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The Next Credit Crisis Will Involve Private Equity, Says Author Josh Kosman

2009-11-30T20:19:03Z

As the nation struggles to endure the financial crisis -- with rising foreclosures and increased unemployment threatening to prolong the devastation -- another meltdown looms around the corner.

The next credit crisis may be caused by private equity companies, which bought over 3,000 companies this decade by forcing them to take on enormous amounts of debt, argues financial reporter Josh Kosman, the author of "The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Will Cause the Next Great Credit Crisis."

Almost one in 10 nongovernment employees works for a company owned by a private equity firm, and many of them could find their jobs in jeopardy if their employers can't pay back the loans.

"Private equity firms bought thousands of companies this decade using the same cheap credit that fueled the subprime mortgage crisis and that debt is coming due in the next few years," Kosman tells HuffPost in an extended interview, citing Chrysler and Simmons Mattress as two recent examples.

Though private equity leaders like Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone insist that "the worst is behind the industry," six of the ten companies acquired by PE firms in the biggest buyouts of the last decade are already considered distressed by Moody's. Looking ahead, between 2011 and 2014, almost half a trillion dollars in leverage buyout debt will mature.

Those numbers are fiercely disputed by the industry trade group, the Private Equity Council, which says that half of the defaults described by Moody's are not traditional defaults, but rather opportunistic transactions to deleverage companies.

The potential dangers of private equity acquisitions are due to the risky methods they use, says Kosman:

"They're playing with other people's money -- putting 20% down, and company they buy is borrowing 80% -- in that sense, there's already little risk [for the private equity firm]. Apollo doubled its money in two years while driving Linens N' Things into bankruptcy. Most of the risk comes from other investors like state pension funds, some of which are really exposed to private equity investments - Oregon has 22% exposed, California is 14%."

The biggest leveraged buyout in history -- when PE firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG took control of power generator TXU (now called Energy Future Holdings Corp) in 2007 -- is close to the brink due partly to a collapse in natural gas prices. "Their cash flow is negative, they owe $30+ billion," says Kosman. "They won't go bankrupt in next year or two but there is no prayer of that company being able to pay that debt."

Kosman explains that PE firm execs often do well when their companies collapse because most of them earn enough from management fees they charge their investors and the companies to more than cover their losses. Typically, private equity managers rake in 'two and twenty' fees -- two percent of the total amount assets under their management, regardless of performance, and twenty percent of any profits their fund earns.

He also warns that PE firms are trying to profit from the current crisis by buying up distressed assets like banks, mortgage and corporate loans at deep discounts and the US government is seeking them out to help rescue failing banks.

And Kosman takes a tough looks at Bain Capital, the PE firm owned for 11 years by potential 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney. He claims that three companies -- Ampad, Dade Behring and GS Industries -- failed after being bought by Bain Capital. In the case of Dade, a lab testing equipment maker, Romney pushed for big cutbacks in the employee pension plan, which saved the company $40 million. The next month, he used that as a basis to borrow $420 million.

A company executive told Krosman that he confronted the CEO about the move, telling him "Well, that'd be like me going out and borrowing the amount of money I make in a year and then trying to pay it off and pay for my house and feed myself and everything else. That doesn't make sense." The CEO responded: "Companies do that all the time." Within two years, the company collapsed.

Kosman is skeptical about Romney's claims that he wasn't aware of some of these events: "That either indicates he doesn't know what's going on at a company which he [owned] 100% of, which is incompetent, or he's lying, which is worse."

In a call to arms at the end of his introduction, Kosman urges lawmakers to close tax loopholes exploited by PE firms: "I believe the record shows that PE firms hurt their businesses competitively, limit their growth, cut jobs without reinvesting the savings, do not even generate good returns for their investors, and are about to cause the Next Great Credit Crisis."

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HuffPost's Real Misery Index: Nearly One In Six Americans Are Jobless Or Underemployed

2009-11-09T19:22:37Z

The rise in unemployment continues to devastate Americans, according to the latest update of the Huffington Post Real Misery Index.

The index rose to 32.9 after peaking at 32.3 in August, largely due to the increase in the U6 unemployment rate, which tracks part-time workers looking for full-time employment and those who've given up looking for work. Almost one in six Americans are jobless or underemployed and the economy has lost 7.3 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The index would be even higher were it not for a few bright spots in the economy, such as no annual percent increase in food and beverage prices and a slight uptick in housing prices.

The states with the highest underemployment rates through the third quarter of this year were Michigan (20.9 percent), Oregon (20.1 percent), California (19.6 percent) and South Carolina (18.4 percent).

And the numbers threaten to go higher with some economists predicting a 13% unemployment rate -- a post-World War II high -- in the aftermath of the recession.

"This is going to be the mother of all jobless recoveries," David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates told Bloomberg Radio on Monday morning.

Another major factor in the index's increase was a rise in the number of households receiving food stamps, which soared 24% percent compared to the previous year. Recently, some major retailers, such as Costco, announced that they would start accepting food stamps due to increased demand.

"Certainly this economy was a wake-up call," Costco CFO Richard Galanti recently told investors. "It is not just very low-end economic strata that are using these (who) typically don't have purchasing power."

To formulate our index, which provides a better snapshot of the economy than the often-criticized misery index (inflation added to unemployment), we used a more accurate unemployment statistic (the U6 formulation), with the inflation rate for three essentials (food and beverages, gas, medical costs), and year-over-year percent changes in credit card delinquencies, housing prices, food stamp participation, and home equity loan deficiencies. We gave equal weight to the broad unemployment numbers and the combination of the other seven metrics (with housing prices having an inverse relationship to the index).

Overall, Afghanistan More Lethal For U.S. Soldiers Than Iraq (CHART)

2009-10-15T18:18:28Z

Research assistance by Grace Kiser

Scroll down for latest updates and charts

How dangerous is it to be a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan? Until last year, headlines were dominated by the horrific violence in Iraq with gruesome tales of IED explosions and sniper fire cutting down American troops. In comparison, Afghanistan's Operation Enduring Freedom seemed relatively quiet from 2002 to mid-2008.

But the truth is that Afghanistan has always been a dangerous place to serve, even before the recent surge in lethal attacks on American forces, as demonstrated by a Huffington Post analysis of the ratio of troop deaths in both wars. To calculate our ratio, we took the number of soldier fatalities in a month divided by the boots-on-the-ground troop levels for that month and multiplied by 100,000.

The following charts clearly demonstrate the stark reversal that has taken place in both countries over the last three years. In August 2009, a soldier in Afghanistan was more than 16 times as likely to get killed as a soldier in Iraq. So far this year, 242 soldiers have died in Afghanistan compared to 128 in Iraq though there are just over half as many troops on the ground in Afghanistan.

In fact, Afghanistan is overall the more lethal conflict for soldiers on the ground, according to the analysis of the ratio of troop deaths from 2002 to September 2009, with an average monthly ratio of more than 42 deaths per 100,000 troops compared to 39 in Iraq. Though many more troops have died in Iraq -- 4349 compared to 873 in Afghanistan as of Monday -- the ratio remains higher in Afghanistan due to the far-smaller U.S. troop levels in that country. (The ratio still pales in comparison to previous wars -- by some estimates, the Vietnam War ratio of deaths per 100,000 was more than 10 times higher: 667.)

UPDATE: In October 2009, the war in Afghanistan became even more dangerous for American soldiers and the discrepancy between the two wars widened even further, based on the number of deaths per boots-on-the-ground troop levels. The death ratio per 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan was about 88, compared to a death ratio of 7 in Iraq. Thus, a soldier was over 12 times as likely to be killed in Afghanistan as in Iraq.

Overall in 2009, the war in Afghanistan has been almost 6 times as lethal as the war in Afghanistan (the death ratio in Afghanistan this year is 56 compared to 10 in Iraq). See the chart below:

The recent upsurge in violence and the continuing challenges faced by U.S. forces in Afghanistan have some current and former members of the military beginning to question the U.S. presence in that country. A recent story by Brandon Friedman on VetVoice, a popular Website for veterans, states that "Afghanistan is now deadlier than Iraq ever was," adding that the fatality rate in that country from June through August would be equivalent to 353 deaths in Iraq -- "a rate not even seen during the bloody crescendo of 2007."

"When you see your friends getting blown up, it makes you question the war," Jose Vasquez, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against The War, which has also mobilized vets against the war in Afghanistan, tells The Huffington Post. "Absolutely, there is growing opposition to this conflict."

Still, most current and former military officials support the war in Afghanistan, unlike the 2007 "revolt of the generals" inspired by the Iraq War in which 20 retired U.S. generals broke ranks to express their criticism of the Bush administration for its handling of that conflict. Anthony Zinni, a former head of US Central Command, was highly critical of the Iraq war but supports Gen. Stanley McChrystal's counterinsurgency plan for Afghanistan, which reportedly involves an increase of at least 40,000 troops.

Amid increasing public disenchantment with the war, a growing chorus of conservatives is expressing its opposition.

In addition to pundits George Will and Tony Blankley, former Army officer Andrew Bacevich, who currently teaches history and international relations at Boston University, has been outspoken in his doubts about our engagement in the country.

"To continue and expand this war will unquestionably cost several hundred billion dollars, not to mention several hundreds lives. Is this the best way to spend that hundred billion dollars?" Bacevich tells The Huffington Post, explaining that outside powers who "impose their will in Afghanistan have not fared well."

But he remains skeptical that the administration is going to make the right decision. "I don't think there is any serious likelihood that this administration is going to recognize that the Afghanistan war is completely unnecessary and misguided. The president has already gone pretty far down the road and the political cost would be very high to reverse that course."

Earlier this year, hawkish commentator and retired Army lieutenant colonel Ralph Peters called for U.S. troops to leave Afghanistan, calling it "the wrong war in the wrong place a the wrong time. Instead of concentrating on the critical mission of keeping Islamist terrorists on the defensive, we've mired ourselves by attempting to modernize a society that doesn't want to be -- and cannot be -- transformed."

And Michael Savage, the right-wing talk radio star, lived up to his surname with his criticism of the Obama administration for continuing the war. On a recent broadcast, he barked: "[Obama's] cure for the war in Iraq was to amp up the war in Afghanistan by doubling the number of troops... but the bigger question is: Why are we there? What are we fighting for? You have any idea why men are dying and losing their legs?"

The following charts depict the monthly troop death ratios in each conflict from 2007-2009 and the three-month troop death ratios from 2003-2009:

Due to missing troop level numbers, the death ratios for October and November 2008 were not calculated though a rough estimate of the ratio is consistent with the overall trend.

The Real Misery Index: Unemployment Increases The Hardship

2009-10-06T16:35:53Z

The rise in unemployment continues to prolong the hardship for millions of Americans, according to the latest update of the Huffington Post's Real Misery Index.

The index rose to 32.2 in August 2009, after peaking at 29.2 in July, largely due to the increase in the U6 unemployment rate, which tracks part-time workers looking for full-time employment and those who've given up looking for work. The index would be even higher if it weren't for a slight rebound in housing prices.

Rising unemployment -- and the accompanying increase in the number of Americans who have been out of work for more than 6 months (5.4 million as of September) -- threatens to diminish the chances of a speedy recovery.

"We're not at the beginning, and we're not at the end," American Bankers Association chief economist James Chessen told the Huffington Post's Shahien Nasiripour. "We're stuck in the middle of this cycle, and it's painful. I think it's a matter of working through the problems. The loans that were made that are problems today are loans that were made years ago. So it really is a matter of working through a difficult environment.

"The biggest issue affecting lenders today is the unemployment rate. Because not only does that affect consumer lending directly, but it impacts business lending as those consumers just don't have the income to buy the goods they did before."

Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan told ABC News last weekend that prolonged unemployment translates into lost skills for the economy as a whole. "And people who are out of work for very protracted periods of time lose their skills eventually."

Wells Fargo Accused Of Pocketing The Difference When Customers Make ATM Math Errors

2009-10-01T16:41:19Z

Three of the biggest banks in the country -- Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase -- all touted their decisions last week to reduce overdraft fees amid criticism from lawmakers and growing public frustration.

But plenty of fees - from foreign currency surcharges to balance transfer fees - are still being charged by most banks, which are expected to make $38.5 billion from overdraft fees alone this year, according to economist Michael Moebs who tracks the industry.

And Wells Fargo, which received $25 billion in bailout funds last fall, is now being accused of taking advantage of customers who make math errors on ATM deposits through a little-known policy.

According to a class-action suit filed in San Diego Superior Court, Wells Fargo customer Brandi McLay says that when she and other customers have made ATM deposits and mistakenly entered a dollar amount lower than the amount of the cash or checks on the keypad, the bank "pockets the difference," as first reported by Courthouse News Service.

McLay claims that when such "Under-inputs" are below than $10, the bank retains the money under an "Excess Funds Retention Policy."

McLay's lawyer, David Gallo, says that the bank has not responded to the complaint.

A Wells Fargo spokesperson declined comment on pending litigation but emphasized that the bank does not charge such a fee, telling Huffington Post: "We do not assess a fee in such a case, if the customer makes a mistake."

But Gallo says he has reason to believe "that it has occurred to many people," most of whom were unaware that the bank kept their money since the amounts were so small.

Such a policy is not unique to banks - the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union charges a $1 processing fee when depositors make math errors, according to a spokesman. The PSECU Website describes ATM deposit adjustment charges (e.g., entry errors, math errors, deposit incorrect endorsements) but the spokesman emphasized that refers to pass-through fees when their members go to other financial institutions and make entry errors. "Our general philosophy is to try to limit fees whenever possible because it's not in our interest to make money off of our members," said the spokesman.

Consumer advocates at the Consumer Federation of American and the National Consumer Law Center had never heard of such a policy at banks and credit unions. "That surprises me," says Mark E. Budnitz, a law professor affiliated with the NCLC. "Banks keep adding more and more fees, according to various studies, and they are supposed to disclose all those fees."

Read the complaint:

WFargoDeposits-1 -

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Glenn Beck's Tweets -- Post-Modern Poetic Genius Or Apocalyptic Rantings Of A Madman: You Decide

2009-09-25T19:04:56Z

In between crying, laughing, criticizing government spending, attacking czars, scribbling theories on chalkboards, going on comedy tours and more crying, Glenn Beck likes to tweet his innermost thoughts and random brainfarts.

Here are some of Beck's most compelling tweets, arranged in reverse chronology and in the form of an epic poem.

They're either an example of post-modern lyrical genius or the apocalyptic rantings of a madman (or both). You decide:

Kids BHO songs were set to battle hymn and Jesus loves the little children. Parents unite & remember no Xmas carols!

Was at the Statue of liberty & then at West Point last nite. America is waking 2 Honor, Courage & duty. Soon we will become post partisan.

Please remember us as well as all in DC and our country in prayers.Protect us from an 'Emergency'.Turn back to Him.It was the secret of 9/12

Pray for peace. Pray for protection on all. Pray for our republic. Pray for more time. Rep/dems and Indy band together, stand for founders

I admit bush was bad in many ways. Warned at the time of fascism. I warned then that he was in with global corps.when will U echo yourself?

Friends and I laughing at left tweets: Orwell would have hated me b/c of big gov bush. Any thoughts about now? I admit bush

Convinced that those on right that preach that dems are enemy are wildly wrong. Radical revolutionary left is the enemy. Unite with dems.

"You have enemies?Good.That means you've stood up 4 something, sometime in your life."-Winston Churchill

Oh, by the way: OLIGARH? Really? You are so predictable... don't miss the open.

TODAY marks the end of the SILENT transformation. AMERICA PIVOTS back to sanity. Tell EVERYONE you know to watch tonight. Enough is Enough.

Tons of you waking. A ton more sending me threats. No-pushback on facts.2morrow:O's army. Friday:the way to stop them.spread the word. Gnite

haters are out in force.I love all the 'you're crazy' comments.Freedom of speech? No. Medicate, silence, ridicule those you hate.O's1984

spending day with kids and painting. Lots of painting. Ouch, the left won't like the O/GE inspired painting or the one called "astroturf".

have made VERY powerful people VERY angry.They have tried to cover their tracks.They have failed.Will expose and ask 4 your help VERY soon

Thank you for the prayers. I feel them. There is reason for great hope. Be better than the real mobs.Smarter, quieter and never quit.STAND!

UPDATE: Love thy enemy - doesn't mean love what they do or let them do it. It means Hate is a tool that will fail. We MUST be good 2B great

1.Question with Boldness. 2.Hold to the Truth 3. Speak without fear.We are in grave danger.Read Common Sense.Danger from both sides.QUESTION

Tried 4 4th time to go to the MOMA in NYC. Had 2 wait in line for Free ticket.Couldn't wait.Wouldn't let me buy.Soon-this will be 4 bandaids

Took the day off yesterday to sit in TR park with my wife and just talk. B4 we knew it 2 hours had passed. Perfect day.Next play Baseb w/Rph

PRAY FOR PEACE. Pray for wisdom. Pray for our country to turn back to God.I am an imperfect voice, many others rising. Please find YOURS.

Another week begins.PRAY as never b4. CRY OUT for protection on our country, her people and her leaders.PRAY 4 peace & more time.MLK/GHANDI

Onway to church.The more I don't want to go, the more I know He will effect me in a positive way.BTW: were there 10Th tea in Columbus Ytrday

Personal: Kids are napping, went swimming, saw Dr. put kids down, checking "BARKS", mapping week, read then put puzzles together with kids

Be not afraid, they are all fear and intimidation. If you base yourself in TRUTH and PEACE - they cannot win. ONE IMPORTANT THING: ...

Shadows are always darkest when the light is at its brightest. Shadows are not real and darkness does not understand the light. All is well

Predictable. I told you many things this week that no one else is willing to say.This was the least damning to them.FIND YOUR VOICE & Stand

Our future will only be as bright as our faith.KNOW THIS.I don't know how much of the country will be living it, BUT THE CONST.WILL STAND!

I am tired this morning.Crazy that it is only tuesday.America is working more and more but the lack of c.sense is what really wears me out.

More on Transformers: Thought Spielberg would have known better.R we just getting old?BTW: GI JOE? HASBRO sells out.INSULT 2 Marines.GLOBAL?

TONS OF THIS:How the f=+k do you support right to life and still love guns? And still be able to put god in this retarded equation? F*&k you

just saw transformers.1st:can any of the women wear more clothes than a stripper?Two:LA looked like NYC;Wow,walk from petra 2 Giza? who knew

Boe -fee (G.Shepard)is great!Victor and B. were made for each other. They have already taken a nap together nose to nose after kill training

How many now are seeing what I am seeing? Amazing how no one would listen 2 yrs ago.Now only those who see a donkey or Elephant remain blind

?:What is getting harder 4U? A:Looking @the Abyss.Knowing that it has a head start.xpose and be accurate, keep family safe while urging calm

Going now to get our new Shepard. Victor is very excited. :) Keep us in your prayers. Lots to share with you.

Just got back from a demolition derby. Haven't been to one since I was a kid. I never thought I would say this but I miss small towns.

Today, I wrote, played zingo with the kids. Chased them with silly string. Went over to a good friends home, ate burgers and laughed a lot.

Reading xtreme leftist call 2arms:"revolution does not spread by contamination but by resonance."So true-so evil.I'll Share upon return Mon.1:41 PM Jul 9th from web

Idaho falls Saturday. Common sense comedy plus whatever else is on my mind. $20 ALL proceeds for local law enforcement. Can't wait to see u

Don't know what I give back. I think we are much a like. We give each other hope. That the good guy wins in the end. It is true-Good guysW!

Went fishing with the best man I know.Taught me to have a long term view. Taught me how to forgive, how to stay healthy and trust but verify

been thinking 'in the real world'.Easy to think:THIS TOO SHALL PASS.I am not sure who is better off: Those who know or those believe. U?

C's rash is gone all fine. My health problems are in line and I am relaxed for the first time. Sat in twin falls for charity stage show.

White buffalo couldn't nurse with it's mom for some reason. After much trouble got baby to cow. Rare that she took. Indians did ceremony.kwl

Lots of fish ?s.first time fly f. No one lost an eye. Released. Do have photos will post on return. Caught in Idaho. Staying in Utah.

Back in the mountains. Went to a friends house today. He showed me a baby white buffalo and taught me how to fly fish. Caught 6.5lb rtrout

In the air, meeting a friend who has convinced himself he can teach me how to fly fish. Adam is with invade someone loses an eye.

watching 7 brides for 7 brothers.The girls and I may hang ourselves.Does anyone remember 'here come the brides'?Movie makes me pine4bsherman

Many offended: No, the children shouldn't have addressed the world.Dad had them under butterfly masks. You think now it's okay to see them?

Urgent: 8:32 Mountain time ... Micheal Jackson still dead. Many still not saying: "gee, I don't think I would have let the children speak"

We need to become the adults. What would our grandparents say about MJ? Worse yet, what will history write about us and what we focused on?

I had a problem with Anna Nicole smith but this is insanity! Who is not aware our country is on fire?for those that need it: MJ still dead.

Watched one of my favorite movies with my oldest daughters: my favorite year with Peter O'Toole. Relaxed for the 1st te in months. No news.

Going to play catch with kids and then ride bikes. No better question than"daddy come play with me"especially when you can respond:coming!

Sorry for confusion. Painting landscapes this week while out west. Painting GW back home. Giving it to good friend to auction for charity.

Started to paint today.Landscapes.Haven't painted them in over a year.Been working on one of GWashington called Truth&Deceit.PIC Soon.

Vacation from Hell?C's face is all puffy today.She looks like me after a week with candy.Tania has her first migraine.Watched Fountainhead:O

C saw dr. No worries. Just watch. Back to the woods.

C sat up from dead sleep. Pointed and said"daddy what's that?"I told her what the dr uses to check your eyes".okay and right back to sleep

Starving.C is still asleep hugging me.Thought about eating the cotton balls.Raphe almost did last night.blue ccandy in hand&b.cotton in ears

Yday went to store with daughter. Only lasted 4 minutes before having to leave.sec wouldn't let me attend church 2day so others could enjoy

I am seeing people moved like chess pieces.When we become willing pawns, He will move us where He needs us.Others will be blind 2 checkmate

Clear now on JUST STAND WHERE HE NEEDS YOU TO STAND. Many moves that others make or that you will make may seem odd. Follow the inner voice

On my way to vacation now. Kids asleep in the car. Tania asleep as well. Art supplies in the trunk. Planning on doing some painting.

Only in America can Glenn Beck be on the same stage as the Jonas brothers. The 13 year old screams are making my ears bleed. :)

We have less to fear from small band of subversives than from the uniformed, the self seekers and the disinterested. Goodnight.

Will work on ACTION.Reading their playbooks.Founder lovers are WAY behind.Study tactics and learn to counter and use their momentum against.

The book is called the coming insurrection. Writers jailed in FR.It is from communists and radical left in France. They are here already.

Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times. Been pondering lately. Are we seeking real k?do we use our wisdom?difference?

feeling okay 2day.driving under GW bridge.windows down and 70 degrees.Damn this global warming.On way to fox n friends.pics of flag burning.

BURNED THE FLAG, as a CEREMONY. It was done by the state police color guard.It was done by a precision team.AMAZING.Not some lefty thing.:)

currently watching david and goliath with the kids. Arrogance and size will always decide ones ultimate fate.

had a july 4th party at my house yesterday. We retired and burned our flag. It was amazing and moving. I will try to post some video.

I am feeling better tonight. Nervous about going to sleep because I don't want to feel sick again tomorrow am.3 docs in 3 days.Will find it.

Someone suggested a 'silent retreat'. Wow. I think I would love that.Just to the woods by yourself or maybe a drive along the Argentine cst?

Michael Jackson is dead. The only huge celeb I have ever seen die where the jokes started RIGHT AWAY.Sad.So much talent.Hopefully now happy.

Doctors telling me to slow down.Don't know what's going on yet, but I know I internalize too much.How do you stop caring abt what U believe?

On a plane coming back home. Big family event today. Missed abc. Have to watch tonight. Disappointed in Sanford. Is anyone decent?

on our way to Tania's fathers house. Amazing that I am now at the age where after he is gone, my generation is the oldest. Time flies.

I don't ever wish to freeze time as life is always getting better. I do wish I could freeze the age of my children.

Don't know why I am rooting for people on street in Iran. The other guy is just as corrupt. It is the illusion of freedom.Too close to C.

How empty is your life when you follow those you hate?

Just woke up. I guess I have been waking up for a while. Want to go back to sleep but can't now that I am 'awake'. Too much work to do.

someone just wrote: A lot waking but not doing anything-a long way to go.TRUE.Milk b4 meat.It will happen fast.PRAY 4insight,courage,peace.

Haven't felt well all day. Don't know what's wrong. Just need sleep. Worst time of day ... night. I sometimes wish I could stop thinking

the older I get, the harder it is to sleep. If this keeps up by the time I'm 70, I will sleep from 4:11 to 4:13. Sometimes I hate nite.

lots of ?s about what can people to to prepare. A: Learn to think the unthinkable. Imagine no one else to depend on. WHAT WILL YOU NEED?

Since you asked. It was microphone tape, not a band-aid that has attached to my neck. Too much sweat prevented it from sticking; me sweat?

We are the same. $ and fame mean nothing. We both struggle with being our best self. Failed this week. U?Hurts to be human.

the best and worst thing about being me? People are giving me M&M's as gifts. Do you know how bad it is to be left alone with 5lb bag?

Chocolate--Joe's drinking orange juice with his shake--freak

mmmm...just sitting down at 11:30 to drink a super-sized milk shake--Stu wouldn't join me--he's anti-chin

Memorial day. Raphe and I lowered the flag. Family went to hometown parade. Played in the fire trucks and had hotdogs at the firehouse.

BTW: Hated this idea friday. ADDICTED Monday. Feel like we're with each other. Weird. Good? Bad? Just is.

Inky, Blinky and Stinky. 3 mice and the Isle of Cheese. A story I wrote for my older kids, became new again. the magic hasn't changed.

Just got back from Church. God is Amazing and so personal. Answers I have been looking for, coming from others. Amazing. Just amazing.

Finishing the phantom public. Frightening pages. Listening to my children out of their beds acting out story I told them. They renew me.

People shopping in my hometown today. Thank Gd. I have thought of the small biz man, like my father was, a lot. good to see ppl in town.

Wow. I just saw Terminator. I loved it and so did Tania. As we left someone said 'not as good as hoped". WE LOVED IT. NON STOP.

I just had 40 pounds of the best rib-eye delivered to the television set--curious? See you at 5!

just got furniture for my new office. i hate it already. am i the only one with constant buyer's remorse? be it a car or dinner.

I've been thinking about it more, so I wanted to clarify. I don't LOVE fish, I just like it.

I like fish

we're all going to die. Soon.

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Con Men Exploit Stimulus Program To Scam Thousands Of Americans, Say Government Auditors

2009-09-10T20:31:39Z

Scroll down for GAO report and FTC testimony

Using postcards promising "free government money" and through companies with names like the "Google Money Tree," con men have exploited the government stimulus program to scam millions of dollars out of unwitting Americans.

So far, 270,000 Americans have been affected by stimulus-related scam, according to Federal Trade Commission. Government auditors are currently pursuing investigations into hundreds of allegations of fraud in the stimulus program.

As of September 2, the Government Accountability Office's FraudNet hotline has received 80 allegations "considered credible enough to warrant further review," according to a new GAO report.

The GAO's Forensic Audits and Special Investigations unit is pursuing eight allegations (while another 12 are pending further review) related to wasteful and improper spending, conflicts of interest, supplanting funds and contract fraud. Of the remaining allegations, 38 were found to not address waste, fraud or abuse or lacked specificity and 22 were referred to inspectors general at other agencies.

And the FTC, working with law enforcement, "has filed almost 400 cases or legal actions" involving stimulus scams by "opportunistic fraudsters," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz told a Senate hearing into stimulus fraud on Thursday.

One example cited by Leibowitz included a Website featuring photos of President Obama and Vice President Biden offering "free government money," and a postcard promised cash for consumers to use to pay bills and travel expenses, reports Bloomberg News.

In another scam, a company named Google Money Tree lured consumers into divulging their financial account information "using the false promise of a lucrative work-at-home opportunity." Though the work-at-home kit only cost $1.99, victims lost hundreds of dollars each through unauthorized recurring monthly charges.

Auditors have estimated that $50 billion of the $787 billion program could eventually wind up in the hands of swindlers and thieves, MarketWatch reported in June.

Read Leibowitz's prepared remarks:

P094402econstimulusscams -

Read the GAO report:

GAOstimulus -

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Report: Contractors Outnumber Troops In Afghanistan By Highest Ratio In U.S. History

2009-09-02T02:34:52Z

In the clearest sign that the Pentagon has become dependent on privatization, a new report reveals that today there are more defense contractors than U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

According to a Congressional Research Service report obtained by the Federation of American Scientists blog Secrecy News, the ratio of contractors to troops is higher "than in any conflict in the history of the United States":

"As of March 2009, there were 68,197 DoD contractors in Afghanistan, compared to 52,300 uniformed personnel. Contractors made up 57% of DoD's workforce in Afghanistan. This apparently represented the highest recorded percentage of contractors used by DoD in any conflict in the history of the United States."

The report also details how few Americans make up this private army - more than 75% of the Pentagon contractors are local nationals and only 15% are U.S. citizens.

Read the report:

CRS-Report-Afghanistan -

The Real Misery Index: State Of The Economy Remains Gloomy

2009-08-26T05:48:15Z

Consumer confidence is on the rise and home prices have rebounded slightly, but things are still pretty miserable for millions of Americans, according to the latest update of Huffington Post's Real Misery Index.

The index for July 2009 was 29.2, a slight decrease from June's 29.9, the highest number in the 25 years analyzed by the Huffington Post. Compared to June, the rate of inflation declined slightly, with smaller year-over-year increases in prices for food and medical care. But that good news was offset by other factors such as a rise in food stamp recipients and continuing home equity delinquencies.

For the current update, we've included the index for every year going back to 1985, the last year for which all the statistics were available, in a chart and graph.

At this stage in the recession, almost everyone is wondering if the economy has really hit bottom and whether the recovery has truly begun. Last week in a speech to other central bankers, Fed chair Ben Bernanke said "The economic recovery is likely to be relatively slow at first, with unemployment declining only gradually from high levels." And indeed, most indicators paint a bleak picture: Highest percent of foreclosures in three decades, slower-than-anticipated growth in GDP and the looming double-digit unemployment numbers.

One point of confusion is the recent rise in the Dow, despite the lingering economic malaise. Part of that is due to economic indicators meaning different things on Wall Street and Main Street. For example, rising unemployment may mean layoffs at companies that improve their bottom line.

"Our markets can be ahead of the pace of the recovery," says Art Hogan, director of Global Equity Product at Jefferies & Co. investment bank. "You get a lot of head-scratching from commentators that the market keeps going up but news doesn't correspond to it. It's an order of magnitude. People are looking across the valley and seeing that things could get better."

But for most Americans, the outlook remains gloomy and a vicious cycle continues - as more lose their jobs, more fail to keep up with mortgage payments and some fall into poverty, forced to take public assistance.

How Conservatives Got The Facts Wrong On Their Latest Obsession: The "Death Book" For Veterans

2009-08-23T03:08:01Z

***UPDATE***

Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth appeared on Fox News Sunday this morning to combat the false allegations that the VA is using a "death book" to encourage veterans to end their lives.

WATCH:

The latest conservative obsession - dutifully spread via Sarah Palin's Facebook page - is marked by the same alarmism and factual inaccuracy as the hysteria over "death panels."

According to this tale, America's veterans are being steered into ending their lives via a "death book" distributed by the government.

It all started with Jim Towey, the former president of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives under George W. Bush, who penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal describing how the Department of Veterans Affairs was using an end-of-life planning document that was aimed at steering veterans toward choosing death.

Towey stated that the message of the veterans' health-care system to its patients was "hurry-up-and-die" and he contrasted the "death book" with "Five Wishes," his own advance care planning document.

In dramatic language, he wrote:

"One can only imagine a soldier surviving the war in Iraq and returning without all of his limbs only to encounter a veteran's health-care system that seems intent on his surrender."

Soon enough, Palin linked to the piece, stating that "the Veterans Administration encourages veterans to forego care as they make end-of-life decisions." And Fox News' Sean Hannity and RNC chair Michael Steele were calling it the equivalent of "death panels" for military veterans.

They failed to mention that the so-called "death book" contains the same advance-care planning required of all health care organizations under federal law, has been in use since 1997 and was developed with the input of interfaith ministers.

In addition, Towey seems to have his own axe to grind. He has repeatedly tried to get the government to spend millions to purchase his "Five Wishes" book, which is published by Aging With Dignity, a non-profit group he founded, to distribute to veterans across the country, according to sources within the VA. Towey used his influence with the White House to get a meeting with VA officials, including then-Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. At one meeting, Towey was informed that the VA could not act on such an unsolicited proposal without violating federal procurement regulations, according to VA sources.

The VA's policy is in accordance with the 1990 Patient Self Determination Act, which requires all institutions receiving Medicare funds to provide information to patients regarding end of life, living will and other advance directives. During the Bush administration, the VA changed its regulation to extend the act to cover all VA facilities.

In 2007, after Towey complained that the so-called "death book," "Your Life, Your Choices - Planning for Future Medical Decisions," was biased against the right-to-life viewpoint, the VA convened an outside panel of experts to assess and update the booklet.

In his op-ed, Towey stated that this panel did not include any representatives of faith groups or disability rights advocates. In fact, according to the VA, the panel included a priest, a rabbi, a renowned disability rights advocate, and the president of the organization that produces "Five Wishes," the alternative advance care planning document that Towey is promoting and selling.

The panel supported the use of the "Your Life, Your Choices" booklet but included some suggestions for revising its content. The plans to update and release the booklet were developed under the Bush administration and it is due for release in 2010.

Towey, along with Assistant Secretary Of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth are scheduled to discuss the issue on "Fox News Sunday" tomorrow.

Dr. Ellen Fox, the Chief Officer for Ethics in Health Care at the Veterans Health Administration, defended the use of the booklet:

Your Life, Your Choices is an educational workbook that was designed specifically for Veterans. The authors went to great lengths to ensure it would be meaningful and helpful to all Veterans, regardless of their religious and cultural backgrounds. I am impressed by the development process they used, which included extensive input and testing by different Veterans groups, religious leaders from 10 different faiths, elderly and disabled individuals, and experienced doctors and nurses. They even made sure to incorporate everyday language that Veterans commonly use to describe medical conditions, while at the same time providing accurate information from the physician's perspective. Over the past 10 years it has been tested through scientific research, endorsed by many respected professional organizations, and widely used throughout the U.S. health care system. It is one of many educational resources we provide to help Veterans and their families. As a Federal agency we have an obligation to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars by maximizing the services we provide our Veterans. Providing an educational resource like Your Life, Your Choices at no cost to Veterans is one of the many ways we fulfill this mission. The whole purpose of this workbook is to encourage more conversations between patients, families, and health care teams. Anyone who is seriously interested in ensuring that Veterans receive the best care possible should recognize this.

Towey did not return calls placed to St. Vincent College, where he is the president.

Intelligence Director: Iran Covertly Supplying Arms To Taliban, CIA Closely Tracking Global Economic Crisis

2009-08-06T22:09:15Z

As the body count rises for U.S. troops in Afghanistan - four Marines were killed by a roadside bomb on Thursday, making August on track to be one of the deadliest months in the war - more trouble looms on the horizon.

A newly-declassified list of answers given by Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair to questions submitted by the Senate Intelligence Committee in April 2009 outlines increasing concerns about the situation in Afghanistan. The illuminating Q&A was obtained by the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy News blog.

Blair noted that, according to counterinsurgency principles, it would require "roughly 818,000 security personnel to secure Afghanistan," which would require a massive increase in troops considering that there are currently only 83,094 soldiers in the Afghan National Army. Even to raise the level to 325,000 troops, which would be deemed essential to securing the Pashtun areas where most Taliban insurgents are located, would cost $946 million per year, almost quadruple the country's 2008 defense budget of $242 million.

In another development that threatens to raise tensions in the region, Blair said that "Iran is covertly supplying arms to Afghan insurgents while publicly posing as supportive of the Afghan government." That includes the provision of small arms, mines, rocket-propelled grenades, rockets, mortars and plastic explosives. Ironically, Blair also noted that Iran has been assisting Afghanistan with developing their security capabilities through the "construction of border security facilities."

Other alarming revelations in the Q&A:

- Al-Qaida "and its regional affiliates will continue to plot against the U.S. and its interests abroad over the next twenty years."

- Al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations continue to seek and obtain funding from private Saudi donors.

- Though Al-Qaeda operatives are attempting to acquire chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons and materials, their most probable attack scenario involves "conventional explosives" and improvised explosive devices.

- Saudi Arabia's rehabilitation program for former jihadists would be the envy of any social welfare democracy: terrorists receive psychological counseling and social support, which includes "assisting participants in locating a job or finding a wife; paying for weddings and dowries; funding stipends; providing transportation, housing, and medical care; and providing financial assistance to detainees' families."

- The global economic crisis "represents the primary near-term security concern for the United States. Blair added that "there is a heightened risk of social and political instability worldwide as governments and citizens grapple with rising unemployment, corporate bankruptcies, frozen financial systems, plummeting trade, and a decline in remittances." That threat hampers the ability of the U.S. to tackle other national security challenges and as allies get distracted with responding to social unrest spurred by unemployment, they are less able to cooperate on counter-terror or the wars in Iran and Afghanistan. Blair even warns that a developing country's economic collapse could lead to the state being "up for sale to the highest bidder."

The National Intelligence Council has produced more than six classified analyses of "the fallout and implications of global economic turbulence." And the CIA is so focused on the issue that it has produced a similar number of analytic products - roughly 270 - on both terrorism and on the global economic crisis.

Cambridge Police Union President Stephen Killion "Disgraced" That Obama "Is Our Commander-In-Chief"

2009-07-24T01:47:12Z

The president of the Cambridge Police Patrol Officer's Association says that President Obama's statement that officers "acted stupidly" when they arrested black scholar Henry Louis Gates was "disgraceful."

Stephen Killion told the Huffington Post that he was shocked when he heard the president make the remarks during Wednesday night's press conference.

"That was totally inappropriate. I am disgraced that he is our commander-in-chief. He smeared the good reputation of the hard-working men and women of the Cambridge Police Department. It was wrong to do. It was disgraceful."

Killion, whose union does not represent officer Sgt. James Crowley, says that Crowley is "a good sergeant." He added that Obama's comments today, in which the president said that cooler heads should have prevailed, were "back-pedaling, not a clarification."

Killion also claimed that audiotapes, now in the possession of the city solicitor's office, will show that Harvard Professor Gates "turned this non-incident into a racial incident." He said the audiotapes will prove Crowley's account of the incident and show that Gates "was provoking the incident. He wanted to prove who he was... He deems himself higher than everyone else around."

On the tapes, Killian claims, "you can clearly hear him berating the officer, creating a scene."

Gates says he was "outraged" by the arrest. The AP reports:

He said the white officer walked into his home without his permission and only arrested him as the professor followed him to the porch, repeatedly demanding the sergeant's name and badge number because he was unhappy over his treatment.

"This isn't about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America," Gates said.

Crowley was critical of the president but did not go as far as Killion in his response.

"I support the president of the United States 110 percent. I think he was way off base wading into a local issue without knowing all the facts as he himself stated before he made that comment," Crowley told WBZ-AM. "I guess a friend of mine would support my position, too."

The lawyer for Crowley's union, Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association, predicted that Obama would regret the comments. "I suspect that when the full picture comes out, he will regret the remarks he made," Alan J. McDonald told the Boston Globe.

McCaskill's Twitter Mistake: "I Support The Pubic Option On Healthcare Reform"

2009-07-21T05:35:25Z

Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) had a long night at her computer on Monday.

Expressing her views on the health care debate late in the evening, she Twittered:

"I support the pubic option on healthcare reform, but must make sure private market can compete. Working on that in the Senate."

About nine minutes later, she corrected herself and added:

"Big mistake, tweetng when dead tired,one more time spelled right....I support public option,as long as private can compete. Now sleep."

Earlier in the night, she was caught up in responding to reports that her staff had flipped off "tea party" protesters at her office in St. Louis on Friday by linking to her tumblr account. That's where she explained that only one staffer, an Iraq war veteran, was working in the office at the time, and asked the protesters to refrain from "banging on the windows and doors continuously."

That explanation didn't satisfy some tea party protesters, who slammed her and called her "an old hag" on their Twitter accounts, causing McCaskill to tweet: "And we wonder why we have a hard time coming together,listenng to each other."

Here's her Twitter faux-pas and correction:

Credit Rating Agencies Spared Major Reforms In Obama's Overhaul

2009-06-18T00:52:01Z

They've been called the culprits of the financial crisis but their role has remained largely unexamined. And they were largely spared any major reforms in the financial regulatory overhaul announced today by President Obama.

The credit rating agencies, which awarded high ratings to subprime mortgages and other complex securities that helped fuel the economic meltdown, will now be required to publicly disclose how they measure performance and the risks assessed in their ratings.

However as Reuters reports, one crucial reform was left untouched:

But the blueprint does nothing to address what critics call the industry's key shortcoming: That the biggest agencies are paid by issuers whose securities they rate, creating an incentive to win more business by assigning high ratings.

That potential conflict of interest has led to situations in which firms claim they were threatened with lower ratings if they didn't pay particular ratings agencies.

Critics say the pay issue is responsible for the dominance of the big three rating agencies - Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's - impeding competition in the industry.

Those three agencies are being sued by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who claims that they allegedly gave the state's municipalities artificially-low credit ratings, costing taxpayers millions of dollars. The agencies deny the allegations.

Blumenthal told Huffington Post that he has collected evidence showing how "the amount of payments to agencies seems to affect their ratings. In one case, he says, an agency "threatened to downgrade a rating if a company failed to provide all of the business to that rating agency."

The attorney general's lawsuit is the first court action in an investigation into possible antitrust violations, consumer protection and potential other violations by the agencies.

"Our investigation concerns practices that relate to conflicts of interest and methods and types of payment," says Blumenthal.

In the past, the firms have defended the issuer-pay model. Standard & Poor's white paper on the subject states: "Firms employing the issuer-fee model have a long-term track record of success... [and] historically, the issuer-fee model has fostered the greatest levels of transparency."

The proposals were criticized by industry veterans, reports the New York Times:

"This is not an effort to remake the industry," Jerome Fons, a former managing director of credit policy at Moody's, said of the administration's proposals. "If we believe the system is broken, this doesn't offer a fix."

Another reform that remains to be addressed is the issue of liability. Consumer Federation of America president Barbara Roeper says:

"If they're going to have this legally sanctioned gatekeeper role, then they need to lose their First Amendment rights. They claim their ratings are just opinions, but that argument has been challenged. If they were legally liable, if they knew they could be sued for being reckless and issuing ratings of which they have inadequate basis, then they might be more careful... or to say 'I don't know' about risks they don't understand. At the very least, if they were liable, they might have reexamined their methodologies."

The agencies have been criticized for missing several of the financial world's biggest collapses: Enron had an investment-grade rating four days before the company went bankrupt in 2002.

Today, the agencies welcome the government proposals, saying that they favored improved ratings quality and transparency.

In anticipation of the overhaul, the industry has been heavily lobbying the White House, the Treasury Department, the SEC and Congress.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics:

The 10 firms accredited by the SEC to issue credit ratings spent $370,000 on lobbying during the first three months of 2009, an increase of 42 percent compared to the 1st Quarter of 2008,

Several lawmakers who have been critical of the agencies did not return calls for comment. Rep. Henry Waxman, former chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told a hearing last year that "The story of the credit rating agencies is a story of colossal failure."

Blumenthal asserted, "If there is one culprit in this financial crisis, debacle and meltdown so far, a culprit that's escaped the blame they deserve is the rating agencies."

Newly Declassified Report Reveals More Details About Lack Of Pre-9/11 Info-Sharing By FBI, CIA, NSA

2009-06-18T00:31:49Z

A newly-declassified report prepared for the 9/11 Commission sheds more light on who was responsible for the lack of information sharing between U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the months before the terror attacks.

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft was wrong to blame the Clinton-era Justice Department's 1995 policy for the "wall" during his 2004 testimony before the commission, according to the report obtained by the Federation of American Scientists' Project On Government Secrecy.

Rather, it was the FBI's own sloppy work and widespread misunderstanding of information-sharing procedures that led to the lack of coordination among the agencies and the much-criticized failure to obtain a criminal warrant to search so-called "20th hijacker" Zacharias Moussaoui.

According to the 31-page monograph, the last remaining commission document to be declassified, "A review of the facts surrounding the information sharing failures, however, demonstrates that the Attorney General's testimony did not fairly and accurately reflect the significance of the 1995 documents and their relevance to the 2001 discussions."

In fact, information-sharing procedures "were widely misunderstood and misapplied" resulting in "far less information sharing and coordination... than was allowed." Also, "everyone was confused about the rules governing the sharing and use of information gather in intelligence channels."

In an ironic twist, the FBI was reluctant to file applications for surveillance due to the agency's previous "factual errors contained in a series of FISA applications, most notably the Bin Ladin-related FISAs. As a result, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, insisted on a strict separation between criminal and intelligence matters, which led the FBI to be overly cautious in their applications for surveillance and agents' sharing of information.

The court's Chief Judge actually wrote Ashcroft in March 2001 that because of "continued errors on a series of FISA applications," the court was banning a supervisory FBI agent.

There were also crucial human errors, likely exacerbated by the widespread confusion over information-sharing, that led to the failure of the FBI's Minneapolis field office to obtain a criminal warrant to search Moussaoui's laptop.

In addition, the National Security Agency placed caveats on all Bin-Laden-related reports which put extra barriers in the way of sharing information.

Ashcroft did not return calls for comment.

Read the report:

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