June 2013

 6-1-13
http://www.norwaypost.no/index.php/component/content/article/78-local-shortnews/28587-record-temperatures-in-the-north

*Karasjok is two hours north of the Arctic Circle

Record temperatures in the North

 
It looks like the legislative phase of the shale-oil boom in Caliofrnia and Illinois is about finished. Depending on the will and resources of environmental groups, it remains to be seen what can be done in courts to slow the boom until the risks are properly assessed and, if the risks are proved to be substantial, to stop the process. 
 

 
We were struck by the beauty and balance of William Tweed's prose about his rail trip through the San Joaquin Valley. Tweed lives  in Three Rivers, gateway to Sequoia National Park. According to Amazon.com,
 

 The nattering nabobs of National Security have been at Ed Snowden, who leaked the material about the NSA domestic spying ("all legal, all legal the nabors say) by insult and invective. They have called his behavior traitorous and treasonous and everything else bad that they can possibly imagine.
But the worst thing they have said about Ed Snowden is that he is a high school dropout. 
A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT?
May the Millennial Diety that still rules our scrambled official psyche strike him dead, over there in Hong Kong!!
A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT!!!

As usual, an excellent diagnosis of the problem from Thom Hartmann but the solution makes the dubious assumption that there are enough hens left in the house to mount a serious counter offensive against the foxes, who have been lording it about that they own the joint for decades now. A national legislative body that cannot past gun-control legislation after a massacre of first graders does fill one with confidence that it can extricate itself from the jaws of the "national security" corporate profit centers.
 
 

As a result of a lawsuit filed against the Bank of America, we are able to catch a glimse of the system in the banks (we assume B of A is not alone in this practice) that has denied loan modifications in favor of foreclusures to the clear detriment of the "owners", but also damaging the investors in mortgage backed securities. The banks, it would seem, are defrauding everybody for their own profits. -- blj
 
 6-14-13
ProPublica
Bank of America Lied to Homeowners and Rewarded Foreclosures, Former Employees Say

The Fresno Bee editors voiced strong opposition to a plan by Gov. Jerry Brown and local governments to weaken the state Pulbic Records Act, which insures the public's right of access to public documents in the control of local governments. The PRA is an important tool for journalists and members of the public with an interest in a project that may impact their environment or property values. 

 Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, is the majority whip of the House of Representatives. The majority whip’s primary responsibility is to count the votes for his party’s bills and compel party members to vote for those bills when party leadership decides it is time to bring them to the floor of the House.
Jeers and criticism of the Republican, House majority leadership’s failure to pass the Farm Bill last week focused on the Speaker, John Boehner, R-Ohio. But the name of the man who is responsible for counting and rallying the votes, McCarthy, wasn’t mentioned.