News New Mexico: 08/12/10

Progressive Magazine's Hero - Julian Assange

WikiLeaks - Julian Assange

From Progressive.org - WikiLeaks spokesman Julian Assange said Thursday his organization is preparing to release the rest of the secret Afghan war documents it has on file. WikiLeaks already has published 77,000 classified U.S. military reports covering the war in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2010, an extraordinary disclosure which some say could expose human rights abuses across the NATO-led campaign. The disclosure also has angered the Pentagon, which has accused WikiLeaks of endangering the lives of soldiers and informants in the field, and demanded that WikiLeaks refrain from publishing any more secret data. Speaking via videolink to London's Frontline Club, Assange said he had no intention of holding back. He gave no specific timeframe, but he said his organization was about halfway through those 15,000 or so secret files previously held back from publication. Read more here:

Jonathan Weil - Barney Frank Untouched

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

For all the strange details to emerge in the Maxine Waters bank-bailout scandal, this one might be the most surprising: It turns out members of Congress are prohibited from doing “special favors” for anyone, even if they receive nothing of value in return. Who knew? Here I had been living under the impression that handing out special favors is something Washington lawmakers do all the time -- be they free pens, tax breaks or earmarks. And, of course, it is.

Barney Frank (D-MA)

Yet under the Code of Ethics for Government Service, it is against the rules for any federal employee to “discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or privileges to anyone, whether for remuneration or not.” That’s what it says in Count III of the ethics charges against Waters, which were unsealed this week by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The House of Representatives adopted the code in 1958.

The case against Waters, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, centers on her efforts in September 2008 to help a troubled Boston lender, OneUnited Bank, land a government bailout. Waters asked Hank Paulson, then the Treasury secretary, for a meeting between Treasury officials and representatives from the National Bankers Association, a lobbying group for minority-owned banks. The meeting was granted. However, the discussion there focused on a single bank, OneUnited. Read more here:

Progressive Mag - President Fighting an Immoral War

Progressive Magazine says.......We, as Americans, need to know the facts of this impossible and immoral war the United States is waging. Congrats to Wikileaks for releasing all those 92,000 documents on the Afghan War.

It’s the biggest peak into U.S. military operations since Daniel Ellsberg’s Pentagon Papers back in the Vietnam War. And like the Pentagon Papers, these new documents show the U.S. war effort to be much less rosy than the White House has portrayed it. For one thing, the Taliban have successfully used surface to air missiles to bring down U.S. helicopters, the documents reveal. Read more:

Larger Waists Linked to Higher Risks

News NM Bobblehead

Men and women with more fat at the waistline, regardless of their body mass index, have a higher risk of dying than those with little belly fat, a study from the American Cancer Society found. Men who had a waist size of 47 inches (120 centimeters) or higher and women with waists of 43 inches or larger had about twice the risk of dying over the 9-year study period than those with the smallest waist size of about 35 inches in men and 30 inches in women, according to research today in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Read more here:

Blago Jury Has a Decision on 2 Counts- Sent Back

Rob Blagojevich

The judge in the trial of Rod Blagojevich said he will tell the jury to continue deliberating after the panel said it reached a decision on two counts, without saying what the verdicts are. U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel told the former Illinois governor, his lawyers and federal prosecutors that he will instruct the jury to work through each of the other 22 counts until they’ve reached a conclusion on all charges in the corruption trial at Chicago’s federal courthouse. The twice-elected Democrat’s trial started June 3. The jury of six men and six women has been deliberating since July 28 and yesterday told the court they may be deadlocked. “We have reached unanimous decision on two counts. We are unable to reach agreement on any of the remaining counts,” they told Zagel in a note today that he read in court. Read more here:

Stuck in Mud - Tax Increases Right Around the Corner

More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, signaling firings stepped up as the economy slowed. Initial jobless claims rose by 2,000 to 484,000 in the week ended Aug. 7, the highest level since mid February, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits dropped, while those getting supplemental benefits surged by 1.34 million reflecting the government’s extension of eligibility. Companies may be losing confidence in the recovery and are hesitant to hire, raising the risk of further erosion in consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy. Federal Reserve policy makers this week said growth “is likely to be more modest” than they previously projected, prompting central bankers to take additional steps to spur a rebound. Read more here:

The truth about the special assessment district proposal

Here is Las Cruces City Councilor Dolores Connor's take on the situation involving the Special Assessment District for Sonoma Ranch Boulevard.

We at NewsNM appreciate very much her willingness to come to our program to talk about this with us "on the record" and to discuss her perceptions in writing.
From Heath Haussamen's NMPolitics.net - By Las Cruces City Councilor Dolores Connor - This column is in response to the Aug. 6 commentary by Michael Swickard, “Lacking a trustworthy local leadership,” and comments posted at the end of that column. There has been a lot of conversation about Sonoma Ranch Boulevard as it travels north from U.S. Highway 70. It has even been linked to “inexperience” on the part of the city council. Please note there is so much information about this project that the inexperience comes from those who want to push it through at any cost. We must first look at the process. Read more

Harry Reid (D-NV) - Meet Martinez and Sanchez (R's-NM)

Harry Reid (D-Nevada)

In Nevada on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made an incredible statement to an audience of what he believed to be mostly Hispanic voters: “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, okay. Do I need to say more?” Yes, we sort of think you do need to say more Senator Reid. Some would simply argue these comments are terribly naive. Others might find these sort of blanket statements as a not-so-well-cloaked and highly stereotypical insult; and an insult that was crassly and cynically hurled in the direction of every Hispanic and Republican voter in the nation, particularly those living in New Mexico. Does Reid actually expect all Hispanic voters to THINK ALIKE? Senator Reid, allow us introduce you to the New Mexico gubernatorial ticket for the Republican Party in 2010......Susana Martinez and John Sanchez, two candidates who both won their party's primary (Republican). They won fair and square with get this.....Hispanic surnames.

Will these two Hispanic candidates win the general election in New Mexico? Nobody knows. However, in our state, the State of New Mexico, all Hispanics don't think alike or vote alike, nor do any other "groups" of people, even when sorted by ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic status by demagogues.

Larry Elder - Is Obama Popular in the Arab World?

Larry Elder

"It's conceivable," said then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008, "that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, 'This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein, and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he's not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush.'"A 2008 Zogby International poll surveyed those in the "friendly" Arab countries of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Eighty-three percent viewed the United States "somewhat" or "very" unfavorably. Read more here:

Martinez & Denish Clash on Education

From the Santa Fe New Mexican - ALBUQUERQUE — Susana Martinez, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, said Wednesday that she wants to revolutionize New Mexico's schools and rethink how student test results are used. Martinez used a Wednesday news conference both to outline her proposals for the state's school system and to denounce the education record of the current administration, including her opponent, Democrat Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. "This administration came in saying they wanted to be held accountable, they wanted to change our education system," Martinez said. "The lieutenant governor herself said she should be judged on her accomplishments in education. By any and every measurable standard, she deserves a failing grade." Read more here:

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