Wikileaks: IMF austerity caused Balkan wars

The GOP's favorite economic policy has been trashing economies for years. Balkan Insight:

In the document from 2009, titled Europe Analytical Guidance, Stratfor alerts its analysts to watch out for any possible riots occurring due to economic crises, since the current situation in Balkans is complex and multifaceted. “Do not forget, the IMF austerity measures imposed on Yugoslavia were in part to blame for the start of the war there. We need to be aware of any economically motivated social discontent,” document states. Analysts should pay attention to any possible protest and union activity since, according to Stratfor, the protests by Albanian unions inflamed further conflicts. “Remember, it was the strikes by the Albanian miners in Kosovo back in the 1980s that in a way moved the region towards conflagration,” states the document.

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Breaking: Rush Limbaugh "apologizes" to Sandra Fluke for "insulting word choices"

It looks like the Limbaugh dam has broken. Someone bent him for a change.

Reuters:

Rush Limbaugh apologizes to law student for "insulting" comments

Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, facing heavy criticism for branding a law student a "sl-t" over her remarks on President Barack Obama's new policy on contraception, apologized on Saturday....

"My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir," Limbaugh said in a written statement. "I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices."

I doubt he did it because he wanted to, but maybe I'm wrong.

GP Read the rest of this post...

IL court knocks down law banning filming of police

It's hard to believe such a bad law was even passed in the first place. The concern with this court decision is that it wasn't declared unconstitutional because filming the police should be the right of any citizen, but because the law was too far reaching. Why is it OK for police to film protesters but not the other way around? Filming should be allowed for any citizen. As the government likes to say, what are they afraid of? ars technica:

In Cook County today Judge Stanley J. Sacks declared Illinois' eavesdropping law—which is one of the toughest in the nation—unconstitutional in his ruling in the case of Christopher Drew, who was charged with the felony crime in 2009. The eavesdropping law prohibits citizens from making audio or visual recordings of others without every recorded person's explicit consent. Sixty-year-old artist Drew audio-recorded his interaction with a police officer who was arresting him for selling art patches at the side of the road. A police officer found the tape recorder and Drew found himself with a Class 1 felony charge, which carries up to 15 years in prison. “That's one step below attempted murder,” Drew said in a January interview with the New York Times.

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BP reaches $7.8 billion settlement for Deepwater spill

This is not the end of their legal problems nor is it the end of their payouts. Also, this settlement does not address the issue of liability. Bloomberg:

BP Plc (BP/) said it reached a $7.8 billion settlement with businesses and individuals over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, removing one of three major litigation fronts facing the company over the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history. BP said yesterday in a statement that the settlement will be paid out of a $20 billion trust set up to compensate spill victims. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said in a separate statement that settlement will resolve most private claims for economic loss, property damage and medical injuries. Plaintiffs lawyers said there wasn’t a cap on the total damages BP has to pay. “This settlement will provide a full measure of compensation to hundreds of thousands,” Stephen J. Herman and James P. Roy, the plaintiffs’ co-liaison counsel, said in their statement. “It does the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.”

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More on Roy Blunt—Did Missouri Catholics have to pay for a snip job?

A nice catch by Marcy Wheeler, who has a bee in her bonnet on the "Blunt-Rubio senators" — those who voted Yes to an amendment that would give employers "conscience rights" over your health care. (More about so-called "conscience" below.)

First she examined how many of the 48 Yes-on-Conscience senators have themselves used birth control, often while Catholic, or drawing state insurance money, or both.

Now she looks at Missouri's own Roy Blunt, the amendment's co-author (with the sometimes ever-Catholic Mario Rubio).

Wheeler (my paragraphing):

Blunt was born on January 10, 1950. He married Roseann Ray in 1967 (she appears to have been, like him, 17 at the time). Matt, their oldest child, was born in November 1970, the year Blunt graduated from college (though he would immediately get a Masters, perhaps because of the draft). They had a second child, Amy, around 1973. Andrew, their youngest, was born in 1976. Blunt and Roseann were married another 26 years or so after Andrew was born, but never had another child.

In 1972, Blunt had already started public service, working as Greene County Clerk. In 1984, Blunt won election as MO’s secretary of state. From 1993 to 1996, Blunt served as President of Southwest Baptist University–his only significant non-government job. In 1997, as he was turning 37, he started serving in Congress, until last year when he moved to the Senate.

Thus, for almost his entire life, Blunt worked for taxpayers, whether for Greene County, the state of MO, or the federal government. For the majority of Blunt’s career, taxpayers have paid for his healthcare. And since his now ex-wife Roseann doesn’t get benefits from the foundation she works at, it is likely he provided healthcare for both of them.

If that’s right, then for all but 4 years of his professional life, taxpayers of some sort have paid for his healthcare, including–if it was paid for by insurance–whatever means he and his wife of 35 years used to stop having children after Andrew was born.

And while Greene County, in the Ozarks, is Bible-belt Protestant, at the state level, almost 20% of the population of MO is Catholic. An even higher percentage is Catholic at the national level. For 60% of his working life, roughly 20% of the people paying his salary and benefits–his “employer” if you will–were Catholic.

Which brings us to snipping Roy Blunt.

You'll just have to click to see what follows that sentence.

Remember the cover story for the bottom line of the Blunt-Rubio Amendment — It's bad for the state to force people of faith to pay for any medical care that violates what they imagine their conscience dictates. This includes birth control, of course — but also blood transfusions (h/t commenter Ninong), plus whatever else offends the goofy conscience of the goofiest of god's "Christians."

Which brings us to "so-called conscience." "Christianity" is not the only religion in this country. The religion of business, especially big business, is worship of the great God Money (blessings upon his name). And one of Money's commandments is, If it cost, I lost.

If I'm a responsible and dutiful worshiper of Money, and I ran one of these companies, I could grow an awful lot of curious conscience objections. I could object to smokers, say, getting lung cancer treatment (high cost item, that) since it offends my conscience to "reward a loser lifestyle" (Money talks that way, especially after drinking).

See where this is headed? I knew that you would. Money buys a lot of CEO conscience.

Blunt-Rubio was defeated 51-48. 48 is a lot of Senate consciences. Two more wobbly Dems and your CEO's conscience would have had its ultrasound probe up your health care insurance options for a long time to come.

Ms. Wheeler is considering a little Action Campaign. We like action here at Casa Chez Nous. If she pulls the trigger on that, consider helping her out (but only if your conscience says Yes).

GP Read the rest of this post...

UK police to be privatized

So far it's only being discussed in a few areas, but wow, what a bad idea. As it stands today, the police are a tool of the 1% but outsourcing to the corporate world won't make it better and will probably make it even worse. Think about how accountable the military contractors have been in Iraq and then imagine that in your home town. Good luck getting anywhere with complaints, which are already difficult enough. The Guardian:

West Midlands and Surrey have invited bids from G4S and other major security companies on behalf of all forces across England and Wales to take over the delivery of a wide range of services previously carried out by the police. The contract is the largest on police privatisation so far, with a potential value of £1.5bn over seven years, rising to a possible £3.5bn depending on how many other forces get involved. This scale dwarfs the recent £200m contract between Lincolnshire police and G4S, under which half the force's civilian staff are to join the private security company, which will also build and run a police station for the first time.

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Elvis Costello - Alison

I'm counting the days until I head over to Austin for SXSW. Houston has been hot in recent days, as in the 80's hot. I hardly get that kind of weather back home in the summer let alone February or March. The upside of warm weather is that it's more comfortable to cook on the grill outside in the evening. This temperature will be a cool day in the summer in another few months, so time to move on. Read the rest of this post...