Your Breakfast Read, Sunday Edition

Health Care Reform

Alliances In Health Debate Splinter

Months of relative cooperation among disparate interest groups in the heath-care reform debate appear to be coming to an end, as the major political parties and their surrogates unleash dueling television advertisements, e-mail campaigns and grass-roots protests.

Which side are these guys actually on?
Centrist Dems talking healthcare coalition with GOP

Some centrist House Democrats have reached out to Republicans to explore breaking with their party leadership on healthcare and crafting a reform bill with the rival GOP

Defying Slump, 13 States Insure More Children

Despite budgets ravaged by the recession, at least 13 states have invested millions of dollars this year to cover 250,000 more children with subsidized government health insurance

---

Madame Secretary In India

US Secretary of State Hillary visits the Hansiba SEWA Trade Facilitation Center in Mumbai. (PTI photo)

Hillary Clinton for deepening strategic ties with India

Dressed in an elegant red business suit, Clinton captivated innumerable hearts as she spent a hectic day meeting corporate leaders, victims of the November 2008 terror attack, women activists, journalists besides teachers and students of a leading college.

Seeking Business Allies, Clinton Connects With India’s Billionaires

Mrs. Clinton will go to New Delhi on Sunday for meetings and ceremonies with government leaders. But she began her visit to India, the first by a top official from the Obama administration, by discussing climate change, education and health care with private-sector potentates.

There must be justice for 26/11: Hillary

Clinton, who said she was staying at the Taj to send a message of solidarity and as a rebuke to terrorists who did not destroy the spirit of the people, said she expects Pakistan to go after groups like the LeT.

Picture-Gallery Hillary in India

---

Torturegate: It’s Not Over

CIA Interrogation Policy Sparked Internal Dissent

Interviews with agency insiders shed light on role of contractors in imposing harsh tactics and rifts among officials charged with questioning suspects.

Bush’s key men face grilling on torture and death squads

Former vice-president Dick Cheney could be forced to testify to Congress over allegations that a secret hit squad was set up on his orders, as Democrats press for inquiries into the conduct of the ‘war on terror’.

---

Economy Watch

Newsweek explores something I’m been puzzled about since the election of Obama: The total sidelining of Joseph Stigtlitz, arguably and by many respected rankings THE top economist worldwide.
Obama has been able to create a spot for Martin Feldstein among his economic advisers, but not for Joe Stiglitz.
And for all of you pseudo progressives out there, Stiglitz was part of the Clinton administration and his CEA chair, while Feldstein was Reagan’s CEA chair.
What makes Joe Stiglitz so undesirable to this White House? His card carrying membership of the Communist Part or is it all Larry?
Why Washington Ignores An Economic Prophet

Joseph Stiglitz predicted the global financial meltdown. So why can’t he get any respect here at home?

Internationalizing the Yuan: It isn’t as easy as it looks

China, like some other countries, has good reason to want to reduce the dominance of the dollar in international finance. But it is being carried away by dreams of glory for the yuan, dreams fostered by financial institutions anxious to ingratiate themselves with Beijing and promote Hong Kong as an offshore yuan trading center.

Recovery: Where Will the Jobs Come From?

The White House Council of Economic Advisers recently asked just that question. (You can read the report at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cea/Jobs-of-the-Future.) To come up with an answer, the economists updated the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ job projection numbers that were last published in 2007. The CEA’s projections run from 2008 through 2016.

CIT Group’s Banks Said to Weigh Bankruptcy Financing

CIT may need as much as $6 billion to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection after the U.S. wouldn’t give the firm a second bailout, according to CreditSights Inc. A failure of CIT, which has almost $76 billion in assets, would be the biggest bank collapse by that measure since regulators seized Washington Mutual Inc. in September.

Can Max Keiser tell us how he really feels about Goldman Sachs?

Part 2

---

Opinion Columns & Editorials

The curious case of Hillary Clinton, the missing Secretary of State (By Rupert Cornwell)

While Barack Obama is shining on the foreign stage, his former rival has been conspicuous by her absence

His Maternal Instinct (By NiCholas Kristof)

How a Pakistani doctor’s devotion to the care of women is saving lives

Asylum for Battered Women (NY Times Editorial)

Some Conservatives Still Won’t Embrace Our Diversity (By Cynthia Tucker)

Many Americans like Judge Sonia Sotomayor because she represents the quintessential American success story. By dint of hard work, determination and sacrifice, she overcame poverty and personal tragedy to rise to the top of the legal profession.

---

Around The World

Happy Birthday Nelson Mandela
South Africa hails ‘Mandela Day’

Supporters of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, have celebrated the anti-apartheid icon’s 91st birthday with the launch of a special day in his name.

Stars Hail Nelson Mandela on 91st birthday

Democracy hangs by a thread in Honduras

The right-wing coup d’état is faltering, but its supporters have powerful friends in Washington.

Officials in Jakarta seek clues to suicide bombings

Investigators were sifting through two bomb-damaged luxury Indonesian hotels on Saturday, for clues to those behind suicide attacks that shattered four years of stability in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Although there has been no confirmation of who is responsible, officials are strongly suspecting Jemaah Islamiah.

And now for the rest of the paper….From StateofDisbelief

MaBlue and I are collaborating on your news delivery for today.  He’s taking care of the heavy lifting and I’ve got the Bed & Breakfast accomodations to make your Sunday a relaxing respite from the daily grind.

So,  now that you’ve digested all of the important news of the day, it’s time to dig into a fluffy stack of pancakes and then crawl back into bed where you can sift through the rest of the Sunday paper sections:

Funny and addictive websites

*Cakewrecks – It’s what the baker in you hopes never happens

*Pets who want to kill themselves – It appears that these poor pets have owners with personal boundary issues.

Arts & Leisure

*Female Artist Profile: Artist and Writer Leonora Carrington (born 1917, still living)

Carrington came into contact with Surrealism through her lover, the Surrealist painter Max Ernst (1891 – 1976). She met him after being invited to a dinner party hosted by Ursula Goldfinger, wife of the Hungarian revolutionary architect Erno Goldfinger. Ursula who was a member of the Blackwell family, of Cross and Blackwell fame. Ernst had an exhibition at a London gallery at the time just after the great Surrealist exhibition (around the mid 1930s).

*Obama freshens up the White House by procuring some new works of art and I found one of the pieces he selected to be more than appropriate considering our new leader’s decision –making style. “Ruscha’s I Think I’ll…”

Yes…he really did add this piece to the collection.

Travel

*For the more amorous traveler: Berlin ‘sex academy’ offers tips for visitors

Wannabe Latin lovers can improve their technique by playing with the erogenous zones of naked mannequins at a new interactive exhibition that has now opened in Berlin.

The “Amora sex academy” that opened in Berlin on Thursday welcomes visitors with the wry slogan, “Finally — an exhibition for those who always have to touch everything.”

*Like a nice round of miniature golf?  Take in a game at one of these stops along your Americana journey this vacation: America’s Best (and Most Bizarre) Miniature Golf Courses

*Visiting Philadelphia? Why not check out the “Mutter Museum?”

America’s most famous museum of medical oddities, many of the Mutter’s exhibits are displayed in the same Victorian cabinets that the museum began with in 1858. Located inside the headquarters of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Mutter has a wide range of wondrous and curious displays, including the skeleton of the tallest man in North America and the fused bones of Harry Eastlack, who died of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva, an extremely rare disorder in which the soft connective tissue of the body ossifies, painfully freezing the body in an immobile state. Easy to miss but worth poring over is the collection of 2000 objects removed from peoples throats, in attractive wooden pullout display drawers.

*With the weather we’ve been having in our area, this is looking like a good investment: Travel agents offer sunshine insurance.  It’s the middle of July and we’re expecting 75 degree weather with (more) storms next week.  {{sigh}}

Things to Eat

*Ever wanted to make crepes? There’s a great video at this link that will show you how:

Recipe here.  (these are excellent! I’ve made them)

*How about some delicious corn recipes? such as this great recipe, just waiting for you to fire up your grill:
Grilled Corn on the Cob With Chipotle Mayonnaise

You’ll need these ingredients:

• 6 to 12 ears corn
• 2 large garlic cloves, cut in half, green shoots removed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large or 2 small chipotle peppers in adobo, seeded
• 1 teaspoon sauce from the canned adobo chile
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise, preferably Hellman’s or Best Foods
• 1/2 cup thick plain low-fat yogurt

*OR…For those with a hale and hearty stomach and a love for state fair food, take a look at *these* outrageous offerings:  Top 10 Most Unusual State Fair Foods.  What I want to know is, are there really people who will eat a barbeque chicken sandwich with melted Swiss cheese on a Crispy Crème donut? I guess there are.

Odds n Ends

*Some people defy the limits of stupidity: And WHY did they let him out?

*Someone’s claiming they’ve found image of Virgin Mary found where?  Regarding the “item” the family says:

“I think we’re going to just put it on a shelf outside, probably take off the mirror and keep it there cause its something special to us. I’m not going to wash it off,” says Cristal Pachuca.

*Apparently still devastated over the death of Oscar Meyer: Wienermobile crashes into Wisconsin Home

*You may want to avoid traveling to San Diego for a bit:  Jumbo Squid Menace San Diego Shores

Jumbo flying squid — aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles — have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on tourist-packed beaches.

The carnivorous calamari, which can grow up to 100 pounds, came up from the depths last week and swarms of them roughed up unsuspecting divers. Some divers report tentacles enveloping their masks and yanking at their cameras and gear.

Yikes! there’s just nothing good in that story!

The final word(s)

*For those who may be setting up sleeping areas for their guests: Man tries to fix airbed, blows up apartment.

Some things just stretch credulity when called “an accident.” Oops: Teacher Accidentally Gave Self-Made Sex Tape to 5th Graders

A class of fifth graders in California got a shocking crash course on the birds and the bees courtesy of their teacher and an x-rated home video she accidently included in a DVD of classroom memories.

*We’ve got new words! Including sockpuppet, frenemy, and waterboarding. Dictionary makes room for 100 more words

and Lastly, I know I’ve encouraged you to crawl back in bed…but maybe you want to rethink that?

Sleeping With the Enemy (Bed Bugs); …and if that is of interest, you may be disappointed to learn that you missed The EPA’s National Bed Bug Summit.  (Do they really need one of these?)

Happy Sunday everyone!
SoD

Please Digg!!! Tweet!!! Share!!!

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Furl | Newsvine