Obama promotes diversity for universities

This was the right thing to do. We're not going to grow as a country unless we embrace the diversity that already exists.

The Obama administration on Friday urged colleges and universities to get creative in improving racial diversity at their campuses, throwing out a Bush-era interpretation of recent Supreme Court rulings that limited affirmative action in admissions

The new guidelines issued by the Departments of Justice and Education replaced a 2008 document that essentially warned colleges and universities against considering race at all. Instead, the guidelines focus on the wiggle room in the court decisions involving the University of Michigan, suggesting that institutions use other criteria — students’ socioeconomic profiles, residential instability, the hardships they have overcome — that are often proxies for race. Schools could even grant preferences to students from certain schools selected for, among other things, their racial composition, the new document says.

Read the rest of this post...

Occupy Congress - 17 January 2012

If we want the Occupy movement to keep moving forward, this needs to be a good showing. Congress and the White House remain hopelessly out of touch with the reality of how angry people are about the bailouts and the lack of true change. We need the system to be reformed and that needs to happen in Washington. Be there if you can. Read the rest of this post...

Newt's rise to riches through public service

To be fair to Gingrich, he's hardly the only politician to go from a "normal" lifestyle to being a multi-millionaire via public service. Bill Clinton's rise to riches puts Newt's numbers to shame as does Tony Blair in the UK. Heck, Chelsea Clinton graduated from Stanford and walked into a six figure job which isn't that much different from Mary Cheney getting paid millions to write a book that nobody wanted. (Maybe they are both deserving, but clearly links to a public servant also played a role for both.) The political class sees no issue with using public service to enrich themselves.

In Gingrich's case, he went from owning up to $50,000 to a net worth of over $7 million. If nothing else, it certainly contributes to entrenching a political class. Is it right or wrong or even fair?

But as a former Speaker still considered a leading intellectual of the right, Gingrich proceeded to build an empire as a paid public thinker. The Washington Post reported last week that Gingrich’s web of enterprises ranging from a health care think tank to a documentary production company “generated close to $100 million in revenue over the past decade.”

The financial disclosure form Gingrich filed this summer as a presidential candidate reflects that prosperity.

The former Congressman now lists assets worth a minimum of $7.3 million — which does not include homes or other non-income-producing property — and millions more in income. His dividends from Gingrich Productions for the year before becoming a presidential candidate were just shy of $2.5 million, and his family-run talent agency paid him another $72,000. He reports no liabilities.

Read the rest of this post...

Herman Cain suspends campaign, he says in order to prevent reporters from hurting his family

Cain just announced he is 'suspending' his campaign [BBC].

It is a rather sad commentary on the GOP race that having absolutely no relevant knowledge, experience or capability is no bar to being the front-runner in their nomination race.

More from NYT:

An unapologetic and defiant Herman Cain suspended his presidential campaign on Saturday, pledging that he “would not go away,” even as he abandoned hope of winning the Republican nomination. Instead, Mr. Cain announced what he called a “Plan B,” continued advocacy of his tax and foreign policy plans.

“As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,” Mr. Cain said. “Because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters. Not because I’m not a fighter.”

NOTE FROM JOHN: Yes, because the reason Cain's family was being hurt about multiple allegations of sexual harassment, and one allegation of adultery, was because reporters were reporting on it.  So the only way to stop the allegations was to stop reporters?  Are we sure there isn't another way to stop from being accused of serial sexual harassment, and adultery?

Not to mention: Thin skin isn't well suited for the presidency.  I think Cain's dropping poll numbers in Iowa were the problem here, not concern for his family. Read the rest of this post...

Panetta to Israel: 'get to the damn table'

On this matter, Panetta is 100% right. The US needs to stop sending mixed messages and force this issue because with each year, it just gets harder and more complicated. Al Jazeera:

"We understand the concerns of Israel, we understand the concerns of the Palestinians.

"If they sit at a table and work through those concerns and the United States can be of assistance in that process, then I think you have the beginning of what could be a process that could lead to a peace agreement.

"But if they aren’t there, if they aren’t at the table, this will never happen. So first and foremost get to the damn table."

Read the rest of this post...

NOAA: Arctic worse than in 2005

It's not surprising, but it's also to be expected. When you have one of the two parties that can't accept science and climate change, how can you combat the problem? More melting may be the new normal for the Arctic.

The report, written by 121 scientists from around the world, said statistics point to a shift in the Arctic health in 2006. That was right before 2007, when a mix of weather conditions and changing climate led to a record loss of sea ice, from which the region has never recovered. This summer's sea ice melt was the second worst on record, a tad behind 2007.

"We've got a new normal," said co-author Don Perovich, a geophysicist at the Army Corps of Engineers Cold Research and Engineering Lab. "Whether it's a tipping point and we'll never recover, who's to say?"

Read the rest of this post...

GMAC strikes back at Massachusetts for prosecutions, suspends state-wide mortgage lending

Go after the banks (GMAC is a bank; new name "Ally" — yeah, right), and the banks go after you. This is why we can't have nice things — like Rule of Law.

Think Progress:

This week, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced that she will be suing five major banks for financial crimes that include wrongful foreclosure, in a major victory for the 99 Percent.

Today, one of those financial institutions announced that it would be retaliating against the state of Massachusetts for this lawsuit. GMAC now plans to end most of its lending in the state of Massachusetts, claiming that lending in the state is now “no longer viable“[.]

The writer, Zaid Jilani, then points us to this WSJ article, where the story apparently broke:

GMAC Mortgage, the mortgage lender of Ally Financial Inc., is exiting the vast majority of its lending in Massachusetts a day after the state sued it and other lenders over its allegedly improper foreclosure practices, a decision the state's attorney general called an admission.

The nation's fifth-largest mortgage originator said it "has taken this action because recent developments have led mortgage lending in Massachusetts to no longer be viable."

You'll need a subscription to read the whole thing, but the lead paragraphs are free, and that's all you need to know.

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism as a nice analysis:

This move by GMAC, now Ally, is remarkably brazen. GMAC has effectively said that Massachusetts must hew to its demands of how to deal with foreclosures. It announced it is withdrawing from mortgage lending in the state in an effort to bring it to heel.

GMAC may be in a better position to exercise this sort of threat than other banks. Full service banks have broader business lines, so government bodies in the state could retaliate by moving other business (pension funds, cash management, payment services) from them.

This is very similar to the retaliation described in Gretchen Morgenson and Josh Rosner’s Reckless Endangerment, when Georgia had the temerity to try to pass tough lending laws[.]

Her headline:

GMAC Mugs Massachusetts

Let's see if this sticks. It's serious retaliation.

If you want to see what kinds of fraud are involved, try here or here (the underlying crime, not the sudden and cliché-ridden death).

ACTION OPPORTUNITY — Are you a GMAC customer? Care to move your loan? Care to tell them why?

The effect of your action could be similar to the effect of people moving money from Bank of America over the recent debit card fees. If other banks don't follow, GMAC is holding the bag. If they do follow, the gates are open for more retaliation.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Leadbelly - House of the Rising Sun

After a few "surprise sun" days we're stuck with a soggy Saturday and probably Sunday as well over here. This time last year, the coldest month I experienced in Paris rolled in and instead of the normal winter rain, it was snow. Since Paris doesn't usually receive much snow it was chaotic. After cycling over a sheet of ice and nearly crashing into a cement wall, I took a break until January, when the normal winter rain returned.

Just weeks to go until Christmas. Jojo brought home a few tree clippings last night so I guess that sorts out our tree. Now to find the shoe box downstairs that has the complete set of Christmas decorations. I couldn't find it last year as it's in the back of the storage cellar. Is everyone sorted for Christmas or still working on it? Read the rest of this post...

Euro architect points finger at early troubles with euro accounting

Ya don't say? I distinctly remember hearing lots of stories before the official euro launch of countries fudging the numbers and getting creative to fit into the official zone of acceptability. As an outsider looking in, both the EU and the eurozone always felt rushed and a move of desperation by the aging political class who saw this as their crowning accomplishment. Leaders should have used more cold, hard facts rather than emotion, but of course, most of those leaders are now gone and out of the political system.

One of those leaders, Jacques Delors is now pointing out what everyone already knew but did nothing about. The Independent:

Mr Delors, head of the commission from 1985 to 1995 and known for his clashes with Margaret Thatcher, admitted that when "Anglo-Saxons" warned that a single central bank and currency without a single state would be inherently unstable "they had a point".

"The finance ministers did not want to see anything disagreeable which they would be forced to deal with," he said.

Mr Delors insisted that all European countries had to share the blame for excessive borrowing by countries such as Italy and Greece that have brought the system to the brink of disaster.

Read the rest of this post...