February 29, 2012

Windbag Trump vows to fight wind farms in the UK

from the Independent UK:


Fresh from a dispute with environmentalists over his golf resort on the Aberdeenshire coast, the billionaire Donald Trump has revealed plans to hand £10m to anti-wind farm campaigners.

The American property tycoon has become vociferous in his opposition to wind farms since plans were revealed for 11 turbines to be built off the coast from his £750 million complex of holiday homes, hotels and golf courses.

In a letter to the first minister Alex Salmond, Mr Trump blasted the "horrendous machines", and claimed he could win a "very large lawsuit" if he were to challenge their construction. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/donald-trump-promises-10m-to-fight-wind-farm-construction-in-britain-7441315.html

February 29, 2012

Ireland to hold referendum on euro pact

from the Independent UK:



Irish voters will have their say on the European Union fiscal treaty after the Dublin authorities reluctantly announced a referendum yesterday.

The Irish coalition government had hoped to avoid a vote, but advice from its Attorney-General said that one should be held. Ministers will now be campaigning strongly for an endorsement of the treaty and crossing their fingers that things go to plan, acutely aware that previous referendums have produced results which the authorities did not hope for or expect. Voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty in 2008 before passing it at the second time of asking a year later.

A distinct strain of anti-European sentiment is obvious in the Irish Republic where the bailout from the EU and other institutions has produced resentment about the strict austerity measures which accompanied it.

A signing ceremony for the fiscal compact is expected to go ahead on Friday at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels despite yesterday's Irish announcement. Some 25 countries will sign up – all the EU nations except Britain and the Czech Republic. David Cameron, who vetoed an EU-wide treaty in December, will arrive late for the session so that he will not witness the ceremony. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ireland-to-hold-referendum-on-euro-pact-7462641.html

February 29, 2012

Robert Reich: The Ongoing Housing Crisis and the End of an Era

No Longer Home Sweet Home: The Ongoing Housing Crisis and the End of an Era
Tuesday, February 28, 2012


Economic cheerleaders on Wall Street and in the White House are taking heart. The US has had three straight months of faster job growth. The number of Americans each week filing new claims for unemployment benefits is down by more than 50,000 since early January. Corporate profits are healthy. The S&P 500 on Friday closed at a post-financial crisis high.

Has the American recovery finally entered the sweet virtuous cycle in which more spending generates more jobs, more jobs make consumers more confident, and the confidence creates more spending?

On the surface it would appear so.

American consumers in recent months have let loose their pent-up demand for cars and appliances. Businesses have been replacing low inventories and worn equipment. The richest 10 per cent, owners of approximately 90 per cent of the nation’s financial capital, have felt freer to splurge. Consumer confidence is at a one-year high, according to data released on Friday. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://robertreich.org/post/18439504925

February 29, 2012

Michigan primary so far, per the Detroit Free Press

Santorum , Rick GOP 1,434 41%
Romney , Mitt GOP 1,285 37%
Paul , Ron GOP 437 12%
Gingrich , Newt GOP 242 7%
Uncommitted GOP 66 2%
Huntsman , Jon GOP 13 0%
Bachmann , Michele GOP 12 0%
Karger , Fred GOP 7 0%
Roemer , Buddy GOP 7 0%
Perry , Rick GOP 6 0%
Cain , Herman GOP 3 0%
Johnson , Gary GOP 2 0


http://www.freep.com/

February 29, 2012

18th Century Foxx files to run again

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., filed Wednesday to seek a fifth term representing the 5th Congressional District.

Candidates also filed for N.C. House District 72, the 8th Congressional District, the governor's race and a District 21 judgeship.

Foxx, 68, who filed in Boone at the Watauga County Board of Elections, said she wants to "solve problems without expanding government and creating more debt that burdens future generations."

"We need to put the federal government on a diet and return to the limited federal government our founders envisioned," she said. Foxx was one of only 38 Republicans who scored a 100 percent approval rating from the American Conservative Union, the Foxx campaign said. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2012/feb/23/wsmet01-foxx-files-for-fifth-term-ar-1961962/

February 28, 2012

Bobby Valentine disses Jeter, Yankees

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Bobby Valentine has only been wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform for about two weeks and he’s already taking a few jabs at the archrival New York Yankees.

Many thought that the outspoken manager’s arrival in Boston could add even more spice to one of the most heated rivalries in professional sports, and it hasn’t taken long for that to hold true.

In one fell swoop on Tuesday, Valentine said Derek Jeter didn’t need to make the flip-to-home relay that stands as one of the most celebrated plays in Yankees lore and fondly recalled when retired Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek “beat up Alex” Rodriguez in 2004.

The Red Sox were working on relay throws at spring training on Tuesday and Valentine was asked about one of the most famous relay plays in all of baseball in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS between the Yankees and Athletics. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/that-didnt-take-long-new-red-sox-manager-valentine-already-tweaking-rival-yankees/2012/02/28/gIQA2xzWgR_story.html

February 28, 2012

Scott Walker is in trouble

from Mother Jones:


New poll numbers are out for Wisconsin's gubernatorial recall rumble. They're not pretty for Gov. Scott Walker.

Overall, Wisconsinites are split on whether to Walker, 49 percent to 49 percent. In a hypothetical general election, Walker trails Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett 49 percent to 46 percent, and lags behind former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk 48 percent to 47 percent, according to a new survey by the left-leaning Public Policy Polling. The last time PPP surveyed Wisconsinites, Walker led Falk by 8 percentage points and Barrett by two.

PPP's margin of error is 3.3 percent, which means these match-ups are essentially dead even right now. But PPP president Dean Debham said the numbers are encouraging news for Wisconsin Democrats in their push to oust Walker. "These are the most encouraging numbers we've found for Democrats in Wisconsin related to the Walker recall since last August," Debnam said in a statement. "Walker's numbers had been seeing some recovery, but now it appears they've turned back in the wrong direction. The big question now is whether Democrats can find a candidate to take advantage of Walker’s vulnerability."

Even among lesser-known Wisconsin Democrats, including some who've given no indication that they would challenge Walker, the match-ups are close. US Congressman Ron Kind leads Walker 46-45 is the other Democrat who leads Walker, 46-45. Secretary of State Doug LaFollette, former US Congressman David Obey, and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout all trail by just one or two percentage points. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/scott-walker-democrats-tom-barrett-kathleen-falk

February 28, 2012

JP Morgan Chase: Customers with less than $100,000 are useless

(Bloomberg) JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the largest U.S. bank by assets, said about 70 percent of customers with less than $100,000 in deposits and investments will be unprofitable following regulations that cap lenders’ fees.

“I’m trying to give you a proxy for what the banking industry has to look forward to if you don’t take into account business bank clients and getting more of the affluent wealth wallet,” Todd Maclin, chief executive officer of consumer and business banking at the New York-based company, said today at an investor presentation.

JPMorgan and the other biggest U.S. banks are grappling with lost revenue from regulations such as those that cap debit interchange fees and overdraft charges, making customers with low deposits more expensive for lenders to manage. JPMorgan, run by CEO Jamie Dimon, sees its greatest opportunity with affluent customers that have more banking relationships with the company, Maclin said.

“Lost revenue has to be replaced with higher share of wallet and customer penetration,” Maclin said. “You have to get your costs and where you spend your time, to the fullest extent possible, more in line with where the opportunity is.” .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-28/jpmorgan-views-clients-with-less-than-100-000-to-invest-as-unprofitable.html

February 28, 2012

Anyone's a Terrorist: Fear-mongering machine takes over US

Presidential authorisation for the military to detain terror suspects without charge or trial has left Americans wary. Washington says it's beefing up national security as part of the war on terror. But critics say fear-mongering is dividing, not uniting the nation. RT's Marina Portnaya reports.

February 28, 2012

Hershey chocolate, not so sweet?

Published on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 by Common Dreams
The Dreadful Candy Caper: Hershey's Outrageous Labor Violations

by David Macaray


What happened recently at the Hershey candy factory, in Palmyra, Pennsylvania, has to be considered one of the weirdest and most outrageous labor stories of the new year.

First the outrageous part. According to a story in the New York Times (February 21), Exel, the logistics company hired by Hershey to oversee its Palmyra operation, was found guilty by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) of intentionally failing to report 42 serious injuries in the plant over a period of four years. Those 42 accidents constituted 43-percent of all such injuries that occurred during that period.

The majority of those injuries were related to the lifting and rehandling of large crates (some weighing 60 pounds) of Reese’s cups, Kit-Kat bars, and Hershey’s Kisses. The Labor Department issued fines in the amount of $280,000, and David Michaels, the Assistant Secretary of Labor in charge of OSHA, was quoted as saying, “Exel understood exactly what the law was on reporting. They were aware of these other injuries, and they just did not record them.” So that $283,000 penalty (inordinately high for OSHA violations) wasn’t levied for the usual reasons—improper record-keeping or unsafe working conditions—but for the much more serious crime of willful deceit.

Of course, Hershey wiped its hands clean of the whole affair, claiming they had no knowledge of how Exel ran the operation. This “veil of ignorance” nonsense is reminiscent of American sportswear and sports equipment companies claiming not to know that their products—the ones being sold for top dollar on American shelves—are being manufactured in Central American sweatshops where near slave-labor conditions exist, and where union activists are regularly threatened, beaten and, on occasion, murdered. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/28