THE HEADLINES

DISASTER IN A TIME OF AUSTERITY: SANDY VICTIMS THROWN TO THE (LOAN) SHARKS.

Victims of the superstorm devastation that struck New York and New Jersey are caught in bureaucratic red tape and the disposition of FEMA to administer any “relief” for victims through banks and other lending agencies with loan-shark level interest rates. With many homes already “under-water” in being unsalable because the mortgages owed on them exceed their market value, there is no way that houses, recently literally under water, can be used to provide collateral for low-interest loans. And it doesn’t have to be this way: there’s a model in the action of North Dakota in 1997 of using its public bank to provide relief to the victims of a flood in that state. As it is, FEMA in effect only supports the re-building of “infrastructure” and leaves individual victims to tread for themselves the water of the disaster from which they still suffer.

(Alternet)

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INDIA HAS MADE A “DEVIL’S BARGAIN” WITH ISRAEL.

So says human rights activist Paul Larudee, recently deported from India after making a speech about Israel’s treatment of its Palestinian population. He describes India as having evolved to something very close to a police state, which cracks down on dissident views: views, that is, that are dissonant with the arms supplied to India by Israel and with the “common” enemy of Muslims in Palestine and in Pakistan. As such, India has moved very far indeed from the human rights agenda of Gandhi and other early leaders.

(Counterpunch)

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WITH NO RISE IN THE DEBT CEILING IN THE “GRAND BARGAIN” THAT AVOIDED THE FISCAL CLIFF, WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN BILLS COME TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS?

The government may be faced with drastic alternatives such as whether to pay income tax returns, the full amount of social security payments to seniors or make debt payments to Chinese creditors. With the likely result of the last option in putting the country into bankruptcy, those expecting tax refunds or their usual social security checks may be in for a little surprise.

(McClatchy)

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WHEN IS 16 THE “AGE OF CONSENT” FOR CONSENSUAL SEX—AND WHEN ISN’T IT?

Oklahoma has a law establishing that age except in the case of a “school employee”; and a teacher faces a statutory rape charge for such alleged activity. His lawyer argues that the law is unconstitutional and if not, the law should be revised to make the exemption apply only to cases in which a student was in a teacher’s class or in some other situation of the “employee” having direct power over her/him, which was not the situation in this case.

(The Oklahoman)

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WHAT IS THE “HUMANE” WAY TO KILL A BURMESE PYTHON?

This question is mulled as the Florida Wildlife Commission is set to sponsor a month-long Python Challenge designed to rid the Everglades of the species. So far 500 hunters from 24 states have signed up for the “challenge.” While the FWC includes decapitation as an acceptable mode of killing, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) takes issue with that, arguing that a gunshot death would be more humane. Others wonder if their is ANY humane way to kill them.

(Palm Beach Post)

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Quote of the day…