Hamas shows kinder, gentler side

Where do you even start with Hamas? Clearly the elections in Israel didn't make the peace process any easier and Israel didn't help the process with it's invasion of Gaza but Hamas is a long way from being serious about building a future for Palestinians. Complicating the matter is the inability of the US to have worthwhile involvement and Europe can never move beyond their historical anti-Israel (and anti Jewish) positions to play a constructive role.

The day after Israeli tanks entered Gaza last month, masked Palestinians opened fire on the al-Najar family outside their home, killing the father and wounding 10 others, including two teenage girls and a 78-year-old grandmother.

Ammar al-Najar, 25, a son of the victim, didn't know who the gunmen were but he said the family supports the Fatah movement and had trouble previously with Gaza's ruling Hamas group.

"My father ... tried to talk to them, but they didn't talk. They just started shooting," he said. The men wore no identifying symbols, he said.

International and Palestinian human rights organizations say there was a rash of shootings and beatings across Gaza during Israel's offensive, voicing suspicions the Islamic militants of Hamas used wartime chaos to target enemies, including activists from the rival Fatah.

Among examples reported by the rights groups, gunmen dragged a man from a hospital bed and another from his grandfather's house, then shot them dead. A third died in a hospital from beating and gunshot wounds after men who said they were from Gaza security forces pulled him from his home.

Two Gaza-based groups, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and the Independent Commission on Human Rights, interviewed survivors and witnesses who said some attacks were carried out by members of Hamas' internal security service.

Amnesty International went further, saying Hamas militiamen engaged in a "campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of 'collaborating' with Israel, as well as opponents and critics."

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FDIC takes over 4 more banks, 13 in 2009

But remember, everything is getting better. What the heck. Go spend your money and pretend as though everything is fine. Nothing has changed so it's perfectly safe to stay in the Pre-Credit Crisis mindset. This silly stimulus bill is nothing more than the Democrats conspiracy to grab everything and let the government take over. It has nothing to do with business failures and everything to do with Democrats being socialists and communists. That's what those bi-partisan Republicans tell me and I've always been able to trust their judgment. What we need more than ever is self regulation and tax cuts followed by another round of tax cuts and even less regulation.

Loup City, Neb.-based Sherman County Bank, Cape Coral, Fla.-based Riverside Bank of the Gulf Coast, Pittsfield, Ill.-based Corn Belt Bank and Trust Company, and Beaverton, Ore.-based Pinnacle Bank were closed by regulators Friday, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures for 2009 to 13 and 38 total since the start of the credit crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.

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The things you uncover while packing (part II)...

That's me and my friend Gregg Haifley, protesting outside Bill Clinton's White House in 1996, over the welfare bill. The Times identified us as members of NOW - we were actually working at the Children's Defense Fund. This reinforces the notion I've raised a number of times: Often, in advocacy, a lot of your effort has to go into making sure your friends do the right thing.

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GOP votes against biggest tax cut in American history

That is messaging. That is the message, at least one of the messages, that Democrats need to put out there now, and up until the next election. Every Republican member of Congress, save three, voted against the biggest tax cut in American history. And in Republican-think, you could even say that they voted to increase your taxes (increase them beyond what they'd be if the legislation were passed). It's what they'd do. It's what Karl Rove would do. It's time we started messaging to win. Read the rest of this post...

Happy Valentines Day

"Till the End," by Washington, DC-based singer-songwriter Tom Goss.

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German, French GDP numbers down in Q4

And the outlook is not looking good for 2009 either. Reuters:

Germany's economy suffered a record slide in the final quarter of last year and France shrank at the fastest pace in 34 years, suggesting grim forecasts for euro zone GDP, due later on Friday, could yet be too optimistic.

German gross domestic product shrank by a bigger-than-expected 2.1 percent quarter-on-quarter, its worst quarterly performance since reunification in 1990, preliminary data showed on Friday.

Economists polled by Reuters last week had forecast GDP would drop by 1.8 percent on the quarter.

French GDP fell 1.2 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Economists had predicted a drop of 1.1 percent after growth of just 0.1 percent in the third quarter.

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Obama's weekly address

The president left Washington this week to talk to real Americans. He needs to do a lot of that because people in this town just aren't reality based -- especially the GOP clowns on the Hill.

Here's an excerpt:

Now, some fear we won’t be able to effectively implement a plan of this size and scope, and I understand their skepticism. Washington hasn’t set a very good example in recent years. And with so much on the line, it’s time to begin doing things differently.

That’s why our goal must be to spend these precious dollars with unprecedented accountability, responsibility, and transparency. I’ve tasked my cabinet and staff to set up the kind of management, oversight, and disclosure that will help ensure that, and I will challenge state and local governments to do the same.

Once the plan is put into action, a new website – Recovery.gov – will allow any American to watch where the money goes and weigh in with comments and questions – and I encourage every American to do so. Ultimately, this is your money, and you deserve to know where it’s going and how it’s spent.

This historic step won’t be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but the beginning. The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread. Our response must be equal to the task.

Accountability, what a concept.

I know we've keep bringing this up, but it's actually quite dangerous that Republicans chose to put partisan politics ahead of the nation's severe economic crisis. What Obama showed this week by leaving D.C. was that people across the country know first-hand how bad things are.

There is no room for bipartisanship when the Republicans would rather let the economy collapse than cast a vote for Obama's bill. Because everyone knows that was the real issue. It wasn't about policy at all. It was pure politics. The Republicans, under the leadership of Rush Limbaugh, want Obama to fail -- even if that means our economy falls into a depression. That's sick -- and it's shows disdain for America. Pure disdain.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The poem of the week is "Design." It's a sonnet by Robert Frost about the design of nature.

KarenMrsLloydRichards provided more brilliant new Haikus this week. She has an ongoing series in the comments of the morning open threads, "Haiku for the Obama administration." #84 me laugh out loud:

Corporate bailouts
Swell like Octo-mom's tummy---
But . . . it's "not welfare!"

And, #75 was an homage to Joe the Plumber's new gig:

Joe the Strategist!
The GOP's all stopped up
Needs a plumber snake

And, yes, it's Valentines Day. The Washington Blade has a fun article on what it's like to be the love interest of one of the gay members of Congress:

It’s not easy being the valentine of a gay member of Congress.

Separated by great distances and long working hours, these patient partners sometimes find themselves hundreds of miles apart on special occasions and holidays. In rare instances, they’re subjected to different treatment than the spouses of straight lawmakers.

So, let's get started. Read the rest of this post...

NC Attorney General goes after BoA bonuses

It's good to see someone in addition to Cuomo is calling out this revolting practice. Make a profit - as a company - and pay whatever you want. Teeter on the edge and ask for billions, be lucky you have a job. Bank of America and the banking industry need to find their own money if else or live with the consequences. Again, tear them down.

Bank of America, which has received $45 billion of taxpayer money in the last four months, should not be paying out bonuses to its employees and must justify why it is doing so, the attorney general of North Carolina, the bank's home state, said.

"I am appalled that 2008 bonuses would be distributed, given the current circumstances," Attorney General Roy Cooper said in a Feb. 12 letter to the largest U.S. bank. "I expect an explanation from the board as to the appropriateness of any bonuses while public money is being provided to the bank."

Cooper is also investigating the timing and scope of 2008 bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch, which Bank of America bought on Jan 1. The Charlotte-based bank is due to pay bonuses on Sunday, Cooper said.

The bank is cooperating with the attorney general, bank spokesman Scott Silvestri said.

Big banks are under fire from investors, politicians and regulators over bonuses amid the multibillion-dollar bailout of the U.S. financial industry.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is also investigating the Merrill bonuses. In a letter to Rep. Barney Frank, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, Cuomo said Merrill gave at least $1 million to each of nearly 700 employees.

Silvestri said Bank of America is paying bonuses to associates based on the $4 billion it made in profit during 2008. Bonuses have been reduced by more than 60 percent, on average, from 2007, he said. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis and other top executives are receiving no bonuses, and the next rung of executives are seeing bonus payouts cut by 80 percent, Silvestri said.

So let me see here. BoA had a profit of $4 billion but took $45 billion in taxpayer money. I'm no CPA but there seems to be a gap in the numbers by a few billion. Amazing how easy it is to pay bonuses when you have a spare $41 billion in your account. If only the rest of America had as much. Read the rest of this post...

Glaxo changes policy towards poor

Many people in the developing world are suspicious when it comes to Big Pharma. In Africa you hear stories about alleged drug testing on unsuspecting people and in fact, Nigeria has filed lawsuits alleging such allegations. You hear plenty of rumors - some true, some bizarrely false - but nevertheless, any time Big Pharma moves, people around the world are cautious. It would be great for everyone if this new direction by GSK is honest and for real. The Guardian:

The world's second biggest pharmaceutical company is to radically shift its attitude to providing cheap drugs to millions of people in the developing world.

In a major change of strategy, the new head of GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty, has told the Guardian he will slash prices on all medicines in the poorest countries, give back profits to be spent on hospitals and clinics and – most ground-breaking of all – share knowledge about potential drugs that are currently protected by patents.

Witty says he believes drug companies have an obligation to help the poor get treatment. He challenges other pharmaceutical giants to follow his lead.

Pressure on the industry has been growing over the past decade, triggered by the Aids catastrophe.

Drug companies have been repeatedly criticised for failing to drop their prices for HIV drugs while millions died in Africa and Asia. Since then, campaigners have targeted them for defending the patents, which keep their prices high, while attempting to crush competition from generic manufacturers, who undercut them dramatically in countries where patents do not apply.

The reputation of the industry suffered a further damaging blow with the publication and film of John le Carré's book The Constant Gardener, which depicted drug companies as uncaring and corrupt.

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Zimbabwe opposition official arrested

That didn't take long. Robert Mugabe strikes again. Once a lying, cheating, corrupt despot, always a lying, cheating, corrupt despot.

A top official of the Zimbabwean prime minister's party who had expected to join the unity government was arrested Friday, the party said, in an early indication the country's new political partnership will be rocky.

The arrest of Roy Bennett, which party officials said was unexplained, was announced shortly before senior ministers in the coalition government were sworn in.

The inauguration ceremony was delayed in a last-minute dispute that, like Bennett's arrest, underlined the challenges of bringing the Movement for Democratic Change into government with a party that has beaten and detained opponents.

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Citi and JP Morgan suspend foreclosures

Controversial, but at this point it needs to happen. More houses on the market is the last thing anyone wants for many reasons.

Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on Friday announced they would temporarily suspend foreclosures, as Washington's debate continued about how to save an economy and moribund housing market. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass, that he would set up a three week moratorium on foreclosures. Frank pressed bankers to on Wednesday to voluntarily set up a moratorium on foreclosures until the Treasury department has put in place a plan to alter mortgages that will help troubled homeowners avoid defaulting on their loans. In a statement, Citigroup said it would suspend foreclosures until the Treasury plan is finalized.

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