Indian Enron

The Indian government has vowed to strengthen anti-fraud legislation after the chairman of the country's fourth biggest software firm said he had falsified company accounts.
Ramalinga Raju, chairman of Satyam Computer Services, resigned on Wednesday after admitting he had "inflated profits over a period of the last several years".

Archana Uttapa, a spokeswoman for Satyam, said the company's balance sheets were riddled with "fictitious" assets and "non-existent" cash.
She also said that Raju's current whereabouts was currently unclear.
News of the accounting scandal sent Satyam's stocks plummeting by nearly 80 per cent and also dragged down the benchmark Sensex stock index by 7.3 per cent on Wednesday.
Trading on India's stock exchange was closed on Thursday because of a public holiday.

Stricter controls urged for the UN's climate body

The UN's climate science body needs stricter checks to prevent damage to the organisation's credibility, an independent review has concluded.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has faced mounting pressure over errors in its last major assessment of climate science in 2007.The review said guidelines were needed to ensure IPCC leaders were not seen as advocating specific climate policies.It also urges transparency and suggests changes to the management of the body.The IPCC has admitted it made a mistake in its 2007 assessment in asserting that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. But it says this error did not change the broad picture of man-made climate change.

Third World America (USA*)- map of reccession

All across the country, Americans are suffering. In her forthcoming book, Third World America, Arianna Huffington details the economic collapse, and the toll it has taken on so many people, families and communities.

Below, we've mapped the areas hardest hit by home foreclosure, unemployment and bankruptcy this year. But the map of Third World America is not yet complete: participate below to add your story. Submit text, pictures or video -- and share with us how you personally have been affected by the financial crisis

MAP LINK

Daddy State

When those who rant against The Nanny State are pressed about what they’d like to see instead, they often point to philanthropy as their preferred model of social progress and uplift. Proven, effective, and – most of all – voluntary, they’d offer. The billionaire Giving Pledge, in which ultra-wealthy individuals promise to give more than half their loot to ‘good causes’ after they die, hit the headlines earlier this month to the usual cooing from those fulminating against progressive taxation. See? The rich can redistribute their wealth without the state doing it for them. The rich aren’t just rich – they’re generous too!

Which is why it was so nice to see The Economist, of all places, write about a recent UC Berkeley study in theJournal of Personality and Social Psychology on how being rich makes you systematically less generous. Actually, the authors of the study note that

UC Berkleley- People of Lower Socioeconomic status Give More Than there upper status counterparts.

Abstract

Lower social class (or socioeconomic status) is associated with fewer resources, greater exposure to threat, and a reduced sense of personal control. Given these life circumstances, one might expect lower class individuals to engage in less prosocial behavior, prioritizing self-interest over the welfare of others. The authors hypothesized, by contrast, that lower class individuals orient to the welfare of others as a means to adapt to their more hostile environments and that this orientation gives rise to greater prosocial behavior. Across 4 studies, lower class individuals proved to be more generous (Study 1), charitable (Study 2), trusting (Study 3), and helpful (Study 4) compared with their upper class counterparts. Mediator and moderator data showed that lower class individuals acted in a more prosocial fashion because of a greater commitment to egalitarian values and feelings of compassion. Implications for social class, prosocial behavior, and economic inequality are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Arizona mentioned in US report to UN Human Rights

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer demanded Friday that a reference to the state's controversial immigration law be removed from a State Department report to the United Nations' human rights commissioner.

The U.S. included its legal challenge to the law on a list of ways the federal government is protecting human rights.

In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Brewer says it is "downright offensive" that a state law would be included in the report, which was drafted as part of a UN review of human rights in all member nations every four years.

"The idea of our own American government submitting the duly enacted laws of a state of the United States to 'review' by the United Nations is internationalism run amok and unconstitutional," Brewer wrote.

Arizona's law generally requires police officer enforcing other laws to investigate the immigration status of people they suspect are illegal immigrants.

Children of War, Stop Israel

Peepli [live]

Actions Speak Louder than Words

Every morning when I wake up I ask myself whether I should write or blow up a dam. I tell myself I should keep writing, though I’m not sure that’s right. I’ve written books and done activism, but it is neither a lack of words nor a lack of activism that is killing salmon here in the Northwest. It’s the dams.

Anyone who knows anything about salmon knows the dams must go. Anyone who knows anything about politics knows the dams will stay. Scientists study, politicians and business people lie and delay, bureaucrats hold sham public meetings, activists write letters and press releases, and still the salmon die.

Walking with the Comrads

The terse, typewritten note slipped under my door in a sealed envelope confirmed my appointment with India’s Gravest Internal Security Threat. I’d been waiting for months to hear from them. I had to be at the Ma Danteshwari mandir in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, at any of four given times on two given days. That was to take care of bad weather, punctures, blockades, transport strikes and sheer bad luck. The note said: “Writer should have camera, tika and coconut. Meeter will have cap, Hindi Outlook magazine and bananas. Password: Namashkar Guruji.”

Namashkar Guruji. I wondered whether the Meeter and Greeter would be expecting a man. And whether I should get myself a moustache. 

There are many ways to describe Dantewada. It’s an oxymoron. It’s a border town smack in the heart of India. It’s the epicentre of a war. It’s an upside down, inside out town.

Red Shadow: Centenary celebrations of the adivasi uprising in Bastar; Sten gun at hand

In Dantewada, the police wear plain clothes and the rebels wear uniforms. The jail superintendent is in jail. The prisoners are free (three hundred of them escaped from the old town jail two years ago). Women who have been raped are in police custody. The rapists give speeches in the bazaar.

Filastine

Shirley Sherrod, Ousted from Agriculture Department, Rejects Offer to Return

Shirley Sherrod, ousted from her job at the Agriculture Department last month, has rejected an offer to return to the USDA. Sherrod was forced out shortly after a right-wing website ran a video clip that was deceptively edited to make it appear that she was racist toward white farmers. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack forced Sherrod to resign shortly after the video was posted. Vilsack met with Sherrod Tuesday morning to try and convince her to return to the department. The two also discussed a settlement pending in the Senate for black farmers who have been victims of racism. We speak with John Boyd, the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association. [includes rush transcript]

The New Yorker: Billionaire Brothers Charles & David Koch Have Quietly Given More Than $100 Million to Right-Wing Causes

An article in the latest issue of The New Yorkermagazine by Jane Mayer profiles billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, two of the richest men in America who have quietly given more than a hundred million dollars to right-wing causes. Mayer writes, "The [Koch] brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus." [includes rush transcript]

Conservatives rally in DC

Tens of thousands have gathered in Washington DC for a rally organised by Glenn Beck, a talk show host, at the site and on the anniversary of the iconic 1963 civil rights demonstration.
Civil rights leaders have protested the event, scheduling a march not far from Beck's gathering.
Beck, a commentator on Fox News and daily radio, has called Saturday's event a faith-based show of thanks and support for US military families, honoring "heroes, our heritage and our future."
Beck said the date of the rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial, the same location where Martin Luther King made his 'I have a dream' speech 47 years ago, is only coincidental.
He called it one of "divine providence".
Beck was joined at the rally, among others, by Sarah Palin, who was Senator John McCain's vice presidential running mate in their failed White House campaign against Barack Obama two years ago.

Ode to conservatives

When McDonald's is Doing more to Help People than....you know its bad.

India Tries Using Cash Bonuses to Slow Birthrates

By JIM YARDLEY

SATARA, India — Sunita Laxman Jadhav is a door-to-door saleswoman who sells waiting. She sweeps along muddy village lanes in her nurse’s white sari, calling on newly married couples with an unblushing proposition: Wait two years before getting pregnant, and the government will thank you.

It also will pay you.

“I want to tell you about our honeymoon package,” began Ms. Jadhav, an auxiliary nurse, during a recent house call on a new bride in this farming region in the state of Maharashtra. Ms. Jadhav explained that the district government would pay 5,000 rupees, or about $106, if the couple waited to have children. Waiting, she promised, would allow them time to finish their schooling or to save money.

Is Your Favorite Ice Cream Made With Monsanto's Artificial Hormones?

Monsanto has been in the news this week, with a U.S. District Court Judge ruling that the USDA has to at least go through the motions of regulating the company's genetically engineered sugar beets. Monsanto, you may know, is not likely to win any contests for the most popular company. In fact, it has been called the most hated corporation in the world, which is saying something, given the competition from the likes of BP, Halliburton and Goldman Sachs.

This has gotten me thinking about, of all things, ice cream, and of how Monsanto's clammy paws can be found in some of the most widely selling ice cream brands in the country. These brands could break free from Monsanto's clutches. So far they haven't, but maybe this is about to change.

Monsanto is the Worst Company on Earth says farmer

Olney, Ill. —

The Organization for Competitive Markets will hold its annual conference on  August 7 in St. Louis to discuss what it sees as unfairness between farmers and ranchers and the corporations with whom they do business.

OCM Executive Director Fred Stokes, of Mississippi, said the group advocates fairness for farmers and ranchers, who he said have been systematically “short-changed” for a long time.

He said farmers and ranchers have to buy from monopolies, singling out Monsanto in particular, who “gouge” their customers. He said they then have to sell to these large companies based on their corporate edicts.

Homeless Man Jailed for Stealing Food Freed After 13 Years

And a California man has been freed from prison after serving thirteen years following his arrest for trying to forcibly enter a church soup kitchen because he was hungry. Gregory Taylor had been sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison under the state’s controversial three-strikes law. At the time of his last arrest, he was homeless and suffering from drug addiction. Taylor’s release came in part due to efforts by students working on the Three Strikes Project at the Criminal Defense Clinic at Stanford Law School. Taylor says he plans to work for a food pantry run by his brother.

Trader Joe's and Slavery

Protesters Call on Trader Joe’s to Adopt Humane Conditions for Tomato Pickers

Here in New York, dozens of people gathered in front of the grocery chain Trader Joe’s new Manhattan location Thursday to demand humane working conditions for farmworkers harvesting tomatoes sold inside Trader Joe’s stores. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers says the farmworkers’ wages have remained stagnant since 1978, with tomato pickers having to put in ten-hour days just to make the minimum wage. Luis Gomez of the Community Farmworker Alliance said Trader Joe’s has purchased directly from fields that use modern-day slaves.

Luis Gomez: "We chose Trader Joe’s because recently it was uncovered that Trader Joe’s purchases its tomatoes from a field that recently was implicated in a case of modern-day slavery, where the farmworkers were being held to work without being paid and having to work against their will. So this is a direct connection between Trader Joe’s and where they’re getting their tomatoes and the violation of human rights. So that’s why we’re addressing Trader Joe’s to step up to the plate.

Guns Money and Responsibility

Calderón: US Gun Laws Fueling Mexican Drug War

Mexican President Felipe Calderón has harshly criticized US gun control policy, saying it’s worsened the death toll in Mexico’s drug war. Calderón made the comments Thursday at a conference in Mexico City.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón: "The Americans began to sell arms as a voracious, ambitious industry, like the American arms industry. This often provokes conflicts in countries that are poor and less developed. Africa, due to the sale of arms, is in a very similar situation to that which is being lived by the Mexican people. For the arms traffickers, it’s a business to sell arms to criminals, and we need to mobilize not just public opinion against this, but unite with international public opinion to show the irresponsibility of the Americans, as much as it bothers them or hinders their political campaigns."

Sad day for Palestine

Reports: Israelis, Palestinians Agree to Hold Talks

The White House is expected to announce today Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to restart direct negotiations for the first time in nearly two years. Both sides are said to have committed to a one-year deadline to complete the talks. The announcement is an apparent victory for the US and Israel, who have pressed Palestinians to drop their insistence on an Israeli settlement freeze as a precondition for talks. Any negotiations would continue to exclude Hamas, the elected government in the Gaza Strip. The talks will reportedly begin on September 2nd in Washington. A formal announcement is expected today.

(...no compromise, is hard to do--sad day. )

NO NO, I am a Christian! I Pray!

A findings of a recent poll showing that nearly one in five Americans believe Obama is a Muslim. In response to this a White House spokesperson said something to the effect of "no, no! Obama is not a Muslim, he is a Christian who prays every day". It saddening that the white house reflect the same racism that is being found in the study it self-- in a reactive form. The response to polls misidentifying the religious preference of the president is a fearful "oh no he is not a Muslim, he is a Chritian" or something that can be redacted to mean "oh no he's not that bad religion he is the good religion". Why is there a need to clear this misidentification up, by ensuring President Obama is not one of them (Muslim). Now, a proper address of such a poll and finding, accurate or not, would be "So what if the president was a Muslim...this is after-all the land of the free, where each man has a right to what ever god or gods he wishes". It would be nice if the backdrop of anti-Muslim sentiment, where Islam is associated so tightly to evil, bad and wrong and Christianity to the inverse.  What message does this send to the people of the united states, Christians in the world, Muslims in the US, Muslims in the world. what brand of religious of tolerance/secularization can be named in a country that defends itself with "Christianity" from being titled a "Muslim" and never address the fact that what religion the president is makes no case for judgment, of character--a funny brand of tolerance, plurality, heterogeneity and politics, but mainly sad.

So i would like to end this by clearing this up:

if the one in five people were correct and President Obama was a Muslim, this would not effect that type of person Obama is. He would still be a worthy human.  The judgment of Obama should then be made on his person. And if someone thinks you are a Muslim, say one in five people, there is no need to tell everyone they are way wrong and that your a praying Christian, a simple no is enough, no need to protect your status.

Religions don't make people.

People make People.

People are many parts.

no need to defend with chritainty, or defend youself at all.

Unemployment Grows in US

WASHINGTON (AP) -- New applications for unemployment insurance reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November, a sign that employers are likely cutting jobs again as the economy slows.

The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000, the fourth increase in the past five weeks. Wall Street economists forecast that claims would drop.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose by 8,000 to 482,500, the highest since December. There were no special factors that distorted the numbers, a Labor Department analyst said.

Corporations Are Beautiful People - Derrick Jensen

Violence is Everywhere

Bhopal-- US Suggest to India that there may be "too much noise" over the issue

WASHINGTON: The United States has denied reports that it was trying to link the Bhopal gas tragedy with India-US investment ties by suggesting a "lot of noise" over the issue could have a "chilling effect" on them. 

"The assertion that there was linkage between two separate and distinct issues is wrong, is incorrect," Benjamin Chang, Deputy Spokesperson of the National Security Council in the White House, stated. 

"We certainly recognize the importance and sensitivity of this issue in India. We are committed to building a strong, broad and deep relationship between our two countries," he said. 

US Accused of Pressuring India to Drop Bhopal Claims

The Obama administration is being accused of leveraging millions in development aid to pressure the Indian government for leniency on the company responsible the 1984 Bhopal industrial gas disaster that left an estimated 15,000 people dead. The company, Union Carbide, is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical. Dow has faced calls to clean up the contaminated site, increase compensation for victims, and fund studies to assess damages to the environment and public health. India has also demanded the extradition of former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson, who fled India shortly after his arrest in the disaster’s aftermath. In a newly disclosed letter to an Indian government official, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Michael Froman appears to link US support for World Bank loans to India with India’s cooperation in easing up on Dow. Froman writes, "We are hearing a lot of noise about the Dow Chemical issue. I trust that you are monitoring it carefully. I am not familiar with all the details, but I think we want to avoid developments which put a chilling effect on our investment relationship." The White House hasn’t denied the email’s authenticity, but says it sees the two issues as unrelated.

US war- Afghanistan and Iraq

US Withdraws Last Combat Brigade from Iraq, But 56,000 Troops Remain

The US has officially withdrawn its last designated combat brigade from Iraq, two weeks ahead of a deadline for the withdrawal of some 14,000 troops. In a surprise announcement, the Pentagon said the last combat brigade crossed over into Kuwait earlier today. Although the withdrawal has been hailed as a major milestone in the Iraq war and an end to combat operations, most of the remaining 56,000 US troops are still trained in combat and will continue to carry out armed attacks. The Obama administration also plans to double its private military force in Iraq to an estimated 7,000 contractors. According to the New York Times, the bulk of the private military force will be deployed at five compounds across Iraq, where they’ll perform duties including operating drones, deploying reaction forces and operating radars to detect militant attacks. In an interview on Democracy Now!earlier this month, independent journalist Jeremy Scahill said the Obama administration’s withdrawal plan amounts to a rebranded occupation.

Jeremy Scahill: "What is essentially unfolding here is a downsized and rebranded occupation, Obama-style, that is going to necessitate a surge in private forces. The State Department is asking for MRAP vehicles, armored vehicles, for Black Hawk helicopters and for these paramilitary forces. So, yes, you can say that officially combat has ended, but in reality you’re continuing it through the back door by bringing in these paramilitary forces and classifying them as diplomatic security, which was Bush’s game from the very beginning."

What if the Tea Party was Black - Jasrix

Pacifying Resistance

Us- Brother Ali

Kashmir Youth and the Argument for Stones

Stone in my Hand-- to Kashmir (this is what democracy looks like)

Killings in Kashmir by Indian Forces Spark Protests.

Flightless bird American Mouth - Iron and wine

Court Rules No Gay Marriages Pending Appeal

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court put same-sex weddings in California on hold indefinitely Monday while it considers the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban.

The decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, trumped a lower court judge's order that would have allowed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday.

Lawyers for the two gay couples that challenged the ban said Monday they would not appeal the panel's decision on the stay to the U.S. Supreme Court. They said they were satisfied the appeals court had agreed to expedite its consideration of the Proposition 8 case by scheduling oral arguments for the week of Dec. 6.

Pentagon Spending -- Music Goes Round, and Round...

Military spending is moving to the forefront of Washington policy prattle. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates got headlines early this week when he proposed some changes in command structures along with other organization adjustments which in aggregate could save billions of dollars over five years. Skeptics saw the initiative as a ploy to take the steam out of rising concern for the spiral in defense spending at a time of heightened anxiety over long-term budget deficits. In truth, Gates' cost cutting measures would just nibble around the edge of our vast military establishment, replenished each year by $750 - 800 billion (including ad hoc Iraq/Afghanistan appropriations). For example, he talks of a 30 percent reduction in the number of contractors but is unable to tell Congress how many the Pentagon employs in total -- even without counting the 150,000 or so who serve as hired help in our two wars. He foresees defense spending actually going up in real terms -- just by a somewhat lesser amount due to his projected cuts.

Just Like the Internet You See in the Movies

No Web sites that choke your browser. No waiting for YouTube clips to buffer. No email attachments too big to send. No files that take forever to download. No "Loading - please wait" messages, or spinning beach balls, or slowwwwly lengthening bars meant to tame your mounting impatience.

That's how the Internet works in the movies. On laptops and cell phones and the rest of the small screens we watch on the big screen, the Internet is a tantalizingly perfected version of the hiccupping marvel we know now.

In a handful of years at most, the blinding speed and reliability we see in the movies will be available here in reality. Too bad it won't be available on the Internet.

Last week, Google and Verizon announced their plans for the future. Their message was that if you want to do the cool stuff in real life that Tom Cruise and Matt Damon do online in the movies, you're going to have to buy a subscription to the other Internet, the superduper one that the telecom and wireless giants are going to build next.

Maoist Insurgency Trips Up Rising India

Mining, critical for India’s growth as a global power, erodes traditional livelihoods and fuels armed struggle

LONDON: The Maoist insurgency raging through India’s rural heartlands has come to dominate the domestic security agenda in recent months, but this internal struggle for power should also be seen as a vicious by-product of India’s emergence as a global player.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh repeatedly describes the Maoists – otherwise known as Naxalites after the town of Naxalbari in north India, where the movement’s first uprising took place in 1967 – as India’s “gravest internal security threat.” That much of India’s mineral potential exists in its poorest regions, where the Maoists are strongest, represents a direct threat to the country’s growth trajectory at a time when it struggles to meet demand for coal, iron ore, steel and other commodities.

Although the Naxalite movement is somewhat diffuse, the primary threat comes from the Communist Party of India (Maoist), led by a Politburo of 13 members, with an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 fighters and pockets of influence in at least 20 of India’s 28 states. A series of high-profile attacks dominated the news in 2010, including a 6 April ambush in the state of Chhattisgarh that left 76 paramilitaries dead and a 28 May train derailment by a Maoist-affiliated group that killed 148 civilians.

Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln- Freedom Day

Republican Culture War

If we had any sense, the fall elections would be about just one thing: the economy. But we do not have any sense. We are facing what Wall Street would call the “triple witching hour.” Republicans have their finger on three social-demographic hot buttons. The first is illegal immigration (in proposing a review of the 14th Amendment), and the second is Islam in America (inobjecting to the mosque at ground zero). They won’t be able to avoid pushing the third, race, even if they wanted to, given that the two leading congressional Democrats facing ethics charges are African-American. The Democrats, in response, label the GOP xenophobic and intolerant—and those are the nice words. If Barack Obama’s inauguration—could it have been only 19 months ago?—was a moment of proud, blessed calm, we are now looking at a nasty, community-shredding season of fear.

France Urged to Repay $40 Billion "Independence Debt" to Haiti

A group of prominent academics and activists, including Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein, have published an open letter in the French newspaper Libération calling on France to repay an "independence debt" it imposed nearly 200 years ago after Haiti successfully won independence from France. The appeal to the French president Nicolas Sarkozy says the debt could help cover the rebuilding of the country after a devastating earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people seven months ago. The Montreal-based journalist Isabel Macdonald helped draft the letter.

Isabel Macdonald: "With 1.6 million Haitians still homeless seven months after the earthquake, it’s really vital that we recognize that not only are Haitians owed aid money by the West, they are also owed tens of billions of dollars in restitution. This is because Haitians were forced to pay the French government 90 million gold francs, a sum that amounts, according to some analysts, to $40 billion US today, adjusting for inflation and a minimal interest rate, as compensation for the lost property of former French slave owners."

The letter is being published at a time when the international community is coming under increasing criticism for failing to send aid money pledged at the international donors’ conference in March. According to the UN-sponsored Haiti Reconstruction Fund, only two countries—Brazil and Estonia—have paid the fully pledged amount, while the United States, France, Canada and others have failed to send their pledged aid to Haiti.

An open letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy

The French government has indicated that it is pursuing possible legal action against the Committee for the Reimbursement of the Indemnity Money Extorted from Haiti (CRIME) over a Yes Men-inspired announcement last Bastille Day pledging that France would pay Haiti restitution. 

Sugar Water

Arcade Fire: Meet Me in The Basement

Prison and Gardens

Michigan prison inmates finishing their sentences at the Gateway
halfway house on East Jefferson Avenue at Lillibridge Street have
created a small but vibrant example of an inner-city garden. Using a
vacant lot and recycled debris from a demolished house nearby, the
inmates are growing corn, tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, lettuce and
squash.
The men give away the fruits and vegetables to needy people and
appreciate purposeful work to fill their final days of incarceration.
For James (Bear) Fuller, 51, who spent 34 years in prison for
homicide, the garden is a metaphor for the changes he and other
prisoners have tried to make in themselves.
“I look at vegetables and fruits like people,” Fuller said last week.
“They need to be nurtured, tended to. A garden needs to be weeded just
like a person’s spirit.”

To read full article from the Detroit Free Press click here

Secret U.S. War

The attack offered a glimpse of the Obama administration’s shadow war against Al Qaeda and its allies. In roughly a dozen countries — from the deserts of North Africa, to the mountains of Pakistan, to former Soviet republics crippled by ethnic and religious strife — the United States has significantly increased military and intelligence operations, pursuing the enemy using robotic drones and commando teams, paying contractors to spy and training local operatives to chase terrorists.

Dozens Injured in Massive Turnout for Subsidized Housing in Georgia

And in Georgia, a chaotic mob scene unfolded Wednesday at an East Point shopping mall where some 30,000 people turned out to be placed on a wait list for government-subsidized housing. Witnesses say the overwhelming numbers, lack of coordination and the scorching summer heat led to fights amongst line-goers and standoffs with police. A number of people were treated for dehydration, and some sixty-two people were injured. It was the first time the East Point Housing Authority had offered the housing applications since 2002.

Wells Fargo Ordered to Repay Customers for Overdraft Fees

A federal judge in California has ordered the banking giant Wells Fargo to change its policies on overdraft fees and return $203 million to customers who overpaid. In his ruling, US District Judge William Alsup said Wells Fargo had engaged in "profiteering" and "unfair and deceptive business practices" that led customers into paying excessive fees. Wells Fargo drove up fees by processing the most expensive transactions first, instead of in the order of when they took place

Lebanon Vows to Reject US military Aid if It limits SelfDefense

Lebanon Vows to Reject US Military Aid If it Limits Self-Defense

The Lebanese government says it will reject US military assistance, should it come with any conditions limiting its right to self-defense. Last week, House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Howard Berman used a legislative procedure to suspend $100 million in aid to Lebanon over what he said are concerns about Hezbollah’s influence there. Berman also said he’s concerned US weapons could be used against Israel, which has attacked Lebanon multiple times over the past four decades. On Wednesday, Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said, "Those who want to help the army on condition that it doesn’t protect its territory, people and border from Israel, should keep their money—or give it to Israel instead."