Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/03/06-0

Our just published In the Shadow of Power is a penetrating collection of 92 black and white photographs about life in Washington, DC, by Venezuelan photographer Kike Arnal. After scores of books and reports by our groups over forty-five years, where the premise was that "a thousand words is worth one picture," I am reminded of the impact of the reverse saying "a picture is worth a thousand words." If you want to see the power of these 92 pictures aided by the discerning eye of a masterful interviewer, visit Brian Lamb's one hour C-SPAN program about Mr. Arnal's book (http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/292161-1).

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/03/06-1

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that President Obama's advisers are "nearing a recommendation" that the administration overrule Attorney General Holder's plan for a criminal trial for Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other Guantanamo Bay detainees and revert to Bush/Cheney military commissions. Negotiations have reportedly been underway between Rahm Emanuel and Senator Lindsey Graham, with Graham allegedly promising to help the administration curry favor with Senate Republicans in his bid to close Guantanamo Bay if the president abandons his Attorney General and his pledge to defend the rule of law.

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-06/four-u-s-banks-shut-down-as-failure-count-this-year-reaches-26.html

Regulators shut banks in Maryland, Illinois, Florida and Utah, pushing the number of U.S. failures to 26 this year and placing more pressure on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to dispose of a growing pile of toxic assets.

Link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gBaIp2FW3RTKSDqXVXyhJaZ0V6sgD9E8QLS00

CHICAGO — A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm.

Link: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/frank_retreats_on_debt_QxHdyBmAR3nEcGXEzg5JnK#ixzz0hPkTDTf2

Powerful lawmaker Barney Frank had to pull his foot out of his mouth yesterday. The Massachusetts Congressman rattled investors when he said the US Treasury won't be responsible for bailing out investors holding the more than $5 trillion of mortgage-linked securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- the ailing mortgage companies at the center of the junk mortgage crisis.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7051905.ece

The President of Azerbaijan suffered embarrassment yesterday when it was reported that nine luxury mansions in Dubai worth millions of pounds had been bought in the name of his 11-year-old son.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7051913.ece

Ukraine’s new pro-Russian President offered the Kremlin a chance to retain a base for its Black Sea Fleet on his first visit to Moscow yesterday.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/sylv-m06.shtml

Sylvia Young says she pled with Detroit utility to keep heat on. The Michigan state government is attempting to victimize the mother of three young children who died in a fire that erupted only hours after the family’s utilities were shut off on Tuesday. The state attorney general general’s office has reportedly filed a neglect case against Sylvia Young, 30, for not being home at the time of the blaze. Young says she fears the state will attempt to take away the four children who survived.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article7051959.ece

There are no greater supporters of democracy in Iraq than the printers: for weeks they have been working flat out to satisfy the demand for elections posters. In Baghdad alone, 150 of them expect to earn £4 million by covering the dusty streets of the capital with man-size images of the candidates, with their promises of a better future.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/plut-m06.shtml

Construction unions, working hand in glove with the Rudd government’s Fair Work Australia (FWA) tribunal and the employers, have shut down industrial action by workers at Woodside Petroleum’s $12 billion Pluto gas project in north-western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/nopd-m06.shtml

A New Orleans police supervisor pled guilty February 24 in a federal court to charges of conspiracy to cover up the police shooting of six unarmed people a few days after Hurricane Katrina struck the city. Two of the victims, Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally disabled man, and James Brissette, 19, were killed, while the other four were seriously wounded, one losing part of her arm.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/pers-m06.shtml

In the wake of the most serious financial breakdown to hit world capitalism since the collapse of the US stock market in 1929, not a single serious measure has been put into place to rein in the activities of the banks and financial institutions responsible for the crisis.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/isse-m06.shtml

About 1,000 students and faculty gathered at a March 4 rally against education cuts at San Diego State University in California. A similar number of people demonstrated at the University of California, San Diego. A subsequent demonstration in downtown San Diego drew several thousand.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/mar2010/jobs-m06.shtml

The Labor Department’s employment report for February, released Friday, showed that the US economy is continuing to shed jobs, wages are continuing to decline, and the so-called economic “recovery” is based on an accelerating fall in the living standards of the working class.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/03/201035184753872311.html

Powerful aftershocks have rattled buildings and sent terrified residents fleeing into the streets in the Chilean city of Concepcion. Fears of of additional damage in the tremors before dawn on Friday led officials to evacuate some patients from the regional hospital.