Chamber of Commerce derivatives lobbyist to join GOP chairman's staff

How long before the GOP apologizes to Wall Street for regulation? Somehow this doesn't sound like the direction most Americans want. Outside of Congress and Wall Street, not many people are demanding an easier ride for the Wall Street gamblers who created the recession. Brace yourself for another step in the wrong direction.

Ryan McKee, a senior director focusing on derivatives regulation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has been appointed as a professional staffer at the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture under Frank Lucas (R., Okla.), the committee's incoming chairman.

The Chamber of Commerce is a business lobbying group. McKee was best known for defending corporations against harsh new financial regulations that could raise their costs of hedging.

McKee begins her new post in early January. Her role will be to liaise with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is working to implement the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law with respect to over-the-counter derivatives. The rules will become effective in the latter half of next year.

Read the rest of this post...

Julian Assange & Cenk Uygur — full interview

Yesterday Cenk Uygur interviewed WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange for 15 minutes on the Dylan Ratigan Show. It's a good interview; Cenk does well, with his assortment of questions, to bring out Assange's thoughts.



There is so much here. Please take the time, if you have it, to watch. The key questions:

• Are you a member of the press? (1:00) He's a journalist; has been for years. Other more timid journalists think they can keep themselves safe by "selling us out" and saying "we're not journalists." They won't be safe; "they're going to be next."

• What's your answer to the "high-tech terrorist" charge? (7:15) He talks about the definition of "terrorism" and contrasts what he does with calls for his assassination in high circles of the Republican party, and some parts of the Democratic party. He feels some of these critics are guilty of "incitement to commit murder" and should be charged. (11:00)

• Is Bradley Manning being mistreated? (11:20) Assange doesn't know if Manning is the source; their technology is set up to protect source identities. But if the allegations are true, Manning "acted for political reasons" and is therefore "a political prisoner, without trial, in the United States." Assange feels this should be investigated.

(For more on Manning's confinement, see here and here. For Glenn Greenwald's comments, see here. For a Bradley Manning–WikiLeaks timeline, see here. For an analysis of inconsistencies in the story accusing Bradley Manning, see here.)

Assange also feels that the goal of Manning's treatment is to wring a confession implicating Assange in a "conspiracy to commit espionage." While his organization doesn't contact sources directly, other journalists do contact sources. He implies that this is a slippery slope that endangers all investigative journalism.

Note that by most accounts, the goal of torture isn't to produce the truth, but a false confession. Here's M. Gregg Bloche, law professor at Georgetown University and a Brookings Institution fellow, and Jonathan Marks, a barrister in London and bioethics fellow at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins, writing in the New York Times in 2005 (my emphasis):

How did American interrogation tactics after 9/11 come to include abuse rising to the level of torture? Much has been said about the illegality of these tactics, but the strategic error that led to their adoption has been overlooked.

The Pentagon effectively signed off on a strategy that mimics Red Army methods. But those tactics were not only inhumane, they were ineffective. For Communist interrogators, truth was beside the point: their aim was to force compliance to the point of false confession.

Again, this is a widely held opinion, and one that comports with even the lowest level of common sense (for example, adolescent stories about Nazis and Commies). Much to consider.

Whither us? I've said for a while that this period, from the mid-term election to the end of the Lame Duck, seems a turning point, a major one — and not just in reality, but in perception, in the way people see their world. Rightly or wrongly, this has me very concerned.

GP Read the rest of this post...

GOP proposes two year pause with EPA regulations

They suggested the same the day before with financial regulation. For the Republicans, it's all about turning back the clock. It all worked out so well in the past in their little minds. The flat-earthers who run the Republican party can never get their heads around the fact that the pollution from corporate America does have a cost for everyone else. What outrageous step backwards will the knuckle-draggers think of next?

"I think we ought to start with a two-year pause" in upcoming U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, said Representative Mike Simpson, the Republican who is expected to head a House panel that controls EPA's budget.

One year ago, environmentalists were hopeful of winning comprehensive legislation in Congress to force reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

That effort crashed, however, prompting the White House to go ahead with a back-up plan: EPA rules forcing electric utilities, refineries and large factories to get permits for the carbon dioxide they emit. They also would be required to use the most advanced "clean" technology when expanding or building new facilities.

Read the rest of this post...

For those traveling with kids in the car

Who doesn't have memories of fights with brothers and sisters in the back seat of the car? Read the rest of this post...

CIA names new task force to investigate WikiLeaks impact

Wait for it...wait for it...WTF.

The CIA has launched a taskforce to assess the impact of 250,000 leaked US diplomatic cables. Its name? WikiLeaks Task Force, or WTF for short.

The group will scour the released documents to survey damage caused by the disclosures. One of the most embarrassing revelations was that the US state department had drawn up a list of information it would like on key UN figures – it later emerged the CIA had asked for the information.

Read the rest of this post...

Report: Bank of America registering domain names of board members

Surely others can be more creative than the bankers. The possibilities are limitless.

According to Domain Name Wire, the US bank has been aggressively registering domain names including its board of Directors' and senior executives' names followed by "sucks" and "blows".

For example, the company registered a number of domains for CEO Brian Moynihan: BrianMoynihanBlows.com, BrianMoynihanSucks.com, BrianTMoynihanBlows.com, and BrianTMoynihanSucks.com.

The wire report counted hundreds of such domain name registrations on 17 December alone. They were acquired through an intermediary that frequently registers domain names on behalf of large companies, says the report.

Read the rest of this post...

Bank of America accused of wrongly foreclosing on property, again

There's definitely some history already that suggests there is a problem at Bank of America. Turn the tables for a moment and imagine how any bank would react if they were only the other side of events like this. You would be lucky to walk away with the shirt on your back after their legal team finished. Fortunately for the banks, they own Washington so there's no shortage of friends in the right places to help ease through their sloppiness. Funny how the law only applies to others and not the banks. NY Times:

When Mimi Ash arrived at her mountain chalet here for a weekend ski trip, she discovered that someone had broken into the home and changed the locks.

When she finally got into the house, it was empty. All of her possessions were gone: furniture, her son’s ski medals, winter clothes and family photos. Also missing was a wooden box, its top inscribed with the words “Together Forever,” that contained the ashes of her late husband, Robert.

The culprit, Ms. Ash soon learned, was not a burglar but her bank. According to a federal lawsuit filed in October by Ms. Ash, Bank of America had wrongfully foreclosed on her house and thrown out her belongings, without alerting Ms. Ash beforehand.

Read the rest of this post...

Thursday morning open thread

Two days to Christmas, and I still have shopping to do. Ugh. And it seems I somehow forget I had three of my nieces and nephews. Oops. And considering this afternoon is going to be spent making the traditional Christmas cookies, it looks like I have some lovely Christmas eve shopping heading my way (always a thrill). In good news, Sasha and Kukla (above, l and r) are getting along swimmingly, chasing each other through the house much of the day.

Any unique gift ideas anyone's come up with for this year? I have one, but won't tell until Xmas day as mom and at least one sis read the blog. Read the rest of this post...

More complaints about London police and violence

While the media always likes to capture photos and video of the most violent protesters, it often misses the other side. During the G20 events in London, the Metropolitan Police had a number of incidents including the death of Ian Tomlinson. The police have been using a method called "kettling" where protesters are pushed into a small area and held by police lines for extended periods of time. Inside the link (The Guardian really needs to work on allowing video to be embedded) you can watch as the London police push protesters into a "kettle" and squeezing them uncomfortably into a small space. Protesters have complained that the police kick them in the shins if they don't move and they refuse to let anyone leave the area. They also are shown using horses to push the crowd.

And let's not forget about another ugly incident from the recent student protests when the police allegedly drag a student protester from his wheelchair (video in the link) If the same thing was going on in Iran or somewhere similar, people would be furious and talking about police state brutality. The London police are repeatedly telling the world that protests of any kind will not be tolerated. Ug-ly.

The chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority's civil liberties panel has condemned video footage appearing to show protesters being crushed by police attempting to contain them in a "kettle" during student anti-fees demonstrations in London two weeks ago as "appalling" and "ghastly".

Victoria Borwick, who is also a Conservative member of the Greater London Authority, encouraged protesters to make official complaints against the Met and said other police forces were making a better job of public order policing.

"Other forces do this much better," she told the Guardian. "They are very clear with protesters and tell them beforehand what they will do… I hope people make proper complaints to the police about this."

Read the rest of this post...

UN to investigate Bradley Manning claims of mistreatment

Surely treatment like this only happens "over there" and not in America, right?

The United Nations is investigating a complaint on behalf of Bradley Manning that he is being mistreated while held since May in US Marine Corps custody pending trial. The army private is charged with the unauthorised use and disclosure of classified information, material related to the WikiLeaks, and faces a court martial sometime in 2011.

The office of Manfred Nowak, special rapporteur on torture based in Geneva, received the complaint from a Manning supporter; his office confirmed that it was being looked into. Manning's supporters say that he is in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day; this could be construed as a form of torture. This month visitors reported that his mental and physical health was deteriorating.

The Pentagon denies the former intelligence analyst is mistreated, saying he is treated the same as other prisoners at Quantico, Virginia, is able to exercise, and has access to newspapers and visitors.

Read the rest of this post...