Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Ne w Salon washington Bureau Posted here Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 8:55:17 AM     And.. Salon '04: Unembedded, unintimidated " 'The country wants and needs unintimidated news,' says Blumenthal. 'The Bush administration has put enormous political pressure on the press not to probe its radical policies and their consequences. Salon intends to be fearless.' Under Blumenthal's leadership, Salon's new Washington bureau will produce a flow of revealing stories about the Bush administration and the election. " On Wednesday Salon is running 'The New Pentagon Papers,' an exclusive, eyewitness account of how Bush officials inside the Defense Department twisted intelligence in the rush to the Iraq war. The author of the article, Karen Kwiatkowski, is a retired lieutenant colonel formerly assigned to the Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon. ... " On Thursday, Salon will publish the first of several advance excerpts from 'House of Bush, House of Saud,' a new book by Craig Unger that explores the relationship between the two dynasties, whose explosive contents have been embargoed. ... " And on Friday, Salon will publish an exclusive report on the Texas investigation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his political operatives that reporter Lou Dubose (co-author of 'Shrub' and 'Boy Genius') believes may send some of them to prison, shaking up Texas and national politics. " ********

Republican strategy Posted here Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 8:51:15 AM     On republican campaign issues.. Rove http://billmon.org/archives/001195.html#more ********

Iraq constitition...(more...) Posted here Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 8:46:01 AM     On the Iraq constitition Fun With the New Iraqi Constitution Are you sure we have a Republican administration in the White House? Check out the following provisions: Article 14. The individual has the right to security, education, health care, and social security. The Iraqi State and its governmental units, including the federal government, the regions, governorates, municipalities, and local administrations, within the limits of their resources and with due regard to other vital needs, shall strive to provide prosperity and employment opportunities to the people. My goodness, what do I see? A social rights provision? Constitutional protections for health care and educational benefits? How did this one get past Grover Norquist? Article 15 . . . (G) Every person deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall have the right of recourse to a court to determine the legality of his arrest or detention without delay and to order his release if this occurred in an illegal manner. Jose Padillia is probably wishing we had this provision in our Constitution. Article 17. It shall not be permitted to possess, bear, buy, or sell arms except on licensure issued in accordance with the law. ********

Japan high growth rate. Posted here Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 8:41:43 AM     When we aren't looking... note that new spending is corporations buying from corporations. The "people" can safely be left out of the cycle, think business economists.. Japanese growth at 13-year high Japan has unexpectedly cut its output estimate for the last three months of 2003, but economic growth remains at its fastest pace in 13 years. Gross domestic product was up 6.4% year on year in the last quarter of 2003, a sharp cut from the earlier 7% estimate. Analysts said the revision did nothing to dent the overall picture of a broad- based and vigorous recovery. Japanese shares, which were earlier down by almost 1.3% in response to Wall Street, recovered somewhat on the news. The Nikkei index closed down 98 points, or 0.9%, at 11,443. Starting to spend Most analysts had expected the GDP figure to be revised upwards, calculating that reports of stronger corporate investment should be starting to pay dividends. In fact, the latest data showed that companies were running down their inventories, rather than investing in new equipment and materials. Morgan Stanley economist Takehiro Sato said, however, that the inventory drawdown was a positive signal for the future, clearing the way for a fresh surge of corporate demand. When companies start spending seriously once more, the current rapid pace of growth should accelerate, economists believe. Several facts about Japan, even at the low point, it had a positive balance of payments, and during the "asian crisis" it bought vast amounts of south asia assets at low prices, including industrial capacity. The US is not in this position. ********