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50-State, $25B Mortgage Settlement: Relief for Struggling Homeowners or Bailout for Big Banks?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Feb. 10 (News Analysis) - The U.S. Justice Department has unveiled a record mortgage settlement with the nation's five largest banks to resolve claims over faulty foreclosures and mortgage practices that have indebted and displaced homeowners and sunk the nation's economy. While the deal is being described as a $25 billion settlement, the banks will only have to pay out a total of $5 billion in cash between them. We speak to one of the settlement's most prominent critics, Yves Smith, a longtime financial analyst who runs the popular finance website, "Naked Capitalism." "The settlement, on the surface, does look like it's helping homeowners," Smith says. "But, in fact, the bigger part that most people don't recognize is the way it actually helps the banks with mortgages on their own books... The real problem is that this deal is just not going to give that much relief." [includes rush transcript]

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Why Wall Street Should Stop Whining

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Matt Taibbi - Feb. 10 (News Analysis) - When I read things like this I'm simultaneously amazed by two things. The first is the unbelievable tone-deafness of people who would complain out loud, during a time when millions of people around the country are literally losing their homes, that their bonuses - not their total compensation, mind you, but just their cash bonuses, paid in addition to their salaries and their stock packages - are barely enough to cover the mortgage payments for their new condos, the taxis they take when walking is too burdensome, and their girlfriends with expensive tastes. The second thing that amazes me is that Sherman is buying all this.

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How Conservative Elites Stoke Racist Anxieties to Gain Power and Split Blacks and Whites

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Chauncey DeVega - Feb. 10 (News Analysis) - Newt Gingrich calling Obama a “food stamp president,” Rick Santorum implying that African Americans are parasites who leach off of white people, and Ron Paul’s old newsletters, which describe black men as monstrous beasts (“giant negroes” who stand ready to attack whites at any moment), are examples of this phenomenon on the national stage.

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Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón Disbarred in Trial Seen as Retaliation for Trailblazing Human Rights Work

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Feb. 10 (News Report) - Spain’s most famous judge, Baltasar Garzón, has been disbarred for 11 years after being found guilty of ordering illegal monitoring. Garzón is known for taking on global human rights cases under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction, with actions including ordering the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998, indicting Osama bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks, and probing the abuse of U.S. prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. Garzón cannot appeal his disbarment, which effectively ends his career as a judge. We speak to Human Rights Watch's Reed Brody, who observed Garzon’s trial in Madrid. Brody says the case marks "a massive attack on the independence of the judiciary and on a very brave judge." [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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Taibbi: Mortgage Fraud Settlement is More Like a Bailout Than Justice

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Kristen Gwynne - Feb. 10 (News Analysis) - Tabbi says that as more of the banks' bad behavior is exposed, it will become obvious that they must shut down to pay for their crimes, because the reparations necessary would bleed them dry. This settlement, he says, is a "kewpie doll" for victims of banker greed, and won't "stem the tide or turn the tables for these people."

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Teachers Behaving Badly - KDVR

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

kdvr.com - By No Byline - Feb. 10 (Editorial) - Slideshow of teachers who have been arrested.

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League of Conservation Voters: George Allen Named to Dirty Dozen

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

action.lcv.org - Feb. 10 (Press Release) - Former Virginia Senator George Allen earned an abysmal 1% LCV lifetime score during his time in the Senate. Additionally, Allen has received nearly $500,000 from oil and gas interests. This is Allen's 3rd time on the Dirty Dozen, having been named to the list in 2000 and 2006.

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Op-Ed Columnist: Money and Morals

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Paul Krugman, New York Times - Feb. 09 (Opinion) - Conservatives have started telling us that the growing inequality is about a decline in morals. But it’s mainly about money.

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Capitol Assets: Some legislators send millions to groups connected to their relatives - Washington Post

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Scott Higham, Kimberly Kindy, David S. Fallis - Feb. 08 (Investigative Report) - .. the practice has continued unabated, the Post found.

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Top 10 Sources of Salt in Your Diet

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:18:00 -0800

Time - Feb. 08 - Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of sodium in the American diet, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Salty snacks like chips and pretzels come in at No. 10. The finding seems unlikely, since bread isn’t actu

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Americans' trans fat levels decline over past decade - USA TODAY

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:14:19 -0800

USA Today - Feb. 08 - USA TODAYAmericans' trans fat levels decline over past decadeUSA TODAYBy Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY Years of warnings about the dangers of artery-clogging trans fats that Americans get in their foods seem to be paying off: The amount of trans fats in the blood of white adults in the USA dropped a "dramatic" 58% from 2000 ...Blood Levels of Trans Fats Are Declining in AmericansNew York Times (blog)Dramatic Drop in U.S. Trans Fat LevelsFood Safety NewsUS adults' trans fat levels dropFox NewsLiveScience.com -CBC.ca -Doctors Loungeall 84 news articles »

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Prop. 8: Gay-marriage ban unconstitutional, court rules

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles Times - By LA Times Staff - Feb. 07 (Breaking News) - A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage as early as next year.

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Administration names official advocate for illegal immigrants

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:16:00 -0800

Washington Times - Feb. 07 - The Obama administration on Tuesday announced a new "public advocate" charged with listening to immigrants' concerns about its law enforcement policies — but Republicans said the position amounts to an official mouthpiece for illegal immigrants being dep

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Congressional earmarks sometimes used to fund projects near lawmakers' properties

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By David S. Fallis, Scott Higham, Kimberly Kindy - Feb. 07 (Investigative Report) - .. lawmakers have acknowledged the public's growing concern that they appeared to be using their positions to enrich themselves.

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APNewsBreak: Komen official quits breast cancer charity over Planned Parenthood dispute

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Associated Press - Feb. 07 (News Report) - A high-ranking official resigned Tuesday from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity after a dispute over whether the group should give funding to Planned Parenthood, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. Karen Handel, the charity’s vice president for public policy, told Komen officials that she supported the move to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. She said the discussion started before she arrived at the organization and was approved at the highest levels of the charity.

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New beach water rules: Enough to make you sick - latimes.com

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles Times - By Mark Gold - Feb. 07 (Opinion) - ..it's highly unlikely that much will improve.

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Karl Rove ‘offended’ by Clint Eastwood’s Chrysler ad

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Rachel Weiner - Feb. 07 (News Report) - A Chrysler ad aired during the Super Bowl Sunday night has inspired ire among some Republicans and admiration among some Democrats — with both sides seeing a political message that boosts President Obama.

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REPORT: What would Russian intervention in Syria look like?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

infowars.com - Feb. 07 (News) -

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The ‘Stan: An officer’s unvarnished view

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

armytimes.com - By Lance M. Bacon - Feb. 06 (Special Report) - An Army officer is fed up with “rosy official statements” that paint Afghanistan as a picture of progress, and he is demanding military leaders come clean about the “absence ofsuccess on virtually every level.”

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Catholic hospitals split on giving contraceptives

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

San Francisco Chronicle - By bottomline@sfchronicle.com (Andrew S. Ross, Chronicle Columnist) - Feb. 06 - Presented By: Chicago Booth Business Forecast Ads by ...

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Army Colonel Challenges Pentagon’s Afghanistan Claims

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Scott Shane - Feb. 05 (Special Report) - After two deployments in Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis says the Pentagon is not telling the whole truth about how the war is going.

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I Will Not Be Pinkwashed: Komen's Race Is For Money, Not Cure

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Emily Michele - Feb. 05 (News Analysis) - I don’t know about you, but I would never expect directors of a charitable “non-profit” organization to make more than most doctors, lawyers, or even politicians. Their CEO and president, Hala G. Moddelmog, made $531,924, plus $26,683 in change. That's more than President Obama makes.

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Op-Ed Columnist: Things Are Not O.K.

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - Feb. 05 (Opinion) - The unemployment report was genuinely good, but there’s a downside: the calls to stop focusing on job creation.

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WATCH: Newt Gingrich's Moon Colony On 'SNL'

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - Feb. 05 (Comedy News) - video

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One Town's War on Gay Teens

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Sabrina Rubin Erdely - Feb. 04 (News Report) - Sam's death lit the fuse of a suicide epidemic that would take the lives of nine local students in under two years, a rate so high that child psychologist Dan Reidenberg, executive director of the Minnesota-based Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, declared the Anoka-Hennepin school district the site of a "suicide cluster," adding that the crisis might hold an element of contagion; suicidal thoughts had become catchy, like a lethal virus.

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