Category: News

Se acaban de filtrar a la red dos imágenes sobre el nuevo deportivo Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa Zagato. Este modelo verá la luz para rendir homenaje a todos los años que Alfa Romeo ha estado presente en la competición del motor.

Será presentado de forma oficial el próximo 23 de Abril en un evento llamado Villa d’Este. En cuanto al diseño, tiene claras características de deportivo actual aunque mezcla algunas líneas de un vehículo clásico.

Sobre la motorización no se saba nada a ciencia cierta aunque se rumorea que podría hacer uso de un motor V8. También cabe destacar que contará con un chasis de carbono monocasco y aluminio para aumentar la resistencia y aligerar su peso.

Related posts:

1. Alfa Romeo Giulietta, imágenes oficiales
2. Alfa Romeo Giulietta, precios disponibles
3. Alfa Romeo 147 SS Moving, edición especial

Goldman Sachs, we can be sure, will vigorously contest the civil suit brought against it by the United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). But, regardless of the eventual outcome, the case has far-reaching implications for the financial reform legislation that the US Congress is now considering.

Whether or not Goldman is guilty, the transaction in question clearly had no social benefit. It involved a complex synthetic security that was derived from existing mortgage-backed securities by cloning them into imaginary units that mimicked the originals. This synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) did not finance the ownership of any additional homes or allocate capital more efficiently; it merely swelled the volume of mortgage-backed securities that lost value when the housing bubble burst. The primary purpose of the transaction was to generate fees and commissions.

Read the rest at Project Syndicate –>

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Steve Clemons: Has Chuck Schumer EVER Criticized Israel or its Leadership in the Way He Just Unloaded on Obama?
Senator Chuck Schumer may have just lost any shot at succeeding Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader if the Nevada Senator stumbles in the…

Janice Bryant Howroyd: Literacy: The Ladder Up and Across The Bridge To Our Futures
Last night, I listened to Morgan Freeman say, on American Idol’s “Idol Gives Back”, “Literacy is the ladder out, but we must be fit enough…

Jill Richardson: US Senate, Bill Gates Give Planet a Middle Finger for Earth Day
Mother Nature does not work like a market: simply put, the world cannot shift to diets based on grain-fed meat.

Obama Administration Explores New ‘Fast Strike’ Missiles
WASHINGTON — In coming years, President Obama will decide whether to deploy a new class of weapons capable of reaching any corner of the earth…

With a grain of salt: Right-wing media claim government is coming for your shaker

Following reports that the FDA is considering regulating the amount of salt in processed foods, media conservatives have falsely claimed that the Obama administration is “seizing our salt shakers.” In fact, the FDA review has nothing to do with consumers’ use of table salt and instead invovles examining warnings about high sodium content in processed foods and restaurant meals, the sources of 77 percent of sodium intake.

Right wing invokes fear that big government is coming for your salt shaker

Rush: “We can now thank the regime for seizing our salt shakers.” During the April 20 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh commented: “We can now thank the regime for seizing our salt shakers.” Limbaugh added that “they’re going to take away our salt shakers, and we’re supposed to thank the regime for seasoning our food.”

Martha MacCallum: “Can’t we make our own decision about whether or not we salt our food?” Announcing a Fox News online poll on the potential regulations, co-host Bill Hemmer said on the on the April 20 edition of Fox News’ America’s Newsroom: “Do you think the government should regulate the ingredients in the food we eat?” Co-host Martha MacCallum asked: “Can’t we make our own decision about whether or not we want to salt our food?”

Fox & Friends: “Food police” are “taking salt away from you.” During the April 22 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade teased an upcoming segment by stating, “Coming up straight ahead, all this talk about the government taking salt away from you because it’s so bad for you, but aren’t there good things about salt?” Later, senior managing editor of FoxNewsHealth.com Dr. Manny Alvarez said, “I hate the government getting involved and telling me what to eat.” Co-host Steve Doocy replied: “Food police!”

Jane Skinner: “Will the government take the spice out of life and the thrill out of cooking?” During the April 20 edition of Fox News’ Happening Now, co-host Jane Skinner asserted: “The FDA is making a major push to limit how much salt you eat. Will the government take the spice out of life and the thrill out of cooking?”

Bolling: “Hide the salt and pepper.” Teasing an upcoming segment on the April 20 Fox Business’ Happy Hour, co-host Eric Bolling stated: “Hide the salt and pepper. The government is about to shake up — Get it? — your eating habbits.”

FDA reviewing warnings of high sodium levels in processed and prepared food, not regulating salt shakers

FDA is “not currently working on regulations nor has it made a decision to regulate sodium content.” In an April 20 press release, the FDA stated: “A story in today’s Washington Post leaves a mistaken impression that the FDA has begun the process of regulating the amount of sodium in foods. The FDA is not currently working on regulations nor has it made a decision to regulate sodium content in foods at this time.” The release further stated that the agency plans to review a recent Institute of Medicine report on the dangers of excessive sodium intake in processed and prepared foods and plans “to work with other federal agencies, public health and consumer groups, and the food industry to support the reduction of sodium levels in the food supply.” [FDA, 4/20/10]

Institute of Medicine warns of “sodium in foods across the board by manufacturers and restaurants” where “the vast majority of people’s sodium intake comes from.” An April 20 brief from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies called for “a coordinated effort to reduce sodium in foods across the board by manufacturers and restaurants [emphasis added] — that is, create a level playing field for the food industry.” The brief stated:

As its primary strategy for sodium reduction, the committee recommends that the FDA set mandatory national standards for the sodium content in foods — not banning outright the addition of salt to foods but beginning the process of reducing excess sodium in processed foods and menu items to a safer level.

The report brief stated that the majority of salt in food is “added as it is being processed or prepared by the food industry.” An accompanying press release stated, “[T]he vast majority of people’s sodium intake comes from salt that companies put in prepared meals and processed foods.”

CDC: “Most sodium comes from processed and restaurant food.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states: “Most of the sodium we eat comes from packaged, processed, store-bought, and restaurants foods. Only a small amount comes from salt added during cooking and from being added at the table, and most Americans have already exceeded their daily limit of sodium before cooking or adding salt at the table.”

An accompanying chart explains that 77 percent of Americans’ salt intake comes from processed and restaurant foods; only 6 percent is added at the table:

Yale University’s Dr. David Katz: “The issue is not what you do with your salt shaker.” Appearing on the April 20 edition of Fox Business’ Happy Hour, Yale University’s Dr. David Katz explained that “the FDA is not actively regulating anything” but that “[t]he industry has not fixed this problem on its own so the Institute of Medicine, which looks out for our health, is encouraging the federal authorities to do something about it.” Katz also commented, “The issue is not what you do with your salt shaker,” and added: “We often have these discussions about federal regulation as if the choice is between Big Brother telling you what to do or you making your own well-informed choice. So the question is, how informed are you now? Do you know that most commercial breakfast cereals are saltier than your diet should be on average?” Katz concluded: “It’s not a choice between you taking personal responsibility because you don’t have complete information.”

Center for Science in the Public Interest praised report. In an April 20 release, the Center for Science in the Public Interest stated:

Legislators and public health groups today praised a long-awaited report from the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine that calls for urgent, government action to reduce salt in packaged and restaurant foods.

“Limiting salt in packaged and restaurant foods is perhaps the single most important thing that the Food and Drug Administration could do to save hundreds of thousands of lives and save billions of dollars in health-care expenses,” said Center for Science in the Public Interest executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture should quickly implement the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations, starting with mandatory limits on salt, which could be phased in gradually over time.” [Center for Science in the Public Interest, 4/20/10]

Fox previously suggested NY salt reduction initiative was mandatory

Fox misrepresents NY voluntary initiative as a government mandate. Following the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s January announcement of a National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI), Fox News anchors and personalities misrepresented the initiative as mandatory, despite the health department stating: “Targets are voluntary, not mandatory, so they cannot force products off the market.”

Ensign’s PAC Has Not Raised A Single Dollar This Year
Sen. John Ensign’s PAC has taken in a grand total of $0 so far this year, according to FEC records examined by TPMmuckraker

Stanford Lobbyist, Bush Admin. Medicare Bamboozler Host Kasich Fundraiser
One host of today’s fundraiser for John Kasich was a senior executive and top lobbyist for alleged Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, while another is a former Bush administration official who threatened to fire a subordinate if he revealed to Congress the true cost of a major bill.

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Republican Takeover of Senate Unlikely
Nate Silver’s latest forecast shows Republicans will gain a net of four Senate seats in this fall’s elections, a figure unchanged since last month.

The Republicans now have only a 6% chance of an outright takeover of the Senate.

Maryland Rematch Will Be Close
A new Rasmussen survey in Maryland shows Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) edging former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R) in their repeat race for governor, 47% to 44%.

Hoyer Sees Big Democratic Losses
When asked about a recent Cook Political Report analysis that showed Democrats likely to lose 30 to 40 House seats in the midterm elections, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) did not disagree, reports Washington Whispers.

Said Hoyer: “It’s an accurate view of what the polls reflect right now. Yes. I have great respect for Charlie Cook.”

Republicans need to pick up 40 seats to take control of the House.

by Deborah Pearlstein

Cross-posted on Balkinization and Scotusblog

Since Justice Stevens announced his intention to retire, discussions about what his departure will mean for the Court have regularly noted his military service in World War II. The justice enlisted the day before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor (and has joked about how the enemy responded to the news immediately). There is little doubt that a Court without substantial military experience among its justices will be missing an important perspective on the unique role the U.S. military plays in American policy and society. Judges are ideally made wiser from their range of life experiences; a broader range of experience among the justices seems likely only to enhance the Court’s collective wisdom. In that respect alone, Justice Stevens’ absence from the Court will leave a gap.

But Justice Stevens’ national security jurisprudence reflects a very particular kind of wisdom, drawn not only from his military service, but from a lifetime of attention to the persuasiveness of executive reason. As illustrated in a series of thoughtful histories in recent years (see here, here or here), the young John Stevens was likewise informed by his service immediately after the war as a law clerk at the Court to Justice Wiley Rutledge, who himself had struggled with the questions of executive power, individual rights, and national security that the Court has faced repeatedly in the years since September 11. Over his relatively short tenure on the Court, Rutledge seemed quickly to regret his early deference to a powerful President Roosevelt during World War II. With the majority in Hirabayashi v. United States (upholding a military curfew on Japanese-Americans living in certain “military areas” in California) and Korematsu v. United States (upholding the exclusion of Japanese-Americans from designated zones), Rutledge had reluctantly accepted the military assertion of wartime necessity. But the positions Rutledge took in these cases did not sit easily. As Rutledge later wrote to a colleague, “I have had more anguish over [Hirabayashi] than any I have decided, save possibly one death case” that he had encountered in the court of appeals. Indeed, Rutledge had written separately in concurrence in Hirabayashi, to emphasize that the Court’s acceptance of the military’s necessity justification here did not mean that such reasoning would invariably succeed, or that all such reasoning was beyond the power of the courts to review.

By In re Yamashita (upholding the military commission trial of a Japanese general), issued the year before Justice Stevens took up work at the Court, Rutledge was writing in dissent, rejecting the Government’s position “that there is no law restrictive upon these proceedings other than whatever rules and regulations may be prescribed for their government by the executive authority or the military,” in favor of the view that the U.S. Constitution, statutes and treaties here – as elsewhere – apply. Exigencies could arise, Rutledge understood, but particularly where the Government response imposed a burden on individual rights, it was within the power of the courts to check the reasons for the response, in security matters as anywhere else. The capacity to evaluate reasons was not the Commander-in-Chief’s alone. Thus, when Justice Stevens took up the challenge to the legality of President Bush’s military commission system at Guantanamo Bay 60 years later in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, it was not surprising that it was Rutledge’s dissent the justice invoked.

It is certainly possible writing from some remove to overstate the impact Rutledge’s evolving views in the 1940’s had on Justice Stevens’ thinking some 60 years later. Justice Stevens is, after all, also the author of Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the watershed administrative law decision typically understood to have cemented the importance of judicial deference to executive branch interpretations of statutory authority – a deference driven by the Court’s view of the Executive’s superior political accountability and expertise. Indeed, at first glance, it seems difficult to reconcile the Justice Stevens of Chevron – embracing judicial deference to the Executive – and the Justice Stevens of Hamdan – rejecting any notion of even modest deference to the Executive in interpreting the statutory Authorization for Use of Military Force and Uniform Code of Military Justice. One might argue the decisions are better read simply as a sign of the evolution of Justice Stevens’ own views during his long tenure on the bench.

This view seems to me to miss the value of what is in fact a rather consistent sensibility on the value of executive views. By the time Chevron came down, the Court had long recognized – as Justice Stevens reiterated in that decision – that executive views could help illuminate statutory meaning when the executive has special expertise in the face of a “regulatory scheme [that] is technical and complex,” when competing policy interests are at stake, and when it is clear the agency’s consideration of the matter had been “detailed and reasoned.” It was precisely the lack of such detail and reason in the President’s justification for pursuing military commissions at Guantanamo that troubled Justice Stevens in Hamdan. “Nothing in the record before us demonstrates that it would be impracticable to apply court-martial rules in this case…. [T]he only reason offered in support of that determination is the danger posed by international terrorism. Without for one moment underestimating that danger, it is not evident to us why it should require, in the case of Hamdan’s trial, any variance from the rules that govern courts-martial.” The Executive had presented no record or even detailed reason why it could not follow standard court martial procedures. Indeed, as briefing surrounding the case had made evident, the Executive had largely excluded from the design process those lawyers in the military who were actually expert in how one might conduct a military commission trial. Expertise and record evidence could be valuable indeed. Far less valuable was the mere assertion of Executive authority.

Justice Stevens’ familiarity with the military and the important demands of national security perhaps made it possible for him to see what many have not – that there is nothing so extraordinary about the field of foreign relations per se that absolves the Executive of all need to be put to particular reason and compelling proof. It seems unlikely that the justice who takes his place will have Justice Stevens’ breadth of life experience in this regard. We will be fortunate if he or she nonetheless shares his insight.

Are the Tea Partiers Losing Steam?
It is hard to see how, in a nation tilting toward the "have-not" column, the Tea Party crowd’s placebo politics can sustain them as an enduring national political force.

It is hard to see how, in a nation tilting toward the "have-not" column, the Tea Party crowd's placebo politics can sustain them as an enduring national political force.

Is It Possible to Be Elitist in a Good Way? The Organizers of TED Would Like You to Think So
With a $6,000 price tag, TED caters to an exclusive group of tastemakers and moguls … is it enough that anyone can watch videos from the conference for free?

With a $6,000 price tag, TED caters to an exclusive group of tastemakers and moguls … is it enough that anyone can watch videos from the conference for free?

Videos of Small Animals Being Crushed by Women in High Heels Are Protected Free Speech?
The Supreme Court’s 8-1 ruling comes down to protecting the depiction of a gruesome act on 1st Amendment grounds, not the legality of the gruesome act itself.

The Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling comes down to protecting the depiction of a gruesome act on 1st Amendment grounds, not the legality of the gruesome act itself.

Alice Walker: Obama May Never Realize How Profound His Election Was for Black Southerners
In a wide-ranging interview, Walker discusses Tibet and Palestine, womanism versus feminism, the election and presidency of Obama, and the "spiritual survival" of our society.

In a wide-ranging interview, Walker discusses Tibet and Palestine, womanism versus feminism, the election and presidency of Obama, and the "spiritual survival" of our society.

Moyers: Six Banks Control 60% of Gross National Product — Is the U.S. at the Mercy of an Unstoppable Oligarchy?
Moyers and economists James Kwak and Simon Johnson wonder whether the financial powers are more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever.

Moyers and economists James Kwak and Simon Johnson wonder whether the financial powers are more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever.

A Short Citizen’s Guide to Reforming Wall Street
The real scandal isn’t the Street’s unlawful acts (i.e., Securities and Exchange Commission vs. Goldman Sachs) but legal acts that have reaped the Street a bonanza and nearly sunk the rest of us. It’s good we finally have an SEC…


Wall Street – Goldman Sachs – Business – Investing – Law

The Return of Book Club!
I’m very happy to re-introduce regular book clubs to TPMCafe, one of my favorite features of the site. We’re kicking things off with a discussion on Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court by Jeff Shesol, a former…



Franklin D. Roosevelt – Supreme Court of the United States – United States – Jeff Shesol – Supreme Court

Mitch McConnell Gets it Wrong
CANDY CROWLEY (CNN, Sunday): The president says you are being deceptive in describing this bill. MCCONNELL: Well, Candy … there is a bailout fund in the bill that was reported out of the Banking Committee, the partisan bill that came…



Mitch McConnell – Wall Street – CNN – CANDY CROWLEY – Senate

Cheney: Telling Leahy to ?f*ck? himself was ‘sort of the best thing I ever did.?
In 2004, then-Vice President Dick Cheney had a “frank exchange of views” with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on the Senate floor over Cheney’s ties to Halliburton and President Bush’s judicial nominees. Cheney ended the argument by telling Leahy, “F*ck yourself.” Since then, Cheney has joked about the incident and claimed the Leahy “merited” it because […]

In 2004, then-Vice President Dick Cheney had a “frank exchange of views” with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on the Senate floor over Cheney’s ties to Halliburton and President Bush’s judicial nominees. Cheney ended the argument by telling Leahy, “F*ck yourself.” Since then, Cheney has joked about the incident and claimed the Leahy “merited” it because he was “close” to kissing him. On Dennis Miller’s radio show today, Cheney suggested that his Leahy f-bomb was “the best thing” he had ever done:

MILLER: By the way, my, I also want to thank you, on the list of things I feel I should thank you for, almost kicking Patrick Leahy’s ass. Thank you very much.

CHENEY: Hehehehe.

MILLER: I love that move. One of my favorite stories. Muttering that.

CHENEY: You’d be surprised how many people liked that. That’s sort of the best thing I ever did.

Listen here:

Cheney is right that conservatives “liked” his expletive exchange with Leahy. Bill Kristol once said on Fox News that Cheney’s comments represented “a beautiful statement, really, of justice.”

Franklin Graham affirms concerns of critics, appears on Fox to proselytize against Muslims.
As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, groups like the Military Religious Freedom Foundation are protesting an upcoming speech by evangelist Franklin Graham, who will deliver a lecture on National Prayer Day at the Pentagon. The groups object to Graham’s speech because of his past history of hate speech against Muslims. This morning, Graham appeared on Fox and […]

As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, groups like the Military Religious Freedom Foundation are protesting an upcoming speech by evangelist Franklin Graham, who will deliver a lecture on National Prayer Day at the Pentagon. The groups object to Graham’s speech because of his past history of hate speech against Muslims. This morning, Graham appeared on Fox and Friends to defend his upcoming appearance at the Pentagon. When asked about his views on Islam, Graham affirmed the concerns of critics, saying that he was speaking out “for those who are enslaved under Islam” and implored Muslims to convert to Christianity:

GRAHAM: First of all, I want Muslims to know that I love them …. They don’t have to die in a car bomb they don’t have to die in some kind of a holy war to be accepted by God … But when you look at Islam, I love the people of Islam but the religion I do not agree with the religion at all and if you look at what the religion does to women and the women alone it is horrid. And so yes I speak out for women, I speak out for people who live under Islam, who are enslaved under Islam, and I want them to know they can be free by Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

Watch it:

Yesterday, a military spokesman said that it is considering withdrawing Graham’s invitation. Army Col. Tom Collins told the Associated Press that withdrawing the invitation is “on the table.” The Defense Department estimated that 3,409 Muslims actively served in the U.S. military as of April 2008.

Obama makes a strong case for financial reform
NEW YORK — President Obama’s assertive stride into the debate on financial regulatory reform stands in marked contrast to the messy health-care battle that consumed most of the past year. It also represents a crucial part of a political strategy that — at least so far — appears to be moving a …

Salt talks
Barack Obama has to worry about Afghanistan, Iraq, a Supreme Court vacancy, mining safety, unemployment, Wall Street regulation, making his health-care law work and a few dozen other things.

SEC divided on vote to file Goldman lawsuit
Behind closed doors, the two Republican members of the Securities and Exchange Commission sharply questioned senior investigators last week about whether the evidence they had assembled was strong enough to file a fraud case against Goldman Sachs, according to current and former SEC officials fam…

Obama plan to end much of Constellation program angers Republican senators
NASA’s administrator faced sharp and often hostile criticism and questioning from Republican senators Thursday as he defended President Obama’s plan to dramatically change the agency’s human space exploration program.

Here’s what you need to know this morning:

• The on-again, off-again Greek bailout is very much on again this morning as the country’s prime minister has gone to the IMF asking for assistance. Greek bonds have surged this morning, as the specter of default diminishes.

• Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta has come under further pressure this morning, as it was revealed that the insider trading tip the government is investigating him for has to do with the Berkshire Hathaway’s purchase of Goldman shares at the height of the financial crisis. The tips on the Buffett deal were allegedly passed to Raj Rajaratnam at Galleon Group.

• Goldman Sachs is under further scrutiny for its involvement in the Lloyds refinancing package in the UK last year. The company acted as both an underwriter and investor in the deal, and it allegedly made moves to improve its investment position before the deal closed.

• The U.S. IPO market has returned to form, notching a day of issuance the size not seen since November 2007. Total sales thus far for this year are at $6 billion.

• Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is rallying G-20 leaders to the cause of a Chinese yuan revaluation, as he seeks support in the key currency dispute. Brazil, India, and the EU are already on Geithner’s side, as he heads into G-20 negotiations today.

• Merger talks continue between Continental and United Airlines, as the two aviation behemoths head towards a stock-for-stock merger deal. The result of the merger would be a company worth $6.6 billion.

• The UK debate last night produced another strong outing for upstart candidate Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democratic Party, increasing the likelihood of a hung parliament. UK economic figures disappointed somewhat, a fact that is sure to hurt Gordon Brown and the in power Labour Party.

• Internal debate within the Federal Reserve is pushing Fed Chair Ben Bernanke to take action against potential high inflation by raising rates. If opinions are moving in that direction, a rate hike could occur sooner.

• The ratings agencies come under the Senate’s gaze today as their role in the financial crisis is reviewed. Of particular focus will be the agencies willingness to rate products they did not fully understand for the purpose of increasing profits.

• Instability in Thailand persists this morning after last night’s grenade attack, allegedly thrown by protesters who back the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s return to government. Riot police have confronted protesters today, but thus far there is no return to yesterday’s deadly violence.

• Bonus: This season may be the last for the full Jersey Shore cast, with several members being cut from the show, though Snooki remains under contract for a third season.

Join the conversation about this story »

Lindsay Lohan has been named a suspect in the disappearance of a Rolex watch valued at more than $35,000. According to TMZ.com, investigators in Los Angeles have “photographic evidence” linking Lohan to the theft, which occured after one of her pals accidentally left the watch at Lindsay’s house earlier this year — and never got it back.

Lindsay’s latest legal woe comes after The Lohan Family went on a Twitter rampage on Thursday after Michael showed up at the actress’ apartment with police officers for an ill-fated “intervention.”

With the market for Android-based tablets slowly picking up steam, Velocity Micro, a high-performance custom computer producer out of Richmond, VA, is entering the fray.

The Cruz tablet is billed as an affordable touchscreen e-reader and tablet. The Cruz will run Android 2.1 with what is presumably a custom browser capable of supporting Flash 10.1. Also, it appears that the Cruz, like its Archos brethren, will not have access to the Android Market. Owners of the Cruz will, however, have access to the Cruz Market, which is an open content portal.

The Cruz sports a 7″ capacitive multitouch touchscreen, an 800MHz processor, and expandable storage via an SD card slot. There is no release date yet, but Velocity Micro promises that the Cruz is coming soon. Go to http://cruztablet.com/ for more information.

Might We Suggest…

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[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that it will appeal last week’s ruling that the National Day of Prayer is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion. The DOJ filed a notice of appeal Thursday with the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, where last week Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that the day of prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it is more than “acknowledgment” of religion, but rather government-backed encouragement that Americans engage in non-secular activity. Crabb granted summary judgment for the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), but the White House has said that President Barack Obama still intends to recognize the day of prayer on May 6.
Last month, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools does not violate the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. The court also upheld the use of the phrase “In God We Trust” on currency. In November, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that a school district’s policy prohibiting the performance of religious holiday songs does not violate the Establishment Clause. Also that month, a judge for the US District Court for the District of South Carolina ruled that license plates produced by the state bearing a picture of a cross in front of a stained glass window and the words “I Believe” violate the Constitution.

After tinkering with movie rentals in January, YouTube’s added a bunch of movies and TV episodes you actually want to see. We’re not just talking art-house Sundance Film Festival flicks—now, you can get a bit of manga too. More »

Honeywell (HON) beats analyst estimates, raises forecasts.

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If you found yourself disappointed by the general lack of newness in the app drop we covered yesterday morning, then brace yourself – that disappointment is about to be wiped off the face of the planet. For a few minutes, at least. The App Catalog hath redeemed itself, with more than a dozen new apps and dozens more updates. It’s a veritable appapalooza! Of course, there’s the usual raft of cruft, but every application stores has to deal with that. So long as we get plenty of useful stuff alongside it, we’ve got no reason to be complaining. Did we get useful? Well, I’m not going to tell you until you jump past the break and take a peak at the list of new.

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Following yesterday’s announcement that the budget deficit was higher than expected, Greece has rapidly been progressing towards the denouement.  Greek debt yields started rising “almost vertically” yesterday, and rumor has it that no one will sell default insurance on the stuff.  As yields dipped into the double digits, BusinessWeek noted that they were approaching “Pakistan levels“–i.e. the kinds of yields we see on Pakistani debt, which got an IMF bailout in 2008.