The Agonist - USA: Domestic Issues

Real Independence for All Americans

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:23:13 -0700

I have been wondering of late where it is on the political spectrum that I would feel comfortable? There was a time when I considered myself to be a Democrat. This wasn’t because I believed in the party’s platform; it was because I disagreed with the Republican point of view. The last seven years have reinforced my view of Republicans, but at the same time my fondness for the Democrats has also waned. The truth is that frankly, I don’t see much of a difference between the two; both the Republicans and the Democrats are financed by the same entities.

Who are the people behind the curtain, so to speak? Well, they are basically the same people and organizations that have always ruled in this country (with periodic breaks from time to time). These are the captains of industry and the bankers that back them, and lately, religious groups (that pop-up occasionally). The government claim that the people are behind the government and they are responsible for electing their government is patently untrue. The only thing that the people are responsible for is rubber-stamping the candidates that are selected for us. The two political parties, the Republicans and Democrats, seem to be the only game in town, so to speak. While it is true that this nation has other political parties, in national elections, there are basically only two parties that matter.

Passport record system open to abuse, IG finds

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:38:32 -0700

Warren P. Strobel | Washington | July 4

McClatchy - A State Department passport record system that holds personal data on more than 120 million Americans is wide open to abuse and unable to prevent or detect unauthorized access, investigators said Thursday.

The review by the department's inspector general was ordered after revelations in March that State Department employees and contractors had accessed the files of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama.

The IG report found a much broader problem.

Investigators surveyed the records of 150 high-profile Americans, whose names were selected from Forbes and Sports Illustrated magazine lists and Internet search engine Google's most-searched names.

Of the 150 — who weren't named in the report — 127, or 85 percent, had had their passport files accessed a total of 4,148 times, strongly suggesting attempts at unauthorized access.

"The system is unable to protect itself," said one State Department official, who requested anonymity to speak more freely. "Anybody can go in."

US 'pregnant man' has baby girl

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:23:35 -0700

July 4

BBC -

An American man who was born female but underwent gender realignment surgery, has given birth to a female baby, US media have reported.

Thomas Beatie, 34, is legally male but kept his female reproductive organs after having breast surgery to remove glands and flatten his chest.

Both Mr Beatie and his daughter are reported to be doing well in a hospital in Bend, Oregon.

He was inseminated using sperm from an anonymous donor.

The birth was natural, a source at St Charles Medical Center in Bend told ABC News, and took place on Sunday.

Storm over Cape Cod

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:58:35 -0700

Leonard Doyle | Hyannis, Cape Cod | July 3

Independent -

Oyster Harbours is ground zero in a very uncivil war in which some of the wealthiest and most famous people in the country have joined forces with one of America's dirtiest businesses – the coal industry – to block an ambitious clean-energy project.

As Hyannis filled up with traffic ahead of the Independence Day holiday today, there was a whiff of cordite rather than fireworks in the air as both sides blasted away at each other.

So far, the opponents have spent more than $20m trying to kill off the project, which is known as Cape Wind and is planned for a location widely deemed ideal for offshore wind turbines.

During the summer, 130 slowly spinning windmills located five miles offshore should be invisible to the naked eye because of haze. On winter days, when the "snowbirds" (as the locals call summer visitors) have departed for Florida, the windmills will look like rotating matchsticks out on the horizon.

But a problem arises because the wind farm will at times be visible from some of the most expensive summer homes and private beaches in the US, most notably the Kennedy family compound in Hyannisport. And whether Obama Democrats or McCain Republicans, vulgar billionaires or old New England money, opponents of the project decided long ago to throw in their lot in with Big Coal to try and kill off Cape Wind. "This is like trying to put a wind farm in Yellowstone National Park as far as we're concerned," said former coal executive Glenn Wattley, who runs the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.

New drive to ban race preferences

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:04:49 -0700

Stacy Teicher Khadaroo | July 3

CSM - New drive to ban race preferences
Initiatives in three states would prohibit affirmative action in public realms.

Tensions are running high in the latest affirmative-action battlegrounds. In Arizona, Nebraska, and Colorado, supporters of ballot initiatives that would ban "preferential treatment" are counting up petition signatures – and opponents are scrutinizing their validity – to see if there's enough support to bring the issue to voters in November.

The American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI), led by Ward Connerly, is pushing the initiatives, which would change state constitutions to prohibit preferences based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the public realms of employment, education, and contracting. Similar ballot measures have succeeded in only three states: California in 1996 and later in Washington and Michigan.

Proponents of affirmative action learned from those votes not to wait until the fall election to make their case to the public. So they've been mustering volunteers now to wage "decline to sign" campaigns.

Working poor

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 06:01:24 -0700

McClatchy - "A mile in their shoes" is a yearlong series about four working poor families in Tarrant County, Texas, by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Meet the families, see in-depth multimedia reports, and try your hand at balancing the books of a single-income family with three kids for a month.

High gas prices threaten to shut down rural towns

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:25:43 -0700

Greg E. Latza | Forks of Salmon, CA. | July 2

USA Today -

Percentage of gasoline price increases (click to enlarge)

The price of gas isn't an annoyance here. It's a calamity.
Peggy Hanley uses a generator that burns a gallon of diesel fuel every hour —at about $5 a gallon— to power Forks General Store, the only place to buy groceries for miles around. There's no electric service, so Hanley, the owner, uses the generator to run eight refrigerators, nine freezers, lights and two ice machines for the store, which has been in a trailer since a fire destroyed the original building in 1994.

There are no utilities and no public transportation in this unincorporated town of a couple hundred people along a narrow road that winds through the mountains 314 miles north of Sacramento. Many people here buy gas for their vehicles and gas or diesel for generators that power their homes.

"I'm scared to death" of rising fuel prices, Hanley says. At the store, the hub for visiting whitewater rafters and residents of other isolated towns, gas cost $5.30 a gallon on a recent day when the national average was $4.07.
(Click graphic to enlarge)

Huge US payout over anthrax case

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:46:22 -0700

June 27

BBC - The US justice department has agreed a multimillion-dollar settlement with a man it said was a "person of interest" in the US anthrax attacks in 2001.

Dr Steven Hatfill, a former US army scientist, sued the department, saying it violated his privacy rights by speaking to reporters about the case.

Court papers now say a deal has been reached and the case will be dismissed.

According to the settlement documents filed on Friday, the justice department will pay Dr Hatfill $2.8m (£1.4m) upfront.

It will also buy Dr Hatfill a $3m (£1.5m) annuity that will pay him $150,000 (£75,000) each year for 20 years.

US Senate approves Iraq, Afghanistan war funding

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:59:32 -0700

Washington | June 27

AFP -

The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a compromise Bill to free up 162 billion US dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the final congressional step before the Bill goes to President George W Bush for his approval.

The legislation, passed 92 votes to six in the Senate after its approval by the House of Representatives on June 19, topped weeks of haggling between Democrats and Republicans and would finance the military operations through mid-2009, when Bush's successor is in office.

Bush has indicated he will sign the legislation.

The deal was reached after Democrats agreed to drop a withdrawal timetable from the Bill. The majority party has repeatedly failed to force Bush's hand on Iraq since taking over Congress in 2006 elections.

New video of mistreated cows released

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:24:42 -0700

David Edwards | Washington | June 27

Raw Story - An animal advocacy group released undercover video footage Wednesday of sick or injured dairy cows that it contends were mistreated at an auction facility where cattle are sold for slaughter.

Three cows too sick or weak to stand were sold at the Portales Livestock Auction in Portales, N.M., the Humane Society of the United States said. Such cows pose increased risk for mad cow disease, E. coli and other infections, partly because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems often are weak.

But the facility’s owner said he was certain that there was “no way” a so-called downer cow could have gotten into the food supply, and a top federal official agreed. video at link

Elite US Army academy lures kids with mud and duty

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:21:54 -0700

Claudia Parsons | West Point, N.Y. | June 27

Reuters - Climbing ropes and crawling in the mud under barbed wire, dozens of American high school kids at an unusual summer camp vied to see who could get most dirty as they tackled an Army obstacle course.

And as they ran between obstacles in the woods, the kids shouted Army chants. Asked by a cadet if they were motivated, they shouted back in unison: "Motivated, motivated, downright motivated. Ooh, aah, ooh, aah, I want to kill somebody."

On a day set aside for academic workshops, students in one group staged a mock murder trial. Others built a light-seeking robot in an electrical engineering class.

A third group played "Double Philosophy Jeopardy," with pop culture categories showing how characters in "Star Wars" or "The Simpsons" illustrate stoicism or the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche.

High court strikes down gun ban

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:57:54 -0700

Bill Mears | June 26

CNN - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Washington D.C.'s sweeping ban on handguns is unconstitutional.

The justices voted 5-4 against the ban with Justice Antonin Scalia writing the opinion for the majority.

At issue in District of Columbia v. Heller was whether the city's ban violated the Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms" by preventing individuals -- as opposed to state militias -- from having guns in their homes.

District of Columbia officials argued they had the responsibility to impose "reasonable" weapons restrictions to reduce violent crime, but several Washingtonians challenged the 32-year-old law. Some said they had been constant victims of crimes and needed guns for protection.

Countrywide Sued by California, Illinois, Over Loans

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:41:36 -0700

Karen Gullo & Andrew Harris | June 26

Bloomberg - Countrywide Financial Corp., the mortgage lender that lost $2.5 billion amid rising defaults and foreclosures, was sued by California and Illinois for allegedly luring borrowers into risky loans they couldn't afford.

Countrywide and Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo were named in suits, filed today, claiming the biggest U.S. home lender used deceptive practices such as low ``teaser'' rates to entice thousands of borrowers into adjustable-rate loans without adequately informing them that payments would balloon in later months.

The two lawsuits were filed the same day Countrywide's shareholders approved Bank of America Corp.'s $3 billion takeover offer, clearing the way for the lender's bailout. Washington Governor Christine Gregoire said that state will fine Countrywide $1 million and revoke its license for allegedly discriminating against minority borrowers.

``It's going to be increasingly expensive for BofA because they are taking on all of these lawsuits,'' said David Olson, president of Wholesale Access Mortgage Research, in Columbia, Maryland. Countrywide was ``too aggressive and they should be punished.''

Supreme Court sharply limits use of death penalty

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:49:29 -0700

Warren Richey | Washington | June 25

CSM - In a 5-to-4 ruling, the justices decide child rape isn't a capital offense.

Sentencing a child rapist to death is cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Eighth Amendment.

In a major ruling sharply restricting crimes carrying potential death sentences, the US Supreme Court on Wednesday invalidated part of a Louisiana statute that made aggravated sexual assault against a child under 12 a capital offense.

The majority justices ruled 5 to 4 that capital punishment is constitutionally impermissible for person-on-person violent crime that does not result in the death of the victim. The case is Kennedy v. Louisiana.

Labor Dept. To Probe Immigration Law Firm

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:44:02 -0700

Suzanne Gamboa | Washington | June 25

AP - The nation's largest immigration law firm is under federal scrutiny over whether it helped major U.S. corporations disqualify American job applicants and give thousands of high-paying positions to immigrants.

The unprecedented Labor Department inquiry centers on Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy -- a New York firm at the forefront of a political effort to ease hiring of skilled foreign workers.

The Labor Department is auditing all pending applications for legal immigrant workers the firm has filed on behalf of its corporate clients.

Fragomen's prestigious client roster includes General Electric Co., IBM Corp., Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp. and Bank of America Corp., according to company publications and trade journals. The firm also represents The Associated Press on immigration issues.