Joe the Plumber, called out

From reader Hopper:

He talks about kicking ass and taking names and all that. He talks about slapping people and shooting people. I want to get up in his grill, tell him he's a tool, a liar, a backer of policies that have killed America, and just in general a shitty human being and a terrible American. I also want to tell him to his face that I believe he talks tough but I would be willing to bet he's just a big-talking coward. And I want to invite him to react in any way in which he sees fit. And I want it on tape. Anybody have any idea how to get that done?

Read More......

The Party of Lincoln becomes the Party of Limbaugh

It's about time we used their freaks against them. And you know Limbaugh, there's no chance he'll do the smart thing and just shut up.

Top Democratic operatives are planning a stepped up campaign to promote Rush Limbaugh as the public face of the GOP — an effort that will include recruiting Dem governors to make this case on talk shows, getting elected officials to pen Op eds arguing it, and running more ads pushing it, a senior Democratic operative says.

Key leadership staff in the House and Senate, and in all the political committees, have been encouraged by senior Dem operatives to push this message wherever possible, the operative says.

“I’m encouraging everybody to go out and say this,” Paul Begala, the well-known Dem strategist, just told me by phone. “I’m hot for this. Let’s get this out every way we can.”

Read More......

CPAC rumor: Larry Kudlow to run against Dodd for Senate

If only Dodd could be so lucky. Kudlow wrote about the Bush economy as "The Greatest Story Never Told" almost one year ago and still can't accept that the GOP had any responsibility in the crisis. He's been at the forefront of the "blame minorities for the housing crisis" and "the market tanked in the autumn because they thought Obama would win" campaigns. Whether conservatives will be able to overlook his drug and alcohol addiction confession in the past remains to be seen. Read More......

Conservative, religious states consume the most porn. Biggest consumer? Utah

I hear the biggest consumer was David Vitter.

A new nationwide study (pdf) of anonymised credit-card receipts from a major online adult entertainment provider finds little variation in consumption between states.

"When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different," says Benjamin Edelman at Harvard Business School.

However, there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.

"Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by," Edelman says....

The biggest consumer, Utah, averaged 5.47 adult content subscriptions per 1000 home broadband users...

Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year's presidential election – Florida and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favoured Barack Obama....

Residents of 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriages boasted 11% more porn subscribers than states that don't explicitly restrict gay marriage....

States where a majority of residents agreed with the statement "I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage," bought 3.6 more subscriptions per thousand people than states where a majority disagreed. A similar difference emerged for the statement "AIDS might be God's punishment for immoral sexual behaviour."

Read More......

Angered by his fellow Republicans, Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning may just quit

John Cornyn, who heads the Republican Senate campaign committee, has been on a recruiting mission to find Republican to run against Jim Bunning. Republican Senators really want to get rid of Bunning. But, they should be careful what they wish for, because they may get it -- but earlier then expected. And, the consequences would be beyond huge as reported yesterday in the Courier-Journal:

Already in conflict with his party’s leaders, Sen. Jim Bunning has reportedly said privately that if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his resignation.
Advertisement

The Kentucky Republican suggested that possible scenario at a campaign fundraiser for him on Capitol Hill earlier this week, according to three sources who asked not to be identified because of the politically sensitive nature of Bunning’s remarks.

The implication, they said, was that Bunning would allow Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to appoint his replacement — a move that could give Democrats the 60 votes they need to block Republican filibusters in the Senate.

“I would get the last laugh. Don’t forget Kentucky has a Democrat governor,” one of the sources quoted Bunning as saying.

Today, the same paper has a perfunctory denial from Bunning's office:

In a statement released through spokesman Mike Reynard, he said: "It's not true. I intend to fulfill my obligation to the people of Kentucky. If you are going to write something like this, you better make your sources known, because they are lying."

Two of the newspaper's three sources, reached after Bunning issued his statement, said they stood by their comments. The third did not return a phone call.

Clearly, Bunning is playing hardball (yes, that's actually the rare sports joke here at AMERICAblog. For those who don't know, Bunning played professional baseball for years.)

Don't forget, the Senate Republicans have a history of treating their colleagues badly. They forced Jim Jeffords out back in 2001, which tipped the balance of power. I love that Bunning is torturing his fellow Kentucky Senator, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate Republicans. And, those Senate Republicans know Bunning is erratic enough to do it. Read More......

Obama: My budget represents the change I promised -- and I'm ready for the fight to pass it. Really ready.

Obama is laying out in his weekly address today. He's telling the special interests that he's ready for the battle over his budget.



Here's an excerpt:

This budget also reflects the stark reality of what we’ve inherited – a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession. Given this reality, we’ll have to be more vigilant than ever in eliminating the programs we don’t need in order to make room for the investments we do need. I promised to do this by going through the federal budget page by page, and line by line. That is a process we have already begun, and I am pleased to say that we’ve already identified two trillion dollars worth of deficit-reductions over the next decade. We’ve also restored a sense of honesty and transparency to our budget, which is why this one accounts for spending that was hidden or left out under the old rules.

I realize that passing this budget won’t be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington. I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that’s how we’ll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families. I know that banks and big student lenders won’t like the idea that we’re ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that’s how we’ll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries. In other words, I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this:

So am I.

"So am I." That's the kind of talk I like to hear. "So am I." I'll admit to being very pleasantly surprised by the Obama budget. It's just rare to see a politician keep his or her promises. But, he did a pretty good job, which, of course, is making the Republicans even more apoplectic. More importantly, Krugman was impressed.

So, Obama is ready to get into the right with the big lobbyists and special interests who think they own Capitol Hill. And, don't leave out the Rush "I want him to fail" Limbaugh Republicans who will be fighting to protect tax breaks for the really wealthy, you know, people like Rush. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

We've got an animal poem as the poem of the week today. It's "Moles" by Mary Oliver. (The moles better watch out for that hawk in the post from the other night. I told John that there's a huge hawk hanging out in the park between his place and mine. I've seen him -- and first saw him when I heard his wings swooshing above us (and by us, I mean Petey and me.) The bird is bigger than Petey. I'm still not sure what kind of hawk he is. I just think it's cool to see nature like that in the middle of the city.)

From the ongoing series "Haiku for the Obama Administration," there were some real gems this week. For example #102:

Tim's giving "stress tests"
He is grading on a curve--
Big banks get a pass!

And, in response to raving Rick Santelli's paranoid claims that the Obama administration is threatening him, come this brilliant smackdown:

Mrs. Santelli,
Obama knows where you live!
Hide the silver NOW!!!

The haikus are written by KarenMrsLloydRichards every morning in the open thread. She cracks me up every day.

Let's get started, but start slow. It's Saturday... Read More......

Should people with disabilities be hidden from children?

What the hell is the matter with people? These must be the same people who fear the world around them and prefer living life in a cocoon. Oh no, life! CNN:

A children's show host who was born with one hand is facing criticism from parents over her disability.

BBC spokeswoman Katya Mira said the corporation has received at least 25 "official" complaints recently about Cerrie Burnell, new host of two shows on the BBC-run CBeebies television network, which is aimed at children younger than six.

The official complaints do not count the dozens of negative comments lodged in Internet chat rooms, Mira said.

In one chat room, a father lamented that Burnell being on the show forced him to have conversations with his child about disabilities.

However, there have also been messages of support for Burnell.

"We have also received 99 appreciations of her," Mira said.

Burnell started as a presenter of the shows in late January after acting with theater companies in Manchester, England, and Brazil.

A BBC news release in January introducing Burnell made no mention of her disability, but a publicity photo showed the right sleeve of her sweater pulled up, showing her arm stops just below her elbow.

And the BBC was right. There's no need to mention it because it has no impact on whether she can act or not act. Read More......

Lloyds discovers an additional $114 billion in high risk loans

This is exactly what crushes the spirit of the market. Banks and their media cheerleaders keep telling us that the surprises are over, the bad debt behind us and the good times are near. The market needs calm, boring and predictable behavior for one quarter and then another and another, etc. "Discoveries" of new bad debt only enhance the existing belief that it's a dangerous market.

Lloyds banking Group revealed yesterday that it had found £80bn of high-risk loans at HBOS, the bank it bought last month to save it from collapse.

The high-risk assets are part of £165bn of loans that Lloyds said were outside its own appetite for risk. Surging bad debts on HBOS's books drove it to a £10.8bn loss for 2008.

Impairment losses at HBOS surged to £9.9bn from £2.01bn a year earlier, with two-thirds coming from the corporate bank, with its heavy weighting towards the stricken commercial property and housebuilding sectors.

Alex Potter, a banking analyst at Collins Stewart, said: "The scale of the deterioration in the HBOS book has shocked us."

Lloyds said that HBOS's estimate of the losses for 2008 was only a third of Lloyds', which itself turned out to be too low by £1.6bn.

Eric Daniels, Lloyds' chief executive, said the bank's forecast had not predicted that the economy would shrink by 1.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2008, increasing pressure on borrowers. "While we were pretty gloomy, what actually happened is we were not gloomy enough," he added. But he insisted that the losses were not far off Lloyds' expectations and were manageable.

Uh huh. Who ever could have forecasted anything like that? Read More......

Looking out my back door

Looking out my own back door, the garden continues to grow thanks to the weather warming up a few degrees and no sub-freezing temps. The camellia's still have another few weeks to go though this will be the first time in three years that they have not bloomed in February. Read More......

Jobless claims higher than forecasted, hit 26 year high

Although there is not any good news in this report, there is a report out today that suggests layoffs at large corporate businesses will start to decline. The jobless data from CNNMoney:

The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance spiked, and those living on unemployment benefits hit a record high, according to a government report released Thursday.

For the week ended Feb. 21, 667,000 Americans filed initial jobless claims, up 36,000 from a revised 631,000 the previous week. That's the highest figure since October 1982.

Economists polled by Briefing.com were expecting claims to drop to 625,000.

In a sign that more jobless Americans are having trouble finding work, 5,112,000 continued on unemployment for the week ended Feb. 14, the most recent data available. That's the highest number since the Labor Department began keeping records since 1967.

Initial claims are expected to sharply increase, and it's likely they will reach 750,000 per week in the upcoming months, according to Ian Shepherdson, economist at High Frequency Economics in New York.

Read More......

Footprints and history found in Africa, again

(Photo - Matthew Bennett/Bournemouth University/Reuters)
What a fantastic discovery. I would love to see the entire collection from the river including the family prints.

Footprints found on a sandy plain in eastern Africa have been hailed by scientists as the earliest evidence of modern upright walking.

The footprints, dated to between 1.51m and 1.53m years ago, were discovered in sedimentary rock at Ileret, Kenya, researchers report in today's edition of the journal Science.

The findings mark one of the most important discoveries in recent years regarding the evolution of human walking.

Joelle and I drove hours out of the way (as you do for everything) in Namibia to see dinosaur footprints from a riverbed which were amazing. Seeing a footprint is special and then seeing a walking path made so long ago brings it to life. At one of the state parks in South Africa they have a fossil of an animal reaching it's head above the mud to take its last gasp of air. Amazing. It's also why Africa is my favorite place in the world. The history across Africa is something special. Below is Joelle pointing out the dinosaur track.
Read More......

Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel wiped out by Madoff Ponzi scheme

If Madoff is found guilty, he needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Sickening.

Nobody knows depravity like Elie Wiesel knows depravity.

And does he ever see it in Bernie Madoff.

Wiesel, whose charitable foundation was wiped out by Madoff, has until now mostly kept quiet about the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme. But today, the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient spoke passionately about his betrayal by Madoff, whom he referred to variously as "a crook, a thief, a scoundrel," as well as a "swindler" and "evil."

Wiesel acknowledged that in addition to having lost his foundation's assets, he lost his personal wealth to Madoff. "All of a sudden, everything we have done in forty years--literally, my books, my lectures, my university salary, everything—was gone," he said during a panel discussion hosted by Condé Nast Portfolio.

His foundation, the Elie Wiesel Foundaton for Humanity, lost substantially all of its $15.2 million in assets to Madoff; including his personal investments, total losses may be as high as $37 million. "We gave him everything, we thought he was God, we trusted everything in his hands," Wiesel said.

Read More......

Buttars-Palooza

Party at the Utah State Capitol for truth and justice
Music * Dancing * Street Artists * Food * Fun
Featuring a special "tribute" to everyone's favorite homophobic, racist state Senator

Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009
Time: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Utah Capitol - South Lawn

Facebook invite.

Read More......

Obama sets firm timetable for withdrawal from Iraq

It's over. Well, soon.

President Barack Obama consigned the Iraq war to history Friday, declaring he will end combat operations within 18 months and open a new era of diplomacy in the Middle East. "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama told Marines who are about to deploy by the thousands to the other war front, Afghanistan.

Even so, Obama will leave the bulk of troops in place this year, contrary to hopes of Democratic leaders for a speedier pullout.

And after combat forces withdraw, 35,000 to 50,000 will stay behind for an additional year and half of support and counterterrorism duties....

Obama's promise to pull home the last of the U.S. troops by the end of 2011 is in accord with a deal that Iraqis signed with former President George W. Bush.

So, basically, all combat forces are out by August of next year, then a year later, everyone is out. This is very good. Interesting, however, that he's announcing it on a Friday evening. That's the time slot government officials reserve for controversial news. But, it's not like this is a controversial decision - to the contrary, I think most Americans will utter a sigh of relief. Read More......

Obama's approval rating jumped 8% this week. Up to 67%.

Take that all you Rush Limbaugh "I want him to fail" Republicans. The American people are on his side:

In the days immediately after Barack Obama's nationally televised address to Congress on Tuesday night, his public support has increased significantly to 67% in Feb. 24-26 Gallup Daily polling, and is now just two points below his term high. This comes on the heels of a term-low 59% reported by Gallup on Tuesday.

Obama's speech was well-received, and appears to have won him back support he had been losing in prior days, and then some.

The approval rating will wax and wane, but it is very interesting that after the full scale assault from the Republicans. Taking charge and being positive works. The American understand that their success is tied to his success. The Republicans can't fathom that. What people hear when Rush says he wants Obama to fail is that he wants America to fail.

Check out this graph:
Read More......

Accountability Now

Jane Hamsher's new organization, Accountability Now, which we have been supporting and advising, has been making some waves. In a nutshell, the organization is a PAC that will run primary candidates against Democrats who vote against the interests of their own constituents. Basically, if you have a Democrat who's voting conservatively in a liberal district, he or she has some explaining to do - they can't argue that they're protecting their re-election chances when their own district favors less conservative policies.

Jane and Markos did the media tour yesterday in DC to promote the group. Apparently they're scaring some people.

Better to be feared than ignored. More from the NYT. Read More......

Obama moves to undo last-minute Bush pandering to religious right

Hallelujah. This is why being in power matters. Regardless of anyone's concerns about whether Obama will be good enough on every issue, he is good enough on more than enough to make his election not just worth it, but absolutely necessary. Read More......

British bankers say they will leave UK if bonuses are capped

Knock yourselves out and do us a favor. Where oh where will they go? They still are convinced of their own "talent" which means so little to the rest of the world. Sure the system they created is little more than burning embers from the once great fires of prosperity but it was all a fraud. Those profits that they were paid on weren't profits, but paper shells. They really need to get over themselves and their odd sense of entitlement. Let them find somewhere else to destroy and if that mysterious country/city wants to pay them, great.

Half of British bankers would consider leaving the country if a cap were put on their cash bonuses, a survey showed on Friday.

The poll by jobs website eFinancialCareers.com found that 49 percent of British-based bankers would consider voting with their feet such a limit to their income were introduced. That figure rose to 71 percent among financiers with six to ten years experience.

"Were bonuses to be capped unilaterally in the UK, the country would run the risk of an exodus of top financial talent," said John Benson, chief executive of eFinancialCareers.

However, the number of alternative locations in which to work has shrunk dramatically as the credit crisis has hit hiring and pay around the world.

Ya don't say? You mean the economic crisis is global? And everyone now knows that they are fraudsters? Golly, I had no idea. Now that Europe is working together on this subject and the US is (finally) coming around, that leaves the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong or possibly China as up and coming locations. Too bad they are dropping like rocks too, thanks to the gamblers who think they are deserving. Read More......

Pay for toilets on a flight?

It doesn't even sound like it should be legal, let alone acceptable. Even on short flights I don't see where this is a good thing. I've had the wonderful luck to jump on a 10 hour flight with food poisoning so I would have run out of change quickly. Where do they even come up with these ideas to annoy customers?

Irish carrier Ryanair, Europe's largest budget airline, might start charging passengers for using the toilet while flying, chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Friday.

"One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend a pound to spend a penny in future," he told BBC television.

He said this would not inconvenience passengers travelling without cash. "I don't think there is anybody in history that has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound."

Clearly this is the same idiotic assumption that US international airport arrivals make when they demand that you pay for a luggage cart. I don't always have small change in my pockets and flight attendants are always asking for people to use change when I am on flights that charge small fees. Always. That said, Ryanair CEO O'Leary doesn't always have bad ideas. Read More......

The CPAC extremism continues with Joe the Plumber who thinks some elected members of Congress should be shot

Joe the Plumber talks like he lives in some kind of Soviet-style dictatorship where people who disagree can be shot and smacked around. But, he's a star at CPAC and fits right in with all the other right wing whackos. He's one of the their great thinkers these days. From our friends Think Progress, who have bravely ventured into the CPAC snake pit:

On Wednesday, Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher said that if he were in Congress, he would “probably be in jail” because he’d be charged with “slapping some member.” He added, “And that’s not [bull] either.” ThinkProgress caught up with Joe at CPAC yesterday and asked him which members he would most like to slap. “Pretty much anybody that’s stood there and said anything bad about our troops, pretty much anybody who sat there and talked treasonous talk about America,” Joe said.

And, then Joe took it further, describing who could be shot, yes, shot:

The CPAC crew and their GOP brethren really have nothing, absolutely nothing, to offer the American people. How can anyone take them seriously? And, if someone said something like this at a progressive conference, the traditional media would be having a field day, spurred on by Republicans on the Hill. Just saying.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Paid your taxes yet, Joe?

Read More......

Drop in Fourth Quarter GDP revised to 6.2%, much worse than previously reported 3.8%

To all of the Republicans who have tried to suggest the economic problems are not that bad and that there were even signs of recovering late last year, this will cause problems for their story. For everyone else, it confirms what people thought was happening.

The U.S. economy contracted more sharply than initially estimated in the fourth quarter, government data showed on Friday, as exports plunged and consumers cut spending by the most in over 28 years amid a severe recession.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product, which measures the total output of goods and services within U.S. borders, fell at an annual rate of 6.2 percent in the October-December quarter, the deepest slide since the first quarter of 1982. The government last month estimated the drop in fourth-quarter GDP at 3.8 percent.

The weaker GDP estimate reflected downward revisions to inventories and exports by the department.

The decline was worse than analysts' expectations for a 5.4 percent contraction in fourth-quarter GDP. The economy expanded 1.1 percent in 2008, the slowest pace since 2001, the department said.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of domestic economic activity, dropped at a 4.3 percent rate, the biggest fall since the second quarter of 1980, as household wealth plunged. That compared with a 3.5 percent fall estimated last month.

Exports, until recently one of the few pillars supporting the distressed economy, tumbled at a 23.6 percent annual rate, the steepest plunge since 1971. That was revised from the 19.7 percent drop estimated in last month's report.

Read More......

Rush, the GOP's one true Supreme Leader

This weekend, at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), which could be called the "We want Obama to fail" conference, they're all anxiously awaiting the leader of the GOP. No, it's not Newt or Mitt or Mitch or even that painful Eric Cantor. Their one true leader is Rush. He's kind of like the Kim Jong-Il of the GOP. You know, he's got all kinds of weird quirks and addictions, but they all live in fear of him and take orders without question.

Americans United and AFSCME did an ad featuring Rush and his most loyal servants:

The ad will be playing on cable nationally and in the D.C. market, which means the CPAC whackos can see their leader featured in a t.v. ad. But, the sick thing is that none of them will think this is bad. They all agree with Rush. The CPAC whackos want Obama to fail. They just don't realize out of touch with America they are. But, it's not our job to fix them. I'd rather work with Obama to fix the country and let that crowd self-destruct (like Rush does when he's popping his pills.) Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Day 2 of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Assessment after Day 1: These people are nuts. Scary nuts.

So, the first Obama budget is out. And, is it just me, or do certain members of the media (the well-paid ones who get clothing allowances) seem particularly obsessed with the new taxes on the wealthy. If you caught the briefing yesterday, you know who I mean. To me, the big news is the health care down payment because that affects all of us. But, there are some DC media elites who can't seem to get past the tax increases. You don't suppose that has anything to do with the fact that those folks and their friends are among the wealthy who will have to pay more in taxes? I mean, could the media "superstars" really be that shallow? (Okay, just kidding, I know they are.)

So, what we do we need to know? Read More......

Too big to fail no longer an option

Regulation is a good first step though it's only a first step. A year ago, many on the left in finance still bought into the self-regulation garbage but thankfully, they are moving on. It's only the GOP who is left out in the cold on this important issue. What impresses me here is not only is Volcker calling for regulation but he is also calling for international oversight which is critical. Geithner is lagging too far behind on such cooperation but nobody really expected him to be an earth shaker in the first place.

The former Federal Reserve chairman and close adviser to President Barack Obama faulted regulators for missing warning signs that financial firms were assuming too much risk, and called for "substantial changes" in oversight.

"We must not again leave the markets so vulnerable that a breakdown will again threaten the national and world economies," said Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who now heads up President Barack Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

His suggestions for regulatory reform included subjecting large banks to "particularly high" international standards for safety and soundness.

Trading and transaction-oriented firms that operate primarily in capital markets could be less intensively regulated. However, for those firms that are big and complex enough to be systemically important, capital, leverage and liquidity requirements should be imposed.

"Implicit in this approach is the need for strong cooperation and coordination among national authorities and regulators," he said.

"Some approaches -- accounting standards, capital and liquidity requirements, and registration and reporting procedures -- should be internationally agreed and consistent," he added.

Read More......

UK handed out 3.5 billion fewer plastic bags last year

Fortunately retailers joined the program and took action before the government was forced to step in. The reported 26% drop in plastic bags handed out is a move in the right direction. You see these hideous plastic bags scattered around the world in parks, in trees and bushes in the sea, under the sea, you name it.

It's been quite a few years since they handed out bags in the countryside here in France though it's only in the last year that Paris shops have made an effort to promote the "bags for life" that the stores all sell for almost nothing. Now that they are catching on in Paris, it almost seems like a competition to see who can make bags that are more fun than the others.

Environmental campaigners lambaste plastic bags as one of the worst excesses of consumerism. The bags waste resources and end up in landfill, scattered across the countryside or swirling round the seas, where they choke and kill marine life, particularly turtles. Several countries have banned the bags, including Rwanda, Bhutan, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Zanzibar and Botswana.

In the UK, 21 leading supermarkets and high street chains agreed in February 2007 to cut bag waste by 25 per cent. Britain's biggest retailer, Tesco, introduced loyalty points for customers reusing bags, helping slash the number of bags by two billion, and other stores such as Sainsbury's have moved bags from the bagging area, putting the onus on customers to request them. As a result, shoppers have become more used to reusing carrier bags or buying sturdier, long-lasting alternatives such as jute bags. "Consumers deserve congratulations for these results as they clearly show we are moving away from using bags once to re-using bags often," said Liz Goodwin, Wrap's chief executive. "They are also a credit to retailers who have worked hard to find innovative ways of helping us reuse our bags."

The British Retail Consortium urged customers to help stores by remembering to take stronger "bags for life" on shopping trips and, when they had to take them, reusing lighter carriers on five or six shopping trips before returning them for recycling.

Read More......

Failed banking CEO insists in keeping $1,000,000 per year pension

Numbers be damned! Really, who gives a damn what legal agreement was agreed upon yesterday when the bloody numbers provided by the bank were a sham? Once again, bank leaders are showing the world why they are irresponsible and deserve nothing less than our collective scorn. Apparently just as banks offered liar loans, they also managed to sign themselves up for liars compensation.

An embarrassing public row broke out last night between City minister Lord Myners and Sir Fred Goodwin over the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive's refusal to give up his £693,000 a year pension.

Goodwin insisted ministers had known of his £16m pension pot for months and accused Myners of threatening him with more bad publicity if he did not hand back some of the pension he was awarded when he left the loss-making bank last month.

"You highlighted that the absence of such a gesture would give rise to significant adverse media comment," Goodwin wrote in a defiant and combative letter to Myners which explicitly contradicts the government's insistence that it did not know the details of his payoff.

Just hours later Myners issued a letter telling Goodwin his refusal to reconsider was "unfortunate and unacceptable". He hoped "on reflection you will now share my clear view that the losses reported by the bank which you ran until October cannot justify such a huge reward".

RBS had earlier admitted it had made a record-breaking £24bn loss in 2008 and that the taxpayers' stake could rise to 95% after a further injection of up to £25.5bn of government funds.

Goodwin remained unrepentant after a day in which Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, Myners and the new RBS chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, all called on him to behave honorably. Brown's spokesman said the government would, if necessary, pursue every legal avenue to prevent Goodwin receiving such an inappropriate reward for failure.

They should pursue every legal option as well as using the court of public opinion. Read More......

Nature in America

One of the things we take for granted as Americans is wildlife. Specifically, wildlife in urban areas. I remember years ago, an Italian friend was visiting me in the Chicago suburbs and he absolutely freaked out that there was a rabbit in our side yard. He told me that you just wouldn't see wildlife in urban areas in Europe. I never really thought about it, but he's right. I've since had several French friends tell me the same thing - they're just astounded by the plethora of wildlife in American cities.

The photo above is from a reader in Greenwich, CT. Here is her email to me:

John, thought you might enjoy this picture, even though this big guy freaks me out! Last Friday morning in back of my condo in Greenwich, with his kill draped over the branch. He sat there for hours! My friend took the picture, the poor squirrell was like a prop for the hawk's preening. I researched and they do eat the whole prey. Took a few hours though! And we did not stay around to witness! The next day, Saturday, when I came home from shopping in the Pm he was on a branch in the parking lot, spread his wings and scared me to death, my goodness he is huge! You look closely at the picture , you can even see his "creepy" eyes!

Anyway, thought you might enjoy the picture and think how strange it is to have this "hunter" bird with his prey no less in a condo complex in Greenwich (35 minutes away from Midtown Manhattan!)

Read More......

George Will stands by his discredited global warming column and will regurgitate the same false information in his next column

George Will can't believe that men hug each other (which is an odd observation coming from someone so prissy.)

I can't believe that a Washington Post columnist would print falsehoods and distort the truth, then refuse to admit his mistake, then continue pushing the falsehoods. But, that's the case with George Will. Media Matters got an advanced copy of his upcoming column:

In his forthcoming column -- obtained by Media Matters for America in advance of its publication -- George Will doubles down on his previous global warming distortions, once again misusing sea ice data to falsely suggest that the data undermine the overwhelming evidence that humans are causing global warming. In his new column, Will falsely claims that in his February 15 column, he "accurately reported" on the contents of an Arctic Climate Research Center (ACRC) document when, in fact, the document he cited rebutted the very argument he was making. The ACRC document that Will relied on actually stated that the sea ice data are consistent with the outcomes projected by climate-change models. In the words of TPM Muckraker's Zachary Roth, Will's new column "amounts to a stubborn defense of the amazing global warming denialist column he published earlier this month, that was ripped apart by just about everyone and their mother."

Will should spend more time worrying about the veracity of his columns and less time obsessing about men hugging. He's further damaged the already damaged credibility of the Washington Post's editorial pages and the Post has allowed it by standing by their man. Fred Hiatt himself is sticking up for Will, (but probably not hugging him.)

This is beyond disturbing. Will is letting his deeply held partisan views cloud whatever judgment he has left. This is how careers end -- or it should be.

One other thing: If a progressive columnist authored a blatantly false column in the Washington Post, the Republicans on Capitol Hill will be up in arms. There would be speeches and resolutions galore. But, there has been silence from the Democrats over George Will's egregious error and his failure to own up to it. See, many Democrats still think the Washington Post editorial page matters. It doesn't (unless one is worried about being invited to the "right" cocktail parties here in D.C.) Read More......

Bankers, bonuses and trickle down

To be fair to the spouses, these bankers could always find a second or third job, right? If the tables were turned, you know that's what they would be asking of others.

Divorced bankers who have had their bonuses cut are trying to wriggle out of millions of pounds worth of maintenance payments they promised to pay their children and former wives. Dozens of ex-husbands in the City are going back to court to ask judges to reduce divorce settlements that were agreed in much rosier economic times.

Two of the City's leading law firms advising bankers and wealthy businessmen confirmed that they were helping husbands get better maintenance deals in light of their clients' reduced financial circumstances.

Sandra Davis, head of family law at Mishcon de Reya, told The Independent: "We have had a number of male clients who have been forced to renegotiate settlements where maintenance awards were substantial. These were based on projected bonuses and salary levels which have not been sustained in the economic downturn."

Read More......

Massive crowd of 11 people show up for Joe-the-Plumber book signing last night in DC

Damn. I'd have shown up and asked him if he's paid his taxes yet. Once again, this is the best the Republican party has to offer. Oh, and he sold 5 books. Read More......

Paying for the budget includes tax increase on wealthiest Americans

Throughout the campaign, Obama said he was going to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans. That made John McCain and the rest of the Republicans apoplectic. They thought the tax increase on the rich would surely result in an Obama loss. But, Obama won -- and he's following through on his campaign promise. The NYT's Robert Pear dissects the numbers:

President Obama will propose further tax increases on the affluent to help pay for his promise to make health care more accessible and affordable, calling for stricter limits on the benefits of itemized deductions taken by the wealthiest households, administration officials said Wednesday.

The tax proposal, coming after recent years in which wealth has become more concentrated at the top of the income scale, introduces a politically volatile edge to the Congressional debate over Mr. Obama’s domestic priorities.

The president will also propose, in the 10-year budget he is to release Thursday, to use revenues from the centerpiece of his environmental policy — a plan under which companies must buy permits to exceed pollution emission caps — to pay for an extension of a two-year tax credit that benefits low-wage and middle-income people.

The combined effect of the two revenue-raising proposals, on top of Mr. Obama’s existing plan to roll back the Bush-era income tax reductions on households with income exceeding $250,000 a year, would be a pronounced move to redistribute wealth by reimposing a larger share of the tax burden on corporations and the most affluent taxpayers.

Administration officials said Mr. Obama would propose to reduce the value of itemized tax deductions for everyone in the top income tax bracket, 35 percent, and many of those in the 33 percent bracket — roughly speaking, starting at $250,000 in annual income for a married couple.

Under existing law, the tax benefit of itemizing deductions rises with a taxpayer’s marginal tax bracket (the bracket that applies to the last dollar of income). For example, $10,000 in itemized deductions reduces tax liability by $3,500 for someone in the 35 percent bracket.

Mr. Obama would allow a saving of only $2,800 — as if the person were in the 28 percent bracket.

The White House says it is unfair for high-income people to get a bigger tax break than middle-income people for claiming the same deductions or making the same charitable contributions.

This will give the GOP a rallying cry: Protect the really rich. I mean, besides right wing whackos, they're the party of the rich -- the John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, George Bush and Dick Cheney kind of rich.

Obama is returning the tax code to where it was under Bill Clinton. That worked for the economy then. You can't really say Bush's tax policy did much for the economy. Most Americans were happy with their economic situation at the end of 2000. Not so true for the end of 2008. Read More......

Bush UN ambassador jokes about nuking Chicago since Obama is from there

The cream of the crop of the Republican party is attending the CPAC conference today in Washington, DC. It's where the party's best and brightest show up and demonstrate to the American people how totally bankrupt the Republican party has become. Case in point? Bush's UN ambassador. These folks still haven't learned their lesson. They think the entire nation is inhabited by Rush Limbaughs and Phyllis Schlafflys. No, they only inhabit the leadership of the Republican party. The rest of the nation is quite normal, thanks. And that's why the GOP won't be back in power for a very long time. Read More......

Holocaust-denying bishop 'apologizes' for, but refuses to recant, his claims that only 300k died in Holocaust, no gas chambers

What a piece of work. First, he apologizes that his words offended some people - he just had no idea anyone would find it hurtful for him to claim that the Holocaust, for the most part, never happened. Uh huh. But putting that ridiculous claim aside (we're now adding false witness to his crimes) he didn't recant his views. Simply said he was surprised anyone found them offensive. How long is our German pope going to tolerate this hateful anti-Semitic nonsense?

(And anyone who doesn't think it relevant that the first German pope is coddling Nazi sympathizers, well, clearly isn't up on their history. The German Catholic church, and the German chancellor, clearly find it relevant, and they have rightfully stepped up to the plate and condemned this nut, in addition to castigating the Vatican for its tolerance of intolerance. And considering the historical whispers about the Vatican being far too accommodating of the Nazis, you'd think someone in the Holy See might want to get it right this time.)

I thought the Vatican simply had a soft spot for pedophiles. Apparently, we can now add genocidal Nazis to the list of papal peccadillos.

While Williamson apologized in a statement Thursday to all those who took offense and for the distress he caused, the bishop did not specifically say that his comments were erroneous, or that he no longer believed them.

"If I had known beforehand the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise, especially to the church, but also to survivors and relatives of victims of injustice under the Third Reich, I would not have made them," Williamson was quoted as saying in the statement carried by the Zenit Catholic news agency.

Read More......

GOP chair Steele compares Jindal to "Slumdog Millionaire"

In the movie Slumdog Millionaire, the lead character is Indian. And he's illiterate and from the ghetto, but somehow he manages to prove he's the smartest guy on the block, but no one believes him. And Bobby Jindal is Indian-American. Get it? They're both Indian. Isn't that funny? Oh, and I guess Steele meant that no one can believe that Jindal actually got to be governor on his own merits either - since that's what the movie is based on. Why doesn't Steele think that Jindal could get there on his own? More from Ben Smith. Read More......

Pentagon ends photo ban on war dead return

The Ministry of Truth is no more.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced this afternoon that the Pentagon has decided to lift the complete ban on video and photos of the return of the war dead to US soil.

Now, it will be up to the families of the service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan whether to allow such media coverage.

At his daily briefing, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "The president asked that the secretary of defense review our policy toward media and photos at Dover air base for victims returning of -- from Iraq and Afghanistan. And what the...president supports is a policy consistent with that that we have at Arlington cemetery, which allows at the families position for that to be open, which allows them to make that decision and protect their privacy if that's what they wish to do."

Read More......

CNBC: Obama's call for regulation 'spooked' market

Where to start with this CNBC gem? If the market doesn't like the President calling for a new era of regulation and responsibility after one of the hardest falls in decades, tough. Anyone who is flustered by the words of Obama and wants to run because of a drop at the end of a day needs to get out of the business immediately. The market has benefited the elite and traders and has trashed the retirement investments for a few hundred million so apologies if I don't cry over Wall Street's drop on Wednesday. If CNBC and the cheerleaders are unable to see the necessity - yes, necessity - to improve the system for all Americans, too bad for them.

The AP has more.

"We can no longer sustain 21st century markets with 20th century regulation," Obama said after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the chairmen and top Republicans of the two House and Senate committees charged with writing new regulatory legislation.

Obama leveled a broad indictment of the industry, saying the current financial crisis occurred when "Wall Street wrongly presumed the markets would continuously rise and traded in complex financial products without fully evaluating their risks." But he also blamed government regulators for not adequately protecting consumers.

In calling for a sweeping regulatory change, Obama is providing ballast to his still unfinished effort to shore up the ailing industry. As such, he is taking both a policy and a political step designed to assure the public that bailing out banks is not his only prescription for the industry.

Read More......

Norm Coleman can't win and GOP Governor says not having another Senator is hurting Minnesota

The Minnesota recount has been very complicated. Norm Coleman has done his best to make sure of that. But, one thing is clear: Coleman cannot win. At this point, it's looking more and more obvious he's working at the behest of the Senate Republicans to keep Al Franken from becoming the 59th Democrat in the Senate. Coleman knows the political press corps can't deal with complicated issues so he's playing to that. Witness the idiotic comments by one of the Washington Post's top political writers, Shailagh Murray about a "re-vote." Idiotic. But, Norm Coleman is now saying the same thing. Thanks, Shailagh.

Big shot Republicans are raising money for Coleman to keep this battle going and to keep Franken out of the Senate. Don't forget that Coleman has George Bush's election lawyer, Ben Ginsberg, tying up the legal process. But, for those paying attention, it's clear Coleman's lawsuit isn't going so well.

So, it's no wonder that Coleman's protracted effort has resulted in yet another example of the GOP in-fighting that already popping up in so many places. Think Progress highlights an intra-state battle between the Republican Governor, Tim Pawlenty, and the former Senator:

But the longer the seat remains vacant, the longer the citizens of Minnesota remain underrepresented. Indeed, today on C-SPAN, Minnesota’s Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said that the lone representation in the senate is hurting the state:

HOST: [H]as it hurt the state not having a senator, a second senator available? […]

PAWLENTY: Yes, it has put Minnesota at a disadvantage when there’s only 100 senators total and you are missing one and it is one of two from your state, that puts you at a disadvantage. When you have big legislation being decided and you are trying to fight for your perspective, or your influence on a piece of legislation it puts our state at a disadvantage.

The Republicans are using the Coleman lawsuit to obstruct the Obama agenda. That's what this is really about, not that any political reporter, like Shailagh Murray, could ever figure that out. The Republicans don't want the Democrats to have 59 Senators. It's a whole hell of a lot easier to get to 60 from 59 then it is from 58.

And, one last thing, if a Democrat was stringing this out, the Republicans would have raised holy hell. The pundits would have been calling for the Democrat to concede. Democrats would have been calling for the Democrat to concede "for the good of the country." And, the Democrat probably would have already conceded. It's time for Norm Coleman to concede for the good of the citizens of Minnesota. But, Norm Coleman would never think like that. No Republican would. Read More......

Your questions for the head of OMB?

Joe and I have been invited on a 2pm conference call today with Peter Orszag, Director of the OMB, to talk about Obama's budget that's being released today. This is a great opportunity to question a senior administration official, on the record. If any of you have any suggested questions, please post them in the comments. Read More......

Kentucky paper on GOP Senate smackdown: "Sen. Jim Bunning all but declared war on his own party's Senate campaign chairman"

Even more GOP in-fighting, this time an intra-GOP Senate caucus battle between Senator Jim Bunning and Senator John Cornyn who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Bunning's threatening to sue the political committee of his fellow Republican Senators. And, let's not forget that Bunning's Senate colleague from Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, is the leader of those Senate Republicans.

Sen. Jim Bunning all but declared war on his own party's Senate campaign chairman yesterday and threatened a lawsuit if anyone is recruited to run against him in next year's Republican primary.

The Kentucky Republican has said repeatedly that he will seek a third term next year, even though he has raised relatively little campaign money and some key members of his party reportedly believe he should retire.

In a conference call with reporters yesterday, Bunning lashed out at Sen. John Cornyn, the Texan who is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect Republicans to the Senate.

"I don't believe anything John Cornyn says," Bunning said.

Now, that may be the first time I ever agreed with Jim Bunning on anything. I don't believe anything John Cornyn says, too.

Republicans are really doing a number on each other. It's hard to keep track of all the intra-GOP battles. It's a free-for-all. And, it's only going to get worse. Read More......

$634 billion for health care in Obama's budget

Obama said he was serious about health care. His budget is serious about health care. Very serious:

President Obama is proposing to begin a vast expansion of the U.S. health-care system by creating a $634 billion reserve fund over the next decade, launching an overhaul that most experts project will ultimately cost at least $1 trillion.

The "reserve fund" in the budget proposal being released today is Obama's attempt to demonstrate how the country could extend health insurance to millions more Americans and at the same time begin to control escalating medical bills that threaten the solvency of families, businesses and the government.

Obama aims to make a "very substantial down payment" toward universal coverage by trimming tax breaks for the wealthy and squeezing payments to insurers, hospitals, doctors and drug manufacturers, a senior administration official said yesterday.

Embedded in the budget figures are key policy changes that the administration argues would improve the quality of care and bring much-needed efficiency to a health system that costs $2.3 trillion a year.

By first identifying a large pot of money to underwrite health-care reform -- before laying out a proposal on who would be covered or how -- Obama hopes to draw Congress to the bargaining table to tackle the details of a comprehensive plan. The strategy is largely intended to avoid the mistakes of the Clinton administration, which crafted an extensive proposal in secret for many months before delivering the finished product to lawmakers, who quickly rejected it.

I'm impressed by the strategy -- and the number.

UPDATE: Health Care for America Now, a campaign with the sole mission of obtaining "quality, affordable health care we all can count on," is also impressed with this first major step:

"It's one thing to talk about doing comprehensive health care reform this year, but President Obama's proposing a $634 billion down payment on health care shows true commitment to getting it done in 2009," said Richard Kirsch, National Campaign Manager for Health Care for America Now. "The budget is just the beginning. Now we join President Obama in asking Congress to start work on legislation that guarantees quality, affordable health care for all with the choice of a public health insurance plan and standard, comprehensive benefits that meet our needs. We also challenge Members of Congress determined to counter the President no matter what he proposes to put aside petty political gamesmanship and do something valuable for the people they've been elected to represent. The health of our families, our businesses, and our economy depends on it."

Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) convenes today here in DC. It's the biggest gathering of the most extreme of the right wingers and convenes with a speech from the leader of the GOP, Rush Limbaugh.

This year, CPAC is meeting against the backdrop of a Republican Party on the verge of civil war. We've got the RNC Party Chair threatening "retribution" against three GOP Senators. We've got GOP governors fighting among themselves -- and one of them attacked the GOP congressional leaders as "inconsequential" (which is true, but harsh coming from one of their own.) And, then we've got Jindal. More than anything, his speech exposed a huge rift in the GOP. Most of them loved his speech, but there was some very vocal disapproval. That led to another round of GOP in-fighting and forced Rush to defend Jindal. This GOP fratricide is getting really ugly. It's quite amazing just how out in the open their battles have become. How fun.

I'll probably wander over to the Omni to check out CPAC today or tomorrow. It's a frightening gathering, sort of like a bad movie featuring a cast of braindead clones intent on destroying those who don't think or look like them.

On to the news... Read More......

Jindal criticized for "volcano monitoring" attack

Ignoring such a serious problem would be as ridiculous as ignoring the levee system in New Orleans, since he's talking about natural disasters with the risk for death and destruction. CNN:

"Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington," Jindal said.

But Marianne Guffanti, a volcano researcher at the U.S. Geological Survey, said, "We don't throw the money down the crater of the volcano and watch it burn up."

The USGS, which received the money Jindal criticized, is monitoring several active volcanoes across the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii. One of those is Mount St. Helens, about 70 miles north of Vancouver, Washington, and neighboring Portland, Oregon.

The volcano killed 57 people when it erupted in 1980 and sputters back into action periodically, most recently in late 2004 and early 2005, when it sent plumes of steam and ash thousands of feet into the air.

USGS researchers are also keeping a close eye on Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano, about 100 miles from Anchorage, which is predicted to go off again within a few months. Its last eruption, in 1989, disrupted air traffic and forced down a commercial jet that sucked ash into its engines.

"If we can give good information about what's happening, that system of diversions and cancellations all works much more efficiently," Guffanti said. "And fewer people are delayed and standard business is resumed quickly."

Louisiana is no stranger to natural disasters itself, having been devastated by hurricane Katrina in 2005. But Timmy Teepell, Jindal's chief of staff, said the governor stands by his statement.

Great. Stand up for the same stupidity that led to the disaster in New Orleans. That will impress America. Read More......

Singapore's export focused economy drops 16.4% in Q4

Exporters are finding it increasingly difficult to find importers. The upside years delivered impressive growth but it's now equally bad on the downside. It would be interesting to follow what the real numbers are in China as opposed to the governments manipulated export figures because if they are anything like neighbors in the region, they have to bad.

Singapore issued revised 2008 GDP estimates on Thursday showing the export-reliant economy contracted by 16.4 percent in the fourth quarter, and reiterated its forecast that it will shrink by 2-5 percent this year.

"The economy is likely to continue to perform weakly in the first half of 2009," the Ministry of Trade and Industry said in a 130-page detailed survey of the Singapore economy in 2008.

The manufacturing sector will be weighed down by declines in global demand for electronic products, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, the ministry said, while financial services are likely to slow as volatile markets keep many investors on the sidelines.

Singapore's economy shrank 16.4 percent on an annualized, seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis but grew 1.1 percent for the whole of 2008, the ministry said in a statement.

Read More......

British banking giant RBS posts record loss

But wait just a second. I thought the Wall Street cheerleaders were telling us the worst was behind us? Could they have been wrong? Oh the horror!

Royal Bank of Scotland has suffered the biggest loss in British corporate history and revealed that it would need to sell up to £19.5bn new shares to the taxpayer to insure £300bn of its most troublesome assets.

The scale of the losses suffered by the part-nationalised bank exacerbated the row about a £650,000 pension being drawn by former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin, who is 50 and left last month after almost a decade at the helm.

Treasury minister Stephen Timms said the current RBS board was "extremely concerned" by the pension deal, which threatens to undermine government claims that it would not reward failure.

The figures from RBS today showed a statutory loss of £40bn, which falls to £24.1bn if technical issues relating to the bank's acquisition of ABN Amro are ignored. It largely comprises £7.8bn of trading losses and £16.8bn of writedowns caused by paying too much for acquisitions, notably ABN.

The City had been braced for £20bn of writedowns so the overall loss is slightly lower than expected.

But Derek Simpson, joint leader of Unite, said: "These historic and humiliating losses bring into sharp focus just how reckless RBS's former management team have behaved.

"The whole country is paying the price through job cuts and repossessions on a massive scale. It is time to take control and fully nationalise this bank.

Read More......

Cheese sandwiches for "deadbeat" parents

And by "deadbeat" parents, the article is referring to parents who are late with paying for school lunches. I don't know if I would call them deadbeats in this context and singling out kids sounds pretty nasty to me. The parents who call to thank the schools sound like the same compassionate conservatives that we saw too much of the previous eight years. That such a rich country can be so nasty to kids reminds me of why I found the right wingers so revolting in every possible way. I did not grow up in a family with much money but thankfully we were never in such a situation. I can only imagine how mortified I would have been if I was pulled from the school lunch line like this.

Faced with mounting unpaid lunch charges in the economic downturn, Albuquerque Public Schools last month instituted a "cheese sandwich policy," serving the alternative meals to children whose parents fail to pick up their lunch tab.

Such policies have become a necessity for schools seeking to keep budgets in the black while ensuring children don't go hungry. School districts including those in Chula Vista, Calif., Hillsborough County, Fla., and Lynnwood, Wash., have also taken to serving cheese sandwiches to lunch debtors.

Critics argue the cold meals are a form of punishment for children whose parents can't afford to pay.

"We've heard stories from moms coming in saying their child was pulled out of the lunch line and given a cheese sandwich," said Nancy Pope, director of the New Mexico Collaborative to End Hunger. "One woman said her daughter never wants to go back to school."

Some Albuquerque parents have tearfully pleaded with school board members to stop singling out their children because they're poor, while others have flooded talk radio shows thanking the district for imposing a policy that commands parental responsibility.

Anyone else reminded of Reagan and his infamous change to declare ketchup a vegetable? What miserable bastards treat kids like this? Read More......

Should Congress investigate Wall Street as they did after '29?

It sounds reasonable to me and I'll even stomach a bit of grandstanding if that's what it takes to air this out. The Obama economic team leaves me concerned that they don't understand the problems or hostility to the crisis and they don't have the aggressiveness to fight the fight. Congress may have its faults but I suspect they also are going to be hearing enough from voters to see that this needs to happen.

Most relevant to today, Congress has investigated the causes behind economic downturns, using the power of investigation to raise public concern and improve knowledge of the economy.

This was the case with the famous Pecora Commission, the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency formed in the period between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election in November 1932 and his inauguration in March. It was a commission that lasted through May 1934.

The commission set out to discover what had led to the stock market crash in 1929. Committee Chairman Duncan Fletcher of New Jersey placed Ferdinand Pecora, the committee's chief counsel, in charge of the investigation.

Pecora, a tough New York prosecutor, proved to be a masterful interrogator. "I looked with astonishment," said his staffer John Flynn, a former journalist, "at this man who, through the intricate mazes of banking, syndicates, market deals, chicanery of all sorts, and in a field new to him, never forgot a name, never made an error in a figure, and never lost his temper."

Pecora brought some of the most prominent figures from Wall Street to speak with the commission and to answer difficult questions.

Americans learned that the tycoon J.P. Morgan had not paid income taxes for three years. Even worse, tax evasion was common among the wealthy. In his new book on FDR's Hundred Days, Adam Cohen recounts how the hearings revealed how National City Bank had caused enormous problems by mixing commercial and investment banking, reaping huge profits as customers were persuaded to make terrible investments.

Preferential treatment on stock, Americans learned, was routine as certain clients on Morgan's "preferred list" were given the best offers. By the time it closed, the commission produced thousands of pages of data about the inside operations of the financial world.

As a result of the Pecora Commission, public pressure for banking reform greatly intensified. The 1929 crash seemed like much less of a mystery when Pecora was done.

Congress passed historic banking regulations during the New Deal, including the Glass-Steagall Banking Act of 1933, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, all of which vastly expanded the role of the federal government in overseeing and regulating Wall Street.

Read More......

Even the NFL is cutting salaries

Well, at least one person is cutting. Whether this will carry over to players is another story, but it's amazing to see this. Professional football has not been lacking for revenue in recent years (though they have experienced a decline) though it's difficult to imagine their advertising, attendance and other related revenues not dropping during the recession.

The head of the National Football League will take a pay cut for the current fiscal year and freeze his salary for the coming year, the league announced Wednesday.

The move comes two months after the NFL cut about 15% of its staff.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will give up about 20% to 25% of his $11 million salary for the 2008 budget year, which ends March 31, league spokesman Brian McCarthy said. Goodell will also forgo a scheduled raise in his contract for the coming year, and the rest of the NFL's executive staff will take similar cuts, he said.

"All of us understand that it will continue to take collective sacrifice to get through this challenging economic environment, but these and other steps by our office and clubs will enable us to be more efficient and better positioned for future growth," McCarthy said in a statement announcing the decision.

Goodell is a well paid and well respected professional so it's interesting to see him accept this cut despite not losing billions or trillions. Players next? Read More......

Scientists document freaky fish with see-through head

Okay, not the most scientific of explanations, but this is very cool. As the reader who sent it to me notes, it looks computer generated, and it's not. And to add to the freakiness, its eyes (which are the big green things, not the eye-looking things above its mouth (those are actually nostrils)) moves around in its head from the top of the head to a forward position. Just totally cool.

Read More......

Microsoft accused - again - of anti-gay bigotry in operation of Xbox

I have to tell you, considering the fierce competition between Xbox and PS3, it's not clear to me why Microsoft seems hellbent on creating controversy surrounding this game. But it seems that, yet again, we have a complaint that Microsoft is operating its gaming environment in a bigoted manner. This latest report comes via the blog of the Consumers Union, i.e., the Consumer Reports people. When they say that Microsoft now has a history of operating its Xbox operations in a bigoted anti-gay way, then I start to take notice. The gist of the ongoing complaints? Microsoft thinks it's dirty for gamers to refer to themselves as "gay" in their online profiles. Microsoft reportedly even suspended one guy's account because his last name was "Gaywood."

Considering the fact that people who play Xbox live are quite literally chatting with strangers all over the world, it's a bit much for Microsoft to suggest that this is some kind of children's haven where the little ones must be protected from finding out about "the gays." These "kids" are playing games based on murdering strangers, and they're striking up conversations and friendships - and chatting by VIDEO - with people they don't even know. So spare us the talk about protecting the kids. It's not Microsoft's job to play cyber-nanny and protect its customers from finding out that some other of its customers are gay. What's next? Banning any mention of a customer being black, lest we offend that little Hitler baby? Read More......