Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100513/pl_nm/us_afghanistan_usa_funds

A Senate committee on Thursday approved another $33.5 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq this year, the first step toward congressional approval of the extra war spending that President Barack Obama requested in February to support his surge of 30,000 more U.S. troops into Afghanistan. Didn’t Obama promise the American people that he would end the wars based on lies, close Guantanamo, and stop the torture? And now we have twice as much war and the torture continues. As the American empire attempts to wage war on multiple fronts and maintain hundreds of military bases and torture prisons around the world, it is economically collapsing. America resembles ancient Rome, which was at war on multiple fronts and maintaining hundreds of costly military bases across the known world when it to collapsed economically under the weight of empire, corruption, and political incompetence.

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37136518/ns/us_news-life/

Paralyzed by the worst deficit in its history, the state has fallen months behind in paying what it owes to businesses and organizations, pushing some of them to the edge of bankruptcy.

Link: http://wsws.org/articles/2010/may2010/pers-m13.shtml

Last weekend, European leaders and finance ministers agreed to a rescue package for the euro which inaugurates the most comprehensive offensive against the working class since the end of World War II. This offensive must be repulsed by the combined resistance of the European working class.

Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/13-7

A primary reason Bush and Cheney succeeded in their radical erosion of core liberties is because they focused their assault on non-citizens with foreign-sounding names, casting the appearance that none of what they were doing would ever affect the average American. There were several exceptions to that tactic -- the due-process-free imprisonment of Americans Yaser Hamdi and Jose Padilla, the abuse of the "material witness" statute to detain American Muslims, the eavesdropping on Americans' communications without warrants -- but the vast bulk of the abuses were aimed at non-citizens. That is now clearly changing.

Link: http://www.truthout.org/supreme-court-nominee-elena-kagan-goes-bat-monsanto-sides-with-conservative-justices59456

Alfalfa is the fourth largest crop grown in the United States and Monsanto wants to control it. On April 27, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could well write the future of alfalfa production in our country. Kagan does not support a thorough study of GE seeds and their potential impact on environmental and human health. In doing so, Kagan has sided with conservative justices on the court who appeared skeptical that the lower courts had made the right decision in banning GE alfalfa

Link: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0513/afghan-war-costs-surpass-iraqs/

The amount of money the United States is spending on its war in Afghanistan has surpassed the cost of its war in Iraq for the first time. US taxpayers shelled out $6.7 billion for the Afghan war in February, the most recent month for which statistics are available, as opposed to $5.5 billion for the war in Iraq. The total cost for the two wars is now approaching $1 trillion.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/146819/america%27s_ten_most_corrupt_capitalists/

The financial crisis has unveiled a new set of public villains—corrupt corporate capitalists who leveraged their connections in government for their own personal profit. During the Clinton and Bush administrations, many of these schemers were worshiped as geniuses, heroes or icons of American progress. But today we know these opportunists for what they are: Deregulatory hacks hellbent on making a profit at any cost. Without further ado, here are the 10 most corrupt capitalists in the U.S. economy.

Link: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25436.htm

When the Industrial Revolution began in Britain, in the late 1700s, there was lots of money to be made by investing in factories and mills, by opening up new markets, and by gaining control of sources of raw materials. The folks who had the most money to invest, however, were not so much in Britain but more in Holland. Holland was the leading Western power in the 1600s, and its bankers were the leading capitalists. In pursuit of profit, Dutch capital flowed to the British stock market, and thus the Dutch funded the rise of Britain, who subsequently eclipsed Holland both economically and geopolitically.

Link: http://www.thenation.com/blog/senate-must-block-deathstar-amendment-gut-consumer-financial-protections

Now The Obama administration, with its too-close-for-comfort ties to Wall Street and its Federal Reserve-friendly appointees, has not exactly been in the forefront of fighting for consumers in the current wrangling over financial services reform.

Link: http://www.theprogressivemind.info/?p=38119

Cornerstone Wealth Management CEO David Hefty agrees with a growing number of other financial experts that a real estate collapse in China before the end of the year will send shockwaves through the global economy, leading to a stock market collapse which will send the Dow into free fall below the 5,000 level.

Link: http://congress.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/05/13/democrats-pull-science-investment-bill-rare-win-for-republicans/

House Republicans scored a rare legislative win Thursday. They forced Democrats to yank a science research and development bill off the floor. That's right, keep things just as they are with the American people enslaved by the oil companys with no other options, no other energy alternatives.

Link: http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=12679

High-ranking sources in the Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed displeasure with Turkey over deploying anti-aircraft batteries along the Syrian border in the Iskenderun district. The Turkish daily Hurriyet meanwhile, quoted a military source as saying that “this move aims at repelling a US or Israeli attack against Iran or Syria.” Obama adviser warns Russia against arms sale to Iran The United States has made it clear to Russia that delivering an anti-aircraft system to Iran would have severe consequences for U.S. ties with Moscow, a senior advisor to President Obama said Tuesday.

Link: http://www.paltelegraph.com/opinions/editorials/6009-i-stand-by-palestine

In a recent interview which I conducted with the brave Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff, he told me that he has never seen a nation to be as strong and powerful as the Palestinian nation.

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7717790/US-teacher-sacked-after-being-filmed-beating-student.html

Sherri Davis, a science teacher at Jamie's House Charter School in Houston, backed 13-year-old Isaiah Johnson into a corner and began beating him while his classmates watched. Janiqua Johnson, one of Isaiah's classmates, filmed the attack on her mobile phone. In the footage, which has made its way onto the internet, Ms Davis can be seen dragging Isaiah across the floor before kicking and slapping him.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/12/deepwater-gulf-oil-spill-hearing

Documents suggest BP, Transocean and Halliburton ignored tests indicating faulty safety equipment, says committee, BP was aware of equipment problems aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig hours before the explosion pumped millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a congressional hearing was told yesterday .

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/may/13/video-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill

BP's video footage of Gulf oil spill from Deepwater Horizon drilling rig After considerable pressure from the media and government agencies, BP tonight finally released a brief video showing for the first time the gushing stream of oil and gas leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig into the Gulf of Mexico. This is the least of the leaks, a bubbling section of pipe lying on the ocean floor. It looks like a mixture of natural gas and a little oil coming out. This is nothing. BP isn’t going to show us the main leak, a roaring volcano of one million plus gallons of oil every twenty-four hours, a ‘Pandora’s Box’ of destruction which they have unleashed on the eco system of the earth.

Link: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51424

CIUDAD BOLIVAR, Colombia, May 13, 2010 (IPS) - More than 380 families -- some 2,000 people -- in this vast working-class district on the fringes of the Colombian capital that is home to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the armed conflict are to be relocated after landslides caused by leaking water pipes. The effects of the leaks in the pipes carrying water to the more solidly built homes in the area were compounded by unexpected heavy rains that cut short a drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which was forecast to last until August.

Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/spinney05132010.html

In the 11 May issue of CounterPunch, apparently based on White House and Pentagon sources, Gareth Porter, one of the most able journalists covering the Afghan debacle, reported that General McChrystal’s war plan is in the early stages of unravelling. To appreciate why this was entirely predictable, consider please, the following

Link: http://webabuser.blogspot.com/2010/05/first-gold-now-europe-running-out-of.html

Earlier we noted that the Austrian mint was on its way to depleting its gold reserves following "panicked buying" from Europeans, who now openly fear the demise of their currency. Now, courtesy of Slim Beleggen, we understand that the situation in the silver market is just as bad and has also spilled over to Germany: the contagion is no longer one of sovereign debt, but of precious metal physical inventory.

Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/13/25_years_ago_philadelphia_police_bombs

Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of a massive police operation in Philadelphia that culminated in the helicopter bombing of the headquarters of a radical group known as MOVE. The fire from the attack killed six adults and five children and destroyed sixty-five homes. Despite two grand jury investigations and a commission finding that top officials were grossly negligent, no one from city government was criminally charged. MOVE was a Philadelphia-based radical movement that was dedicated to black liberation and a back-to-nature lifestyle. It was founded by John Africa, and all its members took on the surname Africa. We hear from Mumia Abu-Jamal and speak with Ramona Africa, the only adult survivor of the bombing. [includes rush transcript]