LIBERTAS - In the Name of Liberty

In this world there are few people with the ability to exchange information in a clear and concise form. Ira Glass is the only person who has ever mastered this skill in multiple areas of human experience without going 'Hollywood'. If you don't understand what is going on with the world money systems, then listen, learn, then donate to your local Public Radio station.

365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy

Alex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson—the two guys who reported our Giant Pool of Money episode—are back, in collaboration with the Planet Money podcast. They'll explain what happened this week, including what regulators could've done to prevent this financial crisis from happening in the first place. You can learn more about the daily ins and outs and join the discussion on the Planet Money blog.

Prologue.
Host Ira Glass goes to Union Square, a 15-minute subway ride from Wall Street, where it doesn't look like we're on the edge of an economic abyss. (3 minutes)

Act One. The Day the Market Died.

Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson recount the 36-hour period, two weeks ago, when the credit markets froze. Plus, what it’s like now for businesses to get short-term loans, and how the hardship is spreading to every sector of the economy. (16 minutes)

Act Two. Out of the Hedges and Into the Woods.

One more confusing financial product that’s bringing down the global economy. And one of way to think about this product is this: If bad mortgages got the financial system sick, this next thing you’re about to hear about, helped spread the sickness into an epidemic. These are "credit default swaps." Alex explains. (19 minutes)

Act Three. Swap Cops.

Ira talks with Michael Greenberger, a former commodities regulator, who tells the story of when it was decided not to regulate credit default swaps. And how that decision was emblematic of the way we didn’t regulate a lot of the toxic financial products we’re hearing about now. (8 minutes)

Song: "Bankrupt on Selling," Modest Mouse


Act Four. What's Next?

Ira and Adam answer the question: Was the $700 billion bailout bill signed into law today a good idea or a bad one? (10 minutes)

We're excited to be coming to Los Angeles, and we hope we get a chance to meet you. Please join us on Thursday, October 23, 2008 for this exciting speech by CCR Executive Director Vincent Warren at the Jonathan Club, presented by Town Hall Los Angeles. Town Hall has now extended its member pricing discount for tickets to CCR's supporters. (Tickets are now only $48, a 20% discount!) When purchasing tickets online, please select "member" and enter "CCR" in the comments box provided. We urge you to quickly purchase your tickets and reserve your space at this important event today. For California attorneys, MCLE credits are available for attending this program.

The topic of Mr. Warren's address will be "100 Days to Constitutional Restoration: What the Next President Must Do." Over the last eight years, the Bush administration has systematically dismantled some of the most important rights and protections in the United States Constitution. In the first 100 days of office, the next president can---often with the stroke of a pen---restore, protect, and expand the fundamental rights on which our nation was founded.

Vincent Warren will discuss the Center's 100 Days Campaign, which calls for ending torture, rendition, and illegal detention, protecting dissent, abolishing preventive detention, limiting state secrets privilege, restoring the War Powers Act, stopping warrantless wiretapping, and rolling back executive power. Mr. Warren will present the crucial ways that all of us need to keep the pressure on the next president to Restore the Constitution.

The event will feature a cocktail reception followed by the program with a question and answer session. To purchase tickets please visit Town Hall's website, space is limited so please buy your tickets early. For more information please contact José Monzon at rsvp@ccrjustice.org.

Town Hall Los Angeles Presents
"100 Days to Constitutional Restoration:
What the Next President Must Do"

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
Cocktail Reception: 6pm; Program: 6:30pm-7:30pm
Town Hall Los Angeles, The Jonathan Club
545 S. Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Members of Town Hall: $48
Guest of Members: $48
Non-Town Hall Members: $60

We hope to see you there.

Best regards,

Annette Warren Dickerson

Director of Education and Outreach

Matt Rothschild writes in The Progressive about the 3rd Infantry being back in the US, where it is being trained for domestic counter-insurgency. He was on Democracy Now Tuesday.

"On October 1, the Pentagon, for the first time ever, dedicated an Army force specifically to NorthCom, which is in charge of securing not some foreign region but the United States of America. The unit it assigned is the 3rd Infantry, First Brigade Combat Team, which has spent three of the last five years in Iraq. It was one of the first units to get to Baghdad, and it was active in retaking and patrolling Fallujah. One of its specialties is counterinsurgency. This marks a change for NorthCom, which was established on October 1, 2002. Its website still says it 'has few permanently assigned forces,' and that 'the command is assigned forces whenever necessary to execute missions, as ordered by the President and the Secretary of Defense.'"

Yes, this is alarming, given the militarization of the border, militarization of the schools, and the spectacle of military-like policing in St. Paul last month. Here is ONE MORE CHANCE --before we send it on to the City Councils of Denver and St. Paul -- to sign the petition against the abuse of political protest in those cities during the conventions.

Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime

Starts Slow, Low Production Value, GREAT SPEACH!
Bob Bowman, The Patriots.US



This is what it looks like when you love the USA!