Progressive breakfast club headlines 12/10/08 12456

 

Progressive breakfast club headlines 12/10/08   ON AFGHANISTAN, WHICH IS WORSE: IGNORANCE OR ARROGANCE? (DON'T KNOW, DON'T CARE).  An international fact-finding agency issues report saying that 72% of the country is under the control of the Taliban, and politicians from Kabul to Washington are in denial about the reality of the situation in that country.  Yvonne Ridley takes a ride around the countryside as a reporter and nearly gets killed for her efforts: a good antidote for anyone's denial. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21428.htm    "EVEN THE SHORT MAN CAN SEE THE SKY, WHEN WILL THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SOMALIA?"  A Somali peace activist is so quoted in an Amnesty International report.  "What is happening" is that there is a brutal Ethiopian occupation there, supported if not instigated by the United States that, in the name of fighting terrorism, has terrorized the people and contributed to their starvation.  What is happening is also that the "international community" has been using Somali coastal waters as a dumping ground for toxic wastes.  Sadia Ali Aden sees U.S. policy toward Somalia as a "litmus test" of the commitment of an Obama administration to a truly "humanitarian" (as opposed to an imperialist) effort to allow the people of Africa to see the sky (and see more than Blackhawk helicopters.)  http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=922&Itemid=1   PEOPLE OF ILLINOIS ARE USED TO THE C. WORD IN THEIR POLITICS, BUT THE F. ONE LEAVES THEM GASPING IN ASTONISHMENT.  New York Times article on the arrest of Rod Blagojevich shocks local political observers, who are accustomed to the low-grade corruption of the "old boy" system of politicians in office taking care of their friends, but not the wealth-seeking venality and the profanity-laced references to political rivals uncovered in Patrick Fitzgerald's release of details of his charges against the Governor.  What the bleep, Rod, have you come unhinged so you don't play by the "rules" of genteel corruption in Illinois?  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/10blago.html?th&emc=thhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/10blago.html?th&emc=th   WILL CANDIDATE 1 PLEASE STEP FORWARD?  Yesterday's released charges against Illinois Governor include reference to Candidate 1, one of several possible choices for the Governor to fill the Senate seat that Barack Obama has vacated in anticipation of his presidency.  From the context of the description of that candidate, it is apparently Obama's long-term close personal advisor (now to be appointed as White House advisor) Valerie Jarrett, whom Obama apparently hoped to be named as his successor in the Senate. The charges include taped statements by Blagojevich of his hope to trade the Senate appointment of "candidate 1" for Obama's agreement to appoint him Secretary of Health and Human Services; as well as his expletive-deleted description of the unwillingness of Obama and his transition team to make the deal.  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16348.html   MIAMI-DADE COMMISSIONERS DECIDE TO KEEP THEIR "CONE OF SILENCE."   On a day when corruption between state officials and contractors bubbles to the surface in Illinois, the MDC decides to stay with a regulation that prevents any contacts between commissioners and agents of companies seeking contracts with the county.  Despite some misgivings and concerns about loopholes in the system, Commissioners decide to keep the rule as part of their "reform" effort to control lobbyist influence on political decisions.  http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/806517.html   These headlines and following additional stories posted on website today.  To read them, click http://www.sunstateactivist.org/ scroll below headlines and click on any article you want to read.   ooo  UK to utilities: pass on your fuel savings to your customers. ooo  Hard time for stock market; disaster for Harvard endowments. ooo  Bye, bye, Evans High?  Orange County levee is dry. ooo  State Farm wants 67% home insurance increase.  Say what? ooo  And more.   Quote of the day:   Despite its election day smackdown, the NRA and its pals soldier on in their mission to arm god-fearing Americans in ludicrous places. A flurry of news stories earlier this year reported a pioneering solution proposed to the rash of recent campus shootings: instead of redoubling efforts to enforce the whole "gun-free school zone" thing -- a quaint little notion from, like the 1980s -- why not change the rules to let students bring more guns onto college campuses?   A few answers leapt to mind -- binge drinking, drug use, close living quarters in a high-pressure environment -- but for awhile, it seemed like the idea was catching on. In the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007, in which 32 people were killed, several states began considering legislation to expand the right to carry a concealed weapon onto college campuses. Liliana Segura, with the "bad news" that the National Rifle Association persists in its efforts at state legislation to permit students to carry guns on college campuses. The "good news" is that the NRA is batting 0 for 15 on legislation in states in which they have attempted to pass this legislation.  http://www.alternet.org/rights/111317/