I’m sorry…WHAT…?!

From The Huffington Post

It would be nice to write off the current crisis on Wall Street and global financial markets as something that only matters to the investor class.

Unfortunately, the effects are already being felt in lower-income communities around the United States. Worst-case scenarios for what spins out from the U.S. mortgage meltdown are truly frightening — a severe world recession is a distinct possibility.

Whether such worst-case scenarios can be averted, or softened — and preventing the recurrence of similar crises in the future — depends on abandoning the laissez-faire financial regulatory regime entrenched over the last decade.

The current crisis is the predictable (and predicted) result of a massive U.S. housing bubble, which itself can be traced in part to global economic imbalances that could have been prevented.

At least five distinct regulatory failures led to the current crisis.  Click for more

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From The Huffington Post

BERLIN — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday the Bush administration will fight efforts to curb billions of dollars in U.S. aid to Pakistan while warning President Pervez Musharraf he must support and promote democracy.

Ahead of talks with Musharraf in Switzerland on Wednesday _ the highest-level, face-to-face U.S. contact with the Pakistani leader since last month’s assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto _ Rice said it is critical that February legislative elections be free and fair.

“The situation in Pakistan is very complicated, Click for more

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From The Huffington Post

WASHINGTON — The percent of Army recruits with a high school diploma dropped last year, continuing a trend that has worsened since the start of the Iraq war, according to a report released Tuesday.

National Priorities Project, a research group that analyzes federal data, found that nearly 71 percent of Army recruits graduated from high school in the 2007 budget year. It based its findings on data it obtained from the Defense Department through a Freedom of Information Act request.

All troops must have a high school diploma or an equivalent degree. The military prefers that they have a high school diploma because its studies have shown they are more likely to finish an enlistment term. Still, the Army has paid for some recruits to take GED preparation classes and take the test. Click for more

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From The Huffington Post

The nasty spat between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama last night sure created fireworks, but after the debate attention turned to an offstage encounter, between Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards.

According to eyewitnesses, they both walked out of their green rooms after the debate and agreed to talk, then went behind closed doors in Edwards green room.

Click for more

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From The Huffington Post

John Edwards was the clear winner of last night’s Democratic debate, but the big story is how far off message the Barack Obama has gone since his victory in Iowa. While Obama continues to stir hopes for voters, the impression he gives increasingly on the national stage is of a candidate caught in the old-school, finger pointing blame game. With Super Tuesday just a few weeks away, the challenge Obama now faces is substantial. Despite his lead in South Carolina, Obama must find a way to lead the debate again with his ‘new tone,’ or he will likely go down fighting in the very style of politics he seeks to retire.

‘Hope and Change’ Becomes ‘Blame’
Like it or not, the Clinton campaign has knocked the Obama campaign off the core theme of ‘hope and change.’ This change is significant because the ‘hope and change’ theme took over the entire political debate in the 24 hours after the Iowa debate. That is no longer the case. Click for more

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From The Huffington Post

Kate Moss will pursue legal action against the News of the World for their report stating she engaged in an orgy, her rep tells Usmagazine.com.

The model is incensed over “false and defamatory allegations in the newspaper relating to her 34th birthday celebrations,” her rep tells Us.

On Sunday, the British tabloid said Moss, two women, and one male “were kissing and caressing one another and four or five other people were in the [Dorchester Hotel] room watching.”

Click for more

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