Truthout: October 5, 2011

Greg Palast | Uber-Vultures: The Billionaires Who Would Pick Our President
http://www.truth-out.org/uber-vultures-billionaires-who-would-pick-our-president/1317769580
Greg Palast, Truthout: "Hedge fund magnate Paul Singer likes to breakfast on decayed carcasses. What he chews down is sickening, but just as nausea-inducing are his new tablemates: billionaires Ken Langone and the Koch Brothers, Charles and David. Singer has called together the billionaire boys' club for the purpose of picking our next president for us. The old-fashioned way of choosing presidents - democracy and counting ballots and all that - has never been a favorite of this pack."

Jim Hightower | Something Big Is Happening: Occupy Together
http://www.truth-out.org/something-big-happening-occupy-together/1317837367
Jim Hightower, Truthout: "To paraphrase one of Bob Dylan's songs of youthful protest, 'Something's happening here, and you don't know what it is, do you Ms. Bellafante?' A New York Times writer, Ginia Bellafante, is but one of many establishment reporters and pundits who've been covering the fledgling 'Occupy Wall Street' movement - but completely missing the story. Instead of really digging into what's 'happening here,' they've resorted to fuddy-duddy mockery of an important populist protest that has sprouted right in Wall Street's own neighborhood."

CIA: Zubaydah's Torture Drawings, "Should They Exist," to Remain Top Secret
http://www.truth-out.org/cia-says-zubaydahs-torture-drawings-remain-top-secret/1317822688
Jason Leopold, Truthout: "In 2002, not long after he was subjected to so-called 'enhanced interrogation techniques' by Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, psychologists under contract to the CIA, high-value detainee Abu Zubaydah made about ten drawings depicting the torture he endured while in custody of the agency. One of the drawings Zubaydah had sketched captured in incredible detail the waterboarding sessions he underwent."

The Lessons of Law and Order: What Canadians Can Learn From Failed US Crime Policy
http://www.truth-out.org/lessons-law-and-order-what-canadians-can-learn-failed-us-crime-policy/1317736775
Susan Searls Giroux, Truthout: "The muscular law-and-order shift in mainstream political rhetoric in both Ontario and Canada, and its deepening popular appeal, strike an uncanny cord with ex-pat Americans like me, who came of age in the post-civil rights era and witnessed the galvanization - and polarization - of the US electorate by successive waves of counter-revolutionary change that rolled back many of the hard-won advances of that turbulent time."

The Laura Flanders Show Live From Occupy Wall Street Labor March (Video)
http://www.truth-out.org/laura-flanders-show-live-occupy-wall-st-labor-march/1317827471
GRITtv, The Uptake, Free Speech TV and the Media Consortium: "Occupy Wall Street is in its third week, but even though the local media teams have been doing extraordinary work, the money media are still covering the protest as if it were a wildlife park. If the networks won't bring the protesters into the studio, we're going to bring a broadcast 'studio' to the protesters. Yup, it's another collaboration from GRITtv, The Uptake, Free Speech TV and the Media Consortium. TODAY, from 4-7 pm eastern, we will produce a three-hour special show featuring coverage of the Occupy Wall Street Labor March on satellite in all 50 states on Free Speech TV and online."

Study: A Fifth of War Veterans Have Mental Health Issues
http://www.truth-out.org/study-fifth-war-veterans-have-mental-health-issues/1317819901
David Goldstein, McClatchy Newspapers: "Nearly 20 percent of the more than 2 million troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from mental health conditions, according to a new report. They amount to more than half of the 712,000 veterans from both wars who have sought medical treatment since leaving military service. Nearly a third of those veterans may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the signature injuries of the conflicts."

Waste and Fraud Problems? Cut the Investigators and It Will Disappear!
http://www.truth-out.org/waste-and-fraud-problems-cut-investigators-and-it-will-disappear/1317744533
Dina Rasor, Truthout: "So, you have a 90-year-old federal agency that returns $87 for every dollar invested, recommended $50 billion in savings every year, writes over 1,000 reports to Congress every year and had 80 percent of its recommendations over the past five years instituted (at least on paper), all on a budget of half a billion dollars a year - peanuts compared to other government spending. You would think that this agency would get a big atta boy thanks and increased spending from the Congress to hire more staff and find more fraud and waste during these tight budget times."

On the News With Thom Hartmann: Occupy Wall Street Movement Continues to Grow, and More
http://www.truth-out.org/news-thom-hartmann-occupy-wall-street-movement-continues-grow/1317834529
In today's On the News segment: Members from several prominent labor unions are expected to take to the streets in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, International Monetary Fund report shows that low level of wealth inequality is greatest factor for prolonged economic growth in a nation, Bruce Bartlett drills a hole in the Republicans' "regulatory uncertainty" argument, and more.

Welcome to the Revolution: Life @ Occupy Wall Street's Liberty Park
http://www.truth-out.org/welcome-revolution-life-occupy-wall-streets-liberty-park/1317825971
David DeGraw, AmpedStatus: "I've spent countless hours at Liberty Park talking with people of all political persuasions, from all walks of life, from all over this country, no, check that, from all over the world. The second you walk into the occupation, you can't help but get knocked around like a volleyball. At every turn, there is an amazingly in depth debate on deep political, philosophical, economic and cultural issues."

The "Eco-al-Qaeda"? September 11 Ushered in War on "Eco-Terrorism" and Civil Liberties
http://www.truth-out.org/eco-al-qaeda-september-11-ushered-war-eco-terrorism-and-civil-liberties/1316183720
Will Potter, Truthout: "On September 12, 2001, as emergency crews searched for survivors, Rep. Greg Walden warned Congress that 'eco-terrorists' posed a threat 'no less heinous than what we saw occur yesterday here in Washington and in New York.' He was not alone: Rep. Don Young publicly speculated that the attack might have actually been the work of environmentalists. A month later, The Washington Times called for war against the 'eco-al-Qaeda.'"

Van Jones on America's Uprising: It's Going to Be an Epic Battle
http://www.truth-out.org/van-jones-americas-uprising-its-going-be-epic-battle/1317822661
Adele M. Stan and Don Hazen, AlterNet: "As the grassroots sit-ins and marches that originated as Occupy Wall Street spread to other cities, Van Jones, lead evangelist for the American Dream movement, took the stage Monday at a Washington, DC hotel where organizers of the institutional element of the progressive movement converged at Take Back the American Dream."

Fox News and Wall Street Banks Hustle to Kill New Whistleblower Protections
http://www.truth-out.org/fox-news-and-wall-street-banks-hustle-kill-new-whistleblower-protections/1317822181
Lee Fang, ThinkProgress: "A few years go, a media firestorm erupted over the urban 'Stop Snitchin' campaign promoted by gangs and a few hip hop icons. Stop Snitchin refers to the effort to intimidate informants to prevent them from cooperating with police about gang violence or drug trafficking schemes. Rapper Cam'ron received heavy scrutiny for endorsing the trend during an interview on the issue for CBS's 60 Minutes."

This Modern World: A Sound of Blunder
http://www.truth-out.org/sound-blunder/1317819761
Award-winning cartoonist Tom Tomorrow shows Republicans on a time-traveling mission to find lower gas prices.

Secret Documents Show Foreclosure Watchdog Doesn't Bark or Bite
http://www.truth-out.org/secret-docs-show-foreclosure-watchdog-doesnt-bark-or-bite/1317753392
Paul Kiel, ProPublica: "Why has the administration's flagship foreclosure prevention program been so ineffective in helping struggling homeowners get loan modifications and stay in their homes? One reason: The government's supervision of the program has apparently ranged from nonexistent to weak. Documents obtained by ProPublica - government audit reports of GMAC, the country's fifth-largest mortgage servicer - provide the first detailed look at the program's oversight."

TRUTHOUT'S BUZZFLASH DAILY HEADLINES

With the price of milk rising so high that many low-income New Yorkers can't afford it anymore, (http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/oct/03/high-price-milk-out-reach-low-income-new-yorkers/), it's hardly comforting to know that - as BuzzFlash at Truthout detailed yesterday (http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13051) - the priority of the multibillionaire mayor of New York is "helping the banks."

In a rambling radio interview last week that reeked of royal aristocracy, Bloomberg asked workers to ask not what they can do for themselves, but what they can do for their companies. BuzzFlash is not making this up: (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/09/mayor_bloomberg_28.php)

"And people in this day and age need support for their employers. If the banks don't go out and make loans we will not come out of our economic problems, we will not have jobs so anything we can do that's responsible to help the banks do that is what we need."

Except the banks aren't making a lot of loans, and there is little demand anyway because there are fewer dollars around for Americans to spend. The banks are still gambling with our money; giving no interest for savings accounts; investing overseas; and handing out big, fat bonuses for their financiers who bet against the US economy.

You could call Bloomberg delusional, except that he knowingly represents the lopsided economy that works for making people like him enormously rich at the expense of the other 99 percent of Americans.

Large corporations, in general (including banks), aren't generally creating new jobs; they have been laying off workers, getting cheaper labor overseas and increasing profits by also cutting back on benefits and wages.

Take for instance the latest drumbeat of corporations to be allowed a "tax-holiday" that would allow them to return offshore profits to the US without being taxed. They claim that this will create more employment in the US.

But Reuters recounts what happened the last time Congress listened to this siren song of greed: (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/04/usa-tax-holiday-idUSN1E7921A620111004)

"Ten major U.S. corporations, including big banks Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp, laid off workers after enjoying a tax holiday in 2004-2005 that had been billed as a form of economic stimulus, said a report released on Tuesday....

Fifty-eight corporations that accounted for 70 percent of overseas profits repatriated under the 2004-2005 tax break collectively saved $64 billion in taxes, then cut 600,000 jobs through layoffs, the report said."

Bloomberg, like the Kochs, repackages greed to make it sound like he is helping the 99 percent of Americans who are getting the economic shaft. He may do it with a suave appearance of "moderate" New York style.

But it's a greed that is ruining the nation, even if Bloomberg occasionally rides the subway to appear as if he is "a man of the people."

Mark Karlin
Editor, BuzzFlash at Truthout

High Price Puts Milk Out of Reach for Low-Income New Yorkers
Read the Article at WNYC
http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/oct/03/high-price-milk-out-reach-low-income-new-yorkers/

Elizabeth Warren: "Wall Street Broke This Country"
Read the Article at Politico
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65186.html

Bloomberg, Fourth-Richest Person in US Due to Wall Street, Is About to Snap the Mouse Trap Shut on Those Who Threaten His Fortune
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13051

Reid Considers Surtax on Millionaires
Read the Article at Politico
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65176.html

Republicans Shed the Truth That Is Necessary to Our Democracy
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13052

Tennessee School Principal Bullies Gay Student for Wearing Gay-Straight Alliance Shirt
Read the Article at the ACLU
http://www.aclu.org/free-speech-lgbt-rights/tennessee-high-school-student-principal-assaulted-me-wearing-t-shirt

The Moral Clarity of Occupying Wall Street
Read the Article at BuzzFlash
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13050

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