Ballets Russes 2009
The Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership Presents a Weeklong Festival to
Celebrate International Collaboration in the Arts
BOSTON, Massachusetts – April 15, 2009 – This May, Boston will observe the centenary of the first performances of the Ballets Russes, a revolutionary Russian ballet and opera troupe that captivated European and American audiences for twenty years in the early 20th Century. The Ballets Russes 2009 festival, presented by the Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership, will feature performances, an exhibition, an academic conference, and a procession and street fair that will celebrate the impact and enduring legacy of this world-renowned performing company. With this festival the Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership will commence a permanent artistic and intellectual exchange initiative between Boston, Moscow, and St. Petersburg.
About the Ballets Russes
The legendary impresario Serge Diaghilev launched the Ballets Russes at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris in May 1909. For the next twenty years, this revolutionary performing company electrified Western audiences with a potent fusion of music, choreography, theatrical design and dance, all of equal brilliance. The content was a revelation; it was sensual, innovative, provocative, and yet it drew on artistic traditions. Although it grew out of the Imperial Theaters, this profoundly Russian performing company flowered in Europe, contributing to and joining forces with Western modernism. Painters, composers and choreographers of the avant-garde were central to the achievements of the Ballets Russes.
Vaslav Nijinsky, Leon Bakst, Igor Stravinsky, George Balanchine, Pablo Picasso were among the creative geniuses made famous by the Ballets Russes.
Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership will celebrate Diaghilev’s progressive artistic and cultural legacy, which encouraged international cooperation and established lasting global bonds between Russia and America. The May festival will serve as the kick-off to a renewed cultural partnership between the two countries.
About the Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership
Ballets Russes Cultural Partnership is the only organization of its kind to promote lasting global bonds between Russia and America based on cultural awareness and mutual appreciation for the arts.
This renewed international partnership between the two countries will be anchored by a week-long centennial celebration of Ballets Russes – the legendary dance and opera company created by Serge Diaghilev one hundred years ago. In the spirit of multi-cultural cooperation that Diaghilev pioneered, performers and artists from Russia, Europe, and America will congregate in Boston to honor and commemorate the lasting cultural impact of Ballets Russes.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
EVENT: Mon., April 13---Health Information Technology Council Holds Public Hearing on Health IT Provisions
The Health Information Technology Council holds a public hearing to receive public comments on health IT provisions off the recently approved economic recovery and stimulus law. Secretary of Health and Human Service JudyAnn Bigby chairs the hearing.
When/Where: 6:00 PM at Mass. Medical Society, 860 Winter St., Waltham.
When/Where: 6:00 PM at Mass. Medical Society, 860 Winter St., Waltham.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
EVENT: Sat., April 18---First Wave Hip Hop Theater Ensemble!
The SED Alumni Speaker Series presents: First Wave Hip Hop Theater Ensemble!
When/Where: 4:00 PM SED AUDITORIUM on Saturday, April 18, 2009
First Wave Performace at SED: First Wave Hip Hope Theater Ensemble, featuring Sofio Snow, voted best Spoken Word Artist in Boston in 2007, will be performing at SED on Saturday, April 18 at 4:00 PM – Don’t miss this amazing performance!
http://www.myspace.com/firstwave1
http://omai.wisc.edu/firstwave/
When/Where: 4:00 PM SED AUDITORIUM on Saturday, April 18, 2009
First Wave Performace at SED: First Wave Hip Hope Theater Ensemble, featuring Sofio Snow, voted best Spoken Word Artist in Boston in 2007, will be performing at SED on Saturday, April 18 at 4:00 PM – Don’t miss this amazing performance!
http://www.myspace.com/firstwave1
http://omai.wisc.edu/firstwave/
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
EVENT: Sunday May 3---Walk for Hunger
In the midst of the steepest economic downturn in fifty years, Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger on Sunday, May 3, takes on urgent meaning for those struggling to put food on the table. “We have never needed it more,” says Ellen Parker, the executive director of Project Bread, the state’s leading antihunger organization. “This year, we’re asking everyone to do something to help. Every dollar, every mile, and every volunteer hour counts.”
Project Bread estimates more than 522,000 people in the state are food insecure. With foreclosures and layoffs, many more people find themselves hungry and hurting for the first time. Calls to Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline, the only comprehensive hunger resource in Massachusetts, have surged from month to month. Inquiries to the Hotline were up 34 percent in January from the same period of time a year ago, 67 percent in February, and 88 percent in March. The FoodSource Hotline — 1-800-645-8333 — is a toll-free information and referral service that immediately connects a hungry person to soup kitchens, food stamps, and groceries at food pantries. “We are getting more of every kind of caller, including those from college-educated professionals who say ‘they never thought they’d have ask for help,’” said Diane Dickerson, Director of Emergency Food Resources.
Despite these historically hard times, Walk registrations are edging up from last year and Project Bread is encouraged that Walkers, donors, and dollars are responding to the increased demand. In 2008, 40,000 Walkers and 2,000 Volunteers participated in the 20-mile trek that wends its way through Boston, Brookline, Newton, Watertown, and Cambridge. Last year, they raised an unprecedented $4 million to fund 400 emergency programs in 128 Massachusetts communities — money that is being used to buy food to feed hungry people right now.
As the nation’s oldest continual pledge walk, The Walk for Hunger has raised over $70 million since 1969 with an estimated 952,000 participants walking 19 million miles to nourish those in need. The Walk involves many families, school, religious, and work organizations that make the fundraiser a celebrated rite of spring. This year, the tradition is more crucial than any since the Walk began as “Feet for Wheat” in Quincy, Mass., founded by activist Patrick Hughes of Boston’s Paulist Center.
To register for the Walk for Hunger, visit projectbread.org or call 617-723-5000.
About Project Bread
As the state’s leading antihunger organization, Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts. Through The Walk for Hunger, Project Bread provides millions of dollars each year in privately donated funds to emergency food programs statewide. Project Bread also advocates systematic solutions that prevent hunger in children and provide food to families in natural, everyday settings. With the support of the Governor and state Legislature, the organization has invested millions in grants to community organizations that feed children where they live, learn, and play. For more information, visit www.projectbread.org.
Project Bread estimates more than 522,000 people in the state are food insecure. With foreclosures and layoffs, many more people find themselves hungry and hurting for the first time. Calls to Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline, the only comprehensive hunger resource in Massachusetts, have surged from month to month. Inquiries to the Hotline were up 34 percent in January from the same period of time a year ago, 67 percent in February, and 88 percent in March. The FoodSource Hotline — 1-800-645-8333 — is a toll-free information and referral service that immediately connects a hungry person to soup kitchens, food stamps, and groceries at food pantries. “We are getting more of every kind of caller, including those from college-educated professionals who say ‘they never thought they’d have ask for help,’” said Diane Dickerson, Director of Emergency Food Resources.
Despite these historically hard times, Walk registrations are edging up from last year and Project Bread is encouraged that Walkers, donors, and dollars are responding to the increased demand. In 2008, 40,000 Walkers and 2,000 Volunteers participated in the 20-mile trek that wends its way through Boston, Brookline, Newton, Watertown, and Cambridge. Last year, they raised an unprecedented $4 million to fund 400 emergency programs in 128 Massachusetts communities — money that is being used to buy food to feed hungry people right now.
As the nation’s oldest continual pledge walk, The Walk for Hunger has raised over $70 million since 1969 with an estimated 952,000 participants walking 19 million miles to nourish those in need. The Walk involves many families, school, religious, and work organizations that make the fundraiser a celebrated rite of spring. This year, the tradition is more crucial than any since the Walk began as “Feet for Wheat” in Quincy, Mass., founded by activist Patrick Hughes of Boston’s Paulist Center.
To register for the Walk for Hunger, visit projectbread.org or call 617-723-5000.
About Project Bread
As the state’s leading antihunger organization, Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts. Through The Walk for Hunger, Project Bread provides millions of dollars each year in privately donated funds to emergency food programs statewide. Project Bread also advocates systematic solutions that prevent hunger in children and provide food to families in natural, everyday settings. With the support of the Governor and state Legislature, the organization has invested millions in grants to community organizations that feed children where they live, learn, and play. For more information, visit www.projectbread.org.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Monday, April 6: Screening/Discussion of HBO's “The Alzheimer’s Project”
After screening a new HBO documentary called “The Alzheimer’s Project,” a panel of Alzheimer’s experts discusses the latest in research on the disease. Panelists include Harvard University psychology professor Randy Buckner, Boston University School of Medicine Alzheimer researcher Robert Green, Brigham and Women’s Hospital neurologic diseases expert Dennis Selko, Harvard Medical School neurology professor Reisa Sperling and Boston University neurology professor Philip Wolf. The panel, which also includes a Boston-area patient with early-stage, younger onset Alzheimer’s, will be moderated by Alzheimer’s Association Massachusetts Chapter President James Wessler.
When/Where: 6 PM, Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston
When/Where: 6 PM, Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston
Monday, April 6: Organ Donor Week Kicks Off
Sen. Michael Moore (D-Millbury) hosts a press conference kicking off Organ Donor Week. He will be joined by Registrar of Motor Vehicles Rachel Kaprielian, Rep. Katherine Clark, New England Organ Donor Bank official Sean Fitzpatrick, and Ann Lineham, mother of the late Laura Lineham, who used her struggle with a genetic disease to bring attention to organ donations.
WHEN/WHERE: 11:00 AM, Grand Staircase, State House
WHEN/WHERE: 11:00 AM, Grand Staircase, State House
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
EVENT: Wed., April 1---Boston's Charter vs. Public Schools
A panel of experts dives into the contentious debate over the value of Boston’s charter, pilot and traditional public schools. The panel features Chris Gabrieli, chairman of Massachusetts 2020 and a former gubernatorial candidate; Thomas Payzant, former superintendent of the Boston Public Schools; Mike Goldstein, CEO of Match Charter High School; Ellen Guiney, executive director of the Boston Plan for Excellence; and Kay Merseth, Harvard lecturer on education. The panel will be moderated by Tom Kane, professor of education and economics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
When/Where: 7 PM at Askwith Auditorium, Longfellow Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Education
When/Where: 7 PM at Askwith Auditorium, Longfellow Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Education
April 2---PRESS CONFERENCE:HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MASSACHUSETTES RESIDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR FREE ONLINE TAX PREPARATION, ELECTRONIC FILING SERVICES
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MASSACHUSETTES RESIDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR FREE ONLINE TAX PREPARATION, ELECTRONIC FILING SERVICES.
CCIA Hosts Press Conference with Guest Speaker to Promote Free Tax Help for MA Taxpayers
What: The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) will host a press conference on Friday, April 3, in coordination with DotWell and One Economy, to announce the availability of a public-private partnership aimed at helping lower and moderate income Massachusetts taxpayers – including those eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, active-duty military, students, and seniors – electronically prepare and e-file their federal tax return for FREE.
Free File is a partnership between the IRS (www.irs.gov), 21 state tax agencies (including Massachusetts - www.mass.gov/dor, choose the e-filing information link, and then click on the Massachusetts Free File Alliance link) and the nation’s electronic tax software manufacturers, including Intuit, the maker of TurboTax Freedom Edition (www.taxfreedom.com).
Following the 10:00 a.m. press conference, community-based organization representatives will participate in an hour-long tax training workshop to learn how easy it is to use these programs. The training will take place in the same location.
From April 2 until April 15, taxpayers can come to the Codman Square Tech Center (450 Washington Street in Dorchester) to try this service with the help of a trained VITA volunteer or on their own; OR they can go to www.IRS.gov or the MA Department of Revenue website (www.mass.gov/dor) and click on the e-filing information link and use it on their own.
Taxpayers can also receive from tax help at http://www.thebeehive.org/BostonTaxHelp.
This service is available Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Mondays and Wednesdays 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
** Media outlets are strongly encouraged to attend. **
** Please post in your community events calendar and/or daybook. **
Who: Stephen Murphy, City Councilor at Large
Doreen Treacy, DotWell
Lee Davenport, Program Director, National Financial Partnerships, One Economy Corporation
Jim Ruda, Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation
David Macklin, Computer & Communications Industry Association
When: Thursday, April 2
10:00 a.m. - press conference
Hour-long TurboTax Freedom Edition training workshop immediately following the press conference - media is strongly encouraged to stay for the training)
Where: Codman Square Tech Center
450 Washington Street
Dorchester, MA
Contact: Elana Stein, (202) 777-3517
CCIA Hosts Press Conference with Guest Speaker to Promote Free Tax Help for MA Taxpayers
What: The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) will host a press conference on Friday, April 3, in coordination with DotWell and One Economy, to announce the availability of a public-private partnership aimed at helping lower and moderate income Massachusetts taxpayers – including those eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, active-duty military, students, and seniors – electronically prepare and e-file their federal tax return for FREE.
Free File is a partnership between the IRS (www.irs.gov), 21 state tax agencies (including Massachusetts - www.mass.gov/dor, choose the e-filing information link, and then click on the Massachusetts Free File Alliance link) and the nation’s electronic tax software manufacturers, including Intuit, the maker of TurboTax Freedom Edition (www.taxfreedom.com).
Following the 10:00 a.m. press conference, community-based organization representatives will participate in an hour-long tax training workshop to learn how easy it is to use these programs. The training will take place in the same location.
From April 2 until April 15, taxpayers can come to the Codman Square Tech Center (450 Washington Street in Dorchester) to try this service with the help of a trained VITA volunteer or on their own; OR they can go to www.IRS.gov or the MA Department of Revenue website (www.mass.gov/dor) and click on the e-filing information link and use it on their own.
Taxpayers can also receive from tax help at http://www.thebeehive.org/BostonTaxHelp.
This service is available Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Mondays and Wednesdays 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
** Media outlets are strongly encouraged to attend. **
** Please post in your community events calendar and/or daybook. **
Who: Stephen Murphy, City Councilor at Large
Doreen Treacy, DotWell
Lee Davenport, Program Director, National Financial Partnerships, One Economy Corporation
Jim Ruda, Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation
David Macklin, Computer & Communications Industry Association
When: Thursday, April 2
10:00 a.m. - press conference
Hour-long TurboTax Freedom Edition training workshop immediately following the press conference - media is strongly encouraged to stay for the training)
Where: Codman Square Tech Center
450 Washington Street
Dorchester, MA
Contact: Elana Stein, (202) 777-3517
Monday, March 30, 2009
EVENT: Friday, April 3---Martin Luther King Jr.'s Sister Speaks at BU
The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center invites you to attend the inaugural
Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Lecture given by Dr. King’s sister, our first Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellow Christine King Farris who will speak about her work and personal memories of the King Family.
When/Where: Friday, April 3, 2009 ~ 7:00 p.m.
Metcalf Hall, Second Floor ~ George Sherman Union
775 Commonwealth Avenue
Mrs. Farris will sign copies of her new book which will be available at the event.
FREE & OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY
RSVP by March 31st 617-353-3697 or email archives@bu.edu
Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Lecture given by Dr. King’s sister, our first Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellow Christine King Farris who will speak about her work and personal memories of the King Family.
When/Where: Friday, April 3, 2009 ~ 7:00 p.m.
Metcalf Hall, Second Floor ~ George Sherman Union
775 Commonwealth Avenue
Mrs. Farris will sign copies of her new book which will be available at the event.
FREE & OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE
BOSTON UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY
RSVP by March 31st 617-353-3697 or email archives@bu.edu
Sunday, March 29, 2009
EVENT: Monday, Mar. 30---Last Stop: Hardship Listening Tour
Republican lawmakers make the seventh and final stop on their “Hardship Listening Tour,” a series of statewide forums on citizen concerns over potential tax and fee increases. The final stop is hosted by Reps. Robert Hargraves, Bradley Jones and George Peterson.
When/Where: 7 pm at North Middlesex Regional High School, Townsend.
When/Where: 7 pm at North Middlesex Regional High School, Townsend.
EVENT: Monday, Mar. 30---Making budget choices during a fiscal crisis
House budget chief Rep. Charley Murphy joins Administration and Finance Secretary Leslie Kirwan for a discussion of making budget choices during a fiscal crisis. Peter Zimmerman, senior associate dean and lecturer at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, will also participate.
When/Where: 6 pm at Bell Hall, 5th floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK St., Cambridge.
When/Where: 6 pm at Bell Hall, 5th floor, Belfer Building, 79 JFK St., Cambridge.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
EVENT: Wed, April 1---“Negotiating with North Korea: Process and Practice”
Who: Stephen W. Bosworth
Special Representative for North Korea Policy
and Dean of The Fletcher School
“Negotiating with North Korea: Process and Practice”
When/Where: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 12:15pm
ASEAN Auditorium
Cabot Intercultural Center, The Fletcher School
Special Representative for North Korea Policy
and Dean of The Fletcher School
“Negotiating with North Korea: Process and Practice”
When/Where: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 12:15pm
ASEAN Auditorium
Cabot Intercultural Center, The Fletcher School
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
EVENT: Mar. 26---US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant for 2008
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission holds meeting to discuss its assessment of the safety performance of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant for 2008 and the role of the agency in ensuring safe operations at the plant, which is licensed to Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc.
When/Where: 6PM at Hilton Garden Inn, 4 Home Depot Drive, Plymouth
When/Where: 6PM at Hilton Garden Inn, 4 Home Depot Drive, Plymouth
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Interviews Available -- Geithner's Plan: "Pure Plunder"
Rule by "Hedge Fund Democrats", Interviews Available
NOMI PRINS, [in NYC] (646) 483-5639, nomi@nomiprins.com, http://www.nomiprins.com, http://www.motherjones.com/authors/nomi-prins
Prins just wrote the piece "Geithner's Plan: Pure Plunder" for Mother Jones magazine. Prins is a senior fellow at Demos and is the author of two books: "Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America" and "Jacked: How Conservatives Are Picking Your Pocket." She is a former investment banker turned journalist. She used to run the European analytics group at Bear Stearns and has also worked at Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs.
JOHN SAKOWICZ, cell: (415) 310-6710, thetruthaboutmoney@kzyx.org,
http://www.altweeklies.com/alternative/SearchResults?keywords=SAKOWICZ
Sakowicz is a 30-year veteran of Wall Street. He is currently a general partner at Templar Advisors, an offshore investment advisory group. Sakowicz also hosts "The Truth About Money" at KZYX in Northern California and he writes for alternative weeklies as a contributing editor at the North Bay Bohemian.
He said today: "Bank stocks have soared, but their bonds haven't budged. In some cases, they've actually fallen. When that happens, the market is telling us something. It's telling us to come back to reality. It's telling us these toxic assets may be more toxic than we think. ... In Geithner's plan, the leverage is about five or six federal dollars to every one dollar invested by the private sector. That's like saying, 'Let's drive a truck full of money directly at a freight train full of money to prevent a train wreck.'"
TIMOTHY CANOVA, [call after 8 a.m. PT] (714) 628-2640, cell: (714) 401-8818, canova@chapman.edu, http://ssrn.com/author=405808
Canova is a professor of international economic law at the Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters forewarning of financial crisis, in addition to such short essays as "Greenspan's Grip" and "Legacy of the Clinton Bubble."
Canova said today: "The latest Treasury plan by Timothy Geithner is befitting an administration run by 'hedge fund Democrats.' Such is the nature of bankster capitalism, the zombie banks are propped up by public subsidies and their losses are socialized. Under the plan, the Federal Reserve and Treasury as the 'public partners' would provide enormous subsidies to the 'private partners,' the unregulated and unregistered hedge funds that have been overleveraged and facing mounting losses of their own. The subsidies would go to hedge funds for taking near worthless assets off the books of the ailing banks.
"There's been much criticism of the American Insurance Group for paying out $165 million in excessive bonuses to executives in its financial products division, the now notorious AIG unit that sold more credit default swaps than the firm could cover. Lost in the outrage was news that AIG had paid out $40 billion in taxpayer bailout money to some of the world's largest banks and hedge funds. Most of that went to ten U.S. and foreign banks, with Goldman Sachs leading the list. This is the same Goldman Sachs that has owned the Treasury Department for two decades. Its former CEOs, Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson, became Treasury secretary. Its chief lobbyist, Mark Patterson, recently became chief of staff to Geithner, one of the few vacancies filled in the department, and one that required an immediate waiver to Obama's supposedly tough ethics rules.
"Within the academy, there's a recognition that the sanctity of private contract requires striking down sham contracts. Bert Ely, a Cato Institute banking analyst, now argues that credit default swaps should be considered unenforceable contracts since the counterparties lack any insurable interest in the underlying assets. Lucian Bebchuk, a Harvard Law professor and centrist, now proposes Chapter 11 bankruptcy for AIG to stop the bleeding on its $1.2 trillion in credit default swaps. Paul Krugman, Nobel economist, argues for nationalizing the zombie banks to get them to shed their toxic assets and jump-start their lending activities for productive investment in real economic activity.
"The subsidies to Wall Street hedge funds and banks are not without enormous costs. Last week the Federal Reserve announced that it would double the size of its balance sheet to $3 trillion by doubling its purchases of asset-backed securities from its favored clientele, which now includes foreign banks and central banks. Three trillion dollars that could be spent on real needs, like jobs and education, the kinds of large public spending programs that raised the economy out of the Great Depression, created the last great middle class boom for the Greatest Generation, and left future generations with tangible assets instead of worthless paper."
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
NOMI PRINS, [in NYC] (646) 483-5639, nomi@nomiprins.com, http://www.nomiprins.com, http://www.motherjones.com/authors/nomi-prins
Prins just wrote the piece "Geithner's Plan: Pure Plunder" for Mother Jones magazine. Prins is a senior fellow at Demos and is the author of two books: "Other People's Money: The Corporate Mugging of America" and "Jacked: How Conservatives Are Picking Your Pocket." She is a former investment banker turned journalist. She used to run the European analytics group at Bear Stearns and has also worked at Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs.
JOHN SAKOWICZ, cell: (415) 310-6710, thetruthaboutmoney@kzyx.org,
http://www.altweeklies.com/alternative/SearchResults?keywords=SAKOWICZ
Sakowicz is a 30-year veteran of Wall Street. He is currently a general partner at Templar Advisors, an offshore investment advisory group. Sakowicz also hosts "The Truth About Money" at KZYX in Northern California and he writes for alternative weeklies as a contributing editor at the North Bay Bohemian.
He said today: "Bank stocks have soared, but their bonds haven't budged. In some cases, they've actually fallen. When that happens, the market is telling us something. It's telling us to come back to reality. It's telling us these toxic assets may be more toxic than we think. ... In Geithner's plan, the leverage is about five or six federal dollars to every one dollar invested by the private sector. That's like saying, 'Let's drive a truck full of money directly at a freight train full of money to prevent a train wreck.'"
TIMOTHY CANOVA, [call after 8 a.m. PT] (714) 628-2640, cell: (714) 401-8818, canova@chapman.edu, http://ssrn.com/author=405808
Canova is a professor of international economic law at the Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters forewarning of financial crisis, in addition to such short essays as "Greenspan's Grip" and "Legacy of the Clinton Bubble."
Canova said today: "The latest Treasury plan by Timothy Geithner is befitting an administration run by 'hedge fund Democrats.' Such is the nature of bankster capitalism, the zombie banks are propped up by public subsidies and their losses are socialized. Under the plan, the Federal Reserve and Treasury as the 'public partners' would provide enormous subsidies to the 'private partners,' the unregulated and unregistered hedge funds that have been overleveraged and facing mounting losses of their own. The subsidies would go to hedge funds for taking near worthless assets off the books of the ailing banks.
"There's been much criticism of the American Insurance Group for paying out $165 million in excessive bonuses to executives in its financial products division, the now notorious AIG unit that sold more credit default swaps than the firm could cover. Lost in the outrage was news that AIG had paid out $40 billion in taxpayer bailout money to some of the world's largest banks and hedge funds. Most of that went to ten U.S. and foreign banks, with Goldman Sachs leading the list. This is the same Goldman Sachs that has owned the Treasury Department for two decades. Its former CEOs, Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson, became Treasury secretary. Its chief lobbyist, Mark Patterson, recently became chief of staff to Geithner, one of the few vacancies filled in the department, and one that required an immediate waiver to Obama's supposedly tough ethics rules.
"Within the academy, there's a recognition that the sanctity of private contract requires striking down sham contracts. Bert Ely, a Cato Institute banking analyst, now argues that credit default swaps should be considered unenforceable contracts since the counterparties lack any insurable interest in the underlying assets. Lucian Bebchuk, a Harvard Law professor and centrist, now proposes Chapter 11 bankruptcy for AIG to stop the bleeding on its $1.2 trillion in credit default swaps. Paul Krugman, Nobel economist, argues for nationalizing the zombie banks to get them to shed their toxic assets and jump-start their lending activities for productive investment in real economic activity.
"The subsidies to Wall Street hedge funds and banks are not without enormous costs. Last week the Federal Reserve announced that it would double the size of its balance sheet to $3 trillion by doubling its purchases of asset-backed securities from its favored clientele, which now includes foreign banks and central banks. Three trillion dollars that could be spent on real needs, like jobs and education, the kinds of large public spending programs that raised the economy out of the Great Depression, created the last great middle class boom for the Greatest Generation, and left future generations with tangible assets instead of worthless paper."
For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
EVENT---Clean Technologies: How Things work
Oil shale conversion technologies continue to advance at a rapid pace, providing a more economically viable, environmentally responsible way to develop this abundant domestic energy resource. Join us this Friday, March 20, at 10 a.m. Mountain, and hear from two companies now operating on the leading edge of oil shale development.
This one-hour technology briefing will be conducted live via internet "webinar," so you can listen from the comfort of your own office via computer and phone line. Topics and presenters include:
"Shell's In Situ Process"
James Thurman, Manager, Regulatory Policy, Shell Unconventional Resources
"Environmental Alternative Fuels"
Dr. Laura Nelson, Vice President, Energy and Environment, Red Leaf Resources/EcoShale
How to Participate
This webinar is offered at no charge by the Western Business Roundtable, but you must register to participate. Go here to register. Information on how to participate will be e-mailed to you upon your successful registration. Please contact Michelle Hindmarch at mhindmarch@westernroundtable.com if you have questions.
More Information
All of the Roundtable's webinars in the "Clean Technologies: How Things Work" series will be recorded and made available on the Roundtable's website (www.westernroundtable.com). If you would like to have the recorded link to the webinar sent to you automatically, please e-mail Michelle Hindmarch at mhindmarch@westernroundtable.com.
This one-hour technology briefing will be conducted live via internet "webinar," so you can listen from the comfort of your own office via computer and phone line. Topics and presenters include:
"Shell's In Situ Process"
James Thurman, Manager, Regulatory Policy, Shell Unconventional Resources
"Environmental Alternative Fuels"
Dr. Laura Nelson, Vice President, Energy and Environment, Red Leaf Resources/EcoShale
How to Participate
This webinar is offered at no charge by the Western Business Roundtable, but you must register to participate. Go here to register. Information on how to participate will be e-mailed to you upon your successful registration. Please contact Michelle Hindmarch at mhindmarch@westernroundtable.com if you have questions.
More Information
All of the Roundtable's webinars in the "Clean Technologies: How Things Work" series will be recorded and made available on the Roundtable's website (www.westernroundtable.com). If you would like to have the recorded link to the webinar sent to you automatically, please e-mail Michelle Hindmarch at mhindmarch@westernroundtable.com.
Monday, March 16, 2009
EVENT: Monday, Mar. 16---"Hardship Listening Tour."
Republicans host a stop on their "hardship listening tour." Hosts include Elizabeth Poirier, Richard Ross, Jay Barrows and Sen. Scott Brown.
When/Where: Attleboro City Hall at 7:00 PM
When/Where: Attleboro City Hall at 7:00 PM
EVENT: Monday, Mar. 16---“Correcting the Approach: Managing Prisons Effectively in Challenging Times.”
Department of Correction Commissioner Harold Clarke headlines a Harvard University forum called “Correcting the Approach: Managing Prisons Effectively in Challenging Times.” The forum will include conversation on reducing recidivism through drug treatment, housing and reentry programs, and the difficulty of implementing such programs during challenging economic times.
When/Where: Starr Auditorium, Belfer Building, 2nd Floor, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge at 6:00 PM
When/Where: Starr Auditorium, Belfer Building, 2nd Floor, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge at 6:00 PM
EVENT: Monday, Mar. 16---Foreign Policy Experts Discuss What US is Up Against Under Obama Administration
A trio of foreign policy experts discusses what the U.S. is up against abroad under the Obama administration. The experts include Nicholas Burns, former Undersecretary of State and a professor of International Politics at Harvard University, Andrew Bacevich, professor of International Relations at Boston University, and Martha Raddatz, chief foreign correspondent for ABC News.
When/Where: Stephen Smith Hall, JFK Presidential Library, Dorchester at 5:30
When/Where: Stephen Smith Hall, JFK Presidential Library, Dorchester at 5:30
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Boston, Cambridge, Quincy Residents See 21 Percent Increase in ID Theft
The FTC collects identity theft complaints from consumers throughout the year and reports them the following year. According to this year's report, the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metropolitan area saw an increase in the number of complaints its residents filed with the FTC of about 21%.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
EVENT: Thurs. March 11---New E-Prescription Initiative
Doctors currently e-prescribing or interested in beginning are invited to a conference of the eRx Collaborative, a partnership between Blue Cross Blue Shield, Neighborhood Health Plan and Tufts Health plan. Topics of discussion will include state incentive plans in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The program will include panel discussions on physicians’ experiences with e-prescribing and electronic medical records, and participants will get to test e-prescribing systems in the conference’s exhibit hall.
When/Where: 7 PM at Massachusetts Medical Society Headquarters, Waltham Woods, 860 Winter St, Waltham
When/Where: 7 PM at Massachusetts Medical Society Headquarters, Waltham Woods, 860 Winter St, Waltham
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