WASHINGTON CONSENSUS FOR UNWAVERING SUPPORT OF ISRAEL IS SAID TO BE DRIVING U.S. POLICY THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST.
(Counterpunch)
Kathleen Christison, former CIA analyst, says this isn’t just a matter of agreement of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House; it is a consensus as well which goes across the ideological divide between conservatives and liberals. This bi-partisan, bi-ideological consensus accounts for U.S. hostility toward Iran, its support for corrupt dictatorships like that of Mubarak’s Egypt and its support for Israel’s efforts to “defend itself” by offensive maneuvers in Lebanon and Gaza.
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OBAMA’S BUDGET MAY BE HELPFUL FOR “WINNING THE FUTURE” BUT IS SHORT ON REMEDIES FOR ECONOMIC WOES IN THE “HERE AND NOW.”
(Mother Jones)
Cutting many life-support federal programs such as assistance to the poor in paying their fuel bills, while investing in long-range development projects like expansion of the internet and of technical education, provides little consolation for the economically-distressed who look at the budget and ask how it can help them survive today. Columnist David Corn describes this as a “political” budget, providing just enough economic improvement over the next two years to better that of the last two years and help assure Obama’s re-election.
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WHAT IS THE VALUE OF A HUMAN LIFE?
(New York Times)
Some might say “priceless” but this question is at the center of a raging debate between business operators and those U.S. regulatory agencies charged with protecting human lives from damage from their operations. The Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Adminstration, among others, have recently recalibrated these per capita costs of such dysfunctions as air pollution and food contamination in an upward direction, putting a value of several million dollars on each human life, to the consternation of industry representatives who say they are being required to make safety adjustments that are economically unstainable for their operations.
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WITH A BLACK PHARAOH IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND A ROYAL FAMILY TO ADMIRE, MOST BLACK AMERICANS DON’T WORRY ABOUT PEACE, JOBS OR JUSTICE
(Black Agenda Report)
So argues Black Agenda Report writer Bruce Dixon, noticing how blacks’ infatuation with Barack Obama facilitates the continuation and deepening of the profound racial discrimination by which they are victimized in America.
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NOT A GREAT TIME TO BE A STATE WORKER IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA.
(Florida Capital News)
Governor Scott has told state employees not to expect a “free ride” in looming budget cuts and he plans to make their employment ride very rocky indeed. Already suffering from 7 years without a pay raise, they are being threatened with new plans to have them contribute 5% of their salaries to a pension fund previously provided by the state, possible massive layoffs and a scaling-back of what the state will provide in the way of their health care benefits.
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Quote of the day…
While it is certainly possible there will be negative blowback, it is still not at all clear whether someone like Governor Walker has overreached with this plan or whether or not the same majority that elected him as well as both houses of the legislature will be happy and have him elected again.
Charles Franklin, political scientist at University of Wisconsin, on public support for draconian measures against state workers in Wisconsin similar to that carried on in other states.
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