The LA Times recently ran a major investigative story saying Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was behind the shooting and beating of Tupac Shakur. They are now backtracking from that and have launched an internal investigation after The Smoking Gun, in a lengthy well-documented article, shows rather conclusively that the documents the LA Times relied on were forged by a conman, James Sabatino, who did it while in prison.

How a federal inmate duped the Los Angeles Times, fabricated FBI reports, and linked Sean “Diddy” Combs to 1994 ambush of Tupac Shakur.

I’m guessing the LA Times better run a massive front page apology to Combs then hope his lawsuit isn’t too huge. I mean, the supposed FBI docs and a document from Sabatino had precisely the same spelling errors in them, plus the FBI reports were typed - yet the FBI hasn’t used typewriters for 20 years. The Smoking Gun uncovers lots more problems with Sabatino too.

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Tracks oil company contributions to presidential candidates as well members of the Senate and House, watching their votes on oil-related issues.

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Not satire. Hey, with 2.5 million inmates, this market niche can no longer be overlooked.

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Energy investment bank CEO Russell Simmons on what happens if (when?) India and China develop like Japan did in the ’50s and ’60s.

“If that happens, then we need to be prepared for for one of two things: either bringing on supply to the tune of a new North Sea every two or three years — which is impossible — or watching demand outstrip supply. And finally we [will] create shortages that literally create a run on the energy bank, just like we had a run on Bear Stearns.”

Except there will be no entity to force a deal and make things better (if just temporarily) like the Fed just did with Bear. There is no magical way to create more oil and lower prices.

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All American progressives should unite for Barack Obama.

– Opening sentence of an article in The Nation by Tom Hayden, Bill Fletcher Jr., Danny Glover & Barbara Ehrenreich

We did not foresee the exciting social movement that is the Obama campaign. Many of us supported other candidates, or waited skeptically as weeks and months passed. But the closeness of the race makes it imperative that everyone on the sidelines, everyone in doubt, everyone vascillating, everyone fearing betrayals and the blasting of hope, everyone quarreling over political correctness, must join this fight to the finish. Not since Robert Kennedy’s 1968 campaign has there been a passion to imagine the world anew like the passion and unprecedented numbers of people mobilized in this campaign. For more information, go to Progressives for Obama.com

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In the irrational, out-of-control world of the financial markets, acting rationally loses money rather than making it.

Anyone who thinks that financial markets can be successfully self-regulating hasn’t understood the way that acting crazy can be the way to make massive profits, as long as you’re not the only crazy one.

This is also known as the Greater Fool theory.

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Kareem Amer was sentenced to four years under harsh conditions which have included torture for a blog post that criticized the president of Egypt and insulted Islam. Even some of those who disagree with what he said say he should be pardoned.

FreeKareem.org

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