Iran, Revealed Newsletter - June 20, 2009

Iran, Revealed Newsletter - June 20, 2009


“IN ITS OWN obtuse and menacing way, yesterday's speech by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, was actually useful. Mr. Khamenei made it plain that he and the vast security establishment he heads have no intention of permitting anyone but his own favorite, incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to become president. He issued a threat to the multitudes who have bravely and peacefully denounced alleged electoral fraud: "If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible." And he rehearsed tired conspiracy theories, blaming the historic unrest on "dirty Zionists," the United States and Britain. In so doing, Mr. Khamenei clarified the true nature of his regime and the true nature of the challenge it poses to the United States and the world.” Washington Post Editorial


Washington Post Editorial: Iran, Revealed - The supreme leader issues a challenge to his internal foes--and the Obama administration. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, June 20, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061903115.html

New York Times Editorial: Iran’s Nonrepublic. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 17, 2009. Looking at the behavior of Iran’s government, one can only conclude that it is terrified of its own people. Looking at the courage of the hundreds of thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets, one can only feel admiration and anxiety for their safety. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/opinion/18thu2.html?th&emc=th

Iran’s supreme leader backs poll result - Protest leaders ‘will be held responsible’ By Roula Khalaf and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 19 2009 12:29 | Last updated: June 19 2009 12:29 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5c7c61c8-5cac-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Iranian clerics caught in a bind. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 16 2009 20:14 | Last updated: June 16 2009 20:14. In the face of massive protests at the disputed result of the Iranian election, the theocrats who rule the country have been taken by surprise. Seldom have the divisions within their ranks seemed so apparent. They are seeking to suppress the demonstrations by clamping down on communications, banning independent media coverage and arresting leading reformers. Yet they also know that ruthless suppression, in the wake of rigged elections, would severely damage their legitimacy. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2e3fdbf8-5a9c-11de-8c14-00144feabdc0.html

Iranian Police Clash With Protesters. Copyright By THE NEW YORK TIMES. Published: June 20, 2009. TEHRAN — Police officers used tear gas and water cannons to beat back thousands of demonstrators gathering in the capital on Saturday, a day after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said there would be “bloodshed” if street protests continued over the disputed presidential election. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/world/middleeast/21iran.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Iranian theocrats impose their will. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 14 2009 18:31 | Last updated: June 14 2009 18:31 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af1838b2-58fb-11de-80b3-00144feabdc0.html

Protests Flare in Tehran as Opposition Disputes Vote By ROBERT F. WORTH and NAZILA FATHI. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 13, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/world/middleeast/14iran.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Tweet fightin' Iran? Maybe not By Clarence Page. Copyright by The Chicago Tribune. June 18, 2009 http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/pagespage/2009/06/tweet-fighting-iran.html



International

Russia ready for deep nuclear arms cuts © Reuters Limited. June 20, 2009. AMSTERDAM, June 20 - Russia is ready to dramatically cut its nuclear stockpiles in a new arms pact with the United States if Washington meets Russia’s concerns over missile defence, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ea4b029c-5d93-11de-a914-00144feabdc0.html

Bank of Japan says economy improving - Cites improvements with exports and production By Justine Lau in Hong Kong and Mure Dickie in Tokyo. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 16 2009 07:44 | Last updated: June 16 2009 12:06 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7ab11538-5a38-11de-8c14-00144feabdc0.html

German investor confidence continues to rise - ZEW index at highest since May 2006 By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 16 2009 13:23 | Last updated: June 16 2009 13:23 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a6520e0e-5a65-11de-8c14-00144feabdc0.html

EU ‘risks lagging US on regulation’ - Warning from ECB board member By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 19 2009 11:49 | Last updated: June 19 2009 11:49. Europe risks falling behind the US in policing the financial system and the current crisis could prove “a wasted opportunity” to ensure its future stability, a top European Central Bank policymaker has warned. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7e9c12f0-5cb9-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html


China

‘Buy China’ policy set to raise tensions - Move likely to increase protectionism around the world By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 16 2009 16:13 | Last updated: June 16 2009 16:13 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/66454774-5a7c-11de-8c14-00144feabdc0.html

World Bank raises China GDP forecast - Beijing faces sharply rising deficit By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 18 2009 05:29 | Last updated: June 18 2009 12:50 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5f7abf38-5bc0-11de-be3f-00144feabdc0.html

China orders Google to restrict searches - Storm over links to pornographic content By Kathrin Hille in Beijing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 19 2009 14:37 | Last updated: June 19 2009 14:37 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/10f5984e-5cd6-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html


Mess-o-potamia

Suicide truck bomb kills 25 in northern Iraq © Reuters Limited. June 20, 2009 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b4395b0a-5d92-11de-a914-00144feabdc0.html

U.S. Journalist Held Captive by Taliban Escapes By Keith B. Richburg. Copyright by The Washington Post. Saturday, June 20, 2009; 11:43 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/20/AR2009062000914.html?hpid=topnews

Netanyahu bows on Palestinian state - Israeli PM imposes strict conditions By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 14 2009 21:41 | Last updated: June 15 2009 00:19 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/290cd2ca-5921-11de-80b3-00144feabdc0.html



National

President Delivers Exhortation to Fathers By HELENE COOPER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 20, 2009. WASHINGTON — President Obama donned his father-in-chief hat on Friday, devoting much of his afternoon to emphasizing the importance of mentors and father figures for young people and to prodding young men to be better parents. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/us/politics/20obama.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Justices Reject Inmate Right to DNA Tests By ADAM LIPTAK. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 18, 2009. WASHINGTON — Prisoners have no constitutional right to DNA testing that might prove their innocence, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a 5-to-4 decision. The court divided along familiar ideological lines, with the majority emphasizing that 46 states already have laws that allow at least some prisoners to gain access to DNA evidence. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/us/19scotus.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

New York Times Editorial: Unparalleled and Denied. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 18, 2009. In an appalling 5-to-4 ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority tossed aside compelling due process claims, the demands of justice and a considered decision by a lower federal appeals court to deny the right of prisoners to obtain post-conviction DNA testing that might prove their innocence. The inmate at the center of the case, William G. Osborne, is in prison in Alaska after a 1994 rape conviction based in part on a DNA test of semen from a condom recovered at the scene. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/opinion/19fri1.html?th&emc=th

Supreme Court makes age-bias suits harder to win - The justices, overturning a jury award won by a 54-year-old who was demoted, say workers bear the full burden of proof. By David G. Savage. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times. June 19, 2009. Reporting from Washington - With workplace age-discrimination claims rising rapidly, the Supreme Court made it much harder Thursday for older workers to win in court. The 5-4 decision reversed a long-standing rule. Many federal appellate courts had decided that if a worker could show age was one of the factors in a layoff or demotion, then the employer was required to prove it had a legitimate reason for its action apart from age. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-court-age-bias19-2009jun19,0,6254795.story



GOP Bashing

Top 10 Reasons Sarah Palin's "Outrage" is Misplaced and A Little Late....By Shannyn Moore. Copyright by the Huffington Post. June 15, 2009 04:55 AM http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shannyn-moore/top-10-reasons-sarah-pali_b_215468.html

Sen. Ensign Acknowledges an Extramarital Affair By Paul Kane and Chris Cillizza. Copyright by The Washington Post. Wednesday, June 17, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061602746.html?hpid=artslot

TOPIC A : Who'll Suit Up for the GOP in 2012?. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, June 21, 2009. In the wake of the revelation of Sen. John Ensign's extramarital affair, The Post asked politicians, former officials and others to take stock of the GOP field for 2012. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061902967.html

Judge Allows Civil Lawsuit Over Claims of Torture By JOHN SCHWARTZ. Copyright by The New York City Times. Published: June 13, 2009. The decision issued late Friday by a judge in San Francisco allowing a civil lawsuit to go forward against a former Bush administration official, John C. Yoo, might seem like little more than the removal of a procedural roadblock. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/us/politics/14yoo.html?th&emc=th

Bush Takes on Obama By Chris Cillizza. Copyright by The Washington Post. June 12, 2009. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/white-house/bush-takes-on-obama.html?hpid=topnews


Chicagoland

Chicago Tribune Editorial: Who pays? Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 18, 2009. Chicago Tribune Editorial: Who pays? Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 18, 2009. Whoa! What did Mayor Richard Daley just do? The mayor, in Switzerland for an International Olympic Committee meeting on Wednesday, promised that Chicago will take full financial responsibility if the city gets the 2016 Summer Games. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0618edit3jun18,0,1133950.story

Olympics funding: City Council in no mood for games - Aldermen rush in to criticize Daley's about-face on funding By Hal Dardick, Philip Hersh and Kathy Bergen Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 19, 2009. Mayor Richard Daley may have smoothed the waters in Switzerland this week by dropping his refusal to sign the International Olympic Committee's standard host-city contract. But his abrupt -- and unilateral -- decision to place the full financial responsibility for the 2016 Summer Games on the city has touched off a storm at home. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-olympics-19-jun19,0,626633.story

Chicago Tribune Editorial: An Olympic accounting. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 19, 2009. Mayor Richard Daley insisted Thursday that Chicago has not committed taxpayers to cover unlimited losses if the city holds the 2016 Summer Olympics. "We go to $500 million, and that's it," the mayor told the Tribune during Olympics meetings in Switzerland. A $500 million commitment would be nothing new. The City Council approved that two years ago. It's part of a complicated deal involving private insurance and city and state promises to cover more than $2 billion in losses if the Olympics go deep in the red. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0619edit1jun19,0,1133950.story

Perspective: Who is Senate President John Cullerton really kidding on ethics reform? Patrick Collins, chairman of the Illinois Reform Commission, responds to essay By Patrick Collins. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 21, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-perspec0621collinsjun21,0,7119628.story

For Some in Illinois, Talk of Reform Was Just That By MONICA DAVEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/us/16reform.html?th&emc=th

Prosecutor: Sen. Burris won't face perjury charge By JOHN O'CONNOR. Copyright By The Associated Press. Friday, June 19, 2009; 12:00 PM. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois Sen. Roland Burris will not be charged with perjury for statements he made before an Illinois House impeachment committee because there isn't enough evidence to support the charge, the state prosecutor investigating the case said Friday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061901162.html?hpid=topnews

Chicago Sun Times Editorial: Cole scandal raises doubts about Stroger. Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times. June 16, 2009. The more we learn about the Tony Cole scandal, the more we're forced to question the credibility of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Cole, as you might recall, was the busboy with a history of terrorizing women who looked like good county employee material to Stroger. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1623955,CST-EDT-edit16a.article

Chicago Tribune Editorial - Sammy and steroids. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 17, 2009. The New York Times reported Tuesday that former Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. You're not going to find many Chicagoans who express surprise. This is what we've come to expect from Major League Baseball. For a certain era, its best were its best because they were juiced. We can write off that era. It was a fraud. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0617edit2jun17,0,7954292.story



Your Lack of Money

Total US jobless claims fall back - First decline since January, but new claims rise By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 18 2009 14:17 | Last updated: June 18 2009 14:17. The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits fell for the first time since January, the labour department said on Thursday, raising hopes the worst could be over for the stricken job market. Continuing jobless claims declined by 148,000 to 6.69m in the first week of June, more than economists expected and marking the biggest weekly drop since 2001. The total number of US workers claiming unemployment benefits had hit new record highs for 19 straight weeks. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e50ffce4-5c01-11de-aea3-00144feabdc0.html

Small CPI increase eases US inflation fears - Weekly mortgage applications fall By Sarah O’Connor in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 17 2009 15:39 | Last updated: June 17 2009 15:39 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2d012f28-5b49-11de-be3f-00144feabdc0.html

Washington Post Editorial: Overload at the Fed? President Obama's financial regulation plan gives the central bank a starring role. Copyright by The Washington Post. Thursday, June 18, 2009. THE ORIGINS of the Federal Reserve System lie in the financial panic of 1907, when the United States averted economic collapse only because J.P. Morgan improvised emergency private-sector loans to troubled Wall Street firms. Washington's response was to create the Fed as a politically independent "lender of last resort," with the authority to supervise banks. And although the Fed failed its first big test, the Great Depression, it has generally used its twin powers of money creation and bank regulation more wisely since then. Three decades ago, the Fed under Chairman Paul A. Volcker rescued the United States from murderous inflation, albeit at great short-term cost in economic growth. So it is natural that, in the current crisis, President Obama would assign the Fed some heavy lifting in the financial regulatory reform plan he unveiled yesterday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/17/AR2009061703123.html

Bair criticises regulation plan By Joanna Chung in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 19 2009 15:56 | Last updated: June 19 2009 15:56. Sheila Bair, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, on Friday went public with her criticism of the Obama regulatory plan, saying her agency should have a bigger decision-making role over firms that pose systemic risk. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c4953302-5cde-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html

Geithner on defensive over reforms - Attacked over role of Federal Reserve By Tom Braithwaite in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 18 2009 15:48 | Last updated: June 18 2009 17:18 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b7f9ffda-5c14-11de-aea3-00144feabdc0.html

Regulators shut down 3 small banks, bringing this year's failed bank tally to 40 By MADLEN READ. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 6:54 PM CDT, June 19, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-bank-closures,0,6104596.story

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Eyes on the road. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 14 2009 18:30 | Last updated: June 14 2009 18:30. To hear it from the US administration, it was pulled kicking and screaming into becoming the majority owner of General Motors. Denying plans for European-style industrial policy, the government promises to unwind its involvement as soon as possible, and to stay out of day-to-day management. It is the right road to take. It is also easier said than done. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/afd313a8-58fb-11de-80b3-00144feabdc0.html

Porsche posts steep fall in sales - Totals drop 27.6 per cent to 53,000 cars By Daniel Schäfer in Frankfurt. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 19 2009 11:09 | Last updated: June 19 2009 11:09 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/050c11fc-5cae-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html

FedEx swings to fourth-quarter loss - Downturn saps demand for package deliveries and freight By Justin Baer in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 17 2009 13:46 | Last updated: June 17 2009 15:58 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2f6efea0-5b37-11de-be3f-00144feabdc0.html

Eddie Bauer Files for Bankruptcy By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 17, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/business/18bauer.html?_r=1&th&emc=th


Commodities

Oil rises towards $72 a barrel - Currency movements help base metals to advance By Miles Johnson. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 19 2009 11:37 | Last updated: June 19 2009 11:37 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5ee26844-5cbc-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html

Lower inflation figures weigh on dollar - Fed seen committing to zero-rate policy By Peter Garnham. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 17 2009 10:43 | Last updated: June 17 2009 17:59 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2d22b9e8-5b1e-11de-be3f-00144feabdc0.html

Investors cool on US bonds and equities By Sarah O’Connor in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 16 2009 00:52 | Last updated: June 16 2009 00:52. Foreign governments and private investors dramatically reduced their purchases of US assets such as Treasuries in April, choosing instead to make riskier investments elsewhere. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/de0d19e6-5a02-11de-b687-00144feabdc0.html


Housing

US housing starts rebound sharply in May - Wholesale prices in sharpest annual drop since 1949 By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 16 2009 14:16 | Last updated: June 16 2009 15:07 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8d85eb0c-5a6a-11de-8c14-00144feabdc0.html

Mortgage rates back off 7-month high. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. 11:49 AM CDT, June 18, 2009. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ap-mortgage-rates-jun18-,0,7694327.story


GLBT

New York Times Editorial: A Bad Call on Gay Rights. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 15, 2009. The Obama administration, which came to office promising to protect gay rights but so far has not done much, actually struck a blow for the other side last week. It submitted a disturbing brief in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, which is the law that protects the right of states to not recognize same-sex marriages and denies same-sex married couples federal benefits. The administration needs a new direction on gay rights. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/opinion/16tue1.html?th&emc=th

ILLINOIS GAYS BLAST OBAMA'S MEMORANDUM http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/06/illinois-gays-blast-obamas-memorandum.html

LGBTs furious over Obama over DOMA case by Lisa Keen ©2009 Keen News Service. 2009-06-17. The honeymoon is over. The gloves are off. The anger is fierce. In a somewhat obscure gay marriage case in California, the U.S. Department of Justice submitted a brief June 11 that many LGBT activists are decrying as a betrayal of President Barack Obama's promise to work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act ( DOMA ) . http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=21443

For Obama, a Hit and a Miss On Gay Rights By Jonathan Capehart. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, June 21, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/19/AR2009061902746.html

In defense of same-sex marriage By Clarence Page. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 17, 2009. Politics doesn't make strange bedfellows, Groucho Marx once said, "marriage does." If so, it's not so surprising that the opposing attorneys in the 2000 Bush vs. Gore case are now teamed up by marriage politics. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0617pagejun17,0,3295439.column

Study Links Gay Marriage Bans to Rise in HIV Rate | Carlos T Mock, MD http://www.ambiente.us/06509CTMock.html

Rep. Quigley wants same-sex marriage in Census - Same-sex marriages: Census issue by Mark Silva. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. Posted June 16, 2009 11:15 AM http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/06/samesex_marriages_census_issue.html

What’s next for Illinois’ civil unions bill By Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June 18, 2009. Following the disappointment that a civil unions bill never got called for a vote before Illinois’ legislative session ended May 31, supporters started discussing next steps. http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/3600

Gays in the Military: Let the Evidence Speak By John M. Shalikashvili. Copyright by The Washington Post. Friday, June 19, 2009. The Supreme Court announced last week that it would not review a lawsuit challenging the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy forbidding homosexuals from serving openly. The Obama administration had asked the court not to take the case as the president considers ending the ban. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/18/AR2009061803497.html

U.S. to Extend Its Job Benefits to Gay Partners By JEFF ZELENY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 16, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/us/politics/17gays.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Illinois extended gay state workers’ benefits in 2004 By TIM LANDIS (tim.landis@sj-r.com). Copyright by THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER. Posted Jun 17, 2009 @ 11:29 PM. In the heart of the heartland real DP benefits -- health care benefits -- have been conveyed for years by governmental bodies. It is the right thing to do; it is cost effective; and it works. Why doesn't the president and his Illinois team understand this? http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/06/illinois-extended-gay-state-workers.html

New York Times Editorial: Benefits for Same-Sex Partners. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 17, 2009. President Obama’s decision to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees is a victory for fairness in the workplace. It is a serious omission, however, that his new policy does not include health and retirement benefits, which heterosexual married employees receive. The administration has more work to do, on employee benefits and other issues, to keep its promise to work for equal rights for gay Americans. It is deeply unfair that gay federal employees have not been able to give their partners the same benefits coverage as heterosexual employees. Since benefits are an important part of employment compensation, gay people are effectively being paid less than their heterosexual peers for doing the same work. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/opinion/18thu3.html?th&emc=th

Gay seniors embrace a newfound openness - 'Mr. Straight' out of closet at 61 with no regrets By Rex W. Huppke. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 21, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-gay-seniors-levin-jun21,0,6495283.story

Chicago Sun Times Editorial: East Lake View school's straight parents line up with gays. Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times. June 15, 2009 http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1622677,CST-EDT-edit15a.article

Candidate to run against Deb Mell. Copyright by The Windy City Times. 2009-06-17 http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=21454



Immigration

New York Times Editorial: Immigration: It’s Time. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 18, 2009. President Obama keeps saying he is serious about fixing immigration. You can expect him to say it again at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Friday morning. He will likely say it again next week, if his twice-postponed meeting with Congressional leaders to discuss immigration reform finally takes place. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/opinion/19fri2.html?th&emc=th

Technical

Windows 7: Another Reason to Dread the Holidays - Microsoft's new operating system, due for release in late October, will hit many small business owners' wallets in many different ways By Gene Marks. Copyright by Business Week. June 17, 2009, 8:54PM EST http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2009/tc20090617_501440.htm?campaign_id=widget_topStories

Apple CEO Jobs had liver transplant. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times. 12:21 AM CDT, June 20, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-naw-apple-jobs-liver20-2009jun20,0,5560380.story

Profit Rises 33% for Maker of BlackBerry. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: June 18, 2009. TORONTO (AP) — The BlackBerry maker Research in Motion posted a 33 percent increase in quarterly profit on Thursday, exceeding expectations but disappointing investors with its forecast. The company earned $643 million, or $1.12 a share, in the quarter, up from $482.5 million, or 84 cents a share, a year earlier. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/technology/companies/19rimm.html?th&emc=th


Medical

New York Times Editorial: Malpractice and Health Care Reform. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 16, 2009. Hoping to enlist support for his campaign for health care reform, President Obama told the American Medical Association this week that he would work with doctors to limit their vulnerability to malpractice lawsuits. That was a reasonable offer — provided any malpractice reform is done carefully. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/opinion/17wed2.html?th&emc=th

Medicare for all may be the best cure for the US By Clive Crook. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 14 2009 18:35 | Last updated: June 14 2009 18:35 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d9636a6e-58f7-11de-80b3-00144feabdc0.html

New York Times Editorial: Doctors and the Cost of Care. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 13, 2009. As the debate over health care reform unfolds, policy makers and the public need to focus more attention on doctors and the huge role they play in determining the cost of medical care — costs that are rising relentlessly. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14sun1.html?th&emc=th

New York Times Editorial: Teenagers and Pregnancy. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 17, 2009. Between 1991 and 2003, increased contraceptive use among sexually active teenagers played an important role in driving down teenage pregnancy rates. Since then, according to a new report from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, contraceptive use by teens has declined while their sexual activity has remained unchanged. This is a worrisome shift — and it has bearing on the coming budget battle in Congress. The report’s authors, Dr. John Santelli, Mark Orr, Laura Lindberg and Daniela Diaz, said they found a decrease of about 10 percent in contraception use that is consistent with recent gains in the teenage birth rate. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/opinion/18thu4.html?th&emc=th

Drugs Won the War By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 13, 2009. This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opinion/14kristof.html?th&emc=th

Tobacco Regulation Is Expected to Face a Free-Speech Challenge By DUFF WILSON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 15, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/business/16tobacco.html?th&emc=th

Nestlé recalls cookie dough products - Raw dough causes several to fall ill By Jonathan Birchall in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 19 2009 17:46 | Last updated: June 19 2009 17:46 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/94ba2f8a-5cec-11de-9d42-00144feabdc0.html

Other


After Pilot Dies, Jet Lands Safely in Newark By AL BAKER and SEWELL CHAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 18, 2009. Continental Airlines Flight 61 was halfway through its transoceanic flight from Belgium to Newark when a sign of trouble came: A doctor was needed. A Belgian cardiologist, Dr. Julien Struyven, was one of five doctors to answer a call for aid on Continental Flight 61. He said it appeared the pilot had a heart attack. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/nyregion/19plane.html?th&emc=th


Humor

G-D TEXTS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/06/g-d-texts-ten-commandments.html

An updated "West Side Story" http://www.newsday.com/media/flash/2009-04/46217527.swf

Iranian Election http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/06/iranian-election.html

June 17, 2009: Irandecision 2009 - Iranian Soccer Solidarity http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=230686&title=irandecision-2009-iranian

June 15, 2009: Irandecision 2009 - Election Results http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=230115&title=Irandecision-2009---Election-Results

June 17, 2009: Jason Jones: Behind the Veil - Minarets of Menace http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=230687&title=Jason-Jones:-Behind-the-Veil---Minarets-of-Menace

New! Carlos now has an online store. Order your books directly from Carlos and have them signed and dedicated.http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/



In Pride (orgullo),


Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com  
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007.  Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007.  Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation

Perception is everything Newsletter - June 13, 2009

Perception is everything Newsletter - June 13, 2009

“Mayor Daley got it right Thursday when he was talking about politics, the Daley clan and clout: ‘Perception is everything.’  The perception was pretty bad when his nephew's investment firm in 2006 landed a deal to handle $68 million for five city employee pension funds. Chances are your nephew never got such a deal.  And the perception of a sweet insider deal didn't fade even after Daley insisted he knew nothing about it.” Chicago Sun Times Editorial


Chicago Sun Times Editorial: If it smells like clout, that's usually what it is.  Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times.  June 13, 2009 http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1621225,CST-EDT-edit14.article

Daley is ill, but not over nephew's deal  By John Kass.  Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune.  9:54 AM CDT, June 10, 2009.  Update: Shortly after 8:30 a.m.--probably after reading your comments about Wednesday's Kass column on chicagotribune.com--Mayor Richard Daley cancelled his public schedule. He was scheduled to take questions from reporters on all topics, including the federal investigation into how his nephew, Robert Vanecko, received almost $70 million in city pension funds to invest . Vanecko has resigned from the company DV Urban Realty. So the mayor won't be talking to reporters any time soon. It must be the flu.  Let's give Mayor Richard Daley a big, gushy get-well wish, so he recovers quickly from the flu.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kassvanecko10jun10,0,1207600.column


International

U.N. Security Council Adopts Stiffer Curbs on North Korea By NEIL MacFARQUHAR.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 12, 2009.  UNITED NATIONS — The Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Friday to tighten sanctions targeting North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs, including encouraging United Nations members to inspect cargo vessels and airplanes suspected of carrying weapons and other military materiel.  China and Russia, key North Korean allies, were heavily involved in drafting the resolution during the nearly three weeks since North Korea’s May 25 underground nuclear test, but they resisted making the inspections and some other measures mandatory, so it remains unclear what impact the sanctions will have. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/asia/13nations.html?hp

U.S. Weighs Intercepting North Korean Shipments  By DAVID E. SANGER.  Copyright by The Associated Press.  Published: June 7, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/world/asia/08korea.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

N Korea jails US reporters  By Christian Oliver and Song Jung-a in Seoul, and Demetri Sevastopulo in Hong Kong.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 8 2009 07:10 | Last updated: June 8 2009 19:11 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/36b2496c-53f1-11de-a58d-00144feabdc0.html

Victory for Europe’s centre-right - Welfare state capitalism resilient  By Tony Barber in Brussels.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 7 2009 14:55 | Last updated: June 8 2009 15:15  Europe’s centre-right parties on Monday celebrated a resounding election victory that underlined the resilience of the European model of welfare state capitalism in the face of the worst recession since the 1930s.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3beed410-5368-11de-be08-00144feabdc0.html

Russian Military Cuts Leave Soldiers Adrift  By CLIFFORD J. LEVY.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 11, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/world/europe/12russia.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

China

China exports fall more sharply in May  By Justine Lau in Hong Kong.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 11 2009 05:47 | Last updated: June 11 2009 05:47  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83a0c0b4-563f-11de-ab7e-00144feabdc0.html

State stimulus spurs growth in China - New lending by Chinese banks rises By Justine Lau in Hong Kong and Jamil Anderlini in Beijing.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 12 2009 05:44 | Last updated: June 12 2009 19:52 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e7f73bca-5706-11de-9a1c-00144feabdc0.html

Beijing steps up internet censorship - PC makers ordered to include filtering  By Kathrin Hille in Beijing.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 8 2009 17:02 | Last updated: June 8 2009 17:02  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e3755de-5443-11de-a58d-00144feabdc0.html

China Faces Criticism Over New Software Censor  By ANDREW JACOBS.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 10, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/world/asia/11censor.html?th&emc=th

New York Times Editorial: China’s Computer Folly.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 11, 2009.  China has accomplished remarkable things in the past 20 years, including building one of the world’s largest economies. Computers helped speed that development — and will be even more important in the future. So Beijing’s decision to require that all new personal computers sold in China contain software that bars access to certain Internet content seems particularly self-destructive and foolish.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/opinion/12fri3.html?th&emc=th



Mess-o-potamia

Ahmadi-Nejad wins landslide in Iran - Supreme leader declares historic election over  By Najmeh Bozorgmehr and Anna Fifield in Tehran.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 13 2009 10:47 | Last updated: June 13 2009 15:22.  The government of Iran on Saturday announced that incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad had won a landslide victory in the presidential election, amid claims from opposition leaders that the results in the historic contest had been “staged”.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fdd49372-57f9-11de-8cbb-00144feabdc0.html

Sunni Lawmaker Assassinated in Iraq  By ROD NORDLAND.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 12, 2009.  BAGHDAD — A lawmaker who headed the largest Sunni bloc in Iraq’s Parliament was assassinated at a mosque on Friday, a day after denouncing human rights abuses by the government. The gunman, who some security officials said appeared to be around 15 years old, fired on other worshippers and threw a grenade before being killed by mosque guards. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html?ref=global-home

At Sunni Leader’s Funeral, a Display of Iraqi Unity  By MARC SANTORA.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 13, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/world/middleeast/14iraq.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Pakistanis Seen Rising Up Against Taliban  By SABRINA TAVERNISE and IRFAN ASHRAF.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/world/asia/10pstan.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Moderate Cleric Killed in Pakistan  By WAQAR GILLANI and SABRINA TAVERNISE.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 12, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/world/asia/13pstan.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Strong Bomb Hits Hotel in Northwest Pakistan  By SALMAN MASOOD.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 9, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/world/asia/10peshawar.html?hp

U.S.-Backed Alliance Wins in Lebanon   By MICHAEL SLACKMAN.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 8, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/world/middleeast/09lebanon.html?_r=1&ref=global-home


National

Security Guard Is Killed in Shooting at Holocaust Museum in D.C. By DAVID STOUT.  Copyright by The The New York Times.  Published: June 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/us/11shoot.html?_r=1&hpw

Court: Coleman must pay Franken $95,000 in court costs.  Copyright by The Associated Press.  June 11, 2009 - 1:31 PM.  A three-judge panel today required Republican Norm Coleman to pay Democrat Al Franken $94,783 to cover court costs in the seven-week U.S. Senate trial.  The ruling, by the panel that heard the trial, approves an administrative decision last month by the Ramsey County clerk's office. Franken's team had sought $161,510, but a deputy county clerk rejected a request that Coleman pay Franken for his cost of obtaining public records that made up many of the exhibits in the trial and some other expenses. http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/47594802.html?elr=KArksUUUU

New York Times Editorial: Honest Justice.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 8, 2009.  The right to a fair hearing before an impartial judge, untainted by money or special interests, is at the heart of the nation’s justice system and the rule of law. That right is more secure following a 5-to-4 ruling on Monday by the United States Supreme Court.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/opinion/09tue1.html?ref=global

Justices Tell Judges Not to Rule on Major Backers By ADAM LIPTAK.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 8, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/us/politics/09scotus.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Chicago Tribune Editorial: Courting trouble.  Copyright © Chicago Tribune, 2009.  June 9, 2009.  Judges are elected in most states, including Illinois. The main value of Monday's U.S. Supreme Court decision in a West Virginia case is to provide another good reason why judicial elections are a bad idea.  In 2002, a coal company won $50 million in damages from a competitor, A.T. Massey Coal Co., in court. With both an election and an appeal to the state Supreme Court looming, Massey CEO Donald Blankenship spent more than $3 million in a successful effort to unseat incumbent Justice Warren McGraw. The winning candidate, Brent Benjamin, joined the court, rebuffed requests that he recuse himself and cast the deciding vote to overturn the verdict.  That's pretty astonishing, even from our vantage point in ethics-challenged Illinois.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0609edit2jun09,0,609661.story

CIA Urges Judge To Keep Bush-Era Documents Sealed - Al-Qaeda Could Use Contents, Agency Says  By R. Jeffrey Smith.  Copyright by The Washington Post.  Tuesday, June 9, 2009  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/08/AR2009060804117.html?hpid=topnews

First Guantanamo inmate transferred to U.S. for trial - Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani is to appear in a New York court today in connection with the 1998 bombings that killed 224 people at U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.  By Mark Silva.  Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times.  6:44 AM CDT, June 9, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-guantanamo-trial10-2009jun10,0,2411221.story

Geithner’s plans for Wall Street regulation - Revised reforms reveal power of entrenched interests  By Edward Luce in Washington.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 11 2009 20:50 | Last updated: June 11 2009 20:50 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/148b4b6a-56bf-11de-9a1c-00144feabdc0.html

US ‘pay tsar’ to vet executive packages - Plans for new ‘say on pay’ legislation  By Tom Braithwaite in Washington.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 10 2009 16:06 | Last updated: June 10 2009 20:43  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c8ffffee-55cc-11de-ab7e-00144feabdc0.html

New York Times Editorial: Paying for Universal Health Coverage.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 6, 2009.  For Congress and the administration to keep the promise of comprehensive health care reform, they will have to find the political will to pay for universal coverage and other investments that are needed right away but will not produce quick savings. The cost could reach $1.5 trillion over the next decade.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/opinion/07sun1.html?_r=1&hpw

Obama Administration Finds Health-Care Model in Green Bay  By Ceci Connolly.  Copyright by The Washington Post.  Thursday, June 11, 2009  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/10/AR2009061003669.html?hpid=topnews

Doctors’ Group Opposes Public Insurance Plan By ROBERT PEAR.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/us/politics/11health.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Robert Reich's Blog - How Pharma and Insurance Intend to Kill the Public Option, And What Obama and the Rest of Us Must Do.  Copyright by Robert Reich.  Friday, June 05, 2009 http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/06/public-option-smokescreens-and-what-you.html




GOP Bashing

The Importance of Being Obama  By Eugene Robinson.  Copyright by the Washington Post.  Tuesday, June 9, 2009.  I used to fear that President Obama was overestimating the power of his personal history as an instrument of foreign policy. Now I wonder if he might have been underestimating.  In several interviews during the long presidential campaign, Obama mentioned the potential impact in other countries of seeing an American president with an appearance and a life story like none of his predecessors. He spoke of how the Muslim world especially, addressed by a president who had a Muslim father and who spent years of his childhood in a Muslim country, might be more inclined to believe that the United States is not an enemy of Islam.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/08/AR2009060803501.html

Crazy right-wing myths about Obama 2.0 - The post-inauguration edition of odd things conservatives believe about Obama. Teleprompters! Hitler Youth! Satan!   Copyright by By Salon.com.  Jun. 08, 2009  http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/08/obama_myths/print.html

Chicago Sun Times Editorial: False outrage = true stupidity.  Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times.  June 9, 2009.  Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, has joined the Fake Outrage Over Obama Club.  At least we hope his outrage is fake. If not -- if Grassley's anger is for real -- then he's plain stupid.When will this end? When will President Obama's loudest critics understand that he is popular in part because he talks to the American people as if they are smart -- and they should give it a try?  On Sunday, Grassley complained that Obama has the "nerve" to tell Congress it's "time to deliver" on health-care legislation while he goes "sightseeing in Paris."  As if the average American would begrudge a president a few hours downtime.  We're not that stupid.  http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1613081,CST-EDT-edit09b.article

Keeping up with the Obamas  By Clarence Page.   Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune.  June 10, 2009.  When it comes to annoying somebody or other, American presidents can't catch a break even when they decide to take a break.  As predictably as potholes follow Chicago winters, critics pounce on presidential vacations as being too extravagant, too self-indulgent.That's why some of the people who have been complaining that President Barack Obama is trying to do too much in his first year in office also complained when he took his wife out for a dinner and a play in New York. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped06010bamajun10,0,3700008.story

Half-Baked Alaska - Sarah Palin's Dysfunctional Organization May Be Her Undoing  By Kathleen Parker.  Copyright by The Washington Post.  Wednesday, June 10, 2009. Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska and GOP "It" girl, can warm up the Republican base like a hot toddy in a duck blind. But further inside the party organization, the air is a little nippy.  What happened? In a word, bungling.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/09/AR2009060902596.html

David Letterman defends Sarah Palin joke BY VERNE GAY.  Copyright © 2009, Newsday Inc.  10:33 PM CDT, June 10, 2009  http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ny-etdave114739904jun10,0,7596473.story

Jesse Ventura 'schools' The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck on waterboarding / torture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgarV13g6QM


Chicagoland

Ill. sues village accused of using tainted water  By MICHAEL TARM.  Copyright 2009 Associated Press.  6:41 PM CDT, June 9, 2009.  CHICAGO - The state of Illinois filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Chicago suburb for allegedly drawing drinking water from a contaminated well for decades, then lying about it to residents and environmental authorities.  The 58-page complaint, filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, accuses the village of Crestwood of knowingly providing false information about the water supply to more than 11,000 residents and to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-contaminatedwater,0,6342339.story

Washington Post Editorial: Sen. Roland Burris (D-Blago) - The hole gets deeper for the tainted senator from Illinois.  Copyright by The Washington Post.  Monday, June 8, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/07/AR2009060702018.html

Salon, art gallery opens in Three Oaks.  Copyright by The Herald-Palladium.  June 13, 2009.  THREE OAKS — A new business in Three Oaks is billing itself as part hair salon and part consignment store with an emphasis on art, antiques and jewelry.  The store is named Infinitas, the Latin word for infinity.  “We envision a store that has a little bit of everything for everyone,” Bill Rattan, owner and stylist, said in a news release.    Infinitas is a full-service hair salon for men and women with massage services available by appointment. It carries two product lines: American Crew, which is formulated for men, and Aquage, which is for everyone. http://iretiredfromnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/06/salon-art-gallery-opens-in-three-oaks.html

Bob Sirott leaves WMAQ-Ch. 5  By Phil Rosenthal.  Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune.  June 11, 2009 http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/towerticker/2009/06/bob-sirott-out-at-wmaqch-5.html



Your Lack of Money

New US jobless claims ease - US retail sales rebound in May By Alan Rappeport in New York.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 11 2009 14:26 | Last updated: June 11 2009 14:26 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ff21b00-567e-11de-9a1c-00144feabdc0.html

US consumer confidence hits nine-month high - Inflation fears dim economic outlook By Alan Rappeport in New York.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 12 2009 15:57 | Last updated: June 12 2009 15:57.  US consumer confidence rose in June to its highest level in nine months as a recent stock market rally and signs of economic stability have begun to peel away some of gloom cast by the recession.   http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0edd2bfc-575f-11de-8c47-00144feabdc0.html

Obama’s spending drive focuses on jobs - Plan to create 600,000 jobs in 100 days  By Edward Luce in Washington.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 8 2009 19:07 | Last updated: June 8 2009 19:07  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6b9600a2-5454-11de-a58d-00144feabdc0.html

US wholesale inventories slide in April  By Alan Rappeport in New York.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 9 2009 16:12 | Last updated: June 9 2009 16:12 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2db8a09c-5507-11de-b5d4-00144feabdc0.html

Ten US banks to repay Tarp funds - Treasury to recoup $68bn  By Alan Rappeport in New York.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 9 2009 14:51 | Last updated: June 9 2009 15:24 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a837644a-54ec-11de-b953-00144feabdc0.html

Revenue at Craigslist Is Said to Top $100 Million By BRAD STONE.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 9, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/technology/internet/10craig.html?th&emc=th

McDonald’s continues to defy downturn - Low-price menus attract consumers  By Jonathan Birchall in New York.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 8 2009 18:37 | Last updated: June 8 2009 18:37  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dbfd5548-544f-11de-a58d-00144feabdc0.html

Brazil economy shrinks less than expected - GDP falls 1.8 per cent in first quarter  By Jonathan Wheatley in São Paulo.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 9 2009 16:18 | Last updated: June 9 2009 16:18  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/28289c92-5500-11de-b5d4-00144feabdc0.html

Setback for eurozone recovery hopes - Sharp fall in industrial production By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 12 2009 11:04 | Last updated: June 12 2009 11:04  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/95f93438-5736-11de-8c47-00144feabdc0.html

Industry Slumps, but Prius Inspires Waiting List By HIROKO TABUCHI.  Copyright by The Associated Press.  Published: June 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/business/global/13prius.html?th&emc=th

Supreme Court Clears Way for the Sale of Chrysler to Fiat  By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 9, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/business/global/10chrysler.html?hp

Fiat seals deal with Chrysler - Marchionne to become chief executive By John Reed in London and Bernard Simon in Toronto.  Published: June 10 2009 16:05 | Last updated: June 10 2009 16:05  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0ca5f026-55cf-11de-ab7e-00144feabdc0.html

Koenigsegg set to buy Saab - Likely buyer for GM’s premium brand By John Reed.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 11 2009 23:49 | Last updated: June 11 2009 23:49 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86e65646-56d8-11de-9a1c-00144feabdc0.html



Commodities

Concerns for recovery as oil surges - Crude rises to almost $72 a barrel  By Javier Blas in London.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 10 2009 19:08 | Last updated: June 10 2009 19:08 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1d73e2e0-55e9-11de-ab7e-00144feabdc0.html

Toxic debt fears undermine euro - Pound highlights eurozone fears By Peter Garnham.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 12 2009 19:18 | Last updated: June 12 2009 19:18.  Talk of the pound dropping to parity against the euro has evaporated as concerns over the eurozone’s banking system intensify. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e06f566c-576f-11de-8c47-00144feabdc0.html

US long-term interest rates hit high - Investors fear debt levels threaten recovery  By Michael Mackenzie and Alan Rappeport in New York and David Oakley in London.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 10 2009 20:23 | Last updated: June 10 2009 21:45.  US long-term interest rates rose to the highest level of the year on Wednesday, threatening the “green shoots” of recovery, after the latest sale of 10-year government debt met with a tepid response from inflation-wary investors.  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/68ca2d04-55f2-11de-ab7e-00144feabdc0.html

Yield rise threatens recovery - Yields have been rising in the US and UK  By Michael Mackenzie and David Oakley.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 8 2009 19:20 | Last updated: June 8 2009 19:20 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7b65deca-5455-11de-a58d-00144feabdc0.html



Housing

Mortgage rates hit 7-month high - Refis hit the brakes.  Copyright © 2009, Associated Press.  10:59 AM CDT, June 11, 2009  http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ap-mortgage-rates-jun11,0,4433635.story

Recycled homes, one box at a time  http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/06/12/recycled.homes/index.html#cnnSTCVideo


GLBT

New York Times Editorial: The Ban on Gays in the Military.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 9, 2009.  The Supreme Court’s refusal this week to hear a challenge to the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military is not much of a legal setback. The court did not address the merits of the case, and another lawsuit still moving through the courts may be a better vehicle for challenging the benighted policy.  Even so, relying on a conservative court to make things right would be a gamble. Unfortunately, neither President Obama nor Congress shows much appetite for moving to end a ban that is not only unfair to gay men and lesbians but damaging to the military as well. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/opinion/10wed2.html?th&emc=th

Gay New Yorkers Head to Greenwich for Weddings By LISA W. FODERARO.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 10, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/nyregion/11greenwich.html?th&emc=th

Why I Now Support Gay Marriage By TOM SUOZZI.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 12, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/opinion/13suozzi.html?th&emc=th

Study Links Gay Marriage Bans to Rise in HIV Rate  By Elaine Justice: 404.787.0643.  Jun. 4, 2009.  Copyright by Emory University  http://www.emory.edu/home/news/releases/2009/06/study-links-gay-marriage-bans-to-rise-in-hiv-rate.html?utm_campaign=marriagebanATLANTA

Activists call for gay rights march  By Jennifer Dobner.  Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune.  June 8, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gay-rights-08jun08,0,7702510.story

Chastity Bono Announces Sex Change.  Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.  Published: June 11, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/06/11/arts/AP-US-People-Chastity-Bono.html?scp=1&sq=chastity%20bono&st=cse



Technical

After Long Wait, Stations Switch Off Analog By BRIAN STELTER.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 12, 2009.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/business/media/13digital.html?th&emc=th

Snow Leopard gets richer, thinner, cheaper than Windows 7  By Prince McLean.  Copyright by Apple Insider.com.  Published: 05:10 PM EST, Tuesday, June 9, 2009.  After trying to beat back the Mac's increasing encroachment into the PC world with ads focused on price, Microsoft's club has been picked up by Apple to give Windows 7 an embarrassing pummeling in terms of price.  Explaining that the company wanted as many Mac OS X Leopard users as possible to upgrade to the new Snow Leopard, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller announced a $29 upgrade price for Snow Leopard and a $49 family pack upgrade. Users who buy a new Mac between the June 8 announcement and the release of Snow Leopard can get a copy of the new software for even cheaper, just $9.95 to cover shipping and handling.  http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/06/09/snow_leopard_gets_richer_thinner_cheaper_than_windows_7.html

Apple unveils new version of iPhone - Company cuts price of 3G model to $99  By David Gelles and Chris Nuttall in San Francisco.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 8 2009 20:05 | Last updated: June 8 2009 20:15  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ba0452d0-545d-11de-a58d-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

Microsoft Browser Offer Fails to Impress Europe By KEVIN J. O’BRIEN.  Copyright by The New Yprk Times.  Published: June 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/technology/companies/13euro.html?th&emc=th
   

Medical

W.H.O. Raises Alert Level as Flu Spreads to 74 Countries By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 11, 2009.  After weeks of very public wrestling with its own conscience, the World Health Organization declared the global swine flu outbreak a pandemic on Thursday. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/world/asia/12flu.html?hp

My Choice - I grew up believing that abortions are wrong. Now, I expect to perform them someday.  By Rozalyn Farmer Love.  Sunday, June 7, 2009  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060502006.html

New York Times Editorial: Protection for Doctors.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 7, 2009.  After last month’s fatal shooting of Dr. George Tiller, Attorney General Eric Holder took the prudent step of ordering the United States Marshals Service to provide security for certain abortion clinics and physicians thought to be at heightened risk. The response by the federal government must not end there.  Mr. Holder and Congress should review the killing of Dr. Tiller to determine whether there are systemic problems that led to apparent gaps in the F.B.I.’s performance in the case.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/opinion/08mon2.html?th&emc=th

H.I.V. Found in 22 Actors in Sex Films Since 2004 By GARDINER HARRIS.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 12, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/13/health/13hiv.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

New York Times Editorial: Tobacco Regulation, at Last.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 11, 2009  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/opinion/12fri1.html?th&emc=th

Congress Sends Obama Bill to Regulate Tobacco By Lyndsey Layton.  Copyright by The Washington Post.  Friday, June 12, 2009; 1:24 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/12/AR2009061200311.html?hpid=topnews

Addicts have made a choice  By Christopher Caldwell.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 12 2009 19:36 | Last updated: June 12 2009 19:36.  The US Congress voted this week to let the Food and Drug Administration regulate tobacco almost out of existence, but could not work up the nerve to ban it. The latest of America’s periodic bouts of prohibitionism is thus coming to an end in a typically ambivalent fashion. Authorities are split over whether people are moral agents, competent to make their own decisions about drugs, or helpless victims; and whether drug abuse is a choice or a disease. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cccd9e82-577b-11de-8c47-00144feabdc0.html


Other

Boston Globe union rejects pay cuts - US daily may be shut down  By Kenneth Li in New York.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 9 2009 05:20 | Last updated: June 9 2009 05:20  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bb8b8d46-54a6-11de-a58d-00144feabdc0.html

New York Times sounds out bids for Boston Globe - Goldman Sachs approaches potential buyers  By Kenneth Li in New York.  Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.  Published: June 10 2009 20:02 | Last updated: June 10 2009 20:09  http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f42d83c-55ed-11de-ab7e-00144feabdc0.html

A Big Night for Broadway, and Especially for Billy  By PATRICK HEALY.  Copyright by The New York Times.  Published: June 7, 2009.  Broadway productions with roots in the London theater dominated the 63rd annual Tony Awards on Sunday, with “Billy Elliot” winning best musical and nine other awards and “God of Carnage” picking up honors for best play, best director and best actress.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/theater/theaterspecial/08tony.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1244492910-HyCW9K6kwJfEnG8HYLuEAA


Humor

Miss California USA Prejean dethroned By Alan Duke.  Copyright by CNN News.  June 11, 2009.  http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/06/10/prejean.dethroned/index.html

New! Carlos now has an online store. Order your books directly from Carlos and have them signed and dedicated.http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/



In Pride (orgullo),


Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com  
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007.  Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007.  Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation

A New Beginning: Newsletter - June 6, 2009

“When George W. Bush made his last visit to the Middle East he was greeted with a volley of shoes, a mark of contempt that measured with lamentable accuracy the level to which America’s reputation had sunk in the region during his eight long years in power. Barack Obama, in his speech on Thursday to the Arab and Muslim worlds from Cairo University, arrived to a standing ovation and left to rapturous applause. He has started a new conversation. While all now depends on what the US does rather than what its president says, Mr. Obama has changed the tone of relations between the west and the world of Islam.” Financial Times Editorial Comment

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Obama gets off to a new beginning. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 4 2009 19:40 | Last updated: June 4 2009 19:40. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3ac64d90-5136-11de-84c3-00144feabdc0.html

Obama cracks the code to reach Islam - Implementing coherent policies will be far more challenging, if not impossible By Roula Khalaf. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 4 2009 18:37 | Last updated: June 4 2009 20:05 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e8e6b2c-512c-11de-84c3-00144feabdc0.html

Washington Post Editorial: The Cairo Appeal - Arab leaders will seek to narrow President Obama's broad agenda to one issue. Guess which. Copyright by The Washington Post . Friday, June 5, 2009. PRESIDENT OBAMA was the first to say yesterday that one speech cannot erase the accumulated hostility and mistrust between many of the world's Muslims and the United States. But his address in Cairo offered an eloquent case for American values and global objectives -- and it looked to be a skillful use of public diplomacy in a region where America's efforts to explain itself have often been weak. Mr. Obama uttered verses from the Koran, spoke about the success of U.S. Muslims, debunked extremists' claims and defended the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians. He returned repeatedly to the theme that most of the differences between Muslims and the West can be eased by "a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another and to seek common ground." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060403786.html

Merkel: Obama offers ‘unique opportunity’ for MidEast - President to visit Buchenwald concentration camp By Chris Bryant in Dresden. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 12:23 | Last updated: June 5 2009 13:23. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on Friday described Barack Obama’s presidency as a “unique opportunity” to revive the Middle East peace process as the US leader continued his international tour with a stop in the historic eastern city of Dresden. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d6e5affc-51bf-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html


The President’s Speech in Cairo: A New Beginning http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/NewBeginning/

Call to Arab states on Israel links - Obama condemns Holocaust deniers before Buchenwald visit By Chris Bryant in Dresden and Tobias Buck in Jerusalem. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 20:17 | Last updated: June 5 2009 20:17 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1af10054-5204-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

Israelis fear unravelling of US alliance - Settlement policy fuels differences By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 2 2009 13:26 | Last updated: June 2 2009 13:26 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ff9b7dde-4f6f-11de-a692-00144feabdc0.html

Obama Talks of Being ‘Honest’ With Israel By HELENE COOPER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/world/middleeast/02prexy.html?hpw

June 4, 2009: Looking for Comity in the Muslim World http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=229008&title=Looking-for-Comity-in-the-Muslim-World



International

Obama, With Eye on N. Korea, Hails D-Day Heroes By JEFF ZELENY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 6, 2009. COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France — President Obama led a solemn tribute on Saturday to the valiant Allied soldiers who stormed the beaches here 65 years ago and achieved the triumph of a generation that charted a course for the end of World War II. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/world/europe/07prexy.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

N Korea lines up successor for Kim - Dictator’s youngest son tipped as heir By Christian Oliver in Seoul. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 2 2009 04:23 | Last updated: June 2 2009 09:49 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a466c4d2-4f24-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html

South and North Korea to talk - S Korea accepts North’s call after nuclear blast By Christian Oliver in Seoul. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 11:16 | Last updated: June 5 2009 11:16 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/415f15a6-51b8-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Time runs out for Gordon Brown. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 19:14 | Last updated: June 5 2009 19:14. At the end of the worst week of his political life, Gordon Brown is still standing – just. The question is whether he can still govern. That must be answered because, with the challenges it is facing, Britain desperately needs a government. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da5ad8ea-51f8-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

Brown defies critics: ‘I will not walk away’ = Reshuffle buys time for UK prime minister By Jean Eaglesham, George Parker and Jim Pickard in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 4 2009 22:19 | Last updated: June 5 2009 18:47 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6cd31774-51d5-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

Eurozone jobless rate hits 10-year high - Recession takes toll on labour market By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 2 2009 11:33 | Last updated: June 2 2009 11:33 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/058c2a04-4f5c-11de-a692-00144feabdc0.html

ECB leaves interest rates on hold at 1% - Trichet downgrades growth forecasts By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt and David Oakley in London. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 4 2009 12:45 | Last updated: June 4 2009 14:56 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2a2fbd36-50f5-11de-8922-00144feabdc0.html

In Turnaround, Cuba Agrees to Talks With U.S. By Mary Beth Sheridan. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, May 31, 2009; 12:44 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/31/AR2009053101078.html?hpid=topnews


China

Police swamp Tiananmen Square - Beijing denounces US ‘interference’ By Kathrin Hille and Jamil Anderlini in Beijing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 Published: June 4 2009 09:46 | Last updated: June 4 2009 09:46 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d316b736-50d9-11de-8922-00144feabdc0.html

Beijing steps up efforts to crush dissent By Kathrin Hille in Beijing and Tom Mitchell and Justine Lau in Hong Kong. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 Published: June 3 2009 16:23 | Last updated: June 3 2009 16:23 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/96c78f34-504e-11de-9530-00144feabdc0.html

Chicago Sun Times Editorial: Image shows how time has stopped in China. Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times. June 6, 2009. It's strange how a slight change in perspective can enrich what we know about history. Take the iconic photo of the lone protester, dubbed the "Tank Man," as he faced down a column of tanks during China's Tiananmen Square protests, whose 20th anniversary was marked last week. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1609747,CST-EDT-edit07a.article

Hong Kong Pays Tribute to Tiananmen Protesters While Beijing Stays Silent By SHARON LaFRANIERE and KEITH BRADSHER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: June 4, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/world/asia/05beijing.html

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Geithner’s good start in Beijing. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 1 2009 20:06 | Last updated: June 1 2009 20:06. The US and China are locked in a teetering dance, each grudgingly matching one another’s first steps. This week, in a speech at the start of his visit to Beijing, Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, set out a plan for how this relationship can develop into a more graceful arrangement. Mending the world economy, however, must go beyond mere bilateral talks. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/10adcf3c-4ed5-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html



Mess-o-potamia

Taliban Stir Rising Anger of Pakistanis By SABRINA TAVERNISE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 4, 2009. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A year ago, the Pakistani public was deeply divided over what to do about its spreading insurgency. Some saw the Taliban militants as fellow Muslims and native sons who simply wanted Islamic law, and many opposed direct military action against them. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/world/asia/05refugees.html?_r=1&hpw

Pakistan Fighting Militants on 2 Fronts By SABRINA TAVERNISE and ISMAIL KHAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/world/asia/02pstan.html?ref=global-home

Pakistan Army Claims Control of Main Swat Town By SABRINA TAVERNISE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: May 30, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/world/asia/31pstan.html?th&emc=th

Devotion and Money Tie Iranians to Iraqi City By SAM DAGHER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: May 30, 2009. KARBALA, Iraq — Over just two days, about 80 Iranian pilgrims were killed in April in suicide bombings in Iraq. But even though the pilgrims are clearly a favored target for Sunni extremists in Iraq, and though the threat continues, it seems nothing will keep the Iranians from coming here. Iraq allows up to 5,000 Iranian pilgrims to enter each day. The two countries have long had a complicated relationship. Karbala’s economy depends on money spent by Iranians. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/world/middleeast/31karbala.html?th&emc=th

Six Are Killed in West Bank as Fatah Moves Against Hamas By ETHAN BRONNER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: May 31, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/world/middleeast/01mideast.html?_r=1&ref=global-home


National

New York Times Editorial: Murder in Kansas. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 1, 2009. The murder of Dr. George Tiller, who was shot to death as he stood in the foyer of his church in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday morning, was a reprehensible act of domestic terrorism directed toward the dwindling cadre of physicians who risk their safety to perform legal medical procedures. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/opinion/02tue2.html?hpw

Washington Post Editorial: Clinics in the Cross Hairs - After an abortion provider's killing, a need for greater security. Copyright by The Washington Post. Wednesday, June 3, 2009. GEORGE TILLER knew the danger of providing late-term abortions. His home was picketed, his office was blown up and in 1993 he was shot in both arms by an anti-abortion zealot. He never considered stopping his work, because he knew there were women who needed his help. His murder is a tragedy for his family, his patients and his profession. It should serve as a wake-up call that more must be done to ensure that women have access to this legal procedure. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060203275.html

Slaying Raises Fears on Both Sides of Abortion Debate By Peter Slevin. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, June 2, 2009. WICHITA, June 1 -- As the U.S. Marshals Service moved to protect abortion clinics and doctors nationwide, the fatal shooting of the country's most prominent provider of late-term abortions reignited a national debate about reproductive rights. Supporters of the right to legal abortion worried Monday that the killing of George Tiller in his Wichita church could foretell fresh protests and violence even as many abortion opponents fretted that his death could hurt their image and cause. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/01/AR2009060100612.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

Jim Jones's Team By David Ignatius. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, June 7, 2009. Defense Secretary Robert Gates doesn't give interviews all that often. So it was interesting that Gates reached out last week to talk about Gen. Jim Jones, the national security adviser, and how he is managing the foreign policy process in the Obama administration. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060502832.html

N.Y. Congressman Nominated for Army Secretary By CARL HULSE. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 2, 2009. WASHINGTON — President Obama announced on Tuesday that he will nominate Representative John M. McHugh of upstate New York, the senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, to be the next secretary of the Army. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/us/politics/03army.html?hpw

Couple accused of spying for Cuba for 30 years - State Department charges 72-year-old and wife By Daniel Dombey in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 6 2009 01:09 | Last updated: June 6 2009 01:09 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0c84e56c-522c-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

U.S. Accidentally Releases List of Nuclear Sites By WILLIAM J. BROAD. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 2, 2009. The federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/us/03nuke.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Deep Cuts Threaten to Reshape California By JENNIFER STEINHAUER. Copyright by The Associated Press. Published: May 30, 2009. LOS ANGELES — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not get the election results he sought. Now he seems determined to show California voters the consequences. In a special election on May 19, voters rejected a batch of measures on increasing taxes, borrowing funds and reapportioning state money that were designed to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap. The cuts Mr. Schwarzenegger has proposed to make up the difference, if enacted by the Legislature, would turn California into a place that in some ways would be unrecognizable in modern America: poor children would have no health insurance, prisoners would be released by the thousands and state parks would be closed. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/us/31calif.html?th&emc=th

Pawlenty To Retire With An Eye on 2012 By Chris Cillizza. Copyright by The Washington Post. June 2, 2009. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) will not seek a third term in 2010, clearing the way for an expected bid for the 2012 presidential nomination, according to sources close to the governor. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/eye-on-2012/pawlenty-to-retire.html?hpid=topnews


GOP Bashing

Why I Turned Down O'Reilly By Mary Alice Carr. Copyright by The Washington Post. Thursday, June 4, 2009... O'Reilly is being incredibly disingenuous when he claims that he bears no responsibility for others' actions in the killing of Dr. George Tiller on Sunday. When you tell an audience of millions over and over again that someone is an executioner, you cannot feign surprise when someone executes that person....http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/03/AR2009060303238.html

Rush Limbaugh critic Kevin Stevenson ousted as Marathon County Republican Party spokesman By Robert Mentzer. Copyright by The Wausau Daily Herald. June 2, 2009. The Republican Party of Marathon County has stripped its spokesman of his title less than three months after he wrote a column critical of conservative talk radio star Rush Limbaugh. http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20090602/WDH0101/906020543/1981

Washington Post Editorial: Double Standard - Funny how the achievements on Sonia Sotomayor's resume suddenly count for so little. Copyright by The Washington Post. Tuesday, June 2, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/01/AR2009060102786.html

Sotomayor a racist? Newt Gingrich takes it back - The former House speaker had joined Rush Limbaugh in calling Sonia Sotomayor a racist. Gingrich now says his words were 'perhaps too strong and too direct,' but Limbaugh defends the characterization. By Michael Muskal. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times. 1:41 PM CDT, June 3, 2009. Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives who has become a leading conservative critic, today backed away from his comments that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was a racist but continued to question whether her philosophy qualified her to become the first Latina on the top court. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-sotomayor-gingrich4-2009jun04,0,4223310.story

Who Is to Blame for the Next Attack? Republicans in Congress have no plausible economic, health care or energy policies to counter the president’s. The only card left to play is 9/11. By FRANK RICH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: May 30, 2009. AFTER watching the farce surrounding Dick Cheney’s coming-out party this month, you have to wonder: Which will reach Washington first, change or the terrorists? If change doesn’t arrive soon, terrorists may well rush in where the capital’s fools now tread. The Beltway antics that greeted the great Cheney-Obama torture debate were an unsettling return to the post-9/11 dynamic that landed America in Iraq. Once again Cheney and his cohort were using lies and fear to try to gain political advantage — this time to rewrite history and escape accountability for the failed Bush presidency rather than to drum up a new war. Once again Democrats in Congress were cowed. And once again too much of the so-called liberal news media parroted the right’s scare tactics, putting America’s real security interests at risk by failing to challenge any Washington politician carrying a big stick. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/opinion/31rich.html?th&emc=th

Cheney Led Briefings of Lawmakers To Defend Interrogation Techniques - No Indication of Whether Waterboarding Was Discussed By Paul Kane and Joby Warrick. Copyright by The Washington Post. Wednesday, June 3, 2009 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060203999.html?hpid=topnews

The Trauma of 9/11 Is No Excuse By Richard A. Clarke. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, May 31, 2009. Top officials from the Bush administration have hit upon a revealing new theme as they retrospectively justify their national security policies. Call it the White House 9/11 trauma defense. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/29/AR2009052901560.html

Dick (Uncut): Jon Stewart Destroys Cheney (and the National Press Club for Good Measure) http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/140452


Chicagoland

Chicago Tribune Editorial - The state of corruption lives on. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 3, 2009. Your valiant lawmakers galloped off to Springfield in January, ousted a disastrous governor and promised to clean up your government. They headed back to their districts this week to brag about what a great job they did. Open government! Campaign finance reform! Huzzah for us! Don't believe it. Not for a minute. They failed you. They failed you and they protected themselves. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/arts/chi-edit-pageone-reformjun03,0,5960784.story

County board again fails to override Stroger sales tax veto by Hal Dardick. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 2, 2009 http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/06/county-board-again-fails-to-override-stroger-sales-tax-veto.html

More than 1,100 will start getting layoff notices this week. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 2, 2009. More than 1,100 city employees -- none sworn police officers or firefighters -- will start receiving layoff notices later this week after organized labor refused Mayor Daley's demand for 17 days off without pay and comp time instead of cash overtime. http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/1602364,CST-NWS-layoff02web.article

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Meter is running on city's loss. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 3, 2009. Let's say you decide to rent out a few rooms in your home, but instead of figuring out what rents go for in your neighborhood, you just decide to see what people will pay. Or let's say you want to sell your business, but instead of figuring out what it's worth, you just put it out for bid and take the highest one -- not even knowing what a minimum bid should be. Goofy, right? That's essentially what the City of Chicago did when it leased out its parking meters for 75 years, according to an analysis by the city's inspector general, David Hoffman. http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1604168,CST-EDT-edit03b.article

Chicago Tribune Editorial: Daley's meter debacle. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 3, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0603edit2jun03,0,3891050.story

Inspector not afraid to pry in City Hall - Inspector not afraid to bite mayoral hand that feeds him By Dan Mihalopoulos. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 7, 2009. At a City Hall that has seen two decades of one-man rule, an appointee of Mayor Richard Daley is emerging as the most prominent counterweight to the mayor's virtually absolute lock on power. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-hoffman-profile07jun07,0,7255215.story

Inspector general lambastes city meter lease - Chicago lost hundreds of millions in deal, he says By Dan Mihalopoulos. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 3, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-parking-inspector-03jun03,0,6922988.story


Your Lack of Money

Reagan Did It By PAUL KRUGMAN. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: May 31, 2009. “This bill is the most important legislation for financial institutions in the last 50 years. It provides a long-term solution for troubled thrift institutions. ... All in all, I think we hit the jackpot.” So declared Ronald Reagan in 1982, as he signed the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act. He was, as it happened, wrong about solving the problems of the thrifts. On the contrary, the bill turned the modest-sized troubles of savings-and-loan institutions into an utter catastrophe. But he was right about the legislation’s significance. And as for that jackpot — well, it finally came more than 25 years later, in the form of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/opinion/01krugman.html?_r=2

Traders keep anxious eye as key indicator offers 'buy' signal - The revered Coppock index has finally hinted at an upturn in a number of the biggest stock markets By Jennifer Hughes, Anuj Gangahar and Michael Mackenzie. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 19:51 | Last updated: June 5 2009 22:25. It was not even another green shoot; just a slight wiggle in a long downward line. But news that the revered Coppock indicator has finally hinted at a “buy” signal in a number of the biggest stock markets was a talking point in equity markets this week. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/edbb1356-51fc-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

US stocks rally on encouraging data - Cisco and Travelers surge on Dow addition By Anuj Gangahar in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 1 2009 14:14 | Last updated: June 1 2009 17:54 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9078b782-4eac-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html

US personal incomes show surprise rise - Savings rate hits 14-year high By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 1 2009 14:05 | Last updated: June 1 2009 15:34 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3cac93f8-4eac-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html

US retailers disappoint as consumers hold back - Wal-Mart offers hope with plan to create jobs By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 4 2009 16:09 | Last updated: June 4 2009 16:09. US retailers suffered a disappointing month of sales in May as shoppers continued to spend conservatively and hunt for bargains. May was the first month that Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, opted not to report monthly comparable-store sales. But the company offered its own piece of good news on Thursday, announcing that it would create more than 22,000 new jobs this year in new or expanded US stores. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0b0e0232-5118-11de-8922-00144feabdc0.html

US companies cut 532,000 jobs in May By Sarah O’Connor in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 3 2009 15:45 | Last updated: June 3 2009 15:45 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f4ab8182-5049-11de-9530-00144feabdc0.html

US jobless claims ease for third week running- US worker productivity jumps during first quarter By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 4 2009 14:31 | Last updated: June 4 2009 14:31 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9a556f5a-50fc-11de-8922-00144feabdc0.html

Obama adviser urges reality check over jobs By Sarah O’Connor in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 19:22 | Last updated: June 5 2009 19:22. A wave of enthusiasm greeted Friday’s news that 345,000 jobs were cut in the US last month, far fewer than during the darkest days of this recession. But Austan Goolsbee, a senior economic adviser to Barack Obama, US president, was unmoved. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e46ddc28-51f9-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

Bernanke calls for action on deficits - Warns of bond market alarm over debt By Krishna Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 3 2009 15:50 | Last updated: June 3 2009 18:39 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e8aa33c6-504c-11de-9530-00144feabdc0.html

Ford Says May U.S. Sales Up 20% From April By NICK BUNKLEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/business/03sales.html?hpw

GM sells Saturn to Penske - Deal comes in same week as sale of Hummer By John Reed, Motor Industry Correspondent. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 16:24 | Last updated: June 5 2009 16:24 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31cfdb74-51e1-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

Chinese Company Said to Be Buyer of Hummer By KEITH BRADSHER and NICK BUNKLEY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 2, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/business/03auto.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

BofA within sight of $34bn capital target - Morgan Stanley to sell $2.2bn in common equity By Greg Farrell and Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 2 2009 13:20 | Last updated: June 2 2009 15:36 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b8b8ea42-4f6e-11de-a692-00144feabdc0.html

Republic Bank takes over Bank of Lincolnwood - 6th bank to fail in Illinois By Becky Yerak. Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune. June 6, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-bank-of-lincolnwood-republic-090605,0,83002.story

Abu Dhabi investor sells Barclays stake - Shares fall as Gulf vehicle takes profits By Kate Burgess, Peter Thal Larsen and Neil Hume. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 1 2009 21:12 | Last updated: June 2 2009 14:56 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6dcdae88-4ee6-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html


Commodities

Financial Times Editorial Comment: Oil back to normal. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 1 2009 20:01 | Last updated: June 1 2009 20:01 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/077833b2-4ed5-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html

Oil prices rise as Goldman turns bullish - Four stage price rally expected By Chris Flood. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 4 2009 11:50 | Last updated: June 4 2009 11:50 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e6364494-50f2-11de-8922-00144feabdc0.html

Energy and metal prices remain buoyant - Oil hits fresh seven-month high above $70 By Chris Flood. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 10:54 | Last updated: June 5 2009 20:13. Commodity markets rallied strongly this week, helped by growing confidence in prospects for a rapid revival in the global economy following more evidence of improvement in leading indicators. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6a1f3e2c-51b2-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

Russian Warns Against Relying on Dollar By ANDREW E. KRAMER. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 5, 2009. ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — President Dmitri A. Medvedev, who rarely misses a chance to accuse the United States of causing the global financial crisis, told an economic forum on Friday that wobbly American financial policy had made the dollar an undesirable currency for reserves held by central banks. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/business/global/06ruble.html?hpw

Housing

US pending home sales surge in April - Rise lifts hopes of housing recovery By Alan Rappeport in New York. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 2 2009 15:03 | Last updated: June 2 2009 15:03 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9c5173e2-4ef1-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html

Mortgage rates jump above 5% for first time in 3 months. 10:25 AM CDT, June 4, 2009. Copyright © 2009, Associated Press. Rates on 30-year home loans surged above 5 percent for the first time in nearly three months this week as investors pushed up rates on long-term government debt, which is closely tied to mortgage rates. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-mortgage-rates-jun4,0,2321671.story


GLBT

Same-Sex Marriage Is Legalized in New Hampshire. Copyright By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Published: June 3, 2009. CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- New Hampshire's governor has signed legislation making the state the sixth to allow gay marriage. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/06/03/us/AP-US-XGR-Gay-Marriage-New-Hampshire.html?hp

Civil unions bill in limbo By Amy Wooten. Copyright by The Chicago Free Press. June 4, 2009. Because state lawmakers Sunday faced a fiscal crisis and a looming deadline, a bill that would have granted Illinois same-sex couples civil unions if passed never came up for a vote before the session ended. After rejecting Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to increase the state income tax in order to deal with a huge deficit, the Illinois House worked Sunday, the last day of the legislative session, to pass a temporary budget right before the midnight deadline. Openly gay state Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) decided in the session’s final hours not to call his civil unions bill to a House vote, where he needed 60 votes for it to pass. http://www.chicagofreepress.com/node/3566

New York Times Editorial: Vote on Gay Marriage. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 3, 2009. Six states have now made it legal for same-sex couples to marry. New York is not one of them. Gov. David Paterson wants the state to guarantee that right, and the protections that come with it, and the Assembly approved legislation legalizing same-sex marriage last month. Malcolm Smith, the leader of the State Senate, insists that he, too, favors marriage for gay couples, but he won’t let a bill go to the floor unless he’s privately lined up enough votes. It is time for Mr. Smith and his fellow senators to decide this important matter in public. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/opinion/04thu4.html?ref=opinion

Gay marriage opponents to rally in Calif. after hundreds march in support of same-sex couples By GARANCE BURKE. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 6:26 AM CDT, May 31, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-ap-us-gay-marriage,0,5810976.story

Guns, Gays and Abortion By David Brooks and Gail Collins. Copyright by The New York Times. June 3, 2009, 12:56 pm. Gail Collins: David, can we talk hot-button social issues for a second? I know this is not really an area where you fly the conservative colors, but you’re the go-to guy on how America lives, and I’d like to hear your thoughts even if we can’t work up a fight. If you think of abortion, gay rights and gun control as the Big Three, it seems to me the nation is moving in very different directions. http://theconversation.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/guns-gays-and-abortion/?ref=opinion

Homophobic alderman? Possibility stirs rage BY LAURA WASHINGTON. Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times. June 1, 2009. The City Council may soon have its first openly homophobic alderman. If Mayor Daley decides to appoint the Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus to replace 26th Ward Ald. Billy Ocasio, Chicago's GLBT activists might go ballistic. Then again, they might just punt. Ocasio, who has resigned his seat and has signed on as a top adviser to Gov. Quinn, has asked Daley to appoint De Jesus, senior pastor of New Life Covenant Ministries, to replace him in the Humboldt Park ward. http://www.suntimes.com/news/washington/1600747,CST-EDT-laura01.article

Temporary alderman in 26th Ward. Copyright by The windy City Times. 2009-06-03. Hector Villagrana has been named as the temporary alderman of Chicago's 26th Ward, replacing Billy Ocasio, who has accepted a position with Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, according to Chicagoist.com. Villagrana was Ocasio's chief of staff and will be the alderman until Mayor Richard Daley appoints a new one; Daley has 60 days to do so. Villagrana told WBEZ, “Residents won't feel a difference or see a difference. The day to day operations at the office will still function as before.” Windy City Times has reported on the brewing controversy involving Ocasio's personal recommendation as his successor—the Rev. Wilfredo De Jesús of New Life Covenant Church. http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=21342

Bill Proposes Immigration Rights for Gay Couples By JULIA PRESTON. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 2, 2009. Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the Democrat from Vermont who is the powerful chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is adding another controversial ingredient to the volatile mix of an immigration debate that President Obama has said he hopes to spur in Congress before the end of the year. Mr. Leahy has offered a bill that would allow American citizens and legal immigrants to seek residency in the United States for their same-sex partners, just as spouses now petition for foreign-born husbands and wives. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/us/politics/03immig.html?th&emc=th

Harvard to Endow Chair in Gay Studies By JACQUES STEINBERG. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 3, 2009. Harvard University will endow a visiting professorship in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies, a position that, it believes, will be the first endowed, named chair in the subject at an American college. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/education/04harvard.html?_r=1&hpw


Technical

Microsoft accused over web browser figures By Nikki Tait in Brussels. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 21:35 | Last updated: June 5 2009 21:35. Microsoft has “substantially understated” its share of the browser market in its effort to combat charges by Europe’s antitrust watchdog that it illegally ties its Explorer browser to its Windows operating system, opponents of the US software company are alleging. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4286d3f6-5203-11de-b986-00144feabdc0.html

Acer to launch Google Android notebook By Robin Kwong in Taipei. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 2 2009 14:59 | Last updated: June 2 2009 14:59 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c6f6df28-4f74-11de-a692-00144feabdc0.html

Preparing to Sell E-Books, Google Takes on Amazon By MOTOKO RICH. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: May 31, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/technology/internet/01google.html?th&emc=th

Apple to launch cut-price version of iPhone - Move to win more web surfers By Joseph Menn in San Francisco. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 5 2009 00:26 | Last updated: June 5 2009 00:26. Apple plans to introduce a cheaper version of its popular iPhone as soon as Monday, in a move that could dramatically increase the company’s share of the market for web-surfing devices, people familiar with the initiative said on Thursday. Analysts said that the company wanted to show off either a $149 phone or a $99 phone, down from the current low end of $199 and still subsidised in exchange for an AT&T communications service contract. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c9169840-5157-11de-84c3-00144feabdc0.html

Shooting to Software Stardom on the iPhone By RANDALL STROSS. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: May 30, 2009. MITCHELL WAITE could think of only one reason that Apple’s legal department would leave a voice message last February asking him to call back: he was about to be sued. Mr. Waite has a tiny software company bearing his name — it has no full-time employees — whose principal product is a field guide to birds called iBird Explorer, which runs on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. He called back and discovered that his life was about to change no less than if the lottery authority had told him he’d won the big prize: Apple had decided to feature iBird in a television commercial. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/business/31digi.html?th&emc=th


Medical

Obama steps up fight for US health reform By Krishna Guha in Washington. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 2 2009 14:31 | Last updated: June 2 2009 14:31. The White House on Tuesday will step up the fight for health reform, releasing a report that says a lower rate of health cost inflation could make the average US family of four $2,560 a year better off by 2020. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/226f00e0-4eff-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html

A Red State Booster Shot By Alec MacGillis. Copyright by The Washington Post. Sunday, May 31, 2009. Those in the red states still smarting over Barack Obama's election victory can perhaps take solace in this: The Democrats' No. 1 domestic policy initiative, universal health care, is likely to help red America at the expense of blue. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/29/AR2009052901548.html

Slump Pushing Cost of Drugs Out of Reach By KEVIN SACK. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 3, 2009. ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — A year or so ago, when customers buttonholed the pharmacists at Almand’s Drug Store here the questions were invariably about dosing or side effects. These days, they are almost always about cost. Can I get this as a generic? Is the co-pay really that high? Will you match Wal-Mart’s $4 price? “I’m out of Lexapro,” a woman pleaded one recent Tuesday, speaking of her antidepressant. “Can I just have four pills until payday on Friday?” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/04pharmacy.html?_r=1&hpw

The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs By DENISE GRADY. Copyright by The New York Times. Published: June 1, 2009. BEREGA, Tanzania — A handwritten ledger at the hospital tells a grim story. For the month of January, 17 of the 31 minor surgical procedures here were done to repair the results of “incomplete abortions.” A few may have been miscarriages, but most were botched operations by untrained, clumsy hands. Abortion is illegal in Tanzania (except to save the mother’s life or health), so women and girls turn to amateurs, who may dose them with herbs or other concoctions, pummel their bellies or insert objects vaginally. Infections, bleeding and punctures of the uterus or bowel can result, and can be fatal. Doctors treating women after these bungled attempts sometimes have no choice but to remove the uterus. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/health/02abort.html?hpw


Other

Air France plane missing with 228 aboard - Flight en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro By Ben Hall in Paris, Kevin Done in London and agencies. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. Published: June 1 2009 11:58 | Last updated: June 1 2009 16:46 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ed0588a4-4e98-11de-8c10-00144feabdc0.html

FDA approves first drug developed specifically to treat cancer in dogs By Erica Werner. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 12:36 PM CDT, June 3, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-090603-cancer-dogs-story,0,6251291.story


Humor

Colbert in Iraq: Mock pundit gets real performing for the troops in Baghdad JAKE COYLE. Copyright 2009 Associated Press. 10:03 AM CDT, June 5, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-ap-us-tv-colbert-in-iraq,0,106258.story

Betty Bowers Explains Traditional Marriage to Everyone Else http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFkeKKszXTw

Managerial http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/06/managerial.html

Moses and Jesus Golf http://newsletter91507.blogspot.com/2009/05/moses-and-jesus-golf.html

New! Carlos now has an online store. Order your books directly from Carlos and have them signed and dedicated.http://www.carlostmock.com/catalog/



In Pride (orgullo),


Carlos T. Mock, MD
www.carlostmock.com  
Author: Borrowing Time: A Latino Sexual Odyssey - Floricanto Press 2003.
Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT
Round Table.
Author: The Mosaic Virus – Floricanto Press 2007.  Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation
Author: Author: Papi Chulo – Floricanto Press 2007.  Nominated for a Stonewall Award by the American Library Association GLBT Round Table, and a Lammie from The Lambda Literary Foundation