Nazi soldiers were high on meth-like drug, new book claims


It's no secret Adolf Hitler relied heavily on drugs, and now it looks as if the Nazis' interest in pharmacological helpers resulted in the mass drugging of German soldiers before major attacks.

In a new book, "The Total Rush," author Norman Ohler says that soldiers were given Pervitin, which contained a form of methamphetamine, similar to today's crystal meth.

Pervitin was invented in 1937 and used in a German energy drink intended to rival Coca-Cola before the war.

In an interview with Deutsche Welle. Ohler says the German army put it to mass use when the war came.


http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Nazi-soldiers-were-high-much-of-the-time-new-6508806.php

Woman accused of faking kidnapping, boyfriend file claim against Vallejo


Citing a “continuous pattern of malicious and unlawful conduct,” the Vallejo woman whom police accused of faking her March kidnapping has filed a claim against the city.

The claim, seeking unspecified damages, was filed Thursday and accuses the Vallejo Police Department of negligence, injury to reputation and other charges. If the claim is rejected by the city, the couple represented by Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP, would be free to file a lawsuit. The city, citing the likelihood of a lawsuit, declined to comment.



In July, the FBI revealed that Orangevale attorney Matthew Muller was in custody for Huskins’ kidnapping and was suspected in at least one other incident.

Also named in the 22-page claim is Denise Huskins’ boyfriend Aaron Quinn. The claim alleges police took DNA samples from Quinn, forced him to take a lie detector test and interrogated him for several hours.







Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article35742624.html#storylink=cpy

The Politics of Income Inequality









The years from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were not the most egalitarian in American history. Robber barons roamed the economy, living off lavish rents generated by powerful cartels and industrial monopolies.

The richest 1 percent of Americans reaped nearly one in five dollars generated by the economy and amassed almost half its wealth; at the other end of the scale, wage earners lost ground to inflation. It was the era of the Haymarket riots and Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.” Workers staged 1,500 strikes in 1886 alone.

Ultimately, though, the disparities in wealth and income led to an age of ferment that came to be known as the Progressive Era.

Women got the right to vote. Congress passed the Sherman Act. Chicago’s Beef Trust and John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil were taken down. In 1914, Henry Ford decided to raise wages to $5 a day, doubling at a stroke most of his workers’ pay.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/business/economy/the-politics-of-income-inequality.html?_r=0

Don't blame the Fed for widening inequality. Blame Congress


Yes, income inequality is a major problem, one that was worsened by the Great Recession and the sluggish recovery


And yes, the Fed's response to the crisis -- unprecedented amounts of easy money -- did boost the stock market. That, in turn, made many rich Americans even better off.

But those arguing that the Fed intensified inequality miss the boat: The Fed was the only game in town in 2008 because Congress didn't act more forcefully to save the U.S. economy. And if the Fed didn't step up to the plate, income inequality would likely be far worse today.

"Given the fiscal policy we had, what could the Fed do? I think they did the best thing they could," said Dean Baker, co-head of the left-leaning Center for Economic Policy and Research. "We wouldn't be happier with fewer jobs and a lower stock market."

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/02/news/economy/income-inequality-federal-reserve/

Amid drought, thousands of Californians cancel their flood insurance







State and local officials have preached for months that California’s historic drought could be “the new normal,” the precursor to more frequent yearslong episodes of hotter temperatures, less rainfall and lower Sierra snowpack.

Californians across the state have responded en masse to the call for lifestyle changes, curtailing water use, particularly when it comes to watering their lawns.



And some have responded in a manner more concerning to government officials: They canceled their flood insurance.

The number of federal flood insurance policies active in California has fallen by 30,000, or 12 percent, since the drought began in 2012, according to data from the National Flood Insurance Program.



Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article34117461.html#storylink=cpy

About 100 demonstrate against Nazis, police in downtown Olympia


http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/4mlmf9/picture34227531/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/protest


About 100 demonstrators marched through downtown Olympia Saturday evening chanting "Nazis out of Oly" as well as anti-police slogans.

Many in the crowd wore black and had bandanas covering their faces. A few were carrying bats. They passed out fliers saying they were there to counter a Nazi gathering that had been called for Saturday night in Olympia.



The group gathered about 7 p.m. near the Harbor Days vendor tents on Percival Landing then set out up Fourth Avenue about 8 p.m., carrying a banner that read “All Cops are Bastards.” They marched past City Hall, then back to Percival Landing. Some were lighting fireworks; others knocked over trash cans, but passersby picked them up.

One young man who was watching the crowd remarked, “We do need the police. Otherwise, I’d have to be down here. I’m in the Army, by the way.”

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article34227534.html#storylink=cpy

JBLM soldier who beat Afghan man over child’s rape faces Army discharge


A Green Beret and his allies say the fact that he “stood up to a child rapist” while serving in Afghanistan with an elite Joint Base Lewis-McChord unit shouldn’t be grounds for kicking him out of the Army.

Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland says he beat up an Afghan police commander he was supposed to be mentoring because he was fed up with the commander’s “brutal” sexual abuse of a village boy.

Now Martland’s case is being championed by a California congressman and several veteran Green Berets who contend he shouldn’t be punished further.

Martland, 33, was awarded two Bronze Star medals, including one for valor, during his time at JBLM. He likely will be discharged in November because the discipline handed to him for assaulting the Afghan made him a target for Army downsizing. Veteran soldiers with negative performance reviews in their service records are being culled from the ranks as part of the post-Iraq War drawdown.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/military/article32969865.html#storylink=cpy

Bernie Sanders Slams Clinton for Having Supported Slashing of America's Safety Net


Bernie Sanders is criticizing Hillary Clinton for supporting the gutting of the welfare system under Bill Clinton's watch. In 1996, Bill Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, with the advertised intention of "ending welfare as we know it." Many critics believe that's exactly what it did. Three assistant secretaries at the Department of Health resigned in protest of the act, claiming that it shredded the existing safety net. In her 2003 book, Living History, Clinton writes that she supported the legislation.

Bloomberg'sJosh Eidelson reports that Sanders is now taking aim at Clinton for this position. "I think that history will suggest that that legislation has not worked terribly well," Sanders told Bloomberg, "I mean, that’s what Ronald Reagan’s ‘welfare queen’ was all about. It was the illusion that we’re spending huge sums of money on people who are cheating, who are taking of the welfare system and so forth."

In her book Clinton insists welfare reform gave millions of parents jobs, but many see things quite differently In his Harper's essay on Hillary's campaign, economic analyst Doug Henwood writes about a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report that analyzed the long-term impact of welfare reform. "They found that [it's] serving fewer families despite increased demand, that the value of benefits has eroded to the point where beneficiaries can’t meet their basic needs, and that it does far less to reduce poverty than its predecessor, AFDC. In addition, the report noted that almost all of the early employment gains for single mothers have since been reversed."

Clinton's support of her husband's legislation briefly came up during the 2008 campaign as well. Then Senator Obama declared, "I won't second guess President Clinton for signing."

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-sanders-slams-clinton-her-support-welfare-reform-gutted-safety-net