Clippings for 4 january 2009

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Making "Duck Soup" Out of 2009
Bill Moyers and Michael Winship write for Truthout: "As 2008 ends and this New Year begins, with all its fledgling promise despite turmoil and crisis, it's also that time when the media offers its lists of ten best or worst this and that of the previous year, an exercise that simultaneously entertains and infuriates. Forced at knifepoint to make such lists, at least ours would be a little different. One would be favorite headlines of the year from The Onion, the hilarious weekly that doesn't bill itself as 'America's finest news source' for nothing. If you can read it without laughing, you probably have been paying too much attention to your 401(k)."

The Iraq War is Now Illegal
Bruce Ackerman and Oona Hathaway write for the Daily Beast: "The Bush administration’s infatuation with presidential power has finally pushed the country over a constitutional precipice. As of New Year’s Day, ongoing combat in Iraq is illegal under US law. In authorizing an invasion in 2002, Congress did not give President Bush a blank check. It explicitly limited the use of force to two purposes: to 'defend the national security of the US from the threat posed by Iraq' and 'enforce all relevant UN Security Council resolutions.'"

Iranians Ponder Their Future with an Obama Administration or Everything You Need to Know about Iran but the Mass Media, the Republicans, and Hilary Clinton Are Afraid to Tell You.
Ann Wright writes for Turthout: "Just a month ago, while Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US President George Bush met for the last time as heads of state in late November 2008 in Washington and continued their relentless bellicose rhetoric toward Iran, I and three activists from the United States were in Iran as citizen diplomats talking with Iranians on their views of a new American presidential administration and their hopes for their country."

Will Obama "Deimperialize" the Presidency?
Gail Russell Chaddock writes for The Christian Science Monitor: "As a US senator and presidential candidate, Barack Obama routinely criticized the accretion of presidential power during the Bush years. But in the run-up to assuming the presidency himself, the President-elect has gone silent on whether he would roll back powers claimed during the Bush years - or support congressional efforts to do so."

Israel in Gaza: Right but not Smart
Rabbi Michael Lerner comments for Religion Dispatches: "Israel's attempt to wipe out Hamas is understandable, but dumb. No country in the world is going to ignore the provocation of rockets being launched from neighboring territory day after day. If Mexico had a group of anti-imperialist South Americans bombing Texas, imagine how long it would take for the US to mobilize a counterattack. Israel has every right to respond. But the kind of response matters."

More Groups Than Thought Monitored in Police Spying
Lisa Rein and Josh White report for The Washington Post: "The Maryland State Police surveillance of advocacy groups was far more extensive than previously acknowledged, with records showing that troopers monitored - and labeled as terrorists - activists devoted to such wide-ranging causes as promoting human rights and establishing bike lanes. Intelligence officers created a voluminous file on Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, calling the group a "security threat" because of concerns that members would disrupt the circus. Angry consumers fighting a 72 percent electricity rate increase in 2006 were targeted. The DC Anti-War Network, which opposes the Iraq war, was designated a white supremacist group, without explanation."

Treasury Has Pledged More Rescue Funds Than Authorized
Michael Crittenden reports for The Wall Street Journal: "The Treasury Department has committed nearly $10 billion more than the $350 billion Congress has authorized to date for the financial-sector rescue package, which could constrain how the incoming Obama administration deploys the rest of the fund. Treasury's announcement Monday that it is directing $6 billion to auto-finance company GMAC LLC brought to $358.4 billion the total funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program that have been pledged to a variety of programs and guarantees. That suggests Treasury is tapping into the second half of the $700 billion set aside in October before it has been released by Congress."

A Trillion Dollar Recovery
Katrina vanden Heuvel writes for The Nation: "Poverty is on the rise, record numbers of people are relying on food stamps and we've seen no relief for the foreclosure crisis. There are increasing rates of child abuse and domestic violence linked to this recession. State governments don't have financial resources to cope at the exact moment when those resources are most needed. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have lowered Medicaid payments or eliminated people from eligibility. The senior economist of the International Monetary Fund recently warned of another Great Depression. We don't need a stimulus, we need a recovery. And that means investing $1 trillion over the next two years. "

Recommended Audio: Truthdig.com "Why We Fight" Director on the American Way of War
Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki speaks with Truthdig’s Kasia Anderson about his new book, whether Obama can deliver, and why the U.S. is like Elvis.

The January Edition of Scientific American
This month's edition is entitled: The Evolution of Evolution and features articles such as:
The Latest Face of Creationism in the Classroom, by Glenn Branch and Eugenie C. Scott: Creationists who want religious ideas taught as scientific fact in public schools continue to adapt to courtroom defeats by hiding their true aims under ever changing guises.
Putting Evolution to Use in Everyday Life by David Mindell: Understanding of evolution is fostering powerful technologies for health care, law enforcement, ecology, and all manner of optimization and design problems.

Mercury's Place on the Far Right Secured
Christopher Renner writes in the Manhattan Mercury: "In the Mercury's editorial on Dec. 19, the editorial staff has once again shown it belongs to the reactionary right where bigotry is considered respectable. President-elect Barack Obama's selection of the Rev. Rick Warren for the inaugural invocation is disappointing to those of us who worked for Obama's election. It is a cheap grab for political gain that will taint his presidency in the long term and is worthy of denunciation."

2008 Top Ten Wins for Women's Health
Beth Fredrick writes on her blog for RH Reality Check: "The election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States provides an opportunity to uphold human rights, promote health for all, and change the future of millions. Women's health and rights advocates in every corner of the world expressed excitement and hopefulness."

Let's Pledge to Stop Being Stupid about Teenage Sex
Ellen Goodman writes for Truthdig.com: "I hate to bring this up right now when the ink is barely dry on your New Year’s resolution. But if history is any guide, you are likely to fall off the assorted wagons to which you are currently lashed. I don’t say this to disparage your willpower. Hang onto that celery stick for dear life. And even if you stop doing those stomach crunches and start sneaking out for a smoke, at least you can comfort yourself with fond memories of your moment of resolution."

Where Things Stand: The Road to Nowhere, Still Going Nowhere
Paul Keil reports for ProPublica: "The $26 million gravel road that Gov. Sarah Palin's administration constructed on nearly uninhabited Gravina Island still leads to an empty beach. And her administration is still planning on using $73 million in federal dollars to construct a better link between the town of Ketchikan and the island."

Climate Change Policies Failing, NASA Scientist Warns Obama
James Randerson reports for The Guardian UK: "Current approaches to deal with climate change are ineffectual, one of the world's top climate scientists said today in a personal new year appeal to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the urgent need to tackle global warming."

Dynegy Abandons Plans for 5 New Coal Plants
Bruce Nilles, Sierra Club, writes on Alternet's blog: "The hints came down in December, but today it is confirmed: Dynegy is abandoning its plans to build five new coal plants as a joint venture with LS Power. Without its larger partner, LS Power will have a very difficult time developing and financing the proposed plants, even though the company has said it will try."

Six Reasons Nuclear Power Won't Get Us Out of This
Rob Hopkins of Chelsea Green Publications offers a new book, The Transition Handbook: From oil dependency to local resilience. This article is an adaption from his new book.