Unrest caused by bad economy may require military action, report says - El Paso Times

Another outstanding forward by our intrepid readers! No successful revolutionary movement has existed without significant support from sections of the military and law enforcement agencies. Is it worth the gamble in America? [excerpt] ... Retired Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freir wrote the report "Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development," which the Army think tank in Carlisle, Pa., recently released. "Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities ... to defend basic domestic order and human security," the report said, in case of "unforeseen economic collapse," "pervasive public health emergencies," and "catastrophic natural and human disasters," among other possible crises. The report also suggests the new (Barack Obama) administration could face a "strategic shock" within the first eight months in office. ... Read the rest at the El Paso Times

Kansas Jackass: Sebelius Talks Energy & Taxes

It's a good talk, but not one of decentralized energy independence for every town, village, home or farm. It's still deeply stuck in the pockets of Big Energy corporations. Look at who's steering the selection of the next chancellor at KU - a former CEO for the Kansas City Power and Light utility behemoth. Many Kansans, rightfully, have a soft spot for Guv Kathleen, but her unqualified support of a big NBAF bio-terror lab slated for construction at Manhattan will prove to be disastrous to her legacy. In the meantime, Big Coal and Big Energy rules the GOP soaked state. Read more at the important Kansas Jackass link, above.

Medical boat attacked by Israelis navy

Hat tip to Rory at the fine Scottish anti-fascist site, the Chimes of Freedom! Happy New Year to you!

Whiskey Fire: You Know Who We Really Hate?

A reader forwards what Jake T. Snake writes: I have had a ringside seat to the economic downturn this year. It is not an abstraction to me. The folks at the bottom are always the first to feel the pinch, when it comes. Clients of the agency I work at come through our doors every day requesting assistance with basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter and medications. As the year has progressed and New York State has chosen to repeatedly victimize its most vulnerable citizens, it has become more difficult to help people meet these needs. ... read You Know Who We Really Hate?

Will `Tough Guy' Dick Cheney Cop Out as Usual and Take a Pardon? | This Can't Be Happening!

Will the far-right "anti-war Libertarians" please stand up and shout out together "imperialist war criminal?" As Sgt. Carter used to yell at Gomer Pyle, "I can't hear you!" [excerpt] Vice President Dick Cheney has cultivated the image of a serious tough guy, with his grim, scowling vissage, his dismissive "So?" comments when things go badly, his unrepentant defense of torture, including waterboarding, and his brash statements confirming that he approved the interrogation measures that clearly violated US criminal statutes and the Geneva Conventions. ... lol at Lindorff's : This Can't Be Happening!

Mary Pitt: "A New Wind Blowing"

Ms. Pitt returns to Discomfit Magazine [excerpt] The whole country is agog with the news of the Madoff Ponzi scheme and the billions he scammed from big investors, but nobody appears to realize that it is only the tip of a huge iceberg. ... Read more at Discomfit!

Robert Parry: "Two Dangerous Bush-Cheney Myths" - Consortiumnews.com

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are trying to keep some shine on their eight-year reign by pushing two key myths: that torture saved lives and the "surge" saved Iraq, writes Robert Parry. Hard times are hitting the first web based independent investigative news service, make a donation today and wish the small staff a Happy New Year! Your donation goes to pay free-lance writers, like Radio Free Kansas favorite guests; Ray McGovern, Chalmers Johnson and others ... read and support Consortiumnews.com

Sunday News Video Round-up - What others think about US and our 'friends.'

Russia Television: "Israel launches air strikes on Gaza"



Middle east news - Link TV



Systemic corruptions - The Real News Network



Why did Cheney confess on national television? Will a king prosecute a king?



Will a king prosecute a king? Part two

Harold Pinter, playwright of the pause, dies at 78 - International Herald Tribune

"The last of the Titans." - Ben Brantley, New York Times
A multimedia presentation of his works is at the link to the International Herald Tribune. His acceptance speech for the 2005 Nobel prize for literature is above.

It will also be broadcasted tonight on Radio Free Kansas.
[An excerpt of Mel Gussow and Ben Brantley's obituary] ... An actor, essayist, screenwriter, poet and director as well as a dramatist, Pinter was also publicly outspoken in his views on repression and censorship, at home and abroad. He used his Nobel acceptance speech to denounce American foreign policy, saying that the United States had not only lied to justify waging war against Iraq, but that it had also "supported and in many cases engendered every right-wing military dictatorship" in the last 50 years. His political views were implicit in much of his work. Though his plays deal with the slipperiness of memory and human character, they are also almost always about the struggle for power. ... Click here for more information.

CNBC Erin Burnett, the Banksters' stenographer?

"She's the ultimate growth stock," said Jonathan Wald, CNBC's senior vice president for business news. - as reported on the mainstream media (M$M) cultivation of celebrity status for business journalists at Huffington Post, last July 2008.

Erin Burnett consistently makes apologies for Wall Street's CEOs pillaging the taxpayers and she does so to the nation's most vulnerable of consumers, the stay-at-home folks during daytime television. Pay day loan sharks, jewelry pawning hucksters never had it so good.

Television networks should forego attempting to broadcast world class news during the workday mornings and just dive into the latest tear jerking sensationalist domestic crime beat. Expensive Star War satellite uplink vans beaming on location crime scene shots of America's cul de sac crimes in the McMansions is hard on my uninsured dental ware. Critical viewers are held hostage to the meaningless and the M$M's CEOs know it.

When news celeb Erin Burnett appeared last week on one of the morning shows, I cringed at the dumbing down of all the housewives (and husbands) she informs.

She was reporting on a breaking AP news story where the Big Banksters are cashing in on our bailout billions. And, according to her, it wasn't that bad.

Ripped from the pages of the Buck Henry book and news media critical movie "To Die For" ... Erin Burnett is on top of the dung pile of business "journalists."

Our Holiday Music Video - first produced three years ago!

ZEITGEIST: THE WITHERING AWAY OF EUROPE’S ANTI-WAR SPIRIT

Jason Miller's superlative site, Thomas Paine's Corner, just published a kewl one! Writer Gaither Stewart's teaser: ... My Italian nephew, 6’ 6” of bone and muscle is in Afghanistan. He wanted it. For the money, for travel and adventure. The idea of killing children was not part of the deal. His elite, super-trained, super-armed and well-paid special troops feel sorry for the sad sack and often terrified American soldiers, exploited by the US war party. Read: the Demo-Rep war party of police state America, many of whom are destined to die there as their brothers are doing in Iraq. Now the President Elect wants to send those troops from Iraq to Afghanistan. ... Click here.

El Salvador next to go left?

A reader forwards with this excerpt: Recent polls in El Salvador show that the leftist FMLN party is 15%ahead over the right-wing presidential candidate from the ruling party.This only confirms what Salvadorans in the social movement, members ofthe FMLN, and the general public have been saying all along: El Salvadoris the next in line to join the Latin American shift to the left! ... Video and articles at http://links.org.au/node/820

Lawrence Sustainability Network--Lawrence, KS

The community I regularly read news from on Radio Free Kansas. Here is their web site, sign up for their announcements. Click here.

The Archdruid Report

A holiday forward from a Solstice celebrating reader. The Archdruid Report strategic writing about permaculture with an ancient perspective.

t r u t h o u t | SEC Whistleblower Speaks on Madoff Fraud

A reader forwards with this comment, "After reading what the SEC whistleblower has to say (click here), it's instructive to have a look at the following pair of articles, also featured at Truthout.org:" [excerpted from an original article by Adrienne Apel, Inter Press Service] Boston - A new U.S. investigative panel is demanding answers from the U.S. Treasury about how the agency has spent money from the 700-billion-dollar bailout fund. The Congressional Oversight Panel, a four-person board authorized by Congress and led by consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren of Harvard Law School, is charged with finding out what the Treasury has done with the billions it has already spent. ... (click here for source)

And here is the second article recommended by our reader: [excerpted from the original "Perspective" article by Michael Winship at Truthout.org] ... Just when you've finally gotten your mind around the enormous $700 billion financial bailout - even if none of us are really sure where all that money's going - there comes an even greater, breathtaking price tag. The amount is $904 billion - that's how much we've spent on American military operations, including Iraq and Afghanistan, since the 9/11 attacks; 50 percent more than what was spent in Vietnam, reports the non-partisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment. Their study does not include the inestimable toll in human life. ...

The reader continues with this send-up: "A reasonable New Year's resolution for Americans might be to stop thinking of places like Mexico and Afghanistan as the exemplary instances of corruption and the abandonment of the rule of law. An open question (a cause for hope, not despair) is whether America has the resources -- not merely the institutional resources and popular desire, but popular organization -- to do something about its own case." Start with the SEC Whistleblower Speaks on Madoff Fraud

Dissident Voice : Turning Free-Roaming Horses Into Border Guards

Electric Politics | EP Podcast: The Art of Interrogation

Host George Kenney interviews an interrogator, "who led the interrogation team in pursuit of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi." Download the audio at Electric Politics

Michael Hudson: The Ponzi Paradigm

[excerpt] ... What Ponzi sold was hope, pandering to peoples’ unrealistic desire to believe that a new way to make easy gains had been discovered, with no visible upper limit as to how long gains can persist in excess of the economy’s own rate of growth. It is a measure of how much harder it is to make returns in today’s world – and hence, how little hope needs to be excited – that whereas Ponzi promised to double his investors’ money every three months, the Spanish stamp scheme paid only a 6 to 10 per cent annual return. Neither fraud actually made any trading gains or profits, but simply paid investors out of new money coming in from fresh players. New inflows were treated as earnings. That’s how pyramid schemes work. ... Read more of Dr. Hudson's latest at Counterpunch

A post-911 Hysteria remedy: Christmas Holiday Comedy: "1941"

War, Depression and fun
"Show'em a good time..."
One of the most sorely abused Christmas comedy flicks to be produced since 1979, "1941" has been ridiculed for decades by Spielberg critics, as "over the top" and "belittling the Greatest Generation's best moments" the movie remains a solid adult classic among smart film buffs.

Cameo performances from actors of his previous hit films Spielberg sent a shot over the bow of the Hollywood establishment, early in his career, immediately after the mega-blockbuster "Jaws" he sent a resounding box office loser (with the exception of smarter European audiences) that he was not one to be trifled with in control of the studio.

Comedy actors; Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Slim Pickens and John Candy with others, rushed to the opportunity of "1941." A no holds barred parody on American war-time nationalism -- your holiday guests can drink, laugh and remember themselves and their ancestors in less bloody light. Still widely available 1941 (1979) will entertain beyond nostaglia.

Ray McGovern and Coleen Rowley: "Deterring Torture Through the Law" : Information Clearing House - ICH

[excerpt] ... Let us have no backsliding. Barack Obama must order an abrupt halt to torture, as he has promised—and preferably on January 20, right after he is sworn in as president. A timely report from an independent prosecutor would surely be helpful in buttressing and justifying that order.Before the Senate Armed Services Committee's released a summary of its report on Dec. 11, and before Cheney threw down the gauntlet four days later, what seemed to make the most sense was the more gradual approach proposed by the insightful lawyer/writer, Scott Horton (see December issue of Harper's). Horton calls for the appointment of a commission peopled by men and women of unimpeachable integrity, in order to "provide a comprehensive narrative, setting out in detail how U.S. torture policy came to be formed and identifying the key actors and the decisions they made." ... Read more at Information Clearing House

Whistleblower Alleges Prosecutorial Misconduct in Senator Stevens Case - washingtonpost.com

A newbie investigator with the FBI has alleged in a letter that procedures were unethical, if not possibly illegal, in the prosecution of the former Alaska senator. A reader forwards, [excerpt] ... A redacted version of the whistleblower's letter was made public under an order issued by Sullivan late Friday. Prosecutors brought the letter to Sullivan's attention Dec. 11. The judge has scheduled a hearing for next month to deal with separate allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, made by a witness. The whistleblowing agent, whose identity could not be determined, apparently made the complaint to the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, according to Sullivan's ruling. ... Read more after the obnoxious rollover pop-up ads at: washingtonpost.com

GOP Group In Panic Over Possible Franken Win

Partisan lawyers group need Monty Python! [excerpt] ... For those following the recount closely, the letter is filled with a variety of obvious misinterpretations and inaccuracies. For instance, the RNLA gives the impression that during the canvassing process, officials "found errors favoring Franken so incredibly statistically improbable that statisticians are questioning the officials in these counties." It's not clear which statisticians the RNLA is referring to. But a study done by a Dartmouth professor actually predicted the very gains made by Franken. ... Read more: Panic Over Franken Win

The Pentagon is muscling in everywhere. It's time to stop the mission creep. - washingtonpost.com

A reader forward: [excerpt] We no longer have a civilian-led government. It is hard for a lifelong Republican and son of a retired Air Force colonel to say this, but the most unnerving legacy of the Bush administration is the encroachment of the Department of Defense into a striking number of aspects of civilian government. Our Constitution is at risk. ... Read more at: washingtonpost.com

MyFox Kansas City | Teachers Take Dispute To Board Members' Homes

Five months in dispute ... ? A reader writes, "It was so much fun! We rode a school bus over to Arthur Benson's house and sang Christmas carols to him (with altered lyrics). It was very cold but we huddled together and sang. ... " See the video, click here.

MyFox St. Louis | Protestors Stop Traffic On The Delmar Loop

Friendly Persuasion (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The absolute, perfect movie for the holiday.

New School In Exile

Building Occupation ... details first on Friday Night Free for All, beginning at 10pm, Radio Free Kansas. Want it now? Click, New School In Exile

Ben Smith's Blog: Spitzer's humor - Politico.com

OpenSecrets | Madoff and Company Spent Nearly $1 Million on Washington Influence - Capital Eye

A developing news story from a reader. Thanks for the link!

Prosecuting Bush and Cheney for Torture: No One Can Be Above the Law | This Can't Be Happening!

[excerpt] ... “No one is above the law” used to be a proud motto of the US legal system. Now we are about to have our first president who is a constitutional scholar, and he appears ready, with the backing of the conventional media, to change that motto to: “No one is above the law, except for presidents, vice presidents and their top staffs.” ... Read more at This Can't Be Happening!

Dean Baker: US housing policy must be reconsidered

Gleaned from a reader's forward before the ice storm hits Kansas today. I disagree with Mr. Baker on this one, despite his recent referral from Dr. Noam Chomsky. People should have their own homes, career oriented and stable jobs and many free social services like health care, education and retirement pensions. Still Mr. Baker makes a good argument against the snake oil salesmen of finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE). Read it at the guardian.co.uk

Kansas Jackass: Lame duck Speaker appoints himself to board

The hog caller of political pork just got louder. Big Coal, Big Utilities, Big Bio-terror labs - sorta like Count Dracula guarding a blood bank while preying on us, the poor. Read more

Madoff collapse has global impact

The World Socialist Web Site offers some in-depth coverage on the ramifications and why the Madoff collapse has global impact

The Real News Network - Plundering the Congo

Another reader forward, as a backgrounder for the many who flunked geography in America.

The Associated Press: AP NewsAlert

A reader forwards this short with the question, "An end to Blackwater?" Click AP NewsAlert

Lawrence Velvel: Why Blagojevich Might Be Acquitted

The Dean of the Massachusett's School of Law (Andover) writes up a pretty good case arguing that all the tabloid "news" coverage of the Illinois governor might have several big flaws. What did the foul-mouthed governor really materially benefit? Conspiracy, maybe; but what was delivered? All in all Mr. Velvel, who presided over one of the few serious meetings to inquire into the logistics of legally prosecuting Bush et. al. for war crimes, writes some funny but serious stuff. [excerpt] ... For scores of years it has been a standing farce that ambassadorships are in effect sold to the rich for campaign contributions. Membership on state boards or commissions is traded for campaign contributions. It has for many decades been a standing practice for politicians to cast their votes in Congress in favor of positions desired by industries that give them money for their campaigns. (Elizabeth Warren tells a remarkable story about Saint Hillary and the banking industry in this regard.) Some Senators have been bought, paid for and owned by particular companies or industries. ... Read more about Why Blagojevich Might Be Acquitted

Mary Lynn Cramer: Stiglitz's Foolishly Flawed Morality

[excerpt] ... Forget the fact that the “mistakes” made by Stiglitz’s long-time acquaintances in the financial Mafioso left them holding millions and billions of dollars in assets, while the low and moderate income wage-workers they used and abused lost savings, retirement funds, jobs and homes. ... Read more Mary Lynn Cramer at Counterpunch!

Press TV - Dollar continues downward slide

Greg Palast: "Obama Slam-Duncans Education" : Information Clearing House - ICH

[excerpt] ... Indeed, although he plays roundball with Duncan (who was captain of the Harvard basketball team), State Senator Obama was one of the only local Chicago officials who refused to send his kids to Duncan's public schools. (The Obamas sent Sasha and Malia to the Laboratory School, where Duncan's methods are derided as dangerously ludicrous.) ... Read more

Senate Scandal Snares Obama’s Chief Aide : Information Clearing House - ICH

ICH Publisher Tom Feely reports donations toward his endeavor are down by over 60% during his fund drive. I thought my main computer hard drive crashing was bad ... Here is a excerpt and link to arch right wing Moonie owned newspaper gloating over Brand Obama's sleeze floating to the top. [excerpt] ... Republicans are salivating at the prospect of tying the president-elect to the notoriously corrupt Chicago machine in which he forged his career. Grover Norquist, an influential conservative tax reform lobbyist, said: “If Obama wants to be squeaky clean, he is going to have to cut all his Chicago friends loose. His chief of staff has fingerprints on the murder weapon.” ... Read it all at: Information Clearing House

Jason Leopold: " Cheney Admits Detainee-Abuse Role"Consortiumnews.com

Editor and Publisher Robert Parry writes: "Our critical year-end fundraising drive is off to a slow start. We must raise $50,000 this month if we are to continue paying freelance writers, like Ray McGovern, and maintaining our small staff." Make a donation, today. [excerpt] Vice President Dick Cheney said for the first time Monday that he helped get the “process cleared” for the brutal interrogation program of suspected terrorists. ... Read more at Consortiumnews.com

BEHIND THE BYLINE: James Risen | American News Project

Video excerpt: ... From his perch at the New York Times, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist James Risen has been at the forefront of uncovering some of the Bush administration's worst abuses of power. As a result, he has been hauled before a grand jury and pressured by the government to name his anonymous sources. A few days after this interview was filmed, one of Risen's key sources, Thomas Tamm, was featured on the cover of Newsweek as "The Fed Who Blew the Whistle." Risen spoke with ANP about the rise in executive power during Bush's tenure and how the media failed to be vigilant in the wake of 9/11. ... To watch the 6 minute interview click American News Project

Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters | Journal of the mental environment

Link provided by a reader, before the snow storm cut off the satellite. Thanks, click here.

GEAB N°29 is available! Phase IV of the Global Systemic crisis: Breakdown of the Global Monetary System by summer 2009

Take it or leave it. The director of research for this periodical recently appeared on the radio show Guns and Butter, hat tip to Tom Feely at the Information Clearinghouse for providing the first link. To listen, click here. Read more at: GEAB N°29 is available!

Kansas Jackass: Burning for a Coal Compromise? Some Legislators Don't Want Repeat of 2008

The vast majority of the state governments allow for net metering which provide fro a decentralized autonomous system of generating electricity, but not corporate dominated Kansas. Stupidly, the state legislature is dominated with people who owe the utility lobbyists more than the people. [excerpt] ... Gridlock all because compromise couldn't be reached- because the supporters of dirty energy refused to cede even an ounce of ground to the idea we should invest in cleaner alternatives, too. It was either coal or nothin'. ... Read more at the Kansas Jackass

Catastrophe for Gaza

Forward from a U. K. reader: Excerpt: "... Rather than turn Gazans against Hamas, the blockade's effect has been a humanitarian catastrophe that alienates Gazans young and old from both Israel and the West. Even I, a practicing psychiatrist for decades and a longtime advocate of coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, am having trouble coping with the hardships to which we are subjected. ..." Read more, click here.

Greg Palast at Greenfest on the economy ... hilarious truth!

Want more of Palast? Go to his video office of You Tube, click here.

Ray McGovern on Gates, Obama and Vietnam

John Pilger: "Nicaragua"

Consortiumnews.com

The web site that has produced truely independent investigative journalism since 1995 is in the middle of their end-of-year fund drive. "A bipartisan Senate report traces the origins of the waterboarding torture scandal and the Abu Ghraib abuses to an order from President George W. Bush in early 2002, reports Jason Leopold. " Read more at Consortiumnews.com

A reader forwards links from the Socialist Worker e-newsletter!

Cheney To GOP Senators: It's 'Herbert Hoover Time'

Darth Dick Cheney privately warns the GOP senators balking and sqwaking against the Big 3 Bailout. The long decades of "free market" swill poured out by the many think tanks has filled their political pork troughs for years and years, as robot pigs continue the screed in disbelief at the Supreme One's barking, but this time the conservative herd is stampeding. Leave it to the thick headed Republicans in the remaining "red" states (including dear old Kansas) to go cross eyed wild when hearing, It's 'Herbert Hoover Time' Yeah! Let's get the Depression on! Bust them unions!

CorpWatch : Outsourcing Intelligence in Iraq: A CorpWatch Report on L-3/Titan, Updated December 2008 with Recommendations from Amnesty International

Bernard Madoff arrested over alleged $50 billion fraud | Reuters

United Auto Workers Lash Out at GOP Senators Over Bailout Collapse - FOXNews.com Transition Tracker

Note the "Brand Obama" look of the Fox News "transition tracker" site.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 12/11/2008 | U.S. keeps silent as Afghan ally removes war crime evidence

Patrick Cockburn: Total Defeat for U.S. in Iraq

The thick fog of economic news about the ongoing Depression blinds us to the real news elsewhere. The end of empire is at hand, how shall we seize it? As an opportunity or as a defeat? [excerpt] On November 27 the Iraqi parliament voted by a large majority in favor of a security agreement with the US under which the 150,000 American troops in Iraq will withdraw from cities, towns and villages by June 30, 2009 and from all of Iraq by December 31, 2011. The Iraqi government will take over military responsibility for the Green Zone in Baghdad, the heart of American power in Iraq, in a few weeks time. Private security companies will lose their legal immunity. US military operations and the arrest of Iraqis will only be carried out with Iraqi consent. There will be no US military bases left behind when the last US troops leave in three years time and the US military is banned in the interim from carrying out attacks on other countries from Iraq. ... Read more of the Total Defeat for U.S. in Iraq

Archive: Charting the Road to Ruin: Vanity Fair

What Happened?


A reader forwards a "useful archive" on the "recession" for others ... Depression-proof reading from one great magazine! And lots of great looking goils, too! Read it at the Classic Vanity Fair

A wake-up note with a jolt! "Will Obama Buy Torture-lite?"

During my daily pre-dawn surf across cyberspace in looking for some wave-making links for readers I sometimes get leads from readers who email me. Some of the mailed leads are an absolute waste of time taking me to some far-off horizon of vast conspiracy, "right" or "left" wing (take your pick), that are both ineffectual and incredible.

Why take you, the readers, to places where no fact can be nailed down; where second, third or umpteenth level of hearsay is in the main, considered as a hard fact?

However there are others which must be taken as serious, about real people whispering corruptions of the empire into some very powerful ears and that always, every time, makes for a chilling early morning read.

So my jaunt this early morning was interrupted by a very chilling email from Mr. Ray McGovern, a former guest on Radio Free Kansas, who retired as a Senior CIA analyst that chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared the President's Daily Brief for several White House administrations.

Do you want to see a portion of what he wrote me? See below, and read it carefully with all due deliberation, because he has "been there, done that" when it comes to analyzing hard and fast facts.

[edited excerpt of correspondence] ... You may have noticed that the chair of the House Intelligence Committee has called for McConnell and Hayden to keep their posts and … thinks something like torture-lite might be just what this country needs.

Sylvestre Reyes' remarks betoken the proverbial fox-in-chicken-coup approach.

It is my view that every senior official associated with intelligence abuses—torture, and such; manufacturing evidence and cooking intelligence also—should be retrained for cataloguing old books in intelligence libraries.

This is key. What kind of message would Obama send, were he to keep on those overseeing torture, rendition, "fixed" intelligence. Reyes' comments have not gotten much ink, air, or ether yet. They are important, though, and I posted this one on Consortiumnews.com late yesterday. ... I would be pleased if you would provide your readers/listeners with a chance to read it. This could also enhance chances that someone, anyone, close to the president-elect might see it, on chance some of them are lurking in northeast Kansas. ... [end of edited excerpt]

Did you get that lurkers? If you eyeballed my note thus far, then you must follow through and take a careful look because the article is posted at Robert Parry's important Consortium News, one of the few sites where independent investigative journalism regularly carries the day and it is located here.

Chicago factory workers end sit-in - Los Angeles Times

Their jobs gone, the factory machinery rumored to be moving to the state of Iowa, Republic Windows and Doors settles with workers. [excerpt] ... Workers will receive about eight weeks' severance pay, accrued vacation time and two months of healthcare coverage, officials said. About $1.75 million will be put into an escrow account to be supervised by the workers' union. ... Note the figures for the Bank of America and J. P. Morgan bailouts listed in the last paragraph of the article are incorrect. The current amounts are $15 billion and $25 billion, respectively. Read more at the Los Angeles Times

Kevin Phillips on American University Radio - The Diane Rehm Show for Sunday April 20, 2008

Readers of Phillips latest book, "Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism" might be interested in an audio interview he gave on Diane Rehm's show. Socialism for the by and for the capitalist wealthy, so far, has came "in a pin-striped suit." One hour, click here.

Michael Hudson: Obama's Favoritism

The Great Swindle continues: [excerpt] ... One may ask why Wall Street’s leading offenders – Hank Greenberg of A.I.G., Charles Prince at Citibank – were bailed out as if saving them was saving “the economy” itself, while only the auto executives were told not to pay themselves such exorbitant salaries and bonuses. If the auto industry has a “bad engineering” problem for which it is being held responsible, why aren’t the banks, A.I.G. and their enablers – hedge funds on the other side of the deals that the smart boys won and the careless boys let them win – not being held to a similar standard? ... Read Michael Hudson: Obama's Favoritism

Steve Early: Is Obama Backing Off a Crucial Pledge to Labor?

Early warning signs that key people close to Obama are influencing him to move the critically important Employee Free Choice Act to the back of the legislative post-inaugural bus. Read Is Obama Backing Off a Crucial Pledge to Labor?

Lee Sustar: Republic Workers Target Bank of America

The workers' factory occupation is still on. [excerpt] ... Yet even though Republic's main owner, Rich Gillman, was reportedly aware that the plant would have to close by January, he still refused to provide workers the 60 days notice of closure (or the equivalent in pay) as required by the federal WARN Act. Instead, he gave the workers just a couple days' notice that their jobs and health insurance were gone--less than three weeks before Christmas. And as the Chicago Tribune reported, his relatives and former Republic personnel have already purchased a nonunion window manufacturing plant in Iowa. ... Read more

The Washington Independent » Report: FBI Investigating Allegations Concerning Minn. Senator

To add to the jitters of a "grueling recount" election against Al Franken, Sen. Norm Coleman appears to be under investigation. The big difference? Cash. Coleman's wife got paid. Read more

Mayoral brother's bank joins sit-in talks - Chicago Breaking News

Negotiations have been joined by another bank. [excerpt] ... Representatives of Republic Windows management, the workers' union, and banks JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America met until 10 p.m. last night without coming to a resolution, sources said. The parties plan to reconvene at 1 p.m. today at Bank of America's Loop headquarters. ... Read more at: Chicago Breaking News

Kansas Jackass: KS-Sen Most Likely to Switch Parties in 2010

Kansas governor turns down Obama appointment and more ... read more.

Workers of America: Wake Up! We All Need a Union! | This Can't Be Happening!

Dave Lindorff writes with the latest good news from Chicago's Republic Doors and Windows sit-down strike: [excerpt] ... We workers of America, white collar, pink collar, blue collar, and no collar at all, have just gotten a wonderful example of the power of having a union. It’s an example that should have every unorganized employee in America looking for a union organizer. ... Wake Up! We All Need a Union! It is Happening!

The Significance of Nixon's 'Treason" - Consortiumnews.com

The Richard Nixon campaign's successful "treason" in sabotaging Vietnam peace talks in 1968 to win an election explains a lot about Republican dominance of the era, writes Robert Parry. Read more at: Consortiumnews.com

Dealbook - Workers Pay for Debacle at Tribune - NYTimes.com

A corporate plague descends upon the workers' pensions of the 160 year old daily newspaper, and other considerable holdings, including the world's best baseball team of losers. One reader writes, "This is a good and typical picture of how Wall Street and corporate boards benefit from the destruction of companies." Read it, and say it ain't so, Joe.

Illinois Governor Suspends Business With Bank Of America

He tries to help the Republic workers in their sit-down strike. [excerpt from yesterday's Huffington Post] ... Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced Monday that he is asking all Illinois government agencies to suspend business with Bank of America. Blagojevich contended that Bank Of America received a multi-billion dollar bailout from the government and should accordingly restore credit to the Republic Windows & Doors company in Chicago. ... and is arrested this morning at his home, click here. [excerpt from a Reuters wire feed at London's Financial Times] ... Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested on criminal charges on Tuesday, including trying to sell the US Senate seat being vacated by fellow Democrat President-elect Barack Obama, federal prosecutors said. Mr Blagojevich was also accused of threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of the Chicago Cubs’ baseball home Wrigley Field ”to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical” of him. ... It's getting crazy, read more at: Illinois Governor

A PROJECT OF THE SUSTAINABILITY ACTION NETWORK, Lawrence Chapter

KANSAS COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY POLICY PROPOSAL - CEP

The Climate & Energy Project has just released a policy paper titled "Solutions - Moving Toward a Sound Comprehensive Energy Policy for Kansas". During the battle over the Holcomb coal generating stations, (and upcoming in the 2009 Legislative session), understanding the range of complex issues and balancing priorities and options became very difficult. In a commendable effort to be pro-active, CEP has offered this good attempt at navigating just what a comprehensive energy policy would look like.
Our state deserves a comprehensive energy policy that -

* Makes the most of Kansas resources - wind, solar, and biomass.
* Creates jobs and builds our economy.
* Protects Kansas ratepayers against rising, volatile fossil fuel prices.
* Gets maximum energy from least cost efficiency.
* Guards the health of citizens and our environment.
* Reduces fuel imports and increases the state's energy security and independence.

Download the new report "Solutions - Toward a sound, comprehensive energy policy for Kansas"
And to be pro-active go to http://www.climateandenergy.org/TakeStep/TakestepsOverview/Index.htm

Electric Politics | EP Podcast: Of Coal and Corporations

George Kenney at his finest with Ted Nace, and with a little digging, a free net book! Worth the listen especially with the current Kansas legislature gearing up. Check it out at: Electric Politics

The James Petras website: "Election of the Greatest Con Man in Recent History"

First post hat tip to Tom Feely's Information Clearinghouse! [excerpt] ... The entire political spectrum ranging from the ‘libertarian’ left, through the progressive editors of the Nation to the entire far right neo-con/Zionist war party and free market Berkeley/Chicago/Harvard academics, with a single voice, hailed the election of Barack Obama as a ‘historic moment’, a ‘turning point in American history and other such histrionics. For reasons completely foreign to the emotional ejaculations of his boosters, it is a historic moment: witness the abysmal gap between his ‘populist’ campaign demagoguery and his long-standing and deepening carnal relations with the most retrograde political figures, power brokers and billionaire real estate and financial backers. ... Read more at: The James Petras website

US companies announce more mass layoffs

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

More on Obama's declarations about the Republic factory occupation by the workers in Chicago. Read more

The Associated Press: Obama: Workers staging sit-in 'absolutely right'

AP Video on Worker Sit-down Strike in Chicago

United Electrical Worker's organizer, Leah Fried, also appeared on Saturday's Prime Suspect segment of Radio Free Kansas. Click the player box to the left to hear her and other breaking news.

Worker Takeover News in Chicago!

Vigil/solidarity rally for Republic Windows Workers!

Noon, Saturday, December Republic Windows & Doors
1333 N. Hickory
On Goose Island, near the intersection of Division & Clyborn

More info: Mark of the UE at 773 405 3022

(312) 502-7867 - Jerry Mead-Lucero, Labor Beat

Spread the word!

Angry laid-off workers occupy factory in Chicago: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

A reader forward the news! My how the little rooster crows through Republic's Windows and Doors! [excerpt] CHICAGO (AP) -- Workers laid off from their jobs at a Chicago factory have occupied the building and are demanding assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay that they say they are owed. ... Read more NOW!

Peter Morici: Slouching Toward a Depression?

We told you so ... now why ask? [excerpt] ... The economy has been slowing since December 2007. The real question is whether the economy is in a recession or depression? ... Read more?

Alexander Cockburn: Honeymoans From the Left

Who else is unpacking "Brand Obama"? [excerpt] A month after he won the White House Barack Obama is drawing a chorus of approval from conservatives who spent most of this year denouncing him as a man of the extreme left. “Reassuring”, says Karl Rove, of Obama’s cabinet selections. Max Boot, a rabid right-wing commentator, confesses, "I am gobsmacked by these appointments, most of which could just as easily have come from a President McCain." In Murdoch’s Weekly Standard, mouthpiece of the neocons, Michael Goldfarb reviewed Obama’s appointments and declared that he sees “nothing that represents a drastic change in how Washington does business. The expectation is that Obama is set to continue the course set by Bush in his second term." ... Read more

Unpacking "Brand Obama" part one: "The War We Need to Win"

Here is the transcript and video of a speech he gave August 1, 2007 at the Woodrow Wilson Center on the foreign policies pertaining to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also addresses complaints of the Bush administration undermining domestic civil liberties. Read or watch here. Provided as part of the discussion on tonight's "Friday Free for All" on Radio Free Kansas, beginning at 10pm (CST). I will begin the segment tonight with a short 15 minute speech Dr. Noam Chomsky delivered November 18, 2008 after the election of Obama.

Is there a Left Turn Ahead for Conservatives?

Dylan Hyles writes: Conservatives have long taken for granted their place on the right of the political spectrum. But as the organized Right, in the form of the Republican Party, has hitched its wagon to big business and big government in the decades since World War II, some unconventional voices on the American Left have spoken up for the traditionally conservative causes of decentralism, prudent government, and foreign-policy restraint. This “left conservatism” owes its name to Norman Mailer, but it has deep roots in American history. ... Read more at: The American Conservative

Truthdig - Reports - Confronting the Terrorist Within

Chris Hedges writes: The Hindu-Muslim communal violence that led to the attacks in Mumbai, as well as the warnings that the New York City transit system may have been targeted by al-Qaida, are one form of terrorism. There are other forms. ... Read more at: Confronting the Terrorist Within

Kansas Public Radio 91.5 - public radio from the University of Kansas

Two BIG reasons to get mad as hell in Kansas! Read it and weep!

Decision pending? « No NBAF in Kansas

AP leak: Manhattan, Ks to be selected for WMD Bio-terror Lab
The last post ... but more is sure to come as the grassroots resistance movement begins against the most gawdawful idea yet created by our local elected officials. Just how stupid do they think we are? Pretty damn stupid! Here's a recent nambi-pambi local news clip ... but the important part is in the comment section. Here's the skinny just announced today via the Associated Press!

Kansas Jackass: KS-01: State Sen. Tim Huelskamp Mulls Congressional Bid

Michael Moore: "Saving the Big 3 for You and Me"

Community Solutions: Fifth U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions

[excerpt] ... Author John Michael Greer suggested to participants that a "window of opportunity" was opening for the Peak Oil movement, in which we can re-define what’s practical, possible, and necessary for survival. He said that similar opportunities arose during the Great Depression and in the 1970s oil crises. He said that this led in the 1930s to the government adopting previously radical ideas, such as government insurance of bank deposits, social security, and legalized labor unions, and in the 1970s to recycling, organic agriculture, appropriate technology and alternative energy. ... Read more of the report at: Community Solutions

William Blum :: Anti-Empire Report, Number 64

Perhaps the most honestly written straight-to-heart shot Blum has yet produced. [excerpt] ... Is there reason to be happy that the insufferably religious George W. is soon to be history? "I believe that Christ died for my sins and I am redeemed through him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis." That was said by someone named Barack Obama.1 The United States turns out religious fanatics like the Japanese turn out cars. Let's pray for an end to this. ... Read more of the incredible Anti-Empire Report

Music page of Great Big Yam - MP3 music page on SoundClick

One of our favorite local musicians, as heard regularly on Radio Free Kansas. Get it Now!

Pentagon to detail plan to bolster security - Washington Post- msnbc.com

The original post, full text from the Washington Post

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: "The Cost of Hegemony is Beyond Reach" : Information Clearing House - ICH

The Raw Story | Idaho students chant 'assassinate Obama' on school bus: Report

The angry parents are no longer inarticulate, flooded long years on a media diet of right-wing hate radio and network news, is it that controversial for their children to use such language? Deep in America's white heartland, where institutions are ethnically and ethically cleansed, their bully pulpits have spawned generations of bullies who believe in the credo that "might makes right." Is it really any wonder? At a certain point, all the educators and care givers in the region, can't compete for the hearts and minds of such children. Read it all at The Raw Story.

Independent, investigative journalism since 1995 - Consortiumnews.com

In a new TV interview, George W. Bush continues a favorite Iraq War lie, that Saddam Hussein didn't let U.N. inspectors in -- and another big-name journalist doesn't contradict him, Robert Parry writes. Find out who at Consortiumnews.com

Pentagon to deploy 20,000 troops on domestic “anti-terror” mission

Correspondent for the World Socialist Web Site, Patrick Martin, who appeared on Radio Free Kansas recently, reports on an alarming development. [excerpt] ... The October 1 deployment was reported in the Army Times newspaper but not otherwise noted in the national media. The larger mobilization for 2011 was reported on the front page of the Washington Post Monday morning, an indication that the Pentagon seeks wider publicity about the move in order to accustom the American public to the sight of uniformed troops in the streets. ... Read more

US stock market plunges 680 points on signs of severe recession

Reporting on the economy from the World Socialist Web Site.

Jonathan Cook EXCLUSIVE - Justice for Palestinians and Jews linked, The National, 1 December 2008

Jonathan Cook writes of a unique development in the diaspora issue in the Middle East. His latest appeared most recently in The National newspaper, here is a link to the complete article on his web site: JERUSALEM // A broad coalition of Jewish lobby groups has made a series of breakthroughs this year in its campaign to link the question of justice for millions of Palestinian refugees with justice for Jews who left Arab states in the wake of Israel’s establishment 60 years ago. ... Justice for Palestinians and Jews linked, 1 December 2008

Who is behind India's latest terror attacks?

Impeachment caps and DVD for Recession-proof Holiday gifts.

A Tale of Two Terror Attacks | This Can't Be Happening!

Before the odor of burned gunpowder has left the air of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, the US is lecturing India not to go off half-cocked and attack Pakistan, simply because all of the attackers in the terrorist assaults in that city arrived by boat, apparently from neighboring Pakistan. US officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, are calling on India to engage in a “transparent” and “thorough” investigation into the attacks to establish who was responsible. How different this is from the American government’s response to the 9-11 attacks in the US! ... Read more at: This Can't Be Happening!

Truthdig - Reports - Obama Chooses Wall Street Over Main Street

Head Honcho Robert Scheer writes a confessional with a shot over Obama's bow: Maybe Ralph Nader was right in predicting that the same Wall Street hustlers would have a lock on our government no matter which major party won the election. I hate to admit it, since it wasn’t that long ago that I heatedly challenged Nader in a debate on this very point. ... Read more at: Truthdig

Kevin Berends: "Transition or Coup D'état?"

During the transition period there is a silent coup d'état occurring inside the federal government in the form of last-minute firings and dubious personnel placements. .... Read more at t r u t h o u t

Obama’s First Problem is US War Crimes : Information Clearing House - ICH

Carefully note the insiders' views where the Obama blogosphere began to influence selection of today's national security "team." Andrew Sullivan, a former supporter of the Iraq occupation, now claims privy to said same orbit, read on: ... On my own blog The Daily Dish, I wrote that if Brennan were picked, Obama supporters “will, in fact, have to go to war with Obama before he even takes office. And if Obama doubts our seriousness, I have three words for him. Yes we can”.Brennan, facing more protests, withdrew his name from consideration last week. In the first skirmish over the issue in the Obama era, the antitorture forces won. ... for more go to the Information Clearing House - ICH

Jdimytai Damour We Will Slow Down | Reverend Billy & The Church of Stop Shopping

[excerpt] Three New York headlines the day after Black Friday, "Hell-Mart,"and "Frenzy" and "Death by Shopping." The temp worker Jdimytai Damour's face is smiling in a little oval frame in the corner. Then in the articles there are quotes from scholars and experts who make what has happened something we can understand, normal, not to be avoided.We promise you Jdimytai that the professors of Consumerism won't normalize the terror of your last moments. ... Join the The Church of Stop Shopping

Arnold, This One’s For You | Red State Rebels

[excerpt] ... Finally, the editors of a national magazine, Field & Stream, have refused to join the cult of Schwarzenegger worshippers and have bestowed the Governor with the well-deserved top honors in this year’s “Heroes & Villains Face-Off – as a villain.” The magazine is blasting the “Fish Terminator” for slashing funding for salmon and steelhead restoration, attempting to close many state parks and recreational areas, and presiding over the collapse of Central Valley fall chinook salmon. ... Read more at the outstanding Red State Rebels

Playing Catch-Up with Barack Obama : Information Clearing House - ICH

Sheila Stuff: Through a Hole in the Air...

Sheila Samples writes: [excerpt] ... The Heritage Foundation warned against the danger of the Left's "radical agenda" of health care, education and energy. House majority leader John Boehner was either drunk or stupidly arrogant, or both, when he maintained that Obama may have won, but his "far-left agenda" was out of step with the majority of Americans. ... Read more at: Sheila Stuff

Iraq Veterans Against the War: Operation First Casualty - San Francisco’s Union Square 11.28.08