEARN'S COLLAPSE IS TIP OF ICEBERG
Wall street is a giant casino and Bear Stearn's demise is just the tip of the iceberg of a potential complete financial meltdown led by the collapse of the greatest crap shoot of them all ~ Derivatives : Allen L Roland

By Steve Glickman
Let's Put The Vote Out Of Its Misery And Start Over
What if poor people had larger votes? Steve Glickman's scathing Op Ed illustrates the sorry state of the vote worldwide. Glickman proposes a radical election reform that weights votes inversely to income and asks, "What would be different if ordinary people truly had a voice?"

By Ralph Lopez
A Call For Alliance Among Impeachment Advocates; Immigration Reform, Constitution, War On Al Qaeda
There comes a time in the struggle for freedom when Americans must unite. At times we unite with those whose priorities may not be ours, and those whom with we disagree on many things. I launch this call because I will do anything to save my Constitution. My call is to my countrymen in the Immigration Reform Movement, who believe that George Bush must be impeached for aiding unacceptable levels of illegal immigration.

By Mary Ellen Marino
Bail Out Banks Or Homeowners?
Bail Out Banks Or Homeowners? Actions: 1. regulate banks and secondary mortgage market more stringently 2. mandate modification of predatory and subprime loans in bankruptcy court 3. suspend all foreclosures for six months 4. provide help for homeowners from GSE's: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and FHLBB 5. Do not allow Federal pre-emption against stronger state laws.

By Jim Fetzer
What's Wrong With Rev. Wright?
Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, gave a sermon at the school's Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel in Washington on January 15, 2006. It is now being used to drive a wedge between Obama and his followers. Most of his black supporters believe what Wright has had to say, but many of his white supporters do not. The political trap laid can be avoided by separating truth from fiction.

By Mark Crispin Miller
What Really Happened: Lockdown In Warren County, OH, 2004
This piece is a first-rate example of the tightly blinkered (some dare call it brainless) view that US journalists take, and propagate, concerning the 2004 election. Although Craig refers, in passing, to the thorough research undertaken by such scholar/activists as Bob Fitrakis and Richard Hayes Phillips, he doesn't bother to note any of their evidence concerning Warren County or the theft of the election overall.

By Press Release
Special Counsel Exempts Air Marshal Service From Whistleblower Law
Office of Special Council Finds "More Could be Done" to Ensure Anonymity; Absolves Agency Based on Secret Meeting

By Danny Schecter
AS BIG BANKS FALL: The Bear Has Fallen And The Bull Is Gone
If you walk through London's High Gate cemetery and wander over to the grave of the late Karl Marx and then listen closely with your ear to the ground, you might hear a repetitive murmur of the phrase "I told you so" in a distinctly German inflected accent.

By Jennifer Monroe
Barack Obama, Rev. Wright, And The Left
Taking a look at Obama's relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and how the Left seems to think nothing of it.

By Rainbow Law
Knee-Jerks
While we are on the subject of crazy ministers, we hope the mainstream media will use this opportunity to expose the close connection between the wacky and powerful Reverend Moon and the Republican Party -- especially the Bush family.

By David Swanson
AUDIO: General William Odom Says Congress Should Impeach And Stop Funding The Occupation
In a wide-ranging hour-long discussion on live radio, General William Odom said he sees two useful things Congress can do: cease funding the occupation of Iraq, and impeach Bush and Cheney.

By Elaine Brower
Winter Soldier 2008: From A Marine Mom's Eyewitness Account Of The Testimony
An account of the Winter Soldier event at the National Labor College written by a Marine Mom.

By Ralph Nader
Country Of Laws
What lessons are to be learned from the differential treatment of Spitzer, asks Nader, and Bush, "a president who behaves like King George III did in 1776 and commits the exact kinds of multiple violations that Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other founders of our Republic envisioned for invoking the impeachment provision of their carefully crafted checks and balances in the Constitution?"

By W. Christopher Epler (Bill)
Why Did Gore Abandon Us?
Gore was great, once upon a time, but why has he turned his back on America for the 2008 Presidential election? Is this being unfair? Yes and no, but the entire planet knows his win in 2008 would have been a slam dunk and in many ways very western civilization is now at stake as well as the savage rape of Mother Nature by the Bush/Republicans, so Gore's flipping off the election has indescribably tragic consequences!

By Mike Kohr
Democratic Party Gleefully "Eating Itself Alive"
The Democratic Party has lost seven of the last ten presidential elections, and is choosing the low ground once again on the next battle field. With the most favorable political winds at their backs in 70 years, they are poised to once again to snatch defeat from the jaws of political victory.

By Dr. Dennis Loo
A Different Paradigm For Political Organizing
Challenges the customary political organizing strategy based on the difficulties and opportunities that the current situation provides.

By Marjorie Cohn
Beware An Attack On Iran

By Bruce K. Gagnon
LET'S MAKE OUR PEACE WORK MORE RELEVANT
After 5 years of Iraq occupation protests the peace movement needs to say more than No More Blood for Oil....we need a positve economic conversion message that connects to the public.

By JGideon
'Daily Voting News' For March 17, 2008
a collection of local, state, national and international articles on electronic voting and election issues

By Jessica Vozel
The Dangers Of Abstinence-Only Education To Young Women
Why Abstinence-Only education for young women is dangerous, especially among minorities.

By Mike Palecek
Keith McHenry: An American Hero
A victim of CIA torture, lifelong activist Keith McHenry talks about that, his Food Not Bombs program, and the Seattle rally against the WTO.

By Ken McGee
Hold Fast To Dreams
A discussion of the Clinton campaign tactics and the subtle and not so subtle rascism involved

By Nicholas Smith
David Paterson: The 55th Governor Of New York
David Paterson was sworn in as Governor of New York, the first African American Governor in New York, and the third in the nation since reconstruction.

By Miles Mathis
Chance Abutmenting (a Counter-critique Of Peter Schjeldahl)

By Bill Knell
The Ghosts Of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
An upcoming episode of Ghost Hunters will feature a segment filmed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Some buildings and historic aircraft at the base are said to be haunted and people that work there have some bone-chilling stories to tell.

By Joel Wendland
White Men Talk Barack
In her article, "Black Women Talk Barack," (The Nation), journalist Amy Alexander cuts through big media misrepresentations and distortions of who supports Barack Obama and why, distortions which often result from poor thinking and bad reporting and others simply are racist provocations.

By Allen L Roland
HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY 2008
Click on my rendition of DANNY BOY from my last CD ~ I've always felt that this song was a lament to a lost child within ourselves ~ who longs to be free and sing his/her authentic song with joy, intention and purpose. Enjoy !

Best News Links from the Web

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Foreign Investors Veto Fed Rescue
Asian, Mid East and European investors stood aside at last week's auction of 10-year US Treasury notes. "It was a disaster," said Ray Attrill from 4castweb. "We may be close to the point where the uglier consequences of benign neglect towards the currency are revealed." The Fed caused this mess by setting the price of credit too low for too long, feeding the cancer of debt dependency.

Full Text: Barack Obama's Philadelphis Speech 18 March 2008
The text prepared for delivery of Barack Obama's speech on politics and race in Philadelphia this morning.

The Rise Of American Incompetence
Thanks to widespread incompetence, American management is on its way to becoming an international laughingstock. Faith in American financial sobriety has been widely undermined by the subprime mess. The very mention of the strong-dollar policy now elicits raucous bouts of knee-slapping in even the most sober Swiss banks.

Ex-US Attorney Cites GOP Voter Abuse
The Justice Department issued a directive to every U.S. Attorney in the country to find and prosecute cases of voter fraud in their states during the height of hotly contested elections in 2002, 2004, and 2006, even though evidence of such abuses was extremely thin or non-existent, a former federal prosecutor says in a new book.

U. Of Conn. Study Reveals Still More Vulnerabilities In Diebold Optical Scan Voting System
Voting Technology Research Center Warns Votes can be Switched Without Detection Vermont Election Officials Pay No Attention...

Voting Machine Company Strong-Arm Tactics Succeed In Blocking New Jersey Investigation (So Far)
Legal Threats from Sequoia Voting Systems Force County to Cancel Plans for Independent Analysis of the State's Own Voting System Livermore Labs Scientist Urges Readers to Contact NJ AG to Ask for Technical Review of Same Flawed Machines Set to be Used Next Month in PA...

Bush's Financial Katrina
"'He has no idea what's going on. Even by his standards, he's wrong,' said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who said he had been trying to get the president to pay more attention to the economy for more than a year.

Truncating The Antecedents
...whenever the U.S. government launches a new war abroad, we would be well advised to look into what happened in that part of the world previously, perhaps over the course of several decades. We may well discover that the locals have legitimate grievances against our government or some of its corporate cronies. Or we may simply discover that the situation is more complicated than it has been made out to be.

PA Urges Palestinians To Return Home On Israel's 60th Birthday
The initiative is the first of its kind and is clearly aimed at embarrassing Israel during the anniversary celebrations by highlighting the issue of the "right of return" for the refugees by enacting Resolution 194.

'Super Delegate' Win Would Be Unfair, Voters Say
A majority of Democratic voters say it would be unfair for Hillary Rodham Clinton to win the presidential nomination through the support of "super delegates" if she lags among the convention delegates elected in primaries and caucuses, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

John Murtha Endorses Hillary Clinton
Rep. John P. Murtha has announced his endorsement of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, bringing his clout as a 17-term member of the House and a prominent anti-war Democrat to bear with more than a month until the primary here in his home state.

Bush Tops 'Heckuva Job' With Clueless Comment: Thanks Paulson For Working Overtime!!
It is now official: George Bush has Katrina-ized the U.S. economy.

2008 State Of The Universe Address
HUMOR: If we are to have an awakening instead of a wake, I predict heart times ahead. Trickle down economics has left a growing class of pee-ons. Now voting machines with secret software count the votes in secret. Global warring and global warming, last rites for the Bill of Rites, and Orwellian Newspeak all fixable: we need to amplify the love and light.

The Making Of The Cheney Regional Defense Strategy, 1991-92
Declassified Studies from Cheney Pentagon Show Push for U.S. Military Predominance and a Strategy to "Prevent the Reemergence of a New Rival." Remarkably, these new releases censor a half dozen large sections of text that The New York Times printed on March 8, 1992. "On close inspection none of those deleted passages actually meet the standards for classification because embarrassment is not a legal basis for secrecy,"

America Was Conned - Who Will Pay?
The US has just had its weakest period of expansion since the 1950s. Consumption growth has been poor. Investment growth has been modest. Exports have been sluggish. But if you are at the top of the tree, the years since the last recession in 2001 has been a veritable golden age. Salaries for executives have rocketed and profits have soared, because the productivity gains from a growing economy have been skewed towards capital

The 2008 Presidential Election: A Revolution Or A Bust?
Since World War II it's been the oligarchs, acting through such institutions as the IMF or through currency speculation, who have subverted the economies of a legion of other nations in order to generate profits for themselves. The rule of the oligarchs has relied on a string of weak presidents. While Reagan was allowed to enjoy his movie star persona, he slashed taxes for the rich, ran up the largest federal deficits in histo

E.J.DIONNE--THE STREET ON WELFARE
Never do I want to hear again from my conservative friends about how brilliant capitalists are, how much they deserve their seven-figure salaries and how government should keep its hands off the private economy.

Carolyn Baker - FOOD, FUEL, AND FASCISM: THEIR ELECTION OR YOUR LIFE?
Consider the administrations that have come and gone since 1977-all unwilling to tell the American people the truth about energy depletion. Consider the meaningless rhetoric of the current candidates who continue to delude us about Peak Oil and economic growth and consider the reality that they would not even be viable candidates if they were willing to expose the suicidal delusion of unlimited economic growth.

US Court Hearing Key Gun Law Case
BBC's explanation of important Supreme Court case regarding right to have hand guns in the District of Columbia. Ruling likely in June. Involves a never before argued Second Amendment case. Cheney & McCain believe DC law is unconstitutional. US Solicitor, among others, believes there are extenuating circumstances. Nov. election issue, most likely.

UN Humanitarian Lawyer, Karen Parker, On The Violation Of Human Rights In California
A raging human rights battle is brewing between the federal Dept. of Energy and the people of California. Citizen activists and environmental rights groups are up in arms over the right of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to explode Depleted Uranium into California's air. UN Humanitarian Lawyer Karen Parker, JD, speaks out on the violation of human rights laws against American citizens with DU explosions in the US.

"Liberalism Is Gone"
Christian Science Monitor writer bemoans the death of Liberalism. Perhaps we should wait for it to stop breathing before the autopsy!

WHAT'S UP WITH TIBET
A look at the Dalai Lama's dark side...."I can't tell you what the people of Tibet want, but neither can Richard Gere."

United States Censors Guantanamo Prisoner's Sketch Of Force-feeding
The United States has censored a gruesome drawing by a Guantanamo Bay detainee depicting him as a skeleton being force-fed at the military prison, the man's lawyers said Monday as they released a recreation of the sketch.

Iraq Reconciliation Meeting Off To Shaky Start
A conference to reconcile Iraq's warring political groups began to unravel even before it got under way on Tuesday, with the main Sunni Muslim Arab bloc pulling out and protesting it had not been properly invited.

Cheney Cites 'phenomenal' Iraqi Security Progress As Bombing Kills 40
(From the What A Dick Dept): Cheney's "phenomenal" improvements in security include a female suicide bomber killing at least 40 and injuring at least 50.

Dalai Lama Appeals For Tibet Calm, Offers To Quit
The Dalai Lama on Tuesday appealed for calm in Tibet and said he wanted "good relations" with China, offering to quit as head of the exile movement if unrest in the region worsens.

New York's New Governor Admits To Extramarital Affairs For Years
The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state's new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs. In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago.

Spitzer May Be Guilty Of Worse
The New York Megaphone received documents recently that indicate Eliot Spitzer's social connections -- WTC baron Larry Silverstein -- may be preventing him from investigating 9/11.

Sheer Number Of Suicide Bombers In Iraq Staggering
"Suicide bombers in Iraq have killed at least 13,000 men, women and children," writes Robert Fisk at Britain's Independent. "Our most conservative estimate gives a total figure of 13,132."

Spitzer's Successor Also Weighed Down By Infidelity Baggage
"The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state's new governor, David Paterson, told the New York Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs."

The War That Never Ends -- In These Times
An article describing the meeting of Iraq Veterans Against the War from Mar 13-16 near Washington D.C. With the history of Viet Nam vets to guide them, this was a well-organized hearing. Descriptions are graphic. VA inadequacies explained.

How To Destroy A Country In Five Years
The war was too easy. Americans came to believe it did not matter what Iraqis said or did. They were expected to behave like Germans or Japanese in 1945, though most Iraqis did not think of themselves as having been defeated. There was later to be much bitter dispute about who was responsible for the critical error of dissolving the Iraqi army. But at the time the Americans were in a mood of exaggerated imperial arrogance.

Bad Journalist Erases Evidence Of Bad Journalism
No honor among idiots makes for a great conspiracy of dunces.

Fateful Choice On Iraq Army Dismissal Bypassed Debate
Bremer's choice sealed Iraq's fate. Now many wonder how the decision escaped debate at the highest policy levels - the Pentagon, the White House, Darth Cheney's Office of Special Plans. Bremer merely informed the president and his aides that he was about to issue an order formally dissolving Iraq's Army. The next day, the decree was enforced.

RIP: Subprime Mortgage Pioneer Dies
He who dies with the most ploys wins? A major political donor with a net worth estimated by Forbes magazine at $1.5 billion, Arnall faced opposition from Senate Democrats to his 2005 confirmation as ambassador to the Hague after accusations that his company had preyed on mortgage seekers with subprime credit. Please note year: 2005.

Bush Diplomacy: Predator Planes Are Conducting Assassinations By Air
The aspect of the Bush Doctrine, of what the President likes to call staying "on the offensive," when mixed with a couple of decades of "advances" in air warfare, including the development of sophisticated, missile-armed drones, "smart bombs," "precision-guided munitions," and the like, has resulted in a lethal globalizing brew of assassination and destruction.

Will Somebody Please Tell Bush To Stop Trying To Talk About The US Economy?
It cost JP Morgan less money to purchase Bear Stearns than it would have cost them to purchase Alex Rodriguez’s contract from the New York Yankees. And between you and me, I think A-Rod would have been a far better investment.

Kristol Fails To Check His Sources, And So Bungles Key Fact In Anti-Obama Column
Bill Kristol's New York Times column about Barack Obama this morning contains a major, prejudicial error.claims that Obama was in fact in the pews at Trinity last July 22. That’s when Wright blamed the “arrogance” of the “United States of White America” for much of the world’s suffering, especially the oppression of blacks. It's a lie. Obama wasn't there.

CIA Increases Legal Liability Insurance
Preparations begin for the end of the Bush administration.

Lieberman To Attend GOP Convention.
Connecticut -- Curse you!!

Bear Stearns Shareholders Seek Answers Via Class Action
It didn't take long. Today, securities-suit powerhouse Coughlin Stoia was again on its game with a shareholder suit alleging fraud by Bear Stearns and its top guns. The suit, filed on behalf of Bear shareholders who bought stock as recently as Friday, claims management misled them about the company's financial condition.

Lawsuit Filed Against Bear Stearns Over Employee Stock Plan
A second lawsuit was filed Monday against Bear Stearns Cos. on behalf of the participants in its employee stock-ownership plan...the suit alleges that Bear Stearns and its executives breached their fiduciary duties to plan participants by allowing their retirement savings to be invested in the company's stock despite knowing such an investment was imprudent.

$18 Million Plus Our Collective Souls To Anyone Who Can Cure Cellulite
Oh, cellulite. How we loathe you. Yes, we -- as in, women. Women everywhere. Skinny women, plump women, athletic women, couch-surfing women. Why must you mock us?

Lawyers Focus On Bear Stearns Chief's Words Of Reassurance Days Before Collapse
Angry shareholders and class action lawyers are focusing on comments made last week by senior Bear Stearns management, who reassured investors that the group was sound just two days before it was bailed out by a rival and the Federal Reserve. But lawyers said the range of potential legal actions against Bear Stearns was broad and encompassed issues relating to employees' losses, the group's failed hedge funds...

Baghdad Rocked As McCain, Cheney Visit
Explosions rocked Iraq's capital on Monday as Vice President Dick Cheney and Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain visited ahead of the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion. Helicopter gunships circled over central Baghdad and the heavily fortified Green Zone, but no details were immediately available on the cause of the explosions.

Nancy Pelosi May Have Just Put An End To Hillary Clinton's "Scorched Earth" Campaign
SO MUCH FOR "WE THE PEOPLE"...Pelosi said that even if one candidate winds up with a larger share of the popular vote than the delegate leader, the candidate who has more delegates should prevail. "It's a delegate race," she said. "The way the system works is that the delegates choose the nominee."

The Difference Between Jeremiah Wright And Radical, White Evangelical Ministers - Greenwald
The idea that America deserves terrorist attacks and other horrendous disasters has long been a frequently expressed view among the faction of white evangelical ministers to whom the Republican Party is most inextricably linked. Neither Jerry Falwell nor Pat Robertson ever retracted or denounced their view that America provoked the 9/11 attacks by doing things to anger God.

Media Uncritically Report McCain's Claim That Overseas Trip Is Not Campaign-related, Ignoring London Fundraiser
The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and Reuters reported Sen. John McCain's claim that his trip overseas is unrelated to his presidential campaign without noting that McCain's trip includes a fundraiser in London or that McCain campaign representatives have reportedly acknowledged the political strategy behind the trip.

Bear Stearns In Bankruptcy: Can You Feel Their Pain?
Why is the Fed using our tax dollars to keep Bear Stearns and its rich managers and shareholders above water? After all, the government supposedly doesn't have enough money to provide kids with health care and childcare, to guarantee families decent housing or to meet a long list of other needs. Why do we have the money to lend tens of billions of dollars to Bear Stearns at below market interest rates?

Krugman: The B Word
Robert Rubin, former Treas Secy, and John Lipsky, top official at the Intnl Monetary Fund, suggested public funds might be needed to rescue the US financial system. Lipsky insisted he wasn’t talking about a bailout. But he was. Henry Paulson, the current Treas Secy, says any proposal to use taxpayers’ money to help resolve the crisis is a “non-starter." That’s as credible as all of his previous pronouncements.

Bear Stearns Debacle: Shareholders Getting What They Deserve?
There's a reason Wall Street firms have minted so much money in the past 15 yrs: When you can bet $30 of borrowed money for every $1 of actual money, it's easy living when things are going well. Of course, things don't always go well, and in certain environments, this level of risk is unacceptable. Or should have been--to a handful of senior execs entrusted with making sure no Bear Stearns observer ever mentioned 'liquidity.'

Announcing The Birth Of Yet Another Outrageous 911 "contradiction".
It seems that the FBI, under legal pressure, is now claiming that there was no formal effort made to identify 911 plane wreckage. And this is apparently at odds with information already in the public domain. Should anyone be surprised?

Henry Blodget: Lehman Brothers Too Big To Fail? Don't Count On It
Wall Street is in a full meltdown. Bear Stearns (BSC) is gone, so the markets are wondering who's next. The leading contender? Lehman Brothers (LEH). Lehman's stock dropped 15% on Friday, and it's down by another third in pre-market trading. Some specific concerns: * Like Bear Stearns, at least one of Lehman's trading partners is cutting it off...

The Obama I Know
a Commentary by a fellow professor at the University of Chicago Law School. By Cass R. Sunstein March 14, 2008

Iraq: 'Rules Of Engagement Thrown Out The Window'
Garret Reppenhagen received integral training about the Geneva Conventions and the Rules of Engagement during his deployment in Kosovo. But in Iraq, "Much of this was thrown out the window," he says. As other panelists nodded in agreement, Emmanuel spoke of abusing prisoners who he knew were innocent, adding, "We took it upon ourselves to harass them and took them to the desert to throw them out of our Humvees

Viewing 'Iraq Winter Soldier' Testimony
These new "Winter Soldier" hearings -- like their predecessors during the Vietnam War -- were shunned by the mainstream U.S. news media. But, as media critic Jeff Cohen notes in this guest essay, there were independent ways for Americans to get the story:

Bush Administration Targets Latin American Solidarity Activists
In response to the democratic upsurge in Latin America, the Bush administration is targeting for special surveillance and repression US groups who lead public pressure campaigns to end US government intervention in that continent.

Shabby Clinton Attack Exposed -- Obama Record Documented
Hillary Clinton chose wrong in decidint to attack Obama on the issie of military contractors in Iraq. Her hands are dirty. His are clean.

John McCain's War Cabinet
The same old neocon 'chickenhawks' from PNAC live to warmonger away another couple of trillion dollars for the continued mass destruction of life, limb, and property in imperial pursuit of others wealth and resources.

Bolton Says Cheney Has "˜Enormous Credibilty' In Iraq, But Iraqis Suggest Otherwise...
but when has a Bush admin official ever bothered with relying on facts?

Bomb Kills Dozens In Iraqi City As US Troops Diverted To 'babysit' Cheney And McCain Et Al.
An AFP correspondent at the scene said the powerful explosion had ripped people apart, sending body parts flying. Many bodies were charred.

C.I.A. Secretly Held Qaeda Suspect Under Bush Harsh Interrogation Orders
Intel officials have acknowledged that the CIA secretly detained suspected terrorist Muhammad Rahim for at least 6 months last summer "as part of a program in which C.I.A. officers have been authorized by President Bush to use harsh interrogation techniques." The CIA emptied its prisons in 2006 by shipping 14 prisoners to Guantanamo Bay but the administration reserved the right to use such prisons again.

"The Lord's Prayer Song" By Stephen C. Rose
This is a rough demo of an original tune to which one could sing The Lord's Prayer as a smple and consistent spiritual discipline. Or write your own tune to the lyric.