Wednesday, March 25, 2009

President Obama's Budget must be passed. It is an honest assessment of the nation's needs from years of neglect.

There are no good reasons for limiting the Budget or refusing the stimulus. The nation needs to rebuild. It not only needs to rebuild, it has to completely retool itself to provide for needed infrastructure and services. There is no easy solution. It is a matter of setting priorities and getting the job done. There is every reason to believe the Budget, as the Stimulus has proven, will set the country on the right course, increase job creation and speed economic growth. More jobs, more growth, more income to the country and in a reasonable period of time, reassessment and adjustment to insure the country isn't carrying too much of a debt load or demands too much in taxes.

Complaints from Governors regarding the Stimulus that they will have increased taxes after ten years of stimulus doesn't hold water. They don't 'get it' and refuse to change their point of view. Their refusal to participate in The Obama Stimulus is purely political without regard for high unemployment or expanding the nation's tax base through job creation. They are holding their citizens hostage to poor economics. It is NOT good for their states, or for the economy of the country.


Boston School Committee approves more than 500 job cuts (click here)
March 25, 2009 08:36 PM
By Jamie Vaznis, Globe Staff
The Boston School Committee tonight reluctantly approved an $812 million budget for next year that could lead to the loss of more than 500 positions, including more than 200 teachers and classroom aides....

...The cuts were less dire than those originally proposed by School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson last month to meet Mayor Thomas M. Menino's request to reduce spending by 5.5 percent from this year's amount. That would have led to the elimination of more than 900 positions, including about 400 teachers and aides.
The infusion of more than $30 million in federal stimulus money and a decision by Menino this month to give the schools an additional $25 million helped to shore up the budget. Most of the approximately 370 restored positions will be classroom teachers, guidance counselors, librarians, lunch monitors, and specialists in arts and music....


The stimulus is working. The circumstances of the American people would be much worse if the Obama Stimulus Bill was denied. The continued recovery could be in jeapardy if Congress refuses to pass a budget this year that could expand the recovery into creating jobs as well as protecting them.



Governor agrees to stimulus funds (click here)
By BRENDAN RILEY Associated Press Writer
Posted: 03/25/2009 04:51:58 PM PDT
CARSON CITY, Nev.—Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, who had earlier concerns about accepting federal stimulus funds to expand jobless benefits, said Wednesday that he's now willing to take all such funds, estimated at more than $291 million.
"We have the responsibility to do everything we can to help our unemployed workers get through these difficult times, even if that means passing legislation that we would not necessarily approve during prosperous times," Gibbons stated.
Nevada's unemployment rate rose to 10.1 percent in February. The rate has increased every month since the start of the national recession in December 2007.
The Republican governor said he will work with the Democrat-controlled Legislature to develop plans to help the unemployed workers now "without penalizing businesses in the future."
"I'm willing to approve this expanded coverage with the understanding that the issue will be revisited in a future legislative session before federal dollars expire," he added.
Gibbons made his announcement after the Assembly Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously on Monday for measures that allow lawmakers to accept the stimulus funds for the jobless benefits.
Most of the money will be used to extend the number of weeks that those already on the jobless rolls can get unemployment checks. There's also another $77 million to pay for additional people, and Gibbons said the expanded coverage was what concerned him....

A very dangerous statement, "What we are witnessing is a regional and local opposition to ... Western military control...

This is a very good video. It makes a sincere effort to reassess the dangers of the position of Pakistan in the world. Fortunately, Pakistan is no longer controlled by a Dictator. However, the dangers to the world still exists.

I take issue with the statement made during the video eluding to the fact there is ONLY regional and local opposition. That isn't exactly correct. One cannot assess Pakistan without also including Kashmir.

Pakistan has a very poor history of peaceful enlightenment. Kahn literally sold nuclear secrets to North Korea and conducted proliferation against any treaty that exists.

Although imprisoned for a time, the recent release of extremists within the country is a concern. The 'populous' POWER that exists in the region IS the destablizing entity within its borders and those that 'conduct' the outrage and violence know they have power.

It is a huge mistake to 'minimize' the struggle that goes on between extremists/terrorists and the recognized government. It is not SIMPLY a regional or local struggle, it is a movement within Pakistan that endangers the entire globe and it must be contextualized correctly, the dynamics addressed actually within intelligence agencies and something needs to done. If it is humanitarian aid needed foremost by the people than it should be started.


Nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan waves to the media after his court verdict outside his residence in Islamabad February 6, 2009. A Pakistani court declared on Friday disgraced nuclear scientist Khan a free man, his lawyer said. Khan, lionised by many Pakistanis as the father of the country's atomic bomb, was pardoned but placed under house arrest in 2004 by the then president, Pervez Musharraf, soon after he made a televised confession to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
REUTERS/Mian Khursheed


Bankers without Borders

Nice building we can use it for other functions.

I've had enough of the jousting match between the President, 'Treasury/Fed' and the people of this country. The Fed has to be dissolved. The Chairman has too much power and his personal preferences for the Financial Sector is all too evident.

In testimoney to the House Financial Services. Fed Chairman Bernanke was asked if he believed in a 'Global Reserve Dollar' with the IMF while abandoning the USA Dollar. He stated, "No." but with hesitation. US Secretary to the Treasury when asked the same question stated, "No." but later stated he would engage such a discussion.

Bernanke Admits Ignorance, Fires Back At Inquisitor (click here)
1:30 P.M. UPDATED
In testimony that just wrapped up before the House Financial Services committee, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he still doesn't know why regulators weren't prepared for last year's financial sector collapse.
It was under simple-yet-probing question from Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) that Bernanke made the surprising admission.
Bernanke was repeating his case for larger, more comprehensive regulation to try to prevent another systemic failure of the sort that AIG caused.
"We weren't prepared for that," he said, adding that there were large, unregulated gaps in the system.
"Why weren't we prepared if we knew there were loopholes?" Baca asked.
"I don't know the answer to that," Bernanke admitted....


President Obama has stated as recently as last night he does not believe in a Global Currency and the USA Dollar was strong. It WAS strong until Mr. Geithner stated to 'play' with the 'idea' of establishing a global currency.

I don't trust them. I trust the President and have believed in his faith in Timothy Geithner, however, there is a limit and when the USA Treasury Secretary starts his own campaign of 'entertaining' ideas that cost a delicate currency market to spasm, there is simply too much hubris and not enough restraint and dare I say, "Good Judgement."

I believe Chairman Bernanke made his best reasons for relieving him of his position known when he openly admitted, "I don't know the answer to that." It is called negligence and the security of our country was riding on him KNOWING exactly that. There was no secret, from as early as 2007, that the stock market slide was occurring and there was anticipated fiscal trouble by the then Secretary Paulson. What does Bernanke mean, "I don't know the answer to that."? Was he on leave of absence or just as Paulson was in leave of his senses.

We need to reassess of abilities of the Financial Structure at the Fed and begin to dissolve its authority. The Federal Reserve Chairman holds too much power and his decisions are obviously made based on 'emergency reactions' and without insight and confidence.


US dollar hit by US Treasury chief's comments (click here)
Posted: 26 March 2009 0553 hrs
...The Chinese central banker had suggested the IMF's Special Drawing Rights, a currency basket comprising dollars, euros, sterling and yen, could serve as a super-sovereign reserve currency, saying it would not be easily influenced by the policies of individual countries.
When asked to comment at the forum, Geithner said, "I haven't read the governor proposal ... As I understand his proposal, it is a proposal designed to increase the use of IMF special drawing rights, and we are actually quite open to that suggestion."
The dollar plunged against the euro, yen and other major currencies as Geithner had raised the prospect of the United States embracing an SDR-linked currency system, traders said.
But in an apparent damage control move, Geithner said later at the forum that "the dollar remains the world's standard reserve currency," and added, "I think that's likely to continue for a long period of time." "As a country, we will do as necessary to make sure that we are sustaining confidence in our financial markets" and economy," he said. "Geithner was quick to mitigate impact from the comments after reaffirming the US dollar's place as the world's reserve currency for a long time to come," said Joel Kruger of Forex Capital Markets.
Still, Geithner's "contradictory" comments indicated the United States was "not taking China's suggestion with a grain of salt and instead is giving it legitimacy," said Kathy Lien of Global Forex Trading....



The Current PM of the EU would like to take the monies from the Bank Bailout and deny the USA a recovery as well.


Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, whose country currently holds the European Union rotating presidency, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during a joint news conference after signing a protocol to control the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukraine.

...Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek (click title to entry - thank you), whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, told the European Parliament that President Barack Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout "will undermine the liquidity of the global financial market."
A day after his government collapsed because of a parliamentary vote of no-confidence, Topolanek took the EU presidency on a collision course with Washington over how to deal with the global economic recession.
The blunt comments pushed other European politicians into damage control mode, with some reproaching the Czech leader for his language and others reaffirming their good diplomatic ties with the U.S....



Durable goods orders, new home sales rise in Feb. (click here)
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
(03-25) 08:44 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods and new homes sales both rose unexpectedly in February, but economists said the gains were unlikely to last as the recession persists....

The best news from The Washington Post article is the fact home sales in the west were up 6.6%. California carries the highest foreclosure rate in the country and considering it has a large population participating in a globally competitive economy, I consider this exceptionally good news for them and us.


New Home Sales Jump 4.7 Percent in February (click here)
By Renae Merle

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 25, 2009; 10:40 AM
New homes sales unexpectedly jumped 4.7 percent in February, but prices continue to tumble as buyers make their way through a huge backlog of unsold homes.
Sales of new single-family homes reached an seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 in February, according to the Commerce Department data. Analysts had expected sales to continue to fall. That figure is down 41 percent from the same period a year ago.
Sales continued to drop last month in the Northeast and Midwest, 3.3 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively. But sales surged 9.7 percent in the South, which includes the Washington region. Sales were up 6.6 percent in the West....

California February home sales up 42.5 percent (click here)
Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:08pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Home sales in California rose 42.5 percent in February from a year earlier as the median home price fell by 39.9 percent, driven by sales of foreclosed properties, according to an MDA DataQuick report released on Thursday.
The report said 29,225 new and resale houses and condominiums were sold in California last month, down 0.8 percent from January. The median price paid for a home in the most populous U.S. state was unchanged from January at $373,000.
February was the eighth straight month that California home sales rose from year-earlier levels and was the first time since May 2007 that the median home price did not decline from the prior month, according to MDA DataQuick....

Arlen Spector back on the campaign trail and beating up on Labor !


New polls: Specter in trouble? (click title to entry - thank you)
Controversial Republican on shaky ground. Toomey ahead in one survey.

...The Republican U.S. senator, facing what two polls released today show could be the fight of his political career, pacified business groups on Tuesday by saying he will oppose legislation making it easier for workers to form unions.
Specter's much-anticipated decision on the card check bill was perhaps his most difficult in nearly two decades. But whether it will erase conservative outrage over his support of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill is another question....

Pennsylvania has Governor Rendell, Senator Casy, kicked out Rick Santorum for his extremist views and it would seem as though they will seek the same fate for Arlen Spector. I don't believe opposing improvements in labor rules will be popular either, except, with his contributors perhaps. The labor unions have done their part during this crisis. There is no way they should be limited in building strength.

Medical Marijuana - Once a wedge issue may be taking its place as a treatment. New economic venue.

Medical marijuana is a legitimate use of what are considered either illegal or controled substances. Legalizing any drug under any schedule of controlled substances for recreational purposes is a huge mistake and political suicide. Don't do it. No different than alcohol, if drugs are legalized to be dispensed, even with a perscription, there will be abuse and addiction and the 'legal issues' facing the USA and Mexico will NOT end.



The violence in Mexico, the illegal drug trade and medical marijuana are all separate issues. The Drug Cartels in Mexico are successful because they are able to obtain assault weapons any time they want them and in any number they want them. Legalizing controlled substances will NOT change the illegal use of drugs. If controlled substances were legally made in more liberal context for MDs to write perscriptions it would not end the addiction issue and the illegal trafficking would continue along with the violence bought with gun sales.

Controlled substances if obtained with more liberal guidelines would add to problems with traffic violations while under the influence, would increase deaths by auto, accident and suicide. It is difficult enough controlling the 'scheduled' drugs like oxycodone now, if they were liberalized, the problems with abuse and addiction would be worse.

Medical marijuana is a different issue and the testimony of people that find relief with it are many. There will still be issues regarding 'MM' because people will sell what was legally obtained no different than oxycodone. But, the problems that legal perscriptions of Medical Marijuana will cause will not overshadow the benefits and that is why it should be legal to obtain canabis.

Assault weapons are a huge issue and they need regulation. I found it an abomination to realize some of the media was treating the deaths in California as a law enforcement issue due to the parole status of the murderer. Parole can be a concern, but, with the economy in the state its in and the former administration forcing layoffs the chance there are sufficient Parole Officers in any state is far from a reality. Regardless, and there is no doubt the murderer of the four officers in Oakland should have been in prison, but if he was unable to obtain an assault weapon the deaths would never have occurred.

Mexico, Oakland and who is next? The only common denominator are assault weapons.


Mexicans die so U.S. kids can do drugs (click here)
By DEBRA J. SAUNDERS
March 24, 2009

"The war on drugs is a failure," Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Cesar Gaviria and Ernesto Zedillo -- the former presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico -- wrote in the Wall Street Journal last month.
"Prohibitionist policies based on eradication, interdiction and criminalization … simply haven't worked," they wrote.
In Mexico, an estimated 6,290 drug-related murders occurred last year. On Feb. 20, Roberto Orduna Cruz had to resign as chief of police of Cuidad Juarez after drug traffickers announced they would kill a police officer for every 48 hours Orduna remained on the job -- and made good on the threat....


Don Duncan, who runs a Los Angeles medical marijuana business, said he expected less federal attention but more local scrutiny.


Dispensers of Marijuana Find Relief in Policy Shift (click here)

...While 13 states, including California, have laws allowing medical use of marijuana, they had not been recognized by the federal government. One of Mr. Duncan’s two marijuana dispensaries was a target, in 2007, of one of the scores of raids involving medical marijuana that the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted in Los Angeles during the Bush administration....



Michigan's medical marijuana law takes effect next month (click here)
Posted: 11:43 PM Mar 19, 2009

Last Updated: 12:05 AM Mar 20, 2009
Reporter: Erin Logan
It's a done deal.
Starting April 4th, Michigan will become the 13th state where marijuana can be used legally for medical purposes.
To clear up any confusion, Berrien County Prosecutor Art Cotter held a meeting at the Three Oaks Library Thursday night.
Cotter worries that people weren't exactly sure what they voted for in November, and he worries that there's not enough oversight.
Joel Schmidt, a patient says there will always be those who feel they're above the law.
Schmidt left his family in Michigan and moved across the country because he didn't want to break the law.
He says, “I left my daughter and went to California where it would be legal. I wasn't going to risk my life going to jail.”
Joel Schmidt has Hepatitis C. Without marijuana, he says some days can be miserable.
Schmidt says, “When I eat pills they can't digest in my system and they back up after a weeks worth of taking them and I have seizures and about 17 hours of vomiting episodes where I have to go to the hospital.”
There are no more worries for Joel, now that marijuana can be used legally in Michigan for medical purposes.
He says, “I was like, yeah. I'm going home."
Cotter explained to the public what this new law means.
The law says a patient and their caregiver can posses up to two and a half ounces of marijuana in a closed, locked facility.
A patient must have a written certificate from a physician.
A caregiver can assist up to five patients....



Md. lawmaker pushes bill to study medical marijuana (click here)
By Kathleen Miller The Associated Press
8:06 PM EDT, March 24, 2009
Maryland advocates for medical marijuana say the state is sending mixed messages about using the drug to treat debilitating illnesses.They are hoping to persuade lawmakers to create a task force to study the issue.In 2003, the Maryland General Assembly approved less severe fines for people convicted of marijuana possession who can prove a medical necessity for the drug in court.Seriously ill people can still be arrested, however, and fined up to $100 if convicted of possession or use of marijuana or related paraphernalia, even if they prove in court they have a medical necessity. Otherwise, violators are subject to fines of up to $1,000 and can face up to a year in jail for simple possession or use of the drug....



Support medical marijuana bill (click here)
E. Scott Cracraft, Gilford
March 25, 2009 - 12:00 am
I would like to encourage citizens to support House Bill 648 and let their state representatives know of this support.
HB 648 would allow patients with a doctor's recommendation to grow and possess a relatively small amount of marijuana for personal use. The bill goes to the floor of the House today. If it passes, citizens need to continue to support the measure as it goes through the Senate and to the governor.
A growing number of doctors and other medical professionals are recommending marijuana for patients suffering from the side effects of cancer chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis and other conditions. Already, a dozen states allow for legal use of marijuana for certain medical conditions....


Last updated March 24, 2009 9:03 p.m. PT
Wash. man acquitted in med. marijuana case (click here)
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. -- Kitsap County Superior Court jurors have acquitted an Olalla, Wash., medical marijuana user of growing pot illegally and attempting to sell it.
Medical marijuana advocates hailed Tuesday's verdict in the case of 55-year-old Bruce Olson, who suffers from arthritis and other ailments after decades as a stone mason.
Olson says he lost his home and now lives in a travel trailer due to costs involved in fighting the two felony charges filed in May 2007....

Not much sense to demise carbon sinks if the country is moving away from coal in the first place !

Just love that dirty water....


Mining; Find Protecting Environment Good for Economy (click here)
posted by Nell in Global Finance on October 24th, 2008
The first nationwide poll to test voters’ opinions on mountain top removal mining is clear; voters in every region of the country are against mountaintop removal mining (MTR).
Upon hearing that “more than 1,200 miles of streams in Appalachia already have been buried or destroyed by mountaintop removal coal mining,” fully 85% of voters say they are concerned about the effects of MTR.
In addition, the poll clearly shows that two-thirds of American voters oppose the
Bush administration’s recent efforts to repeal the Stream Buffer Zone Rule. The Stream Buffer Zone rule prohibits coal mining within 100 feet of permanent and seasonal streams. The repeal of the buffer zone would allow the proliferation of MTR by legalizing the process of mining near streams, and would subsequently result in burying our nation’s streams under mining waste.
Debunking the age-old division between protecting the environment and securing jobs, the poll showed that voters believe environmental protections are good for the economy by more than a 2:1 margin. A plurality (47%) believe environmental protections are good for the economy and another 23% believe such protections have no impact on the economy.
Memo detaining the survey findings
http://www.earthjustice.org/library/references/memo-on-mtr-poll.pdf (PDF)...


EPA to review coal-mining permits (click title to entry - thank you)
The agency puts hundreds of mountaintop mining requests on hold so it can study impacts of dumping debris into waterways.
Associated Press
March 25, 2009
Washington -- The Environmental Protection Agency put hundreds of mountaintop coal-mining permits on hold Tuesday to evaluate the projects' impact on streams and wetlands.
The decision by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson targets a controversial practice that allows coal mining companies to dump waste from mountaintop mining into streams and wetlands.
Between 150 and 200 applications for new or expanded surface coal mines, many of them mountaintop removal operations, are pending before the federal government. EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said the agency did not expect problems with the overwhelming majority of permits.
The permits are issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, which has been criticized by environmental groups and has been sued on allegations of failing to thoroughly evaluate the environmental impact of mountaintop removal....