http://newmediajournal.us/ NewMediaJournal en-us contact@newmediajournal.us Copyright 2011 webZine 2012-02-22T11:00:41+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4652 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4652#When:11:00:41Z The Obama administration plans to unveil a long-awaited corporate tax reform plan on Wednesday, lowering the top income-tax rate for corporations to 28 percent from 35 percent while eliminating deductions. Corporations with overseas operations would also face a minimum tax on their foreign earnings, new tax benefits would be given to incentivize US manufacturers while taxes on oil and gas companies would reportedly see their taxes go up while losing many large deductions and subsidies. The plan aims to raise $250 billion over 10 years. "Our tax system should not give companies an incentive to locate production overseas or engage in accounting games to shift profits abroad, eroding the US tax base. Introducing the principle of a minimum tax on foreign earnings would help address these problems and discourage a global race to the bottom in tax rates," reads an outline provided by a senior administration official. The outline says the manufacturing deduction -- emphasizing clean energy research and development -- would reduce the effective rate on manufacturing to no more than 25 percent. Headline 2012-02-22T11:00:41+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4590 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4590#When:20:42:21Z Throughout time politicians and their handlers have been prone to omitting unpleasant facts or manipulating them so as to mold issues to their advantage. This is the concept behind “spin”; a form of propagandizing that crafts an “alternative” interpretation of an issue, organization, person, event or campaign in order to sway the public’s opinion “for” or “against” said issue, organization, person, event or campaign. In fact, the “art of spin” has created an entirely separate category of political animal; the “spin doctor,” many of whom are regularly featured on the many mainstream media news outlets disguised as “political strategists.” But somewhere along the line, the art of employing wit, reason, personality and persuasive rhetoric in order to achieve a political ends gave way to the blatant lie, and never before has it been as evident as it is today. This political malady is not exclusive to one side of the aisle or the other. Neither is it exclusive to the elected class. In fact, some of the most egregious abusers of truth and honesty come in the form of agendized media operatives. Editorials 2012-02-16T20:42:21+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4655 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4655#When:10:59:03Z Unions are gearing up to spend more than $400 million to help re-elect Pres. Obama and lift Democrats this election year in a fight for labor's survival. Fearing the consequences of a Republican in the White House -- union leaders say they have little choice as they try to beat back GOP efforts to curb collective bargaining rights or limit their ability to collect dues. "People are digging deeper," said Larry Scanlon, political director of the country's largest public workers union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "If Republicans take over the presidency, Congress and enough state legislatures, unions will be out of business, pure and simple." AFSCME, the biggest overall spender in the 2010 midterm elections, is expected to spend at least $100 million or more this election. The Fifth Column 2012-02-22T10:59:03+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4653 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4653#When:10:58:19Z Ave Maria University officials filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the federal government over a contraception mandate that for weeks has riled Catholic institutions. The suit is one of several across the country seeking injunctive relief for religiously-affiliated organizations concerned about paying for employee health insurance, which must include free birth control according to a regulation announced in January. President Obama’s administration “knew from the beginning that this was not going to square with the teachings of the Catholic church, leaders in the Evangelical world, or with orthodox Jews,” said Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria University. White House officials have argued coverage of FDA-approved contraception saves insurance companies money by keeping women healthy. National and Local 2012-02-22T10:58:19+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4654 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4654#When:10:57:32Z The Heritage Foundation has issued a new report that charges the Obama administration sent presidential earmarks, taxpayer dollars, to Democrat lawmakers to help convince them to vote for controversial proposals such as Cap & Trade and the healthcare bill. "When you examine the recipients of those grants, there were at least 32 vulnerable house Democrats who received significant federal grant money during the run-up or directly after the votes on those pieces of legislation," says Lachlan Markay, one of the authors of the report. The amount of earmarks spiked around the time of difficult votes such as Cap & Trade, then dropped, only to spike again around controversial financial regulations known as Dodd/Frank, and spiked the most just before the vote on the health care bill. Government and Politics 2012-02-22T10:57:32+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4651 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4651#When:10:56:53Z Pres. Obama’s Federal Communications Commission demolished wireless broadband company LightSquared’s competition through a pattern of regulatory decisions apparently aimed at establishing an “open-access” Internet in the United States. The FCC successfully green-lighted LightSquared’s corporate formation in 2009 by allowing Wall Street hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners to purchase majority ownership in satellite company SkyTerra. A major obstacle that still remained in LightSquared’s way was competitor GlobalStar. GlobalStar had a similar operation to the one LightSquared was building at the time. A major difference, though, was GlobalStar’s already-orbiting satellites, and the broadband Internet access it was already providing to Americans in rural areas of the country. The Fifth Column 2012-02-22T10:56:53+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4649 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4649#When:10:55:02Z Pakistanis poured onto Islamabad's streets Monday, chanting "death to America" and demanding holy war at a rally whipped up by right-wing, religious and banned organizations linked to Al-Qaeda. It was the latest show of support for Defense of Pakistan, a coalition of around 40 parties chaired by a cleric dubbed the father of the Taliban that include organizations blacklisted at home and abroad as terror groups. Allah Buksh, a senior police official, said 2,500 attended the demonstration as it got underway, but witnesses estimated the crowd at 3,500 as hundreds of riot police, armed with batons and wearing bullet-proof jackets stood guard. "Death to America" and "America deserves one treatment: jihad, jihad" shouted the crowd in a bustling commercial area, an AFP reporter said. Islamist Terrorism 2012-02-22T10:55:02+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4647 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4647#When:10:54:13Z Syrian activists say 100 people have been killed by government troops in a single day, as the Red Cross calls for ceasefires. Women and children were among those killed, according to monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Local Coordination Committees said 100 had died in Homs and in raids on towns and villages in the province of Idlib. Washington, which is preparing for a "Friends of Syria" meeting of Western and Arab states opposing Bashar al Assad, declined to rule out eventually providing arms to rebels seeking to overthrow him. Activists said the regime appeared to be sending infantry reinforcements including tanks to Homs, with the aim of storming rebel-held neighborhoods. A local activist said residents were preparing for the expected assault and planned to fight "until the last person." International 2012-02-22T10:54:13+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4650 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4650#When:10:53:27Z A visit to Iran by UN inspectors probing Iran's suspected nuclear weapons activities failed to achieve a breakthrough, with Tehran denying access to a key military site, the IAEA said Wednesday. "Intensive efforts were made to reach agreement on a document facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues in connection with Iran’s nuclear programme," the IAEA said in a statement. "Unfortunately, agreement was not reached on this document." The team requested access both during this visit and during a first trip in late January to the Parchin military site, near Tehran, where it believes explosives testing was carried out, but Iran "did not grant permission," it said. Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said the talks had been intensive and "will continue in the future." International 2012-02-22T10:53:27+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4648 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4648#When:10:52:37Z A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics. It’s an issue that raises ethical questions, and some experts urge caution in treating children with puberty-blocking drugs and hormones. An 8-year-old second-grader in Los Angeles is a typical patient. Born a girl, the child announced at 18 months, “I a boy” and has stuck with that belief. The family was shocked but now refers to the child as a boy and is watching for the first signs of puberty to begin treatment, his mother said. Pediatricians need to know these kids exist and deserve treatment, said Dr. Norman Spack, author of one of three reports published Monday. Culture Wars 2012-02-22T10:52:37+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4639 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4639#When:11:00:02Z The big-money vehicle intended to raise astronomical sums to serve as the Democratic counter to similar action by Republican-funded super PACs and outside groups is failing miserably, federal documents filed Monday showed. Priorities USA Action, a super PAC that former top aides to President Obama left the White House last February to run, had only a single substantial donor last month, of $50,000. Even that check is not a full-throated endorsement from John W. Rogers, CEO of Chicago’s Ariel Capital and a man with the means to give much more. Besides Mr. Rogers’ gift, the super PAC raised only $5,600 in small sums, which entirely defeats the purpose of a super PAC. Unlike regular campaign organizations, super PACs can receive contributions of any amount from people, unions and corporations. Government and Politics 2012-02-21T11:00:02+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4638 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4638#When:10:59:57Z Michelle Obama is being billed as the featured attraction in house parties her husband’s re-election campaign is organizing around the country to try to boost his support among women voters. The women’s house parties come as Michelle Obama is taking a more visible role in her husband’s re-election campaign. She spoke at Democrat Party fundraisers in Los Angeles on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, while in California for appearances on “The Tonight Show” and Ellen DeGeneres’ show to promote her anti-obesity program. The house parties also follow the Obama administration’s rule to provide women who work for religious hospitals and universities access to free contraception through their health insurance. The re-election campaign counts access to contraception without a co-pay among the administration’s accomplishments for women. The Fifth Column 2012-02-21T10:59:57+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4643 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4643#When:09:59:59Z During a recent Fox News Channel debate about the Obama administration's tax policies, Democrat Bob Beckel raised the issue of "fairness." He pointed out that a child born to a poor woman in the Bronx enters the world with far worse prospects than a child born to an affluent couple in Connecticut. No one can deny that. The relevant question, however, is: How does allowing politicians to take more money in taxes from successful people, to squander in ways that will improve their own reelection prospects, make anything more "fair" for others? Even if additional tax revenue all went to poor single mothers -- which it will not -- the multiple problems of children raised by poor single mothers would not be cured by throwing money at them. Indeed, the skyrocketing of unwed motherhood began when government welfare programs began throwing money at teenage girls who got pregnant. Analysis 2012-02-22T09:59:59+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4644 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4644#When:09:59:29Z While the mainstream media are still overwhelmingly intent on seeing Barack Obama reelected as President, a number of journalists and news organizations are apparently having second thoughts. Or at least they are willing to examine the claims and representations that the Obama administration continues to put forth. This has been the surprising case regarding Obama’s State of the Union address in late January and the budget that he proposed in mid-February. Hopefully this may mark a turning point in how the media allow themselves to be used by the Obama administration, but don’t count on it. More likely it is isolated incidents of self-respect, and an acknowledgement that they can differentiate between normal political spin and outright lies. The double standard still could not be more clear. Analysis 2012-02-22T09:59:29+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4645 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4645#When:09:58:38Z The term "effective sanctions” against Iran on the one hand and global political reality on the other hand, constitute an oxymoron, playing into the hands of Iran. Effective sanctions require the full cooperation of Russia and China, two strategic rivals of the US, as demonstrated by their UN Security Council double-veto of the October 2011 and February 2012 anti-Assad resolutions. They do not fully cooperate with sanctions invoked against Iran, and assist the Tehran regime, as do some European countries. Furthermore, Japan, India and Turkey have subordinated compliance with sanctions to their trade relations with Iran, as have some countries in Latin America and Europe. Each new sanction against Iran requires several months for effectiveness assessment. Thus, it extends the time available to Iran to develop its nuclear capabilities, as well as to acquire critical technologies and systems from North Korea, Pakistan, Russia or China. Analysis 2012-02-22T09:58:38+00:00 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4646 http://newmediajournal.us/indx.php/item/4646#When:09:57:09Z Iran has sleeper cells throughout the United States and the West that will unleash suicide bombings should Iranian nuclear facilities be attacked. The leaders of the Islamic regime have long prepared for a confrontation with the United States. Now, with tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, US Navy assets taking position in the Persian Gulf, Israel threatening strikes against Iranian nuclear sites and the decision by the regime in Tehran to pursue its goal of obtaining nuclear weapons, the Iranians are making it clear to America that US military bases around the world and sites inside the US will be attacked if Iranian nuclear facilities are attacked. In a recent Friday prayers sermon in Tehran, the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, promised that if America attacked Iran, Iran would respond by causing 10 times as much destruction to America as it had caused to Iran. Others in the regime have been more specific. Analysis 2012-02-22T09:57:09+00:00 http://www.newmediajournal.us/mobile/nmjradio.htm