Elms Progressive Media

Who Lost Egypt: Not Obama for Sure - By Aaron David Miller | Foreign Policy "If we're lucky this time around, we'll avoid the who-lost-Egypt debate. Mubarak's decision to step down has pre-empted a catastrophic crisis for Egypt and for American interests. We may not be adept at manipulating Middle Eastern politics; but we're sure experts at beating ourselves up. Commentators and analysts have argued forcefully that Barack Obama's administration failed to anticipate the current crisis, blew an opportunity by failing to push President Hosni Mubarak to make significant reforms during the early days of the upheaval, and risks being on the wrong side of history by not being assertive in trying to force Mubarak's removal. But the administration was smart to keep its distance from this crisis. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

As Long-Term Unemployment Deepens, 99ers Look for Answers | The Washington Independent "For 23 years, 58-year-old Cindy Paoletti of Salina, N.Y., worked in the corporate accounting division of J.P. Morgan Chase, balancing payroll accounts in an upstate office of the Wall Street bank. In December 2007, Paoletti was let go in a wave of layoffs that eventually shuttered the entire Syracuse operations center. “My job went to India,” she sighs. [Economy1] Soon after, she started collecting unemployment benefits and severance while searching for a job in earnest. “I apply for everything out there,” she says, estimating she has applied to hundreds of positions over the past 30 months. “But 95 percent of the time, the company you send your resume to does not even acknowledge that they’ve received it. The majority of the time, if you do get an interview, they tell you that you are overqualified. It seems like as soon as they find out your age, everything goes down after there. The age disc...

Riot Police Guard Against Anti-Billionaire Protesters in Rancho Mirage. John Amato is on the scene | Crooks and Liars : "This is live video sent back from the Quarantine the Kochs rally in Rancho Mirage about an hour and a half ago. John Amato is on the scene and has called me a couple of times with updates. There are about 1500 people or so there, peacefully protesting the convocation of billionaires at the Rancho Las Palmas resort. The purpose of the meeting is to figure out how to impeach Obama and take over our government in order to preserve their wealth, justice, and liberty at the expense of ours. Glenn Beck was the keynote speaker last night, and Eric Cantor was also on the guest list. (Full list here (PDF)) - Sent using Google Toolbar"

ThinkProgress » California Lawmaker Receives Racist Death Threat Warning ‘Rush Limbaugh Will Kick Your Ch-nk Ass’ "Yee’s call for civility did not sit well with one Limbaugh fan, who responded by sending several racist death threats to Yee’s office this week. “Rush Limbaugh will kick your chink ass and expose you for the fool you are,” the faxes read, threatening him with “death” (warning, contains racial expletives): - Sent using Google Toolbar"

Obama, You Had Me At 'Doubling Our Exports by 2014' | The Nation "The biggest problem, at least for liberals and close listeners, was the logical holes in Obama’s tax talk. He mentioned “tax cuts” twice: Once to claim credit for fattening paychecks with the tax compromise, and once to criticize the thought of making that same tax plan permanent. He vowed to eliminate the 'billions' of tax benefits that oil companies currently receive, and then, after bemoaning the deficit, called for cutting 'the corporate tax rate for the first time in 25 years.' Two of the three biggest corporations in America are oil companies, by the way, so those reforms might cancel each other out a bit. Now guess which one the Republicans will act on first. - Sent using Google Toolbar"

MetroPCS sues to block FCC's net neutrality rules - FierceWireless "MetroPCS (NASDAQ:PCS) followed Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and filed a lawsuit to block the FCC's recently approved net neutrality regulations for wireless and wired networks. The suit comes on the heels of criticism from consumer groups that MetroPCS' LTE data plans violate the rules. The flat-rate carrier filed its suit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which is where Verizon filed its lawsuit. It's also the same court that in April struck down the FCC's authority to sanction Comcast for blocking subscribers from using a file-sharing service. - Sent using Google Toolbar"