SPB News for Friday

Bankruptcy filings rise to 6,000 daily

Study shows medical bills underlie 60% of all US bankruptcies.

SEC Goes After Countrywide CEO and Other Execs http://tinyurl.com

FBI 9/11 Whistleblower Colleen Rowley: Bureau Dropped The Ball On Tiller Case

Cunningham Crony Charged In $92M Mortgage Fraud

VA Dem Candidate Gives Out Cell Number On TV

Viacom Shuts Down Nickelodeon Magazine After 16 Years

'Peace Mom' Cindy Sheehan to protest Bush in Dallas

Barack admits US role in 1953 Iran coup US President Barack Obama has admitted US involvement in the 1953 coup in Iran which overthrew the democratically elected government of premier Mohammad Mossadegh. "In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government," Obama said during his keynote speech to the Muslim world from Cairo University in the Egyptian capital. It is the first time a sitting US president has publicly admitted American involvement in the coup.

6 Texans sue KBR, Halliburton over burn pits --Plaintiffs say the burning waste released toxins that harmed at least 10,000 people. Soldiers are among six Texans suing Houston-based KBR and Halliburton over burn pits at U.S. camps in Iraq and Afghanistan. The suit filed in a San Antonio federal court alleges the military contractors burned everything from trucks and tires to human corpses in the large war-zone pits.

DOJ rejects Georgia voter verification requirements The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected Georgia's system of voter citizenship verification by way of a Social Security and driver's license database. In a letter released Monday, Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King told Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker that the proposed changes are discriminatory.

Towns, Kucinich Call on Bank of America CEO Lewis to Testify Before Committee
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) and Domestic Policy Subcommittee Chairman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today invited Bank of America CEO and President Kenneth D. Lewis to testify in a hearing before the full committee on Thursday, June 11, 2009. The Committee is investigating events surrounding Bank of America’s (BofA) acquisition of Merrill Lynch in 2008 in which the Federal government eventually provided BofA with $20 billion in taxpayer dollars to help the bank complete the deal.