Illustration by: Matt Mahurin

By Elana Schor

Can these contractors guide the bailout with the public interest in mind while simultaneously courting bailout-related business for themselves? It’s tough to say, but imposing greater transparency requirements is crucial, according to more than a dozen financial and legal experts interviewed for this story.

Right now, even as more of these lawyers and financiers are helping with the financial rescue, less is being disclosed about their handling of taxpayer-owned assets. Investment managers are setting values for securities that their companies may also hold privately, while law firms are approving government aid for companies they still represent in certain cases – but the public remains almost completely in the dark.

Read . . .

Update:

Special Operations’ Oversight of Contractors Is Faulted

By Andrew Lehman

It was clear to me that in preparation for going public, Google was actually seeding its searches with inefficiencies in order to encourage profits. Regarding commercial searches, it’s only got worse with time. By embedding top 10 positions with Wikipedia entries, videos and other tangentially related content, commercial businesses continue to be pushed into the second page, forced to pay Google for ad space.

I recently read that Google has decided to place a heavier emphasis on “brand” or conventional corporate websites when deciding how to rank. It is adjusting its algorithm to make it even more difficult for those businesses without deep pockets to achieve rankings. One could call this the oligarchic algorithm.

By Chelsea Schilling

As part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chrysler is terminating one-fourth of its franchises – but some say its catalog of doomed dealerships looks more like a hit list that specifically seeks to put Republican donors out of business.

World Net Daily reviewed the list of 789 closing franchises and databases of political donors and found that of dealership majority owners making contributions in the November 2008 election, less than 10 percent gifted to Democrats while 90 percent gave substantial sums to Republican candidates.

The listed franchise owners contributed at least $450,000 to Republican presidential candidates and the GOP, while only $7,970 was donated to Sen Hillary Clinton’s campaign and $2,200 was given to Sen. John Edwards campaign.

View . .

Paul Albert Bartholome, Crying Girl

By Duncan Gardham and Paul Cruickshank

Detail of the content emerged from Major General Antonio Taguba, the former army officer who conducted an inquiry into the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq.

Maj Gen Taguba, who retired in January 2007, said he supported the President’s decision, adding: “These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency.

“I am not sure what purpose their release would serve other than a legal one and the consequence would be to imperil our troops, the only protectors of our foreign policy, when we most need them, and British troops who are trying to build security in Afghanistan.

Allegations of rape and abuse were included in his 2004 report but the fact there were photographs was never revealed. He has now confirmed their existence in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

“The mere description of these pictures is horrendous enough, take my word for it.”

View Article . . .

For the last blog post on this story:

Update:

Taguba Saw “Video of Male Soldier Sodomizing Female Detainee”

Jason Leopold, Truthout: “In 2007, shortly after he was forced into retirement, Army Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba made a startling admission. During the course of his investigation into the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Taguba said he saw ‘a video of a male American soldier in uniform sodomizing a female detainee.’”

Something So Terrible, No One Dare Know

Catherine’s comment:

The Telegraph/UK’s story above will have quite an impact. First, let’s pray for the safety of all those concerned. Second, it is time to connect the dots between torture and our financial situation.

Do we want the government to continue to borrow money? Do we want our money market accounts, bank CD’s and Treasury securities to hold their value? What about our insurance policies?

The Military Holds the Dollar Up

If we don’t want to use force to command global resources, what is our plan?

The Red Button Problem

Are you ready to push the red button, if it would stop the torture?