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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
December 15, 2011
from Balloon Juice, via AlterNet:
Why is Senate Democrat Ron Wyden Teaming up with GOP Rep Paul Ryan to Destroy Medicare?
In a move that could hurt Democrats’ ability to campaign against Republicans on Medicare in next fall’s elections, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden is teaming up with Republican Rep. Paul Ryan on a Medicare overhaul plan that would give beneficiaries a set amount to use toward buying private coverage or to pay for a traditional fee-for-service plan.
I took a quick look at the Wyden-Ryan proposal on Medicare.
Skip the first couple of pages, because those are primarily devoted to coyly extolling the virtues of Wyden and Ryan. Not those two specifically. People like them. Brave people. Honest people. In any event, once you’re past how great and brave and principled two certain members of Congress are, this is the (vague) proposal, and my initial thoughts:
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/748809/why_is_senate_democrat_ron_wyden_teaming_up_with_gop_rep_paul_ryan_to_destroy_medicare/
Why is Senate Democrat Ron Wyden Teaming up with GOP Rep Paul Ryan to Destroy Medicare?
from Balloon Juice, via AlterNet:
Why is Senate Democrat Ron Wyden Teaming up with GOP Rep Paul Ryan to Destroy Medicare?
In a move that could hurt Democrats’ ability to campaign against Republicans on Medicare in next fall’s elections, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden is teaming up with Republican Rep. Paul Ryan on a Medicare overhaul plan that would give beneficiaries a set amount to use toward buying private coverage or to pay for a traditional fee-for-service plan.
I took a quick look at the Wyden-Ryan proposal on Medicare.
Skip the first couple of pages, because those are primarily devoted to coyly extolling the virtues of Wyden and Ryan. Not those two specifically. People like them. Brave people. Honest people. In any event, once you’re past how great and brave and principled two certain members of Congress are, this is the (vague) proposal, and my initial thoughts:
For those currently enrolled or near retirement (55 or older), we propose no structural Medicare changes that will affect their benefits. For future seniors (those now 54 or younger,) we propose to strengthen Medicare by transitioning the current program toward a coverage-support plan with the choice of guaranteed coverage options – including traditional Medicare – on a Medicare exchange. The coverage-support value would be adjusted to provide additional support for the poor and sick, and reflect a reduced subsidy for the wealthy.
For future seniors (those now 54 or younger,) we propose to strengthen Medicare by transitioning the current program toward a coverage-support plan with the choice of guaranteed coverage options – including traditional Medicare – on a Medicare exchange. The coverage-support value would be adjusted to provide additional support for the poor and sick, and reflect a reduced subsidy for the wealthy
..............(more)
For future seniors (those now 54 or younger,) we propose to strengthen Medicare by transitioning the current program toward a coverage-support plan with the choice of guaranteed coverage options – including traditional Medicare – on a Medicare exchange. The coverage-support value would be adjusted to provide additional support for the poor and sick, and reflect a reduced subsidy for the wealthy
The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/748809/why_is_senate_democrat_ron_wyden_teaming_up_with_gop_rep_paul_ryan_to_destroy_medicare/
December 15, 2011
from the Chicago Tribune:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants blanket authority to spend money on next spring's G-8 and NATO summits along with new restrictions on protesters sure to flock to the pair of international events.
Time is of the essence, the mayor said. But nearly six months after announcing Chicago had landed the prestigious gatherings of world leaders, Emanuel has yet to offer any estimates of the cost or how much taxpayers might be asked to cover.
In seeking the expanded powers, Emanuel's move echoed steps taken by former Mayor Richard Daley leading up to the city's failed bid for the 2016 Olympics and its successful hosting of the 1996 Democratic National Convention. Like his predecessor, the new mayor dismissed concerns.
"They are a one-time deal, only to deal with G-8 and NATO," Emanuel said, stressing that the world's eyes will be on Chicago when world leaders come to President Barack Obama's hometown in mid-May. "They are not for anything else. It's very specific. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-rahm-emanuel-g8-control-20111215,0,7127378.story
Rahmbo wants to limit protesting during the upcoming G-8 and NATO summits
from the Chicago Tribune:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants blanket authority to spend money on next spring's G-8 and NATO summits along with new restrictions on protesters sure to flock to the pair of international events.
Time is of the essence, the mayor said. But nearly six months after announcing Chicago had landed the prestigious gatherings of world leaders, Emanuel has yet to offer any estimates of the cost or how much taxpayers might be asked to cover.
In seeking the expanded powers, Emanuel's move echoed steps taken by former Mayor Richard Daley leading up to the city's failed bid for the 2016 Olympics and its successful hosting of the 1996 Democratic National Convention. Like his predecessor, the new mayor dismissed concerns.
"They are a one-time deal, only to deal with G-8 and NATO," Emanuel said, stressing that the world's eyes will be on Chicago when world leaders come to President Barack Obama's hometown in mid-May. "They are not for anything else. It's very specific. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-rahm-emanuel-g8-control-20111215,0,7127378.story
December 15, 2011
from In These Times:
Matana Roberts’ Genealogy of Jazz
The saxophonist delves into African-American history—from slavery to the present—in her twelve-part series Coin Coin.
BY Frances Morgan
Music has a unique capacity to remind us of the past. Sounds and melodies jog our memories, evoke long-forgotten times, places and emotions. It’s not surprising, therefore, that some composers draw upon history for their source material. But how does an artist approach the past with the urgency of the present, or pay homage to forebears while retaining a voice that’s true to his or her own era?
These are some of the questions asked and answered in Coin Coin, an extraordinary musical project begun by young Chicago-born saxophonist and composer Matana Roberts around six years ago, and coming to fruition now. Coin Coin explores the genealogy of Roberts’ own family, and in the process addresses African-American history from slavery to the present day. Chapter One of the work, released on Constellation Records this year and subtitled “Gens de Couleur Libres” (“Free People of Color”), is a 2010 live recording taken from a concert in Montreal in which Roberts plays alto sax and directs a 15-piece band.
Roberts also provides spoken, sung and sometimes screamed vocals, in which she narrates the stories of, and sometimes becomes, characters including Coin Coin, the name of 18th-century freed slave Marie Thérèse Coincoin, to whom Roberts has a distant connection. A variety of American music styles, from swing to blues to big band jazz, as well as Roberts’ own free jazz sounds, come in and out of focus over the hour-long performance, creating a shifting, haunting tapestry of memory at once ghostly and invigorating.
It is an intense listen, and there are 11 more chapters to come, six of which have been now workshopped; a version of Chapter Two, entitled “Mississippi Moonchile,” was broadcast last year on NPR. But although Roberts says she is always preoccupied with Coin Coin, she’s also careful to take a break sometimes, as she explained from New York, where she is now based. The project has “grown in ways that I did not intend it to,” says Roberts, who left Chicago in 1999 to attend graduate school at a conservatory, “and it’s been interesting to see the many different directions it’s taken me.” .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12279/matana_roberts_genealogy_of_jazz
Matana Roberts’ Genealogy of Jazz
from In These Times:
Matana Roberts’ Genealogy of Jazz
The saxophonist delves into African-American history—from slavery to the present—in her twelve-part series Coin Coin.
BY Frances Morgan
Music has a unique capacity to remind us of the past. Sounds and melodies jog our memories, evoke long-forgotten times, places and emotions. It’s not surprising, therefore, that some composers draw upon history for their source material. But how does an artist approach the past with the urgency of the present, or pay homage to forebears while retaining a voice that’s true to his or her own era?
These are some of the questions asked and answered in Coin Coin, an extraordinary musical project begun by young Chicago-born saxophonist and composer Matana Roberts around six years ago, and coming to fruition now. Coin Coin explores the genealogy of Roberts’ own family, and in the process addresses African-American history from slavery to the present day. Chapter One of the work, released on Constellation Records this year and subtitled “Gens de Couleur Libres” (“Free People of Color”), is a 2010 live recording taken from a concert in Montreal in which Roberts plays alto sax and directs a 15-piece band.
Roberts also provides spoken, sung and sometimes screamed vocals, in which she narrates the stories of, and sometimes becomes, characters including Coin Coin, the name of 18th-century freed slave Marie Thérèse Coincoin, to whom Roberts has a distant connection. A variety of American music styles, from swing to blues to big band jazz, as well as Roberts’ own free jazz sounds, come in and out of focus over the hour-long performance, creating a shifting, haunting tapestry of memory at once ghostly and invigorating.
It is an intense listen, and there are 11 more chapters to come, six of which have been now workshopped; a version of Chapter Two, entitled “Mississippi Moonchile,” was broadcast last year on NPR. But although Roberts says she is always preoccupied with Coin Coin, she’s also careful to take a break sometimes, as she explained from New York, where she is now based. The project has “grown in ways that I did not intend it to,” says Roberts, who left Chicago in 1999 to attend graduate school at a conservatory, “and it’s been interesting to see the many different directions it’s taken me.” .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12279/matana_roberts_genealogy_of_jazz
December 15, 2011
from In These Times:
Class Consciousness Is Back
Once you notice inequality, you can’t escape the realities of class in America.
BY Susan J. Douglas
Multiple times and on multiple days, my local NPR station actually used the “c” word on the air. No, not that “c” word–it was “class.” Yes, that most unmentionable of topics: socio-economic class and how it determines the fate of millions of Americans.
Our vernacular obscures the country’s very real class divisions, with crippling–even lethal–consequences. The term “middle class” is used capaciously in the United States to include almost everyone, while the term “working class” is eschewed (it sounds way too Marxist). Even the “99%” signs and chants of Occupy protesters occlude the multiple and often stark divisions within that 99%.
Class position, of course, affects everything: access to healthcare, education, where you live, what restaurants you eat in, nutrition, careers, income, tax breaks, how much credit costs you, who you marry (and when), who fights and dies for our country, and on and on. But with our media’s national obsessions about gender, race and ethnicity, class may be the most under-covered feature of structural inequality in the country. In November, NPR-affiliate Michigan Radio aired an 11-part series called “Culture of Class,” which rolled back the stone, showing what lurks in America’s cave of inequities.
Let’s start with the legal system. “There, perhaps, is no moment in life when the difference in class is more apparent than when you are accused of a crime,” reporter Lester Graham notes in his piece on class and the courts. If you’re upper-middle class, or even truly middle class, you hire a lawyer, and the richer you are, the more choices you have. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12413/class_consciousness_is_back
Once you notice inequality, you can’t escape the realities of class in America
from In These Times:
Class Consciousness Is Back
Once you notice inequality, you can’t escape the realities of class in America.
BY Susan J. Douglas
Multiple times and on multiple days, my local NPR station actually used the “c” word on the air. No, not that “c” word–it was “class.” Yes, that most unmentionable of topics: socio-economic class and how it determines the fate of millions of Americans.
Our vernacular obscures the country’s very real class divisions, with crippling–even lethal–consequences. The term “middle class” is used capaciously in the United States to include almost everyone, while the term “working class” is eschewed (it sounds way too Marxist). Even the “99%” signs and chants of Occupy protesters occlude the multiple and often stark divisions within that 99%.
Class position, of course, affects everything: access to healthcare, education, where you live, what restaurants you eat in, nutrition, careers, income, tax breaks, how much credit costs you, who you marry (and when), who fights and dies for our country, and on and on. But with our media’s national obsessions about gender, race and ethnicity, class may be the most under-covered feature of structural inequality in the country. In November, NPR-affiliate Michigan Radio aired an 11-part series called “Culture of Class,” which rolled back the stone, showing what lurks in America’s cave of inequities.
Let’s start with the legal system. “There, perhaps, is no moment in life when the difference in class is more apparent than when you are accused of a crime,” reporter Lester Graham notes in his piece on class and the courts. If you’re upper-middle class, or even truly middle class, you hire a lawyer, and the richer you are, the more choices you have. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12413/class_consciousness_is_back
December 15, 2011
from In These Times:
Private Prisons Gone Wild
Legal challenges are no match for Arizona politicians determined to privatize the state’s correctional services.
BY Beau Hodai
The recent dismissal of a lawsuit filed against both Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Charles Ryan and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) is the latest step in the state’s hell-bent plan to roughly double its number of privately managed prison “beds.”
The suit, filed in an Arizona Superior Court by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) on September 12, sought an injunction against ADC and the governor’s pending award of 5,000 new prison beds to be operated by a for-profit vendor. The state currently contracts out more than 6,500 minimum- and medium-security beds at seven facilities with Geo Group, the nation’s second largest private prison operator, and Management and Training Corporation (MTC).
AFSC argued that ADC is negligent in its statutorily required duty to conduct biennial cost and quality assessments of the state’s private prisons. The purpose of these assessments is to determine whether the state is receiving the same quality of service from private prison operators as provided by public facilities.
Nevertheless, ADC has not completed a single survey. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12423/private_prisons_gone_wild
Private Prisons Gone Wild
from In These Times:
Private Prisons Gone Wild
Legal challenges are no match for Arizona politicians determined to privatize the state’s correctional services.
BY Beau Hodai
The recent dismissal of a lawsuit filed against both Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) Director Charles Ryan and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) is the latest step in the state’s hell-bent plan to roughly double its number of privately managed prison “beds.”
The suit, filed in an Arizona Superior Court by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) on September 12, sought an injunction against ADC and the governor’s pending award of 5,000 new prison beds to be operated by a for-profit vendor. The state currently contracts out more than 6,500 minimum- and medium-security beds at seven facilities with Geo Group, the nation’s second largest private prison operator, and Management and Training Corporation (MTC).
AFSC argued that ADC is negligent in its statutorily required duty to conduct biennial cost and quality assessments of the state’s private prisons. The purpose of these assessments is to determine whether the state is receiving the same quality of service from private prison operators as provided by public facilities.
Nevertheless, ADC has not completed a single survey. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12423/private_prisons_gone_wild
December 14, 2011
from Consortium News:
The Danger from Politicizing ‘Terror’
December 13, 2011
By politicizing who is and who is not a “terrorist” – pinning the label on American adversaries and sparing purported American friends – the U.S. government created confusion at FBI headquarters that contributed to the failure to stop the 9/11 attacks, reports ex-FBI agent Coleen Rowley.
By Coleen Rowley
Glenn Greenwald’s critique – regarding the recent U.S. indictment of 38-year-old Iraqi Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa (currently in Canada) – is spot on about “terrorism” coming to simply mean opposing United States’ interests or resisting U.S. military invasions.
U.S. authorities have now dropped any requirement that the “terrorists” target or kill civilians as part of a political objective, the classic definition of terrorism. Isa stands accused of “providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy” because he allegedly backed a 2008 attack in Mosul, Iraq, killing five U.S. soldiers.
As Greenwald wrote, “In other words, if the U.S. invades and occupies your country, and you respond by fighting back against the invading army — the ultimate definition of a ‘military, not civilian target’ — then you are a . . . Terrorist.”
But the reverse of Greenwald’s example is also true, that those “terrorist” groups throughout the world who commit violent acts or kill civilians at U.S. instigation, encouragement or in line with U.S. interests are NOT considered “terrorists.” ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/13/the-danger-from-politicizing-terror/
Coleen Rowley: The Danger from Politicizing ‘Terror’
from Consortium News:
The Danger from Politicizing ‘Terror’
December 13, 2011
By politicizing who is and who is not a “terrorist” – pinning the label on American adversaries and sparing purported American friends – the U.S. government created confusion at FBI headquarters that contributed to the failure to stop the 9/11 attacks, reports ex-FBI agent Coleen Rowley.
By Coleen Rowley
Glenn Greenwald’s critique – regarding the recent U.S. indictment of 38-year-old Iraqi Faruq Khalil Muhammad Isa (currently in Canada) – is spot on about “terrorism” coming to simply mean opposing United States’ interests or resisting U.S. military invasions.
U.S. authorities have now dropped any requirement that the “terrorists” target or kill civilians as part of a political objective, the classic definition of terrorism. Isa stands accused of “providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy” because he allegedly backed a 2008 attack in Mosul, Iraq, killing five U.S. soldiers.
As Greenwald wrote, “In other words, if the U.S. invades and occupies your country, and you respond by fighting back against the invading army — the ultimate definition of a ‘military, not civilian target’ — then you are a . . . Terrorist.”
But the reverse of Greenwald’s example is also true, that those “terrorist” groups throughout the world who commit violent acts or kill civilians at U.S. instigation, encouragement or in line with U.S. interests are NOT considered “terrorists.” ..............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/13/the-danger-from-politicizing-terror/
December 14, 2011
"Black Friday" Hocus Pocus?
(Bloomberg) Retail sales rose in November at the slowest pace in five months, indicating American consumers were trying to live within their means heading into the holiday shopping season as wages dropped.
The 0.2 percent gain in purchases fell short of the 0.6 percent median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed increases in the prior two months that were larger than previously estimated, according to data from the Commerce Department today in Washington. Other reports showed inventories climbed in October and job openings fell.
Demand for autos, the latest fashions and electronics propelled the increase in spending last month, while households cut back on groceries and restaurant meals, showing how limited job and income gains are holding consumers back. Retailers like J.C. Penney Co. are pushing discounts to drum up business, a sign of a lack of inflation that allowed the Federal Reserve today to hold interest rates near zero.
“Sales are growing, but they just aren’t accelerating,” said Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities USA Inc. in New York. “There have been some real slight hints of improvement in the labor market, but until we get sustained growth in income, spending is going to be moderate.” ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/u-s-retail-sales-climb-less-than-forecast-at-slowest-pace-in-five-months.html
..............................
Lousy November Retail Sales Numbers Prove Black Friday Headlines Were a Joke
By Michael Comeau Dec 13, 2011 12:30 pm
(Minyanville) Best Buy's (BBY) spectacular flame-out wasn't the only retail disappointment this morning -- the Commerce Department said that November retail sales rose just by 0.2% versus a consensus estimate calling for a 0.6% gain.
That painted an ugly picture for retail overall, but it made an even more important point about the sensationalist headlines around the great margin-sucking 'holiday' that is Black Friday: They can now be disregarded. (See: What Does Black Friday's Creep on Thanksgiving Say About American Retail?)
If you rewind the clock a few weeks, you may remember hearing the National Retail Federation boasting of a 16% year-over-year sales gain for the four-day weekend following Thanksgiving, and ShopperTrak saying that retail sales rose 6.6% on Black Friday itself. ................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/november-retail-sales-november-retail-sales/12/13/2011/id/38371#ixzz1gT56jG8J
December 13, 2011
(Bloomberg) Regulators are investigating whether MF Global Holdings Ltd. intentionally used customer funds to cover the bankrupt firm’s margin payments on European government bond trades, bolstering their ability to retrieve the missing money, people with knowledge of the probe said.
Investigators including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the bankruptcy (LEHMQ) trustee are reviewing the brokerage’s accounts seeking proof of fraud, which would allow them to recover some of the lost $1.2 billion, said the people, who declined to be identified because the probe is ongoing. Unless regulators find illegal activity, margin payments on repurchase trades can’t be returned under bankruptcy law, said Lauren Teigland-Hunt, a lawyer who has represented money managers in the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy.
“It has to be actual intent to defraud, and that’s a high bar,” said Teigland-Hunt, managing partner at Teigland-Hunt LLP in New York. “The whole goal is to try to ensure that if you’re a participant in the market and receive payment of margin, that won’t be reversed on you if a customer goes down.”
MF Global’s failure and the customer-funds deficit, which scuttled a last-minute acquisition that would have averted the eighth-largest bankruptcy, are the focus of congressional hearings in which Jon Corzine has made his first public comments since quitting as chief executive officer on Nov. 4. Corzine, 64, who engineered the $6.3 billion in European bets, told the House Agriculture Committee on Dec. 8 that he didn’t know what happened to the missing money. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/mf-global-probe-said-to-weigh-illegal-use-of-funds.html
MF Global Probe May Weigh Illegal Use of Funds
(Bloomberg) Regulators are investigating whether MF Global Holdings Ltd. intentionally used customer funds to cover the bankrupt firm’s margin payments on European government bond trades, bolstering their ability to retrieve the missing money, people with knowledge of the probe said.
Investigators including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the bankruptcy (LEHMQ) trustee are reviewing the brokerage’s accounts seeking proof of fraud, which would allow them to recover some of the lost $1.2 billion, said the people, who declined to be identified because the probe is ongoing. Unless regulators find illegal activity, margin payments on repurchase trades can’t be returned under bankruptcy law, said Lauren Teigland-Hunt, a lawyer who has represented money managers in the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy.
“It has to be actual intent to defraud, and that’s a high bar,” said Teigland-Hunt, managing partner at Teigland-Hunt LLP in New York. “The whole goal is to try to ensure that if you’re a participant in the market and receive payment of margin, that won’t be reversed on you if a customer goes down.”
MF Global’s failure and the customer-funds deficit, which scuttled a last-minute acquisition that would have averted the eighth-largest bankruptcy, are the focus of congressional hearings in which Jon Corzine has made his first public comments since quitting as chief executive officer on Nov. 4. Corzine, 64, who engineered the $6.3 billion in European bets, told the House Agriculture Committee on Dec. 8 that he didn’t know what happened to the missing money. ............(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-13/mf-global-probe-said-to-weigh-illegal-use-of-funds.html
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