JPMorgan Passes Stress Test, Raises Dividend – NYTimes.com

13 Mar

Looks like the Obamicans are pulling out all stops for the election.

JPMorgan Chase became the first bank on Tuesday to say regulators have completed stress tests of its balance sheet, and it said it would raise its quarterly dividend by a nickel to 30 cents and buy back as much as $12 billion of stock this year.

The Atlantic ran a recent article about how these “stress tests” are a scam intended to make  bank for the 1%, not to protect the financial system for the 99%.

via JPMorgan Passes Stress Test, Raises Dividend – NYTimes.com.

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Nassim Taleb Endorses Ron Paul

13 Mar

Nassim Taleb is an economist and a student of risk. And that’s why he’s endorsing Paul. “Only one candidate, Ron Paul, seems to have grasped issues and is offering the right remedies for the central problems we are facing.” Only Paul understands the economic risks the Republicrat CorpState is creating. Paul’s addressing structural problems in the economy. The others are dulling the pain with Novocain; Ron Paul’s going for the cure with root canal.

According to Taleb, Paul is the only one with the right policies for the “Big Four”:

  1. Deficits: Rampant bureaucracy is feeding on itself and running up costs
  2. The Fed: Paul is “the only one with the guts [to go after it].”
  3. Militarism: Another self-feeding institution.
  4. “America is about resilience and you don’t achieve that with buy-outs. You need a certain rate of failure.”

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Is MF Global Getting a Free Pass? – NYTimes.com

13 Mar

A failure to prosecute anyone at MF Global would be, if anything, even worse. It would mean that executives at a broker-dealer can indeed steal customer money and get away with it — so long as it was “unintentional.” And it would only deepen the cynicism so many people feel about government. I’ve heard it suggested, for instance, that the Justice Department won’t prosecute Corzine because it would hurt President Obama. (Corzine, the former governor of New Jersey, had been a big fund-raiser for the president.) I don’t happen to subscribe to that theory, but I certainly understand why others might.

To be sure, it is early yet. Federal investigators are still digging into the facts surrounding MF Global’s failure, no doubt searching for that elusive smoking gun. But if, in the end, they decide they can’t make a case, I hope they understand what they are telling the rest of us. Giving the big guys a pass isn’t good for the financial markets. And it isn’t good for democracy either.

via Is MF Global Getting a Free Pass? – NYTimes.com.

Ron Paul’s Delegate Strategy May be Working – Kenn Jacobine – Open Salon

13 Mar

Given his campaign’s strategy of focusing on caucuses and out hustling his rivals at local, county, and state conventions nationwide the main beneficiary of a brokered convention would be Texas Congressman Ron Paul. The fact of the matter is that most Americans do not get involved in politics. Many rightly view it as an ugly, corrupt business. Others are too busy following American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, or the latest escapades of Lindsay Lohan. While others would rather leave it to the professionals. But, Ron Paul supporters are different. They may not outnumber the supporters of other candidates, but they are hungrier and more dedicated to their principles. They are much more willing to show up, outlast, and fight for delegate positions than the supporters of rival candidates. These attributes seem to be paying dividends for the Paul campaign at least in the early stages of the delegate selection process.

[I’ve added italics, BB]

via Ron Paul’s Delegate Strategy May be Working – Kenn Jacobine – Open Salon.

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The modern war canon – The Browser – Salon.com

13 Mar

After the  war in Vietnam we said, never again. Now we’re in Afghanistan, making the same fundamental mistake.

One of the reasons I have chosen Halberstam is because I think it applies today to what the Western powers are trying to do in Afghanistan. There are so many parallel structures – the massive application of firepower and not much understanding of the people. To the Afghans, we tend to be just another foreign invader, however well-intentioned. Which is why, like Vietnam, I think it’s an unwinnable war.

We need to get out of Afghanistan, now, and STOP trying to remake the world by war, one or two nations at a time.

via The modern war canon – The Browser – Salon.com.

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NATO CALL TO ACTION: MARCH WITH VETERANS FOR JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION | MichaelMoore.com

12 Mar

We as Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, from around the country will converge in Chicago on May 20th to march to the NATO summit and ceremoniously return our medals to NATO generals. We were awarded these medals for serving in the Global War on Terror, a war based on lies and failed polices. This endless war has killed thousands, stripped the humanity of all involved, and drained our communities of trillions of dollars, diverting funds from schools, clinics, libraries, and other public goods.

Iraq Veterans Against the War calls on fellow service members, veterans, Chicagoans, and everyone who believes in justice, dignity, and respect for all peoples to join us in the streets on May 20th. On this day, we will hold a nonviolent march to the site of the NATO summit where we will ceremoniously return our military service medals. We will demand that NATO immediately end the occupation of Afghanistan and relating economic and social injustices, bring U.S. war dollars home to fund our communities, and acknowledge the rights and humanity of all who are affected by these wars. In order to begin a process of justice and reconciliation with the people of Afghanistan and other affected nations, fellow service members, veterans, and the American people.

via NATO CALL TO ACTION: MARCH WITH VETERANS FOR JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION | MichaelMoore.com.

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Cry, the Beloved Constitution – NYTimes.com

12 Mar

BOTH liberals and conservatives have the American Constitution in the cross hairs. They assault the Constitution in their different ways, each with damaging effects on our nation. Conservatives attack the courts on one hand and seek to have them advance their activist agenda on the other. Liberals, when it suits them, embrace rights that have not been enumerated in the Constitution and cry for restraint only when their pet bills come under fire. The result is a national jurisprudence whetted by political appetite, with our democratic values as the victims.

via Cry, the Beloved Constitution – NYTimes.com.

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Reform the N.R.C. – NYTimes.com

12 Mar

Like many regulatory agencies, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is held captive by the industry it’s supposed to regulate.

…the Fukushima meltdowns, which were set off by an earthquake-triggered tsunami, raised questions about the vulnerability of America’s reactors to earthquakes. Indian Point, for example, is built above and near a series of faults. But the commission refused to do a full risk assessment and refused to consider earthquake damage as part of relicensing, announcing that “this is really not a serious concern.”

While such health and safety dangers from reactors are real, perhaps an even greater danger is the on-site storage of spent fuel, which is thousands of times more toxic than the uranium put into the reactor. While the reactor is surrounded by a concrete containment vessel, the commission allows spent fuel to be kept in a large, aboveground and unprotected pool of water.

The pools have been known to leak, and they are vulnerable to fire and terrorist attack. Fukushima presented an opportunity to address this lingering threat, and yet the commission once again failed to act.

How do we regulate the regulators?

There is a real need to reform the commission, whether one supports or opposes nuclear power. We need a fast-track, independent review of exemptions and the resulting weakened safety standards; we also need a similarly independent, rigorous inquiry into the commission and its ties to the nuclear industry.

Beyond reviews, Congress should create new, stricter requirements for action by the commission, including stronger rules against exemptions from safety and health regulations.

via Reform the N.R.C. – NYTimes.com.

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The Nuclear ‘Implementation Study’ – NYTimes.com

12 Mar

China, the only major power expanding its arsenal, likely has 240 to 300 nuclear weapons in its arsenal, but experts say no more than 50 are capable of hitting the United States. Pakistan has perhaps 90, all aimed at India; North Korea has fewer than a dozen, none with the ability to hit the United States. Iran has no weapons, so far.

Just how many does the United States need? Many experts believe the United States can easily go down to 1,000 warheads in total — deployed and stored — without jeopardizing security. We agree.

1000 down from 5000 is quite a reduction, but zero would be better.

via The Nuclear ‘Implementation Study’ – NYTimes.com.

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Fallout at a Former Nuclear Weapon Plant – NYTimes.com

11 Mar

The Japanese government’s failure to warn citizens about radioactive danger put the entire city of Tokyo at health risk — and the rest of us as well. The report, which was written by an independent investigative panel established by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation (published March 1 in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists), bluntly states that the much vaunted “absolute safety” of nuclear power is no more than a “twisted myth.”

The threat from nuclear power plants is twofold: grand scale catastrophe and continuing health problems connected with radioactive contamination in our air, water, soil and food supply — both short-term, high-level contamination and the long-term, low-level kind.

In Japan, radiation was detected in beef, milk, spinach, tea leaves and rice. And more than a dozen cities in the United States tested positive for fallout from Fukushima in their water supplies. Scientists found radiation from Japan in milk from Phoenix to Little Rock, Ark., to Montpelier, Vt. A year later, many questions about Fukushima’s operations remain unanswered.

Tepco may be the latest in a line of the nuclear businesses with a self-imposed mandate to suppress truth. Here in the United States, we have our own tightly held radioactive secrets.

via Fallout at a Former Nuclear Weapon Plant – NYTimes.com.

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