John Galt AIG Resignation Letter, Reid fast-tracking health overhaul, China, NK, Extinction?

1) ‘John Galt’ Speaks in Resignation Letter to AIG: excerpts below It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter. Before describing the details of my decision, I want to offer some context: I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage. …My guess is that in October, when you learned of these retention contracts, you realized that the employees of the financial products unit needed some incentive to stay and that the contracts, being both ethical and useful, should be left to stand. That’s probably why A.I.G. management assured us on three occasions during that month that the company would “live up to its commitment” to honor the contract guarantees. …You’ve now asked the current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. to repay these earnings. As you can imagine, there has been a tremendous amount of serious thought and heated discussion about how we should respond to this breach of trust. As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house. See: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/opinion/25desantis.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=todayspaper 2) EU presidency: US stimulus is 'the road to hell' BRUSSELS (AP) -- The head of the European Union slammed President Barack Obama's plan to spend nearly $2 trillion to push the U.S. economy out of recession as "the road to hell" that EU governments must avoid. The blunt comments by Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek to the European Parliament on Wednesday highlighted simmering European differences with Washington ahead of a key summit next week on fixing the world economy. See: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/EU-presidency-US-economic-apf-14737788.html 2a) Fed begins move that could sink dollar: Economists warn government subsidizing purchase of its debt NEW YORK – The Federal Reserve began today to buy longer-term U.S. Treasury securities in a move some economists believe will end up "monetizing" the dollar, a process that could inflate the amount of money in circulation and cause serious devaluation of the currency on world markets. The move comes the same day U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told the Council on Foreign Relations that the U.S. is "open" to a proposal by China to replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency with a "super-currency" to be created by the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. See: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92836 2b) W.H. allies target moderate Dems Americans United for Change (AUC), the labor-backed organization that has produced a steady stream of pro-White House ads, is going up on the air Wednesday in 11 states and Washington, D.C. The goal is to push Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and members of a new group of centrist Democrats to get behind a spending blueprint that many of them have already criticized. See: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20471.html 3) Reid open to fast-tracking health overhaul WASHINGTON – Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated Wednesday he's willing to move sweeping health care legislation through the Senate with a procedural maneuver that would block a GOP filibuster. The prospect of the controversial tactic has already ignited Republicans' ire, and key Senate Democratic chairmen have said they don't want to do it. Reid, D-Nev., took a different position on a conference call with reporters. "I think it's something we need to consider," Reid said. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090326/ap_on_re_us/health_overhaul_reid 4) FedEx Threatens to Cancel Jet Orders  Package-Delivery Company Puts Boeing Order in Question Over Bill to Make Unionizing Easier FedEx Corp. is threatening to cancel the purchase of billions of dollars worth of new Boeing Co. cargo planes if Congress passes a law that would make it easier for unions to organize at the package-delivery company. See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123791678454427343.html 5) Pentagon questions growing Chinese military power WASHINGTON (AP) - China is increasing its military power more rapidly and developing new "disruptive technologies" that are shifting the military balance in its region and possibly beyond, a new Pentagon report said. …"However, much uncertainty surrounds China's future course, particularly regarding how its expanding military power might be used," said a summary of the report obtained by The Associated Press. See: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97543T81&show_article=1&catnum=0 6) Clinton: NKorea plan to fire missile 'provocative' MEXICO CITY – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday warned North Korea that firing a missile for any purpose would be a "provocative act" that would have consequences. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090326/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_nkorea_missile 7) Headed toward extinction? World depopulation — rather than overpopulation — is the troublesome trend that should concern the entire planet. …Yes, human population is still growing in some places dramatically so. But at the same time, a strange new phenomenon is spreading around the globe, one whose very existence contradicts the deepest foundations of our modern mind-set. Darwinism presupposes, and modern biology teaches, that all organisms breed to the limit of their available resources. Yet starting in the world's richest, best-fed nations during the 1970s,and now spreading throughout the developing world, we find birthrates falling below the levels needed to avoid long-term, and in many instances, short-term, population loss. The phenomenon has spread beyond Europe and Asia to Latin America. …As the number of women of reproductive age falls in country after country, world population is acquiring negative momentum and thus could decline even if birthrates eventually turn up. Societies around the globe need to ask why they are engaging in what biologists would surely recognize in any other species as maladaptive behavior leading either to extinction, or dramatic mutation. See: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/03/headed-toward-e.html 8) Postal chief says post office running out of money See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090325/ap_on_go_ot/postal_woes   9) 'Spy plane' to find energy waste in UK A council spent £30,000 on a plane and thermal imaging cameras to identify firms that were wasting money through energy loss. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/7960201.stm