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Bill USA
Bill USA's Journal
Bill USA's Journal
December 16, 2013
[font size="3"]The Associated Press (AP) reported that congressional testimony from CIA officers and contractors who were in Libya the night of the September 11 Benghazi attacks once again revealed that no "stand down" orders were ever given, and that a faster response still could not have saved American lives.[/font]
Conservative media have repeatedly pushed the myth that security forces in Libya the night of the attack were ordered to "stand down" rather than rush to the aid of their colleagues in the diplomatic compound. Fox News went so far as to suggest this was a political decision to "sacrifice Americans" by the Obama administration, and pushed the false narrative in at least 85 primetime segments. [font color="red"]CBS' botched Benghazi report with Lara Logan and discredited "witness" Dylan Davies also pushed the myth, claiming "a quick reaction force from the CIA Annex ignored orders to wait and raced to the compound." [/font]
The CIA has repeatedly denied that any stand-down orders had ever been given, and reinforcements actually arrived from Tripoli in time for the second attack on the CIA facility.
On December 14, an AP report explained how the "stand down" hoax developed, destroying the false conservative narrative. According to Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) who heads the House intelligence subcommittee which interviewed the CIA officers, the myth of a "stand down" order derived from the CIA decision to try to "first gather intelligence and round up Libyan militia allies armed with heavy weapons" before rushing into the violent scene, a decision some security contractors initially disagreed with.
(more)
CIA Testimony Destroys Benghazi "Stand Down" Hoax - the continued Big Lie of Conservativepaths
... is being chanted with unflagging enthusiasm. In typical "do-it-yourself" make up your own story style, GOP media trolls show no interest in the actual facts of the event.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/12/15/cia-testimony-destroys-benghazi-stand-down-hoax/197276
my emphasis in[font color="red"] red[/font]
[font size="3"]The Associated Press (AP) reported that congressional testimony from CIA officers and contractors who were in Libya the night of the September 11 Benghazi attacks once again revealed that no "stand down" orders were ever given, and that a faster response still could not have saved American lives.[/font]
Conservative media have repeatedly pushed the myth that security forces in Libya the night of the attack were ordered to "stand down" rather than rush to the aid of their colleagues in the diplomatic compound. Fox News went so far as to suggest this was a political decision to "sacrifice Americans" by the Obama administration, and pushed the false narrative in at least 85 primetime segments. [font color="red"]CBS' botched Benghazi report with Lara Logan and discredited "witness" Dylan Davies also pushed the myth, claiming "a quick reaction force from the CIA Annex ignored orders to wait and raced to the compound." [/font]
The CIA has repeatedly denied that any stand-down orders had ever been given, and reinforcements actually arrived from Tripoli in time for the second attack on the CIA facility.
On December 14, an AP report explained how the "stand down" hoax developed, destroying the false conservative narrative. According to Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) who heads the House intelligence subcommittee which interviewed the CIA officers, the myth of a "stand down" order derived from the CIA decision to try to "first gather intelligence and round up Libyan militia allies armed with heavy weapons" before rushing into the violent scene, a decision some security contractors initially disagreed with.
(more)
December 16, 2013
Fresh from the government’s sale of the last of its holdings in General Motors GM (+3.5%), the company announced today it will invest nearly $1.3 billion in five plants across the Midwest, creating or retaining about 1,000 jobs.
“GM is committed to a strong American manufacturing base and creating jobs in dozens of communities throughout the country. Today’s announced plant upgrades continue the momentum of a resurgent auto industry,” GM Executive Vice President and North America President Mark Reuss said in a press release.
According to the company, the plants – in Detroit, Flint, and Romulus, Mich., Toledo, Ohio and Bedford, Ind.– will produce new fuel-efficient engines and transmissions, enhance vehicle quality and streamline logistics.
The company is in the midst of a leadership transition. CEO Dan Akerson, who led the company back from a 2009 government-led bankruptcy, is retiring. His successor, 51-year-old Mary Barra is set to take the reins on January 15. She’ll inherit a company in far better shape than the one Akerson did, with 15 quarters of profitability, a refreshed product line and shares up 100% since the company’s November 2010 IPO led it back to the public markets.
(more)
General Motors Announces $1.3 Billion Investment In U.S. Manufacturing
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danbigman/2013/12/16/thanks-america-general-motors-announces-1-3-billion-investment-in-u-s-manufacturing/Fresh from the government’s sale of the last of its holdings in General Motors GM (+3.5%), the company announced today it will invest nearly $1.3 billion in five plants across the Midwest, creating or retaining about 1,000 jobs.
“GM is committed to a strong American manufacturing base and creating jobs in dozens of communities throughout the country. Today’s announced plant upgrades continue the momentum of a resurgent auto industry,” GM Executive Vice President and North America President Mark Reuss said in a press release.
According to the company, the plants – in Detroit, Flint, and Romulus, Mich., Toledo, Ohio and Bedford, Ind.– will produce new fuel-efficient engines and transmissions, enhance vehicle quality and streamline logistics.
The company is in the midst of a leadership transition. CEO Dan Akerson, who led the company back from a 2009 government-led bankruptcy, is retiring. His successor, 51-year-old Mary Barra is set to take the reins on January 15. She’ll inherit a company in far better shape than the one Akerson did, with 15 quarters of profitability, a refreshed product line and shares up 100% since the company’s November 2010 IPO led it back to the public markets.
(more)
December 16, 2013
Fox News' Megyn Kelly was roundly trashed this week for insisting that both Santa and Jesus are white. On Friday, Kelly defended herself at length, saying that she had fallen victim to a bunch of "race-baiting" Fox News haters who couldn't take a joke.
She said that her telling "kids" that Santa "just is white" was a "tongue-in-cheek" attempt at humor, though many regarded it as a bizarre effort to negate the fact that Santa is not, in fact, "just" white, but is often depicted as one of a variety of different races.
(more)
[font size="4"]Kelley as she appears on Fox "news"
Portrait of Kelley hanging in her attic.....\/
[/font]
Megyn Kelly Defends Her Santa Comments, says she's really isn't a racist, that she was just joking..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/14/megyn-kelly-defends-santa-comments_n_4443619.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopularFox News' Megyn Kelly was roundly trashed this week for insisting that both Santa and Jesus are white. On Friday, Kelly defended herself at length, saying that she had fallen victim to a bunch of "race-baiting" Fox News haters who couldn't take a joke.
She said that her telling "kids" that Santa "just is white" was a "tongue-in-cheek" attempt at humor, though many regarded it as a bizarre effort to negate the fact that Santa is not, in fact, "just" white, but is often depicted as one of a variety of different races.
(more)
[font size="4"]Kelley as she appears on Fox "news"
Portrait of Kelley hanging in her attic.....\/
[/font]
December 16, 2013
~~
~~
And then there was this scoop: The NSA stopped a "catastrophic" Chinese scheme, called the "BIOS plot," to "destroy every computer in the world."
"Think about the impact of that across the entire globe," NSA Director of the Information Assurance Directorate Debora A. Plunkett told CBS reporter John Miller. "It could literally take down the U.S. economy."
That was news to many security experts, who had never before heard of the "BIOS plot," even though "60 Minutes" asserted that "computer manufacturers" had worked with the NSA "to close this vulnerability." Such an undertaking would have been well known in the information-security community.
~~
~~
Security experts aren't buying it.
"There is probably some real event behind this, but it's hard to tell, because we don't have any details," wrote Robert Graham, CEO of Atlanta penetration-testing firm Errata Security, on his blog last night. "It's completely false in the message it is trying to convey. What comes out is gibberish, as any technical person can confirm."
(more)
'60 Minutes' BIOS Plot May Be NSA Invention
http://news.yahoo.com/60-minutes-bios-plot-may-214330769.html~~
~~
And then there was this scoop: The NSA stopped a "catastrophic" Chinese scheme, called the "BIOS plot," to "destroy every computer in the world."
"Think about the impact of that across the entire globe," NSA Director of the Information Assurance Directorate Debora A. Plunkett told CBS reporter John Miller. "It could literally take down the U.S. economy."
That was news to many security experts, who had never before heard of the "BIOS plot," even though "60 Minutes" asserted that "computer manufacturers" had worked with the NSA "to close this vulnerability." Such an undertaking would have been well known in the information-security community.
~~
~~
Security experts aren't buying it.
"There is probably some real event behind this, but it's hard to tell, because we don't have any details," wrote Robert Graham, CEO of Atlanta penetration-testing firm Errata Security, on his blog last night. "It's completely false in the message it is trying to convey. What comes out is gibberish, as any technical person can confirm."
(more)
December 16, 2013
HOUSTON — Wealth has never had a stigma in the affluent suburbs of Fort Worth, where the town of Westlake landed, to no one’s surprise, on Forbes’ list of America’s most affluent neighborhoods last year with a median income of $250,000.
But in recent days, the implications of being rich have set off an emotional, angry debate that has stretched far beyond the North Texas suburbs, after [font size="+1"]a juvenile court judge sentenced a 16-year-old from a well-off family to 10 years’ probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving crash. [/font]
The judge, Jean Boyd, on Tuesday declined to give the teenager, Ethan Couch, the punishment sought by Tarrant County prosecutors — 20 years in prison — and instead ordered him to be placed in a long-term treatment facility while on probation. Judge Boyd did not discuss her reasoning for her order, but it came after a psychologist called by the defense argued that Mr. Couch should not be sent to prison because he suffered from “affluenza” — a term that dates at least to the 1980s to describe the psychological problems that can afflict children of privilege.
Prosecutors said they had never heard of a case where the defense tried to blame a young man’s conduct on the parents’ wealth. And the use of the term and the judge’s sentence have outraged the families of those Mr. Couch killed and injured, as well as victim rights advocates who questioned whether a teenager from a low-income family would have received as lenient a penalty.
(more)
teen given probation for killing 4 on "affluenza" defense - why not, Wall Street Bankers enjoyed the
.. previlege. They destroyed the livelihoods of millions, nearly brought down the World economy and they didn't suffer any legal consequences. This boy is obviously destined to be a wall street banker ... or to occupy some other station in the plutocracy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/14/us/teenagers-sentence-in-fatal-drunken-driving-case-stirs-affluenza-debate.html?_r=0
HOUSTON — Wealth has never had a stigma in the affluent suburbs of Fort Worth, where the town of Westlake landed, to no one’s surprise, on Forbes’ list of America’s most affluent neighborhoods last year with a median income of $250,000.
But in recent days, the implications of being rich have set off an emotional, angry debate that has stretched far beyond the North Texas suburbs, after [font size="+1"]a juvenile court judge sentenced a 16-year-old from a well-off family to 10 years’ probation for killing four people in a drunken-driving crash. [/font]
The judge, Jean Boyd, on Tuesday declined to give the teenager, Ethan Couch, the punishment sought by Tarrant County prosecutors — 20 years in prison — and instead ordered him to be placed in a long-term treatment facility while on probation. Judge Boyd did not discuss her reasoning for her order, but it came after a psychologist called by the defense argued that Mr. Couch should not be sent to prison because he suffered from “affluenza” — a term that dates at least to the 1980s to describe the psychological problems that can afflict children of privilege.
Prosecutors said they had never heard of a case where the defense tried to blame a young man’s conduct on the parents’ wealth. And the use of the term and the judge’s sentence have outraged the families of those Mr. Couch killed and injured, as well as victim rights advocates who questioned whether a teenager from a low-income family would have received as lenient a penalty.
(more)
December 16, 2013
GOP Willing To Hold Debt Limit Hostage Again. Its Obama's fault of course 4 not showing 'leadership'
... I know this because M$M GOP toadies told me.
... Then when the economy shows weaker signs of growth, as it has over the last few years thanks to Repugnants threatening Government shutdowns and a U. S. Default on public debt - it shows that "Obama's economic policies haven't worked" (duly noted, parroted, by Corporate M$M).
Yeah, blame the Obama fire dept cause the nation burned down (from the fire the Republicans started -Trickle Down - Deregulation disaster) while the Repugnants fought off the Democrats keeping them from hooking up hoses to the fireplugs (GOP filibustered & killed almost every stimulus proposal by the Dems).
Who needs al Kaida, when you've got the ravenous GOP to deliver assaults on the U.S.A.
Paul Ryan Indicates GOP Willing To Hold Debt Limit Hostage Again
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014673805
December 11, 2013
But Democrats see the bill as nothing more than a cynical messaging ploy.
Matt Dennis, a spokesman for Appropriations Democrats, said it wouldn’t boost funding “by one dime.”
“Rather than increasing the amount that can be appropriated to NIH, it merely creates an unnecessary and unfunded authorization — a solution completely irrelevant to the problem,” Dennis said. “It is a cynical attempt by the majority to obscure their shameful record on medical research funding.”
The NIH has been squeezed by billions of dollars since Republicans took over the House, Democrats note, and the caps under the sequester for the Labor-HHS-Education budget would not be changed by the bill.
(more)
even if the funds were approved - a big "IF" given GOP's implacable opposition to funding social programs at the expense of obscenely low tax rates for hedge fund gambler managers - it would "add about four-tenths of 1 percent to the roughly $3.6 billion the NIH spent on pediatric research last year"
Latest GOP obscenity: the cynical "Gabriella Miller Kids 1st Research Act" doesn't appropriate $1
for pediatric research. As written it would "end $12.5 million in funding for party nominating conventions and authorize the money for pediatric research grants instead." Note that "authorizing" funds does NOT appropriate any money. Democrats say it's to divert attention from the GOP's execrable record on cutting funding to the National Institutes of Health.
http://blogs.rollcall.com/218/the-surprise-bill-that-has-democrats-and-republicans-at-each-others-throats/
(emphases my own)
But Democrats see the bill as nothing more than a cynical messaging ploy.
Matt Dennis, a spokesman for Appropriations Democrats, said it wouldn’t boost funding “by one dime.”
“Rather than increasing the amount that can be appropriated to NIH, it merely creates an unnecessary and unfunded authorization — a solution completely irrelevant to the problem,” Dennis said. “It is a cynical attempt by the majority to obscure their shameful record on medical research funding.”
The NIH has been squeezed by billions of dollars since Republicans took over the House, Democrats note, and the caps under the sequester for the Labor-HHS-Education budget would not be changed by the bill.
(more)
even if the funds were approved - a big "IF" given GOP's implacable opposition to funding social programs at the expense of obscenely low tax rates for hedge fund gambler managers - it would "add about four-tenths of 1 percent to the roughly $3.6 billion the NIH spent on pediatric research last year"
December 11, 2013
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Thursday denounced proposals in Congress to limit funding for financial reform, saying such efforts would effectively gut the legislation.
"After failing in efforts to block or roll back reforms, some in Congress would now simply starve the regulatory agencies of funding so they lack the resources to do their job," Lew said in a speech at Pew Charitable Trusts. "Failing to fund supervision and enforcement of the new rules amounts to virtual deregulation. "
~~
~~
Congress has not increased funding for regulatory agencies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission since financial reform was passed three years ago. Instead of passing annual budgets, lawmakers have approved continuing resolutions that maintain spending levels across the government, but have the option of boosting spending for specific purposes.
~~
~~
Lew said that if Congress cannot provide "adequate funding," it should consider shifting these regulatory agencies "out of the current budget process" and ensure they're "self-funded" through industry fees, much like banking regulatory agencies.
(MORE)
Treasury Secretary Lew attacks reduced funding for financial reform - "de facto Deregulation"
.. the GOP hates and fears Jack Lew. He is not afraid to go toe to toe with them. He is credited with seeing that the Volcker rule actually was put into a form that all the affected agencies could agree to it and lobbied for its passage.. This is what it takes to get stuff passed. you have to get in the 'mud the blood and the beer' and keep pressing for it.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/12/05/lew-financial-reform/3879251/
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Thursday denounced proposals in Congress to limit funding for financial reform, saying such efforts would effectively gut the legislation.
"After failing in efforts to block or roll back reforms, some in Congress would now simply starve the regulatory agencies of funding so they lack the resources to do their job," Lew said in a speech at Pew Charitable Trusts. "Failing to fund supervision and enforcement of the new rules amounts to virtual deregulation. "
~~
~~
Congress has not increased funding for regulatory agencies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission since financial reform was passed three years ago. Instead of passing annual budgets, lawmakers have approved continuing resolutions that maintain spending levels across the government, but have the option of boosting spending for specific purposes.
~~
~~
Lew said that if Congress cannot provide "adequate funding," it should consider shifting these regulatory agencies "out of the current budget process" and ensure they're "self-funded" through industry fees, much like banking regulatory agencies.
(MORE)
December 11, 2013
Here’s the world as many Republicans see it: Unemployment insurance, which generally pays eligible workers between 40 and 50 percent of their previous pay, reduces the incentive to search for a new job. As a result, the story goes, workers stay unemployed longer. In particular, it’s claimed that the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which lets workers collect benefits beyond the usual limit of 26 weeks, explains why there are four million long-term unemployed workers in America today, up from just one million in 2007.
Correspondingly, the G.O.P. answer to the problem of long-term unemployment is to increase the pain of the long-term unemployed: Cut off their benefits, and they’ll go out and find jobs. How, exactly, will they find jobs when there are three times as many job-seekers as job vacancies? Details, details.
Proponents of this story like to cite academic research — some of it from Democratic-leaning economists — that seemingly confirms the idea that unemployment insurance causes unemployment. They’re not equally fond of pointing out that this research is two or more decades old, has not stood the test of time, and is irrelevant in any case given our current economic situation.
The view of most labor economists now is that unemployment benefits have only a modest negative effect on job search — and in today’s economy have no negative effect at all on overall employment. On the contrary, unemployment benefits help create jobs, and cutting those benefits would depress the economy as a whole.
(more)
The Punishment Cure - Paul Krugman
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/09/opinion/krugman-the-punishment-cure.html?src=recgHere’s the world as many Republicans see it: Unemployment insurance, which generally pays eligible workers between 40 and 50 percent of their previous pay, reduces the incentive to search for a new job. As a result, the story goes, workers stay unemployed longer. In particular, it’s claimed that the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which lets workers collect benefits beyond the usual limit of 26 weeks, explains why there are four million long-term unemployed workers in America today, up from just one million in 2007.
Correspondingly, the G.O.P. answer to the problem of long-term unemployment is to increase the pain of the long-term unemployed: Cut off their benefits, and they’ll go out and find jobs. How, exactly, will they find jobs when there are three times as many job-seekers as job vacancies? Details, details.
Proponents of this story like to cite academic research — some of it from Democratic-leaning economists — that seemingly confirms the idea that unemployment insurance causes unemployment. They’re not equally fond of pointing out that this research is two or more decades old, has not stood the test of time, and is irrelevant in any case given our current economic situation.
The view of most labor economists now is that unemployment benefits have only a modest negative effect on job search — and in today’s economy have no negative effect at all on overall employment. On the contrary, unemployment benefits help create jobs, and cutting those benefits would depress the economy as a whole.
(more)
December 10, 2013
Royal DSM, together with DONG Energy (Denmark), has demonstrated the combined fermentation of C6 and C5 sugars from wheat straw on an industrial scale. The combined fermentation results in a 40% increase in ethanol yield per ton of straw, which can result in significant cost cuts in the production of bio-ethanol from cellulosic feedstock.
The demonstration took place in DONG Energy’s Inbicon demonstration plant in Kalundborg (Denmark), the longest running demonstration facility for cellulosic bio-ethanol production in the world. (Earlier post.) The facility was reconstructed in 2013 in order to be able to conduct mixed fermentation of C6 and C5 sugars. In a two-month fermentation test mixed C6 and C5 fermentation using DSM’s advanced yeast was found to yield 40% more ethanol per ton of straw than traditional C6 fermentation.
~~
~~
The joint work by DONG Energy and DSM is co-funded by the KACELLE project. In November 2009, DONG Energy and DSM together with four other partners (Statoil, University of Minho, University of Copenhagen, DBFZ) signed the Kalundborg Cellulosic Ethanol Project (KACELLE), devoted to demonstrating and further optimizing the Kalundborg cellulosic bio-ethanol plant, under the EU 7th Framework Programme.
The aim of the 4-year KACELLE project—which received €9.1 million in EU funding—was to bring the patented Inbicon Core Technology from a pre-commercial level to a near-commercial level, making the technology available in the market and attractive to investors. The project will demonstrate 4 t/hr continuous operation at industrial scale and further develop selected process steps resulting in significant cost cuts in ethanol production.
Denmark firms show cellulosic bio-ethanol fermentation on industrial scale with 40% higher yield
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/12/20131209-dsm.htmlRoyal DSM, together with DONG Energy (Denmark), has demonstrated the combined fermentation of C6 and C5 sugars from wheat straw on an industrial scale. The combined fermentation results in a 40% increase in ethanol yield per ton of straw, which can result in significant cost cuts in the production of bio-ethanol from cellulosic feedstock.
The demonstration took place in DONG Energy’s Inbicon demonstration plant in Kalundborg (Denmark), the longest running demonstration facility for cellulosic bio-ethanol production in the world. (Earlier post.) The facility was reconstructed in 2013 in order to be able to conduct mixed fermentation of C6 and C5 sugars. In a two-month fermentation test mixed C6 and C5 fermentation using DSM’s advanced yeast was found to yield 40% more ethanol per ton of straw than traditional C6 fermentation.
~~
~~
The joint work by DONG Energy and DSM is co-funded by the KACELLE project. In November 2009, DONG Energy and DSM together with four other partners (Statoil, University of Minho, University of Copenhagen, DBFZ) signed the Kalundborg Cellulosic Ethanol Project (KACELLE), devoted to demonstrating and further optimizing the Kalundborg cellulosic bio-ethanol plant, under the EU 7th Framework Programme.
The aim of the 4-year KACELLE project—which received €9.1 million in EU funding—was to bring the patented Inbicon Core Technology from a pre-commercial level to a near-commercial level, making the technology available in the market and attractive to investors. The project will demonstrate 4 t/hr continuous operation at industrial scale and further develop selected process steps resulting in significant cost cuts in ethanol production.
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