With the remaining 33,000 US troops in Iraq preparing to leave, bomb blasts and a gasoline blaze in a market on this Muslim festival Sunday killed another 10 innocent persons and injured many others. The troop withdrawal was always known to be fraught with menace but things seems to be going from bad to worse. Bombings and killings occur daily as Sunni insurgents probably linked to al Qaeda and Shi’ite...

Kurt Cobb reminds us that world oil production has been flat for six years. And yes he has graphs and numbers to back it up.  Even with the sorry shape of the world economy the price of oil remains stuck in the mid $90 bbl range.  Any economic expansion will drive it even higher.  For those who think this could all be fixed with more domestic drilling Cobb has some data for you too. The media loves to announce...

A year from today, Americans vote for a president again. Three years after the last ballot, even ardent Democrats and entranced Independents no longer have stars in their eyes. With no time for a honeymoon back then, how can voters be enthusiastic about renewing their vows with Barack Obama? For some, “consider the alternative” may be answer enough, but in fairness to the President—-and ourselves—-he...

Some Disturbing Truths about Rick Perry’s Texas Local reports reveal how the governor turned a blind eye to civil rights violations and a crumbling infrastructure by Michael Winship I’m at sea this week — literally, for once — and learning helpful nautical stuff. For example, the old, three-mile limit for territorial waters was established in 1702 as the maximum distance a cannon ball could...

Sometimes so much can be said with so few words. How about with 29 words: “Homeless veteran” should be a cultural oxymoron. The mere thought of it is profane. What kind of civil society leaves its defenders on winter streets, even for one night? * Just 29 little words. What a powerful, poignant message. Think about it this Veterans Day. * A November 5, 2011, Letter to the New York Times Editor by Mark...

Two weeks ago, I applauded as European leaders finally forced their mega banks to take a haircut. But events this week have illustrated how fragile their plan is. The union is too multifaceted to deal with the extraordinary mess the so called best and brightest have managed to create. As Tom Walkom points out in The Toronto Star, what began as a noble experiment fell victim to arrogance: The arrogance emerged...

Top Ten Cloves: Possible New Fees Banks Will Start Charging News Item: The Jeopardy Fee; You didn’t phrase your transaction request in the form of a question 2. Groucho Marx Fee – Don’t know the Secret Word, it will cost you a $100 fee (Image courtesy of Will Oremus: Fee-Market Capitalism – Bank of America learns it has to be more subtle about screwing its customers. Even The S.E.C...

For several years now, Greece has been presenting on a global stage, a never-ending “Waiting For Godot” comic-tragedy in which there is constant worldwide audience participation despite a complete lack of plot, or any ideas on how to end this story. A Greek default on its international debts may not bring down the global financial system, but it regularly paralyzes governments, bondholders, and stock markets...

The Occupy Wall Street protests entered a new and potentially violent phase this week as protesters shut down operations at Oakland’s busy port in the latest demonstrations against economic inequality and police brutality. A small splinter group wielding makeshift shields broke off and roamed through downtown streets spraying graffiti, burning garbage and breaking windows. They were confronted by police...

It will require this kind of balancing act for the GOP to retake the White House Shortly after midnight exactly one year from this Sunday the first voters will go to the polls in two tiny New Hampshire towns to vote in a presidential election that will be singularly significant in defining the course of American politics in the years to come. Before the sun sets in Hawaii on November 6, 2012, 130 million...

Despite Booming Economy, Brazilians Rally Against Amazonian Dam by John C.K. Daley No one in the developing world is against hydroelectric projects, which bring the benefits of power and development. Except perhaps the locals. Brazil’s proposed Belo Monte Amazon dam is experiencing an “occupy” moment, with 100s of Xingu River basin indigenous peoples and riverine community members gathering to protest...

Rick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Some good economic news: employers cut fewer jobs in October than expected: In a positive sign for the US economy, governments and businesses did not cut jobs in October nearly has much as they had initially planned. At the same time, companies have announced many more hiring plans than layoffs, as they gear up for the holiday season, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement...

Megan McArdle reports on the Greek crisis and the likelihood that there will be real trouble much more quickly than many expect. If EU economic policy were a soap opera–and apparently, it is–Greece would be the sultry, irresponsible beauty in a tumultuous love-hate relationship with rigid, authoritarian Germany. Obviously after years of tumultuous breakups and teary reunions, this is the season...

Have and have-not nation by Eugene Robinson WASHINGTON — The hard-right conservatives who dominate the Republican Party claim to despise the redistribution of wealth, but secretly they love it — as long as the process involves depriving the poor and middle class to benefit the rich, not the other way around. That is precisely what has been happening, as a jaw-dropping new report by the...

The crisis in Greece is threatening the European and American economies. Read Andrew Sullivan’s solid roundup HERE. Also be sure to read The Christian Science Monitor’s take on the crisis.

I have long felt that modern conservatives lack a sense of irony. I can think of no credible explanation for this impediment. Perhaps it is genetic. But, as Paul Krugman points out in Monday’s New York Times, whether they’re aware of it or not, their irony is showing. Krugman credits Barney Frank with a phrase which accurately describes them — “weaponized Keynesians.” Right now...

And that is not leadership. Whether we’re talking Herman Cain’s economic plan (9-9-9 or 9-0-9) or how he and his campaign are failing to deal with Politico’s reporting on the settlement specifics between the National Restaurant Association (when Cain was its head) and two of its former employees regarding alleged sexual harassment in the workplace, Cain seems to believe that he can reduce,...

Ya gotta feel sorry for the Left. So lost and leaderless they have to trot out 92 year old Pete Seeger and unheard-of-since-Alice’s-Restaurant Arlo Guthrie to draw attention to their participation in OWS. It’s fine that Pete and Arlo get to be relevant one more time, but it says too much about the vacuum that has become the American Left. That’s not to say that a little class warfare isn’t called...

And so November rears its chilly head — in northern climes, anyway — with Europe having avoided a financial meltdown for the time being and the U.S. showing tentative signs that the hangover from the Great Recession may at long last be easing. Bully for that, you might say, but I say bullspit. This is because banksters (which conveniently rhymes with gangsters) are at the heart of the economic malaise...