Undernews For 29 April 2009

UNDERNEWS
The news while there's still time to do something about it

THE PROGRESSIVE REVIEW

Editor: Sam Smith

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The United States is a nation of laws, badly written and randomly enforced. - Frank Zappa

OBAMA METER 100 DAY REPORT

On his 100th day in office, Obama gets a 30% rating from our Obama meter, a figure that has been pretty consistent from the start.

His most successful areas are foreign policy outside of the war zones and the environment. His worst are freedom & justice, education, Afghanistan & Iraq and drug policy.

Among the major concerns that have arisen are these:

- An excess of troops in Iraq and minimal sign they are leaving soon.

- Plans for a level of involvement in Afghanistan equal to that of the U.S. in Vietnam in 1965.

- A vigorously pro-Wall Street economic policy and a stunning indifference to the problems of, and lack of programs for, its victims.

- A surprisingly vigorous anti-civil liberties bias and a refusal to face such issues as Bush war crimes, rampant illegal wiretapping and three decades of a failed drug war.

- A strong tendency towards technocratic authoritarianism as exemplified by the dangerous medical records act and proposed growing federal interference in local public education.

Obama is at present our most conservative Democratic president since Woodrow Wilson and there is, at present, no constituency putting sufficient pressure on him to be other than that.

Here are his ratings by topic:

76% Environment
60% Foreign policy (not including war zones)
49% General government
28% Fiscal policy
27% Health
0% Economic policy
0% Afghanistan & Iraq
0% Education
0% Freedom & Justice

Details
COURT SLAPS DOWN OBAMA TORTURE COVER UP
Washington Post - A federal appeals court reinstated a lawsuit by five former detainees who sued a Boeing subsidiary over its alleged role in transporting them to foreign countries, where they say they suffered brutal interrogation under the CIA's "black site" prison system.

Three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit batted aside claims by the Obama administration that the suit would reveal "state secrets" at the heart of the agency's covert operations and so should be dismissed.

The former detainees claim that logistics company Jeppesen Dataplan should pay monetary damages for its role in conspiring with officials in the United States and other countries to fly the men overseas, where they allegedly experienced electric shocks, beatings and sleep deprivation, among other things.

But the lawsuit foundered after the Bush White House, and later the Obama administration, invoked the state-secrets privilege and asked a trial judge to throw out the claim, which stems from the CIA's disbanded program of "extraordinary rendition" for suspected terrorists. Then-CIA Director Michael V. Hayden told the court that disclosure of some of the information could cause "serious and in some instances exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States.". . .

The judges asserted that the plaintiffs did not necessarily need to delve deeply into the CIA's clandestine rendition program. Rather, the ruling said that detainees needed to prove only that Jeppesen provided support for the flights on which the five men were transported to foreign prisons while knowing the passengers would be subjected to torture there.
SPECTER'S SWITCH ANOTHER SIGN OF DEMOCRATIC COLLAPSE
Although Senator Arlen Specter's switch is being hailed by the media as a triumph for the Democratic Party, it's much more a sign of its collapse. As William Timberman wrote in Open Left: "Arlen Specter is a good Democrat, and we're extremists. More jiu-jitsu, maybe, but I'd say that it smells more like Rahm Emanuel, Tim Geithner, Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates, Joe Lieberman, and all the rest of the earnest folks so hell-bent on looking out for the good of the country. It isn't enough to marginalize us, they feel obliged to insult us as well."

Progressive Punch, which keeps track of the voting records of members of Congress, gives Specter a low ranking of 37%.

The only issue on which he has voted right more than half the time has been family planning (60%).

And he comes in under 30% on education, the arts, fair taxation (6%), housing, justice, and war & peace.

The Hill, to be sure, reports that some Democrats are mad about Specter joining the party. But it isn't about issues; it's about him leaping ahead of their seniority.
DOZENS OF CIA PRISONERS STILL MISSING
Pro Publica - One of the newly released Bush-era memos inadvertently confirmed that the CIA held an al-Qaeda suspect named Hassan Ghul in a secret prison and subjected him to what Bush administration lawyers called "enhanced interrogation techniques." The CIA has never acknowledged holding Ghul, and his whereabouts today are secret.

But Ghul is not the only such prisoner who remains missing. At least three dozen others who were held in the CIA's secret prisons overseas appear to be missing as well. Efforts by human rights organizations to track their whereabouts have been unsuccessful, and no foreign governments have acknowledged holding them.

In September 2007, Michael V. Hayden, then director of the CIA, said "fewer than 100 people had been detained at CIA's facilities." One memo released last week confirmed that the CIA had custody of at least 94 people as of May 2005 and "employed enhanced techniques to varying degrees in the interrogations of 28 of these "."
COULD IT BE FACTORY FARM FLU?

F. William Engdahl, Global Research - What are the symptoms of this purported Swine Flu? That's not at all clear according to virologists and public health experts. They say Swine Flu symptoms are relatively general and nonspecific. 'So many different things can cause these symptoms. it is a dilemma,' says one doctor interviewed by CNN. 'There is not a perfect test right now to let a doctor know that a person has the Swine Flu.' It has been noted that most individuals with Swine Flu had an early on set of fever. Also it was common to see dizziness, body aches and vomiting in addition to the common sneezing, headache and other cold symptoms. These are symptoms so general as to say nothing.

The US Government's Center for Disease Control in Atlanta states on its official website, 'Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses that causes regular outbreaks in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Swine flu viruses have been reported to spread from person-to-person, but in the past, this transmission was limited and not sustained beyond three people.' Nonetheless they add, 'CDC has determined that this swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human. However, at this time, it is not known how easily the virus spreads between people.

How many media that have grabbed on the headline 'suspected case of Swine Flu' in recent days bother to double check with the local health authorities to ask some basic questions? For example, the number of confirmed cases of H1N1 and their location? The number of deaths confirmed to have resulted from H1N1? Dates of both? Number of suspected cases and of suspected deaths related to the Swine Flu disease?

According to Biosurveillance, itself part of Veratect, a US Pentagon and Government-linked epidemic reporting center, on April 6, 2009 local health officials declared a health alert due to a respiratory disease outbreak in La Gloria, Perote Municipality, Veracruz State, Mexico.

They reported, 'Sources characterized the event as a 'strange' outbreak of acute respiratory infection, which led to bronchial pneumonia in some pediatric cases. According to a local resident, symptoms included fever, severe cough, and large amounts of phlegm. Health officials recorded 400 cases that sought medical treatment in the last week in La Gloria, which has a population of 3,000; officials indicated that 60% of the town's population (approximately 1,800 cases) has been affected. No precise timeframe was provided, but sources reported that a local official had been seeking health assistance for the town since February.' What they later say is 'strange' is not the form of the illness but the time of year as most flu cases occur in Mexico in the period October to February. .

Then, most revealingly, the aspect of the story which has been largely ignored by major media, they reported, 'Residents believed the outbreak had been caused by contamination from pig breeding farms located in the area. They believed that the farms, operated by Granjas Carroll, polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, which in turn led to the disease outbreak. According to residents, the company denied responsibility for the outbreak and attributed the cases to "flu." However, a municipal health official stated that preliminary investigations indicated that the disease vector was a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste and that the outbreak was linked to the pig farms.'

Since the dawn of American 'agribusiness,' a project initiated with funding by the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1950's to turn farming into a pure profit maximization business, US pig or hog production has been transformed into a highly efficient, mass production industrialized enterprise from birth to slaughter. Pigs are caged in what are called factory farms, industrial concentrations which are run with the efficiency of a Dachau or Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They are all conceived by artificial insemination and once born, are regularly injected with antibiotics, not because of illnesses which abound in the hyper-crowded growing pens, but in order to make them grow and add weight faster. Turn around time to slaughter is a profit factor of highest priority. The entire operation is vertically integrated from conception to slaughter to transport distribution to supermarket.

Granjas Carroll de Mexico (happens to be such a factory farm concentration facility for hogs. In 2008 they produced almost one million factory hogs, 950,000 according to their own statistics. GCM is a joint venture operation owned 50% by the world's largest pig producing industrial company, Smithfield Foods of Virginia. The pigs are grown in a tiny rural area of Mexico, a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and primarily trucked across the border to supermarkets in the USA, under the Smithfields' family of labels. Most American consumers have no idea where the meat was raised.

Now the story becomes interesting.

The Times of London interviewed the mother of 4-year-old Edgar Hernandez of La Gloria in Veracruz, the location of the giant Smithfield Foods hog production facility. Their local reporter notes, 'Edgar Hernández plays among the dogs and goats that roam through the streets, seemingly unaware that the swine flu he contracted a few weeks ago - the first known case - has almost brought his country to a standstill and put the rest of the world on alert. 'I feel great,' the five-year-old boy said. 'But I had a headache and a sore throat and a fever for a while. I had to lay down in bed.''

The reporters add, 'It was confirmed on Monday (April 27 2009-w.e.) that Edgar was the first known sufferer of swine flu, a revelation that has put La Gloria and its surrounding factory pig farms and 'manure lagoons' at the centre of a global race to find how this new and deadly strain of swine flu emerged.'

That's quite interesting. They speak of 'La Gloria and its surrounding factory pig farms and 'manure lagoons.'' Presumably the manure lagoons around the LaGloria factory pig farm of Smithfield Foods are the waste dumping place for the feces and urine waste from at least 950,000 pigs a year that pass through the facility. The Smithfield's Mexico joint venture, Norson, states that alone they slaughter 2,300 pigs daily. That's a lot. It gives an idea of the volumes of pig waste involved in the concentration facility at La Gloria.

Significantly, according to the Times reporters, 'residents of La Gloria have been complaining since March that the odor from Granjas Carroll's pig waste was causing severe respiratory infections. They held a demonstration this month at which they carried signs of pigs crossed with an X and marked with the word peligro (danger).' There have been calls to exhume the bodies of the children who died of pneumonia so that they could be tested. The state legislature of Veracruz has demanded that Smithfield's Granjas Carroll release documents about its waste-handling practices. Smithfield Foods reportedly declined to comment on the request, saying that it would 'not respond to rumours.'

MUCH MORE
GOOGLE PLANNING NEW SEARCH SYSTEM
Poynter - Sharon Waxman spoke with Google CEO Eric Schmidt . . . Waxman reports Schmidt detailed an interesting plan to help struggling newspapers:

"In about six months, the company will roll out a system that will bring high-quality news content to users without them actively looking for it.

"Under this latest iteration of advanced search, users will be automatically served the kind of news that interests them just by calling up Google's page. The latest algorithms apply ever more sophisticated filtering - based on search words, user choices, purchases, a whole host of cues - to determine what the reader is looking for without knowing they're looking for it.

"And on this basis, Google believes it will be able to sell premium ads against premium content.

"The first two news organizations to get this treatment, Schmidt said, will be The New York Times and The Washington Post.

"Does The New York Times make more money from this arrangement, I asked? No, Schmidt confirmed, it won't. But by targeting the stories that readers will want to read, it will get more hits out of the stories it has, which will drive its traffic and ultimately support higher advertising rates beside the stories."
SUPREME COURT HURTS SMALL STATIONS WITH 'FLEETING EXPLETIVE' RULING
Don't Tase Me Bro' - Apparently, one of the big arguments against banning "fleeting expletives" has been that it's expensive for small stations (in particular) to do this on a real-time basis; Scalia argues that it's now cheap enough not to be an issue.

Justice Breyer, who wrote the main dissenting opinion, disagreed. Although he confessed ignorance "about the prevalence of vulgarity in small towns," Breyer did point to one station manager's testimony to the FCC as evidence that a ban on fleeting expletives could decimate small time, live coverage of news and events.

"As one local station manager told the FCC, 'to lessen the risk posed by the new legal framework. . . I have directed [the station's] news staff that [our station] may no longer provide live, direct-to-air coverage of 'live events where crowds are present. . . unless they affect matters of public safety or conven¬ience. Thus, news coverage by [my station] of live events where crowds are present essentially will be limited to civil emergencies.'"

In Breyer's view, "the Federal Communications Commission failed adequately to explain why it changed its indecency policy from a policy permitting a single 'fleeting use' of an expletive, to a policy that made no such exception."

Breyer sees an obvious difference between the Carlin routine ("a monologue that deliberately and repeatedly uttered the expletives here at issue more than 100 times in one hour at a time of day when children were likely to hear the broadcast") and fleeting expletives, but Justices Thomas, Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and Kennedy disagreed. TV stations now drop the F-bomb only at their peril. "A safe haven for families" or a First Amendment killer?

Although the ruling against Fox was made under Republican Kevin Martin, acting FCC head Michael Copps (a Democrat) praised today's decision as "a big win for families.". . .

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, head of the Media Access Project, called the ruling "extremely disappointing. We remain hopeful that the FCC's restrictive policies will ultimately be declared unconstitutional, but there will be several more years of uncertainty, and impaired artistic expression, while the lower courts address the First Amendment issues which the Court chose not to confront today."
CREDIT CARD COMPANIES ILLEGALLY BLOCKING SOCIAL SECURITY OF DEBTORS
Unsilent Generation - As New America Media reports, debt collectors for credit card companies and other creditors are now going after Social Security payments, which are supposed to be exempt from garnishment in such situations. Their tactics include freezing the bank accounts into which a beneficiary's Social Security checks are direct-deposited. When this happens, often without warning, old and disabled people find themselves suddenly without the resources to buy food and medicine, which can trigger a desperate medical crisis. . .

Margot Saunders of the National Consumer Law Center estimates that "tens of thousands of people every month," who are elderly or disabled, are being forced into dire financial circumstances. Bank account freezes and illegal garnishments of exempt funds, including veterans' benefits, are shredding safety nets. . . .

According to SSA, its payments provide baseline financial solvency for 13 million Americans, who would otherwise be in poverty. However, a 2008 report by SSA's inspector general, estimated that direct-deposit beneficiaries across the United States have incurred $177.7 million in total garnishments. The report did not attempt to estimate the near incalculable damage of bank account freezes.
READER COMMENTS
A few excerpts from reader comments::

OBAMA'S CZAROMANIA

First there's an article that ends by pointing out that the creation of 'czars' is an end-run around the Constitution, and a sign of our declining democracy.

Then we get a comment, presumably from a Democrat, that says that since the Republicans are 'the party of no', it seems like a pretty good idea.

This is why our democracy is disappearing. We have two political parties who feel that beating the other is the goal to be obtained at all costs. And that if minor little details like the Constitution and the idea of democracy get in the way, well that's just too bad.

The Constitution set up a series of checks and balances. In this case, what were supposed to be the highest ranking officials in the government, i.e. the cabinet officers, need the 'advise and consent' of the US Senate. That's a democratic check and balance. Its designed to help to keep the Executive Branch from getting too much power.

The Democrats will gladly dispense with all of that just to get what they want. Which is why the Democrats are just as dangerous as the Republicans to the health of our democracy. They complain about Bush's powers while out of office, then say anything is justified when in office. - Samson

OBAMA'S HOMEOWNERS PLAN

It is estimated that Obama's plan could benefit 8 to 9 million homeowners from the new modification procedures. So how do you know you qualify for the Mortgage Modification? Check the website to see if you qualify. I was also in trouble and I am glad I did check it before I talked to my mortgage company and it helped - John Mayer, California

CAN I SELL YOU A NEW CAR TODAY?

Worker ownership is fine as long as the workers buy the company, just like anyone else. What is ridiculous is giving workers and unearned ownership and decision making stake just because they worked there. Not because they earned it, or paid for it.

SCHOOL REFORM? UNTRAINED TEACHERS FOR THE POOR

I once made a comment in high school that left teachers and administrators questioning my sanity. I suggested that the system of putting the very best teachers into the accelerated classes was wrong. I thought those teachers should be teaching the students who need help the most, while those of us who were naturally intelligent and fast learners were capable of learning from ordinary teachers. Still makes sense to me, but it will probably never be implemented.

AHMADINEJAD SAYS TWO STATE SOLUTION IS FINE

Ahmadinejad never actually said that Israel should be "wiped off the map". That was debunked and shown to be an extremely ungenerous translation of a quotation in one of his speeches. And yet it is endlessly repeated as fact.

posted by TPR | 1:43 PM | 0 Comments
THERE'LL ALWAYS BE A SOLUTION

Annals of Improbable Research - A patented brassiere that converts into a gas mask - actually into a pair of gas masks - could conceivably aid the sudden Mexican and worldwide defense against swine flu. .

U.S. patent #7255627 was granted to Elena N. Bodnar of Hinsdale, Illinois, and Raphael C. Lee and Sandra Marijan of Chicago on August 14, 2007 for an "Garment device convertible to one or more facemasks." Their intent, they say, is "to provide a garment which is operable to be converted into a facemask" and "to increase accessibility to facemasks."

"The bra has two cups. . . The inner portions of the cups are disconnectable, and the outer portions of the cups are disconnectable. As such, the bra is separable into two halves. Each half is securable to a user's face to form a facemask."
LEAHY TO PUSH AHEAD WITH TRUTH COMMISSION DESPITE OBAMA'S OBJECTIONS
John Byrne, Raw Story - Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) plans to proceed with a special commission to investigate alleged Bush administration abuses of power, despite lacking President Barack Obama's support.

Sen. Leahy called for a "Truth Commission" in February to probe Bush administration policies on torture, interrogation and surveillance and to - as he puts it - "get to the bottom of what went wrong." Such an idea would be modeled around truth commissions established in South Africa and Chile, which offered immunity to officials who committed abuses in exchange for the truth. . .
SEVERAL STATES OUTSOURCE FOOD STAMP CALLS TO INDIA
ABC - Several states with high unemployment rates are outsourcing their food stamp services to call centers in India, angering many residents. Michele Brown learned about Florida's outsourcing when she called regarding a problem with her benefits. But nothing prepared her for what happened one day when she called a toll-free line to inquire about her food stamps.

"The woman who answered the phone -- it's not like she wasn't nice or anything -- but it was kind of evident that she wasn't in the States," Brown said.

It turns out the woman was at a JP Morgan Chase call center in India.

"That really put me over the edge," said Brown, 52, of Jupiter, Fla. "It's not right because we need the work here. People are in a bad way here.". . .

Unemployment in Florida is now 9.7 percent.

"Why is the state of Florida sending these jobs away?" Brown asked. "The thing that really iced it for me, I knew that JP Morgan had gotten bailout funds."

So she called her local politicians and then she reached out to her local newspaper, the Palm Beach Post. The paper did a story two weeks ago about the $50 million Florida paid JP Morgan in the last three years to administer the food stamps distribution. . .

The state now has a commitment from JP Morgan to move all of its calls to the United States, according to Judi Spann, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families.

Florida isn't alone in sending its customer service calls overseas.

ABC News canvassed the country, asking states about their call centers. Often state officials overseeing the programs had no idea, despite past controversies, where their calls were going. . . .

JP Morgan provides food stamp debit cards in 26 states and the District of Columbia. It also provides child support debit cards in 15 states and unemployment insurance cards in seven states.

The 130,000 food stamp families in West Virginia have their calls routed to India, according to Jerry Luck, program director for the state. . .

The 488,000 households in Tennessee also have their calls sent to JP Morgan call centers in India. The state's contract runs through February 2012 and there are currently no plans to change it, according to Michelle Mowery Johnson, director of communications for state's Department of Human Services.

Unemployment in West Virginia is now 6.9 percent and 9.6 percent in Tennessee.
A FEW UNCOMFORTABLE ECO FACTS
From Tree Hugger

Some scientists believe that at the current rate of resource depletion, the Earth will become limited to sustaining only about 2 billion humans by the year 2100. Currently there are about 5.9 billion lives on the earth to support, and of these nearly 15 million children die each year of malnutrition and starvation. . .

The assets of the world's three richest men are much more than the combined GNP of every single one of the least developed countries around the globe. . .

Eighty-four percent of the typical waste coming out of a U.S. household (food, yard waste, paper, plastic, cardboard, aluminum cans, etc.) is recyclable.

31 countries around the world today face chronic freshwater shortages. In another 20 years, that number will increase to over 50 countries (2.8 billion people). . . .

At its current rate of acquisition, 70 percent of all water systems in Europe and North America may soon be owned by private corporations.

Only about 10 percent of the billions of pounds of pesticide chemicals (some 35,000 different chemicals total) used on produce since the 1940's have been tested for their negative effects on humans.

The United States makes up less than 5 percent of the population on earth, yet we easily consume over 30 percent of its resources. .

A single quart of motor oil dumped on the ground or in the trash, can contaminate up to two million gallons of fresh water.

A large study has found that up to one half of all plants and animals species on dry land could face extinction by the year 2050 due to global warming. According to the World Resources Institute, 100 species die each day due to tropical deforestation.
STATS: PRESS FAWNS OVER OBAMA
Real Clear Politics - As he marks his 100th day in office, President Barack Obama has enjoyed substantially more positive media coverage than either Bill Clinton or George Bush during their first months in the White House, according to a new study of press coverage.

Overall, roughly four out of ten stories, editorials and op ed columns about Obama have been clearly positive in tone, compared with 22% for Bush and 27% for Clinton in the same mix of seven national media outlets during the same first two months in office, according to a study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The study found positive stories about Obama have outweighed negative by two-to-one (42% vs. 20%) while 38% of stories have been neutral or mixed.

Richard Benedetto, retired White House correspondent for USA Today who now teaches journalism at American and Georgetown Universities, had a similar (though less scientific) take in Politico this morning:

"With few exceptions, the mainstream news media have been dutifully pushing the Obama message, burnishing his carefully crafted image and offering few challenges when he makes questionable or misleading pronouncements, gestures or policy statements. In short, they seem mesmerized by the glamour of this new and different president. He is keeping them so busy with skillfully staged daily travel, speeches, meetings and photo ops that they hardly have time to ask tough questions or add context to their stories. Whatever Obama says, or doesn't say, is usually good enough for them."
PETE SEEGER TURNS 90
NY Magazine - Over the decades, Seeger has made no effort to cash in on his longevity, to adjust his brand or repackage the old highlights as fresh commodities. "I always hated the word career," he has said. "It implies that fame and fortune are what you're trying to get. I have a life's purpose." He turns 90 this week, the same age as women's suffrage, the Green Bay Packers, and Grand Canyon National Park. As he prepares to be fêted at Madison Square Garden by a lineup of musical megastars-Springsteen, Vedder, Matthews, Baez, et al.-Seeger remains arguably America's most celebrated anti-celebrity.
TOUGH TIMES FOR LOCAL MUSICIANS
Dusty Horwitt, Washington Post - In 2006-07, I covered the financial state of the local rock music scene for Washington City Paper. My research revealed that even before the economic crisis, it was much harder for up-and-coming D.C.-area musicians to reach fans or to make money than it was 30 or 40 years ago.

Perhaps the greatest barrier to success is that local musicians and clubs agree that artists can play no more than once a month in the Washington area because if musicians played more often, they wouldn't be able to draw a significant crowd. Digital media has probably contributed to this impediment by providing literally millions of reasons for potential fans to stay home.

The band I covered most closely, Rockville's talented Hotspur, had 20,000 My Space friends, but voluntarily abided by the one-gig-a-month rule. So, too, did Fairfax's My Favorite Highway (now signed to Virgin Records), with more than 46,000 My Space Friends. . .

Older rockers, including Maryland-based bass player Steve Wolf. . . say that bands played more frequently in the 1960s and 1970s when there were more venues for live music, less competition from home entertainment and an opportunity to be heard on local radio .

"I bought my house because of airplay on WHFS for one record," Wolf said. In 1985, he was a member of the Tom Principato Band and someone handed a copy of the band's record, "Smokin'!," to a deejay at the Bethesda-based station. The airplay led to packed clubs and a European tour. Arbitron ratings archived at the University of Georgia show that WHFS reached an audience of 86,000 to 112,000 unique listeners each week in 1985, when "Smokin'!" received regular airplay. Unlike many Internet fans, local radio listeners didn't have to travel far to attend shows. . .

Hotspur has appeared on DC101's "Local Lix" show, which airs on Sunday nights; it is one of the few on-air venues for Washington area artists. According to Arbitron ratings, the listenership in 2007 averaged just 3,000 people for every 15 minutes. This inability to reach people also is reflected in artists' pay.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH TIM GEITHNER
Jo Becker and Gretchen Morgenson, NY Times - Even as banks complain that the government has attached too many intrusive strings to its financial assistance, a range of critics - lawmakers, economists and even former Federal Reserve colleagues - say that the bailout Mr. Geithner has played such a central role in fashioning is overly generous to the financial industry at taxpayer expense.

An examination of Mr. Geithner's five years as president of the New York Fed, an era of unbridled and ultimately disastrous risk-taking by the financial industry, shows that he forged unusually close relationships with executives of Wall Street's giant financial institutions.

His actions, as a regulator and later a bailout king, often aligned with the industry's interests and desires, according to interviews with financiers, regulators and analysts and a review of Federal Reserve records.

In a pair of recent interviews and an exchange of e-mail messages, Mr. Geithner defended his record, saying that from very early on, he was "a consistently dark voice about the potential risks ahead, and a principal source of initiatives designed to make the system stronger" before the markets started to collapse.

Mr. Geithner said his actions in the bailout were motivated solely by a desire to help businesses and consumers. But in a financial crisis, he added, "the government has to take risk, and we are going to be doing things which ultimately - in order to get the credit flowing again - are going to benefit the institutions that are at the core of the problem."

The New York Fed is, by custom and design, clubby and opaque. It is charged with curbing banks' risky impulses, yet its president is selected by and reports to a board dominated by the chief executives of some of those same banks. Traditionally, the New York Fed president's intelligence-gathering role has involved routine consultation with financiers, though Mr. Geithner's recent predecessors generally did not meet with them unless senior aides were also present, according to the bank's former general counsel.

By those standards, Mr. Geithner's reliance on bankers, hedge fund managers and others to assess the market's health - and provide guidance once it faltered - stood out.

His calendars from 2007 and 2008 show that those interactions were a mix of the professional and the private.

He ate lunch with senior executives from Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley at the Four Seasons restaurant or in their corporate dining rooms. He attended casual dinners at the homes of executives like Jamie Dimon, a member of the New York Fed board and the chief of JPMorgan Chase.

Mr. Geithner was particularly close to executives of Citigroup, the largest bank under his supervision. Robert E. Rubin, a senior Citi executive and a former Treasury secretary, was Mr. Geithner's mentor from his years in the Clinton administration, and the two kept in close touch in New York.

Mr. Geithner met frequently with Sanford I. Weill, one of Citi's largest individual shareholders and its former chairman, serving on the board of a charity Mr. Weill led. As the bank was entering a financial tailspin, Mr. Weill approached Mr. Geithner about taking over as Citi's chief executive.

But for all his ties to Citi, Mr. Geithner repeatedly missed or overlooked signs that the bank - along with the rest of the financial system - was falling apart. When he did spot trouble, analysts say, his responses were too measured, or too late. . .
WHEN THE MEDIA JOINS THE TEACHER BASHING
Caroline Grannan, Change - I've been musing a lot on the extent to which the U.S. mainstream press bashes, blames and demonizes teachers' unions, while so often writing admiringly and unquestioningly about charter schools.

There's a notion that it's impossible to "get rid of" bad teachers. The pro-privatization, anti-union right wingers like to raise an outcry about "the dance of the lemons" –- situations in which problem teachers get shuffled from school to school. And the mainstream press - even liberals - joins in.

Those voices constantly cite teacher tenure as the evil to end all evils. Here's how Merriam-Webster defines tenure:

"a status granted after a trial period to a teacher that gives protection from summary dismissal."

It seems to me that anyone who has ever worked for an employer would view "protection from summary dismissal" as a reasonable right for workers. That would include most every employee of the mainstream media corporations –- who I have a feeling haven't thought this through when they do all that bashing, blaming and demonizing of teachers.

I've seen situations in which it was indeed difficult to "get rid of" a problem employee. I've seen them both with teachers, in my life as a public school parent and advocate, and also with union newspaper employees, in my previous career as a daily-newspaper copy editor.

In my observation -- while union contracts did indeed help protect those problem employees' jobs and make it impossible to "summarily" fire them -- in every case I've seen, it was poor management judgment that led to the situation. I recall several cases in which my newsroom colleagues, including union activists, were voicing serious and legitimate concerns to management about new employees still in their probationary periods -- and went ignored. Then when the problems blow up later, the union gets the blame. . .
LIFE UNDER THE SCHOOL STANDARDISTAS
Debbis White, The Eggplant - Once upon a time I was a relatively good math teacher. Or at least I was led to believe so judging from comments I received from students, parents and other colleagues of the past. I had a great enthusiasm for my subject area, I made relationships with my students, found ways to communicate with them in a way that allowed them to understand mathematics and in some cases, develop their interest in continuing their study past high school. I shared theater and athletics and time outside the classroom with genuine interest and energy on my part. I was a team player. I saw value in collegial discussion regarding mathematics, pedagogy, student learning, student interests, and professional development. I went to every meeting I could get to at both the building level and the district level. I participated in curriculum discussion, graded course of study development, general discussion as to the direction the district should take in selecting textbooks and teaching philosophy. I did what I needed to do with regard to evaluation and tried to make the process relevant for myself as I looked toward professional improvement.

As I look back at how I saw myself for the 1st 20 years of my career and compare that to the last 7 years, this is what I see. I no longer have the energy to fight the fight. I go to meetings telling myself to just sit in the corner and keep your mouth shut. Otherwise you are going to leave the meeting stressed and upset. I struggle with the ethical dilemma of going to professional development activities or finding some "legitimate" personal reason for not being available. I don't get involved with student activities outside of school because I don't feel like I have the time. I spend hours each night grading homework and planning lessons and keeping records even after I have spent an hour at school at the end of the day. Instead of having an optimistic attitude about what I am doing and what we (at the building level) are doing and what the district is doing, I am always fighting something. . .

I took a sabbatical to start PhD work. I learned about getting kids to develop their own understanding instead of just feeding them the methods. I got excited about evaluating curriculum and looking for new ways to get students to construct their own learning.

Then I was not allowed to return to the place where I had been before to use the things that I had learned with the high school level that I was accustomed to.

Instead, I went to the middle school level where using my new found knowledge about learning should have been a no-brainer. I tried to develop materials and instruction that was consistent with student constructed learning. . . Just as I was able to get a few units developed to get kids to work on problem based learning, the standardized testing craze began. We were told to put our "pet activities" away and concentrate on passing the tests. At the district level we began to argue about when to teach what and we were told that we had to teach more instead of less, better. I began to depend on textbook "canned" material because I didn't have the time and soon the energy to develop my own.

And so now, I don't know if I am a good teacher anymore. I get district level reports that tell me that my Algebra 7 students are passing the tests and my Math 8 students are not. And this is somehow a reflection of my teaching ability. I could have told you the results before the tests were taken. I have higher education institutions asking me if I will help train student teachers because somebody thinks I am good at what I do, but I don't know anymore. . .

Do I teach kids to think, or how to take tests? Do I develop relationships with kids, or do I get through the material before we get to the test? Do I get excited about trying new technology, or do I avoid new things because I don't have time to make it work?

Yes, I have been teaching for 27 years, so I am getting old. But my father is 72 years old and hasn't retired from education yet. So I am not really that old. If I take the time to get kids to think, I don't have the time to cover all the material on the testing list. If I take the time to develop relationships with kids, then we will both be late to class and then we won't have time to cover all the material on the testing list. If I take the time and opportunity to learn how to use the new technology, we won't have time to get through the "curriculum" because it took too long to get the new technology to actually work in the classroom. Which way do I go? There is only one choice for me but I am getting really tired of always fighting the battle. I guess it will be time for me to give up soon and then there will be a new young teacher in my place who doesn't know the difference.
1,445.7 MILES ON ONE TANK OF GAS
Tree Hugger - As a way to demonstrate the fuel efficiency of its 2010 Fusion hybrid, Ford created the 1,000 Mile Challenge. The goal was simple: To drive 1,000 miles or more on a single tank of fuel (17.5 gallons) in an unmodified Fusion hybrid. The route used sounds like it was pretty varied, with one part of it in Washington DC that had about 30 light signals (so it wasn't just highway driving). The results were pretty impressive, though not quite the 124 MPG that the Honda Insight got in a different hyper miling challenge, but the Fusion hybrid is much bigger and heavier, and I'm not sure if the Insight did city driving. . .

Which techniques did the Ford team use to achieve this respectable 81.5 MPG average over 1,445.7 miles? Nothing too esoteric:

- Accelerating smoothly up to the posted speed limit
- Applying the pulse and glide technique while maintaining the flow of traffic
- Anticipating traffic signal timing and traffic patterns, and slowing down to minimize stops
- Coasting up to red lights and stop signs to avoid fuel waste and brake wear
- Minimizing the use of vehicle systems such as heated seats and air conditioning
- Keeping windows closed whenever possible to reduce drag
- Minimizing excessive engine workload by using the vehicle's kinetic forward motion to climb hills, and use downhill momentum to build speed
- Avoiding bumps and potholes that can reduce momentum

These tips can be used in any vehicle, not just hybrids. . . To this list we could add: Keep your tires properly inflated, make sure your air filter is clean, don't carry unnecessary weight, plan your route in advance. And the best of all: Drive less (or don't drive at all).
FEINGOLD GIVES OBAMA A "D" FOR HANDLING OF SECRETS ISSUES
ABC News - President Obama is receiving a "D" for his handling of state secrets in a "rule of law" report card prepared by fellow Democrat Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin senator who heads a subcommittee on the Constitution.

"Restoring the rule of law is not a partisan issue," Feingold told ABC News. "One hundred days into this administration, it's appropriate to assess how well the president has done so far. I recognize that some of these issues will take time, but given how important these issues are to the country, Americans deserve a fair assessment of the administration's progress.". . .

In the first 100 days, the Obama administration has invoked the state secrets privilege in three cases. . . Obama's record in this area has drawn fire from civil liberties groups, even though many of them cheered his election in November. The Justice Department has responded to the criticism by saying that Obama is only invoking the state secrets privilege in cases where it is necessary.

Low as Obama's grade is in this area, Feingold's report says that the president would have received an "F" had it not been for the fact that Attorney General Eric Holder has indicated that he hopes to make public the result of his review of all the cases in which the state secrets privilege was used by the Bush administration.

"Only the glimmer of hope offered by that ongoing review saves the Obama administration from a failing grade," reads the report card. .

Beyond the "D" on the state secrets privilege, the president received an "A" from Feingold for renouncing torture via executive order, a "B" for beginning the process of closing Guantanamo Bay detention facility and a "C" for rejecting the "flawed" military commission trial system which has been used at Guantanamo Bay.

Other aspects of Obama's record are inconclusive, according to Feingold. The administration has not yet established a clear record on domestic surveillance and privacy and may not until Congress takes action on measures such as the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments Act.

While it's unusual for members of Congress to speak out against popular presidents of their own party, going it alone is nothing new for Feingold, who was the lone senator to vote against the Patriot Act after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
FAA THREATENED SANCTIONS IF NEWS OF FLY OVER LEAKED
CBS 2 NYC - Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public.

In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD the Federal Aviation Administration's James Johnston said the agency was aware of "the possibility of public concern regarding DOD aircraft flying at low altitudes" in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor's office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out. . .

The NYPD was so upset about the demand for secrecy that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly vowed never to follow such a directive again and he accused the feds of inciting fears of a 9/11 replay.
MEN EARN MORE THAN WOMEN EVEN IN MOST COMMON WOMEN'S JOBS
Women's Policy Research - Men out-earn women in nearly every occupation for which data are available. Of the more than 500 occupational categories for which sufficient data are provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in only 5 occupations do women earn the same or more than men.

Men earn more than women even in jobs that are most common among women, such as

- Administrative assistants: women earn only 83.4 cents for a man's dollar

- Elementary and middle school teachers: women earn 87.6 cents for a man's dollar

- Registered nurses: women earn 87.4 cents for a man's dollar

Men and women still tend to be concentrated in very different jobs, with the most common jobs among women paying less than the most common jobs held by men. For example, the highest paying of the ten most common occupations for women, 'Registered Nurses,' pays $1,011 in median weekly earnings, whereas the highest paying of men's top ten most common jobs is 'Managers, all other,' which pays $1,359 per week. The lowest paying of the most common jobs for women is 'Cashier' at $349 per week, whereas the lowest paying most common job for men is 'Cook' at $404 per week.

Fact Sheet
ATTENUATED TENURE SWEEPSTAKES
We welcome any challenge to this record at the local, state or national level

Dorothy Brizill, DC Watch - Last week was not a good one for the Department of Parks and Recreation. On Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m., DPR Director Clark Ray was summoned to the Wilson Building by City Administrator Dan Tangherlini and fired. On Monday morning, Mayor Fenty held a press conference to announce the appointment of Ximena Hartstock, an Arlington, Virginia, resident who is Deputy Chief of Teaching and Learning at DC Public Schools, as Acting Director of DPR. Hartstock becomes the seventh director of DPR in nine years, following Robert Newman, Neil Albert, Neal Stanley, Kimberly Flowers, Wanda Durdin, and Clark Ray. Her appointment comes just weeks before the start of the busy summer recreation season.

Because Hartstock would not be able to assume her position at DPR for a week, Sean Conley, Clark Ray's former driver at DPR, was quietly named by Mayor Fenty to be the Acting Director for the week of April 19. On Friday, Conley made his one and only executive decision as interim director: he fired and/or RIFed fourteen key DPR employees, including the heads of the aquatic division, the sports division, the risk management division, and the partnership office, who were targeted for dismissal by Tangherlini.

It is widely believed that Hartstock was chosen because she will implement the Fenty administration plan to privatize many of DPR's programs to fire city employees who run those programs and replace them with contractors who will be given non-competitively bid contracts. .

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