Commodity traders employed by the banks that had created the commodity index funds in the first place rode the tides of profit.
How Goldman Sachs Created the Food Crisis - By Frederick Kaufman | Foreign Policy
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Top Climate Scientist on the Monster Tornadoes: It Is Irresponsible Not to Mention Climate Change | Truthout
The fact remains that there is 4 percent more water vapor–and associated additional moist energy–available both to power individual storms and to produce intense rainfall from them. Climate change is present in every single meteorological event, in that these events are occurring within a baseline atmospheric environment that has shifted in favor of more intense weather events.
Top Climate Scientist on the Monster Tornadoes: It Is Irresponsible Not to Mention Climate Change | Truthout
Top Climate Scientist on the Monster Tornadoes: It Is Irresponsible Not to Mention Climate Change | Truthout
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Why Obama shouldn't have had to 'show his papers'
For the first time in recorded history, a sitting president of the United States found it necessary to produce his original birth certificate for public inspection. Not once, in 235 years, have we ever demanded proof that our president was born on American soil.
Why Obama shouldn't have had to 'show his papers'
Why Obama shouldn't have had to 'show his papers'
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The House Republican budget adds $6 trillion to the debt in the next decade yet the GOP is balking at raising the debt limit.
Remember that great scene in the 1980 film classic, “The Shining,” when the wife comes upon the typewriter of the Jack Nicholson character, who’s supposed to have been working night and day for months on his novel? To her horror, she finds thousands of pages on which Jack has typed, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” formatted in countless, crazy ways. Suddenly his suspected madness becomes all too frighteningly real.
Well, debt limit mania has driven me to a similar frenzied state. If my wife came across my manuscript it would read, “The House Republican budget adds $6 trillion to the debt in the next decade yet the GOP is balking at raising the debt limit. The House Republican budget adds $6 trillion to the debt in the next decade yet the GOP is balking at raising the debt limit
‘The Shining’ — national debt edition - The Washington Post
Well, debt limit mania has driven me to a similar frenzied state. If my wife came across my manuscript it would read, “The House Republican budget adds $6 trillion to the debt in the next decade yet the GOP is balking at raising the debt limit. The House Republican budget adds $6 trillion to the debt in the next decade yet the GOP is balking at raising the debt limit
‘The Shining’ — national debt edition - The Washington Post
Ryan’s Muddy Medicare Claims | FactCheck.org
Rep. Paul Ryan’s claim that Medicare will be "bankrupt in nine years" goes too far. The trust fund that primarily supports one part of Medicare is projected to be exhausted come 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees said it might not actually happen until 2029. That still doesn’t mean the system will be "bankrupt," though.
Ryan’s Muddy Medicare Claims | FactCheck.org
Ryan’s Muddy Medicare Claims | FactCheck.org
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Gospel according to Ayn Rand :: Faith in Public Life
The Gospel according to Ayn Rand :: Faith in Public Life
Ever since Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) put out his draconian budget proposal that slashes essential programs for the poor and gives big tax breaks to the rich, Ryan's attachment to the works of Ayn Rand has been in the spotlight. Jonathan Chait, in the pages of Newsweek, calls out Ryan for launching a "War on the Weak" and explains "How the GOP came to view the poor as parasites -and the rich as our rightful rulers." The success of this idea that the rich have the right to rule and the poor don't have any right to their help, is due to the popularity of the philosophy of Ayn Rand on the far right. According to Chait, Ryan is "a Rand nut...Ryan once appeared at a gathering to honor her philosophy, where he announced, 'The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand.' He continues to view Rand as a lodestar, requiring his staffers to digest her creepy tracts."
...
Conservative Christians who support the Ryan version of radical conservatism based on the atheist individualist philosophy of Ayn Rand have some serious questions to ask themselves and these questions are long overdue. The political alliance between Christian evangelicals and the tea party has already been analyzed by pollster Robert Jones as a "shotgun marriage."
Ever since Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) put out his draconian budget proposal that slashes essential programs for the poor and gives big tax breaks to the rich, Ryan's attachment to the works of Ayn Rand has been in the spotlight. Jonathan Chait, in the pages of Newsweek, calls out Ryan for launching a "War on the Weak" and explains "How the GOP came to view the poor as parasites -and the rich as our rightful rulers." The success of this idea that the rich have the right to rule and the poor don't have any right to their help, is due to the popularity of the philosophy of Ayn Rand on the far right. According to Chait, Ryan is "a Rand nut...Ryan once appeared at a gathering to honor her philosophy, where he announced, 'The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand.' He continues to view Rand as a lodestar, requiring his staffers to digest her creepy tracts."
...
Conservative Christians who support the Ryan version of radical conservatism based on the atheist individualist philosophy of Ayn Rand have some serious questions to ask themselves and these questions are long overdue. The political alliance between Christian evangelicals and the tea party has already been analyzed by pollster Robert Jones as a "shotgun marriage."
Barack Obama Is Now The Biggest Tax Cutter In American History
In fact, most Americans have no idea that Barack Obama has lowered taxes. According to a 2010 CBS News/New York Times Poll, only 12% of Americans knew that Obama has lowered taxes. 53% thought that he kept taxes the same, and 24% believed that Obama has raised taxes.
Not surprisingly, only 2% of Tea Party supporters knew that Obama had lowered taxes. 44% of them thought that the President has raised their taxes.
The right believes this because they got the idea from Fox News and talk radio. Four days ago, Fox News.com ran a story claiming that Obama is going to raise taxes. The tax increase boogeyman is a favorite of the right, because it is easy to put out there and it motivates their base every time.
Barack Obama Is Now The Biggest Tax Cutter In American History
Not surprisingly, only 2% of Tea Party supporters knew that Obama had lowered taxes. 44% of them thought that the President has raised their taxes.
The right believes this because they got the idea from Fox News and talk radio. Four days ago, Fox News.com ran a story claiming that Obama is going to raise taxes. The tax increase boogeyman is a favorite of the right, because it is easy to put out there and it motivates their base every time.
Barack Obama Is Now The Biggest Tax Cutter In American History
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Why Gas Is So Expensive Today (Hint: It’s Not Libya) - Chris Peterson
The current spike in gas prices is not primarily a result of anything to do with the freedom fighters in the Arab world. Nor is it a result of OPEC’s production levels, which would suggest a far lower $/gallon than can be found on the open market.
Rather, the spikes are primarily a result of the speculative market on oil. This speculative market is driven by the practices of the biggest banks, who have special exemptions to treat commodities like a casino, who have zero incentive to appropriately hedge their bets, who do not provide the liquidity they were designed to provide, and who generally provide nothing of value to society except to push prices of things higher and higher so that very rich people will continue to invest with them.
Why Gas Is So Expensive Today (Hint: It’s Not Libya) - Chris Peterson
Rather, the spikes are primarily a result of the speculative market on oil. This speculative market is driven by the practices of the biggest banks, who have special exemptions to treat commodities like a casino, who have zero incentive to appropriately hedge their bets, who do not provide the liquidity they were designed to provide, and who generally provide nothing of value to society except to push prices of things higher and higher so that very rich people will continue to invest with them.
Why Gas Is So Expensive Today (Hint: It’s Not Libya) - Chris Peterson
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The blessing of a secular government: David E. Crosby | NOLA.com
Next time you lament the separation of church and state, ask yourself if you would prefer a Muslim government in Egypt over a secular one. The word "secular" means "of this world." It describes a government that confines its rules and regulations to matters of this world rather than matters of the spirit, worship and eternal salvation.
Wise government officials have no interest in regulating, recommending or even defining proper religious practices for their constituents. They are not empowered to do so, nor competent to do so.
Sometimes deeply religious people, lamenting what they perceive as the moral erosion of their culture, seek to harness the power of government in an effort to bring the Kingdom of God and make people more Christian.
Laws that require religious behavior make people hypocrites, not Christians. We have a duty as Christians to participate in our democracy, but we should never focus on government over worship and prayer in the effort to effect cultural change. Government is far too weak when it comes to transforming the hearts of people. Only faith and love can do that.
The blessing of a secular government: David E. Crosby | NOLA.com
Wise government officials have no interest in regulating, recommending or even defining proper religious practices for their constituents. They are not empowered to do so, nor competent to do so.
Sometimes deeply religious people, lamenting what they perceive as the moral erosion of their culture, seek to harness the power of government in an effort to bring the Kingdom of God and make people more Christian.
Laws that require religious behavior make people hypocrites, not Christians. We have a duty as Christians to participate in our democracy, but we should never focus on government over worship and prayer in the effort to effect cultural change. Government is far too weak when it comes to transforming the hearts of people. Only faith and love can do that.
The blessing of a secular government: David E. Crosby | NOLA.com
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