WikiLeaks to release CIA paper on Wednesday

After that rape thing, I suspect WikiLeaks is only going to do more of this now.

WikiLeaks, the whistleblower website that infuriated the Pentagon when it published thousands of classified military reports, said it will release a fresh set of documents Wednesday.

The group posted on its Twitter page Tuesday: "WikiLeaks to release CIA paper tomorrow." It did not specify a time.

The website set off a firestorm recently when it posted some 76,000 U.S. documents related to the war in Afghanistan. The group has said it has another 15,000 documents, which it plans to release soon.

Read More......

Consumers cutting corners on prescriptions to save money

From Consumer Reports:

Consumers, in a turn of the tables, have given their doctors a checkup and the diagnosis looks pretty grim: They think doctors are too cozy with big pharma, according to the 2nd annual prescription drug survey conducted by Consumer Reports National Research Center. The survey of more than 1,150 adults who currently take a prescription drug found that the vast majority object to the payments and rewards pharmaceutical companies routinely dole out to doctors because they feel these are negatively influencing how they treat patients.

In the past year, 39 percent reported taking some action to reduce costs. Some of these actions were potentially dangerous. Overall, 27 percent failed to take a drug as prescribed, for example, by not getting a prescription filled (16 percent), taking an expired medication (12 percent), or sharing a prescription with someone else to save money (4 percent).

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White House: We accept Simpson's apology; he'll continue to serve

The White House has reacted (some would say predictably) to Alan Simpson's Macaca Moment, making it (I would say) their own (h/t Gridlock; my emphasis):

Jennifer Psaki, the deputy communications director, said, “Alan Simpson has apologized and while we regret and do not condone his comments, we accept his apology and he will continue to serve.”

What's to say? They're doing it because they want to.

A Krugman reminder (again my emphasis):

At this point, though, Obama is on the spot: he has to fire Simpson, or turn the whole thing into a combination of farce and tragedy — the farce being the nature of the co-chair, the tragedy being that Democrats are so afraid of Republicans that nothing, absolutely nothing, will get them sanctioned.

When you have a commission dedicated to the common good, and the co-chair dismisses Social Security as a “milk cow with 310 million tits,” you either have to get rid of him or admit that you’re completely, um, cowed by the right wing, that IOKIYAR [It's OK if you're a Republican] rules completely.

And no, an apology won’t suffice. Simpson was completely in character here; it was perfectly consistent with everything else he’s said, and with his previous behavior. He has to go.

Is this an admin throw-down? You decide.

GP Read More......

Another chance for Obama DOJ to support Prop 8 in court

Joe reports over at AMERICAblog Gay:

Team Obama keeps hoping to avoid the issue of marriage equality. But, they can't ignore it. Over the next few months, we're going to find out if the DOJ is defending DOMA's constitutionality in the Massachusetts cases. And, we'll find out if Obama meant it when he said he supported the Prop. 8 decision. The crack team of lawyers in Obama administration can go on-the-record with its support of Judge Walker's decision. They can. But, will they?

Read More......

New forecast shows Dems losing 6 to 7 Senate seats

Not enough to lose their majority, but pretty damn close.

On average, over the model’s 100,000 simulation runs, the Democrats are projected to lose a net of six and a half Senate seats, which would leave them with 52 or 53 senators. (Even though the G.O.P. primary in Alaska remains too close to call, that outcome is unlikely to alter the model.)

It seems we're not the only ones disappointed with the way the Democrats have led the past two years. It's really quite abominable that we, the people, handed them overwhelming control of the House and Senate, the presidency with a 70% approval rating, a GOP in shambles, and this is what they've done with it.

And before anyone blames it on the economy, the reason the economy is in so much trouble is because the President refused to even try to get the larger stimulus that everyone knew was needed. And the Democrats in Congress should have never ceded power to a President fearful of wielding it.

They're all to blame. Read More......

Cops were reportedly told to shoot looters in New Orleans

I tend to not be terribly sympathetic to the looting thing. Having said that, it depends on the situation. If people are starving in a disaster, I'd much more sympathetic. If folks are out having a joy ride, taking advantage of the disaster to get something for free, I'm much less sympathetic. Pro Publica:

In the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, an order circulated among New Orleans police authorizing officers to shoot looters, according to present and former members of the department.

It's not clear how broadly the order was communicated. Some officers who heard it say they refused to carry it out. Others say they understood it as a fundamental change in the standards on deadly force, which allow police to fire only to protect themselves or others from what appears to be an imminent physical threat.

Your thoughts? Read More......

Former RNC chair Ken Mehlman comes out as gay

Holy cow. And good for him. More of my thoughts on this over at AMERICAblog Gay. Read More......

The Deficit Commission's 'Macaca Moment'

NOTE FROM JOHN: Krugman is pissed.

At this point, though, Obama is on the spot: he has to fire Simpson, or turn the whole thing into a combination of farce and tragedy — the farce being the nature of the co-chair, the tragedy being that Democrats are so afraid of Republicans that nothing, absolutely nothing, will get them sanctioned.

When you have a commission dedicated to the common good, and the co-chair dismisses Social Security as a “milk cow with 310 million tits,” you either have to get rid of him or admit that you’re completely, um, cowed by the right wing, that IOKIYAR [it's okay if you're a Republican] rules completely.

There's a reason that Obama picked right-wingers to run the commission, and it's not because he's going to fire them when they come to right-wing conclusions. This is what Obama does, on every single issue. He caves to the right (be it the Democratic right or the Republican right) in the hopes they'll stop being mean to him. It's no longer very surprising, but it's still sad as ever. It's not entirely clear why Krugman still holds out hope that there's some other explanation.
________________

Joe covered this last night, when the boil first burst. (All the news, no matter how painful; that's us these days.) Forgive me if I repeat — the story is that outrageous. My emphasis throughout.

Per Huff Post, in an email he "sent to the executive director of National Older Women's League Tuesday morning," Deficit Commission Co-Chairman Alan Simpson wrote:

If you have some better suggestions about how to stabilize Social Security instead of just babbling into the vapors, let me know. And yes, I’ve made some plenty smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last degree. You know ‘em too. It’s the same with any system in America. We’ve reached a point now where it’s like a milk cow with 310 million tits! Call when you get honest work!

This is Simpson's Macaca Moment. I bolded several items in the quote. All but one refer to mature women and their parts, written to the (female) head of the National Older Women's League. The "310 million tits" image, just by itself, is hideously grotesque. Know anyone "milking" Social Security? And "the vapors"? No sir, today they call it "demonstrating for suffrage"; these women think they should actually vote.

From a man approaching 80, this whole screed reeks of psycho-drama, in a stunning, ugly — and revealing — physical way.

But this is also the Commission's Macaca Moment. Let's count the ways:

1. Alan Simpson, whose views on Social Security are well known, was appointed by Barack Obama as the commission's Co-Chair. Simpson has very close ties to Pete Peterson and the generation-long campaign to gut "entitlement" programs* like Social Security. Together, they've been working on this for years. Simpson co-runs the thing; he carries Peterson's water; and Obama put him there.

(*What's an "entitlement" program in Washington–speak? Something they're entitled to, and you're not.)

Jane Hamsher on Simpson and Peterson:

Simpson and Peterson were appointed to Bill Clinton’s Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement Reform in 1994. Both voted to recommend partial privatization of Medicare, and raising Social Security age of eligibility to 70, Simpson [was] awarded “Economic Patriot” award by Peterson’s Concord Coalition in 1996.

2. Peterson also provides the staff for the Deficit Commission, and he's pushed hard forever to free himself and his friends of the burden of these programs. (Again, thank you Mr. President.)

More on Peterson, and Simpson, from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard:

Mr. Peterson has been on a decades-long crusade against Social Security. The day after the first meeting of the commission, which focused heavily on the need to cut Social Security, the co-chairs and two other members of the commission participated in a Peterson event that reinforced the same message. A Peterson-funded foundation is supplying commission staff.

The Macaca Comment characterizes the whole Deficit Commission. It was rigged to do what George Bush failed to do — destroy the inter-generational contract. It wants to take on all three elements of the safety net. Simpson again:

We are going to stick to the big three [Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid].

Say bye-bye, folks. It's Hello Friskies for grannie, punishment for "milking" Social Security.

Mr. President, don't fire Simpson; kill the Commission. If you do anything less, you will put your stamp on these comments, these attitudes.

The Macaca has tarred Simpson, and it tars the Commission. If you endorse the Commission, the Macaca tars you too.

And frankly, if that happens, any non-Teabagger Republican with an ounce of charisma will make you the one-term guy who fed catfood to gramps. And that will tar you for life.

Kill this Commission, before it kills you.

GP Read More......

Videoblogger BicycleMark reports for us from Afghanistan (almost)

NOTE FROM JOHN: My friend Mark Fonseca Rendeiro, a rather prolific and good videoblogger pen-named BicycleMark, is on his way to Afghanistan for a month. I've asked Mark if he'd consider blogging about his experience here on AMERICAblog, and he's graciously accepted. Here is Mark's first post from Dubai, on his way to Afghanistan.
____________________

"You're going to work in Afghanistan.... now?" my good friend back in Amsterdam shouted into the phone, "The Dutch troops are getting out, all my other friends are getting out, but you're going?.... Fantastic." He meant it of course, the idea of starting a job in Kabul now, even if it will only last for one month, will no doubt be interesting, maybe even fantastic.

That was two days ago back in the Netherlands. Today I type these words from a semi-posh hotel in the Las Vegas of the middle east- Dubai. A staging ground for most any international aid worker or contractor, Dubai is one of the few places where one can get a same-day Visa for Afghanistan. Perhaps not by coincidence, a place with multiple flights to Kabul everyday. For me it is also a place for one last day of wearing my regular clothes, wandering streets and alleyways with a camera in my hand, and eating what may be the last good vegetarian meal for the coming month.

Over the past ten years or so that I've been travelling in different parts of the world, writing, doing podcasts, and speaking about citizen journalism, I have always proudly identified myself as a journalist. Starting tomorrow and even when I filled out the Visa papers today, I gave up the title for the possibly much less eye-catching: teacher and consultant. Of course I'm still a journalist, as reporting is my calling in this life, but if anyone on Afghan soil asks me what I do, I am anything BUT a journalist.

Where was I? Oh yes, Dubai, at least for another 8 hours. So much has been said about this economic post modern el dorado, even in these few words I'm repeating the same old song. Still, can I just tell you in case you haven't seen it, Dubai is like an ant farm; interesting to watch, useful to study, impressive in all its layers, oh oooh I'd hate to see what would happen if it dropped, so to speak. I won't go too much further on this my first post on AMERICAblog during this journey, I need my sleep during which I will no doubt dream about Afghanistan, where I will land for the first time ever, tomorrow morning.

When I next speak with you I will be in Kabul. That might also be a good time to explain more about what I'm going to do there and who I am. Until then, you'll find more of my writing, as well as podcasts, and the occasional video entry, on my site: citizenreporter.org Read More......

F is for...

Rick Scott won the Republican primary for governor in Florida last night:

A businessman who became an outspoken critic of President Obama's health care law has won Florida's GOP primary for governor, besting the state's attorney general.

Health care executive Rick Scott, who pumped $39 million of his own money into the race, hammered opponent Bill McCollum with a series of attack ads after jumping into the competitive race this spring and positioning himself as a conservative outsider.

Scott, 57, will face Florida's chief financial officer, Alex Sink, who is running to become the Sunshine State's first female governor. Also in the race: Independent candidate Bud Chiles.

Let's take a quick trip down reminder lane. NYT:

Once lauded for building Columbia/HCA into the largest health care company in the world, Mr. Scott was ousted by his own board of directors in 1997 amid the nation’s biggest health care fraud scandal. The company’s guilty plea and payment of $1.7 billion to settle charges including the overbilling of state and federal health programs was taken as a repudiation of Mr. Scott’s relentless bottom-line approach.

“He hopes people don’t Google his name,” said John E. Hartwig, a former deputy inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, one of various state and federal agencies that investigated Columbia/HCA when Mr. Scott was its chief executive.

Oh, we Googled. Forbes:

[HCA] increased Medicare billings by exaggerating the seriousness of the illnesses they were treating. It also granted doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. In addition, it gave doctors "loans" that were never expected to be paid back, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs from hospital pharmacies.

(...)

Under former Chief Executive Richard Scott, it bought hospitals by the bucketful and promised to squeeze blood from each one.

Scott was forced to resign in the wake of the initial fraud charges in 1997.

Media Matters has a full dossier. Florida voters should be particularly interested in this kind of information:

Columbia/HCA Eliminated 1,000 Hospital Beds In Dade County, Florida. According to the Omaha World Herald, "Columbia/HCA has bought eight general hospitals in Dade County since December 1988. It closed two hospitals and transferred some general medical services out of a third to eliminate 1,000 acute-care hospital beds." [Omaha World Herald, 3/19/95]

Scott sacrificed patient care to cut costs. In Florida. And guess where he made a good chunk of the money he's now spending to run for office:

According to the Florida Times-Union, Richard L. Scott left Columbia/HCA "with a $10 million severance package and 10 million shares of stock valued at more than $300 million." [Florida Times-Union, 6/21/06]

This is Rick Scott:



From my letter to The Hill about Scott published 5/6/09:

In what is perhaps the most outrageous claim of Rick Scott’s latest diatribe, the former hospital chain CEO who was forced to resign just before his company paid out $1.7 billion in penalties and fines — the largest in U.S. history — for defrauding the government, making illegal deals, filing false data, granting kickbacks to doctors, and overbilling Medicare — accuses Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) of wanting to “cook the books” to pay for healthcare reform. Just because Scott ran a corporation that believed in making money at the expense of honesty and good healthcare does not mean anyone else believes that’s a justifiable strategy.

The Nation on Scott from March 11, 2009 titled Healthcare Enemy No. 1:

Having Scott lead the charge against healthcare reform is like tapping Bernie Madoff to campaign against tighter securities regulation. You see, the for-profit hospital chain Scott helped found--the one he ran and built his entire reputation on--was discovered to be in the habit of defrauding the government out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

It took a little while, but eventually the news caught on, and even Fox couldn't ignore Scott's shady past:



When Scott didn't like the TV ad HCAN ran against him, he sent out a fundraising email saying Comcast pulled the ad off the air, and people should give him money. Small problem there. It wasn't true. None of it. The ad came down because the ad buy ended as scheduled, and Comcast had to issue a statement countering Scott's b.s. claims. Here's more from The Huffington Post.

Scott likes words that begin with "f": fraud, falsification, fabrication. Now he wants to be governor of Florida.

I say we teach him one more "f" word. Fail. Read More......

Koch Industries gave funding to the DLC and served on its Executive Council

Last March, Chris wrote a post explaining how Greenpeace uncovered massive anti-climate change payouts of $73 million to right wing think tanks from an obscure company, Koch Industries. This week, Koch Industries is in the news again following an expose by Jane Meyer at the New Yorker titled, "Covert Operations: The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama":

The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests. In a study released this spring, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace issued a report identifying the company as a “kingpin of climate science denial.” The report showed that, from 2005 to 2008, the Kochs vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups. Indeed, the brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus.

Meyer's article has been generating a lot of attention.

But, here's a key piece of information: the Kochs haven't just given to right-wingers. Back in April of 2001, The American Prospect's Bob Dreyfuss reported that the Kochs also funded the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC):

And for $25,000, 28 giant companies found their way onto the DLC's executive council, including Aetna, AT&T;, American Airlines, AIG, BellSouth, Chevron, DuPont, Enron, IBM, Merck and Company, Microsoft, Philip Morris, Texaco, and Verizon Communications. Few, if any, of these corporations would be seen as leaning Democratic, of course, but here and there are some real surprises. One member of the DLC's executive council is none other than Koch Industries, the privately held, Kansas-based oil company whose namesake family members are avatars of the far right, having helped to found archconservative institutions like the Cato Institute and Citizens for a Sound Economy. Not only that, but two Koch executives, Richard Fink and Robert P. Hall III, are listed as members of the board of trustees and the event committee, respectively--meaning that they gave significantly more than $25,000.

The DLC board of trustees is an elite body whose membership is reserved for major donors, and many of the trustees are financial wheeler-dealers who run investment companies and capital management firms--though senior executives from a handful of corporations, such as Koch, Aetna, and Coca-Cola, are included.

I added the emphasis.

Fitting, isn't it? The entity that tries to undermine the progressive agenda from within the Democratic Party was getting funding from the guys who are trying to destroy the Democratic Party from the outside.

Just a side note: The DLC's long-time CEO, Bruce Reed, is now the Executive Director of the Obama administration's Debt Commission, a.k.a. the Cat Food Commission. Read More......

NY cab driver stabbed by passenger who asks 'are you Muslim?'

No one saw that one coming.

Police say the passenger asked the driver, "Are you Muslim?" When the driver said yes the passenger pulled a knife and slashed him in the throat, arm and lip.

I'm looking forward to ADL's and the Weisenthal Center's statements on this.

As Peter Daou explains, hate breeds violence. Especially right-wing hate. Read More......

Are Dems really afraid of Republicans?

I'm actually presenting this to make a contra-point (my first contra-pointal post, I guess).

Digby presents this article for consideration, from Michael Tomasky, the America-watcher at The Guardian. I would class it in the "Dems need to sack up" genre of political exhortation. Tomasky:

The narrative in Washington today could very easily be "Obama holding his own under tough circumstances". But instead it's "Obama teetering on edge of collapse as more Americans catch on to his socialist-Muslim schemes". The electoral view is that the Democrats are going to be wiped out at the polls this November. The Republicans might take control of the House of Representatives (one respected handicapper, Charlie Cook, said last week that it's no longer a might, but a will). They could even capture the Senate. The sharks of 2012, when Obama must seek reelection, are beginning to pick up the scent of blood.

Why is this so?

Tomasky has several answers, including the jobless numbers. But he assigns the bulk of the blame to fear:

But the bottom line is this: the Democrats are afraid of the Republicans. They – all of them, from Obama on down – are afraid of Rush Limbaugh and Michele Bachmann and you name it. You hear Democratic operatives talk strategy, and there's always a "logical" reason why this or that aggressive attack might not work. But it's nothing to do with logic. They're just afraid. Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who wants the government out of everything, is a good case in point. It's been revealed that her family farm has received $250,000 in federal subsidies. If she were a Democrat, the Republicans would make sure the entire country knew it.

Digby's conclusion implies that, sadly, she has to agree with Tomasky. I'll leave you to decide if you agree with either. The case can indeed be made, and if true, it is sad.

Me? I think the Dems are fully sacked already. They just have different goals than the ones we want them to have. Goals like these, for example.

You might start with this great 2006 Harpers print piece by Ken Silverstein. Yep, 2006. Just a heads-up — we'll be back to Mr. Silverstein in a bit.

GP Read More......

Marine commandant talks about segregating barracks, again

Last time we wrote about increased talk from the Pentagon about the possibility of segregating gay troops - racist 1950s bigot style - the Pentagon (and the White House) acted as if we were nuts. You know those bloggers, lie lies lies. Even some other bloggers poo-poo'd our report, believing the denials of a Pentagon spokesman who has lied to our community before.

Well, if they're lies, then the military head of the entire US Marine Corps is now repeating those lies. More from AMERICAblog Gay:

[A]s the White House and the Pentagon spokesman told us, repeatedly and quite vociferously when we first reported on this concern, it's not only untrue, but they just can't figure out where we come up with this crazy stuff.

Uh huh. Perhaps we get it from the head of the Marine Corps. Here's ThinkProgress' latest:

On a different, but related subject, Conway suggested that if the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” law is repealed, the Marines may consider allowing Marines not to share quarters with homosexuals.

Conway said the Marines may make such housing arrangements “voluntary” to accommodate any “moral concerns.” He said many Marines are “very religious” and because of their moral concerns “don’t want to room” with homosexuals.

But Conway stressed that if the law is repealed, the Marines would take the lead in implementing it. “We cannot be seen as dragging our feet. We’ve got two wars to fight. We’ll implement it and move on,” said Conway.

See, he's not talking about segregating gay and straight troops, the way the bigots segregated white and blacks fifty years ago. He's simply talking about letting the majority segregate itself from the minority, and not permitting the minority to integrate itself if the majority objects, just like racists did to blacks fifty years ago. See the difference? Me neither.

I'll say it again. We have an inter-racial President. How is anyone in this administration keeping their job after advocating segregation, repeatedly? Is there no limit to the affront one can make against this President, and get away with it? Read More......

DNA test suggests Hitler may have been Jewish and North African

There goes the Fatherland.

The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph says that saliva samples were collected from 39 Hitler relatives:

A chromosome called Haplogroup E1b1b1 which showed up in their samples is rare in Western Europe and is most commonly found in the Berbers of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, as well as among Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews ...

Haplogroup E1b1b1, which accounts for approximately 18 to 20 per cent of Ashkenazi and 8.6 per cent to 30 per cent of Sephardic Y-chromosomes, appears to be one of the major founding lineages of the Jewish population.

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Besides adding 3.3 million jobs and boosting growth by 4.5%, what else did the stimulus do?

Maybe John Boehner could tell us more since he's criticizing the stimulus so much. Washington Post:

President Obama's much-maligned economic stimulus package added as many as 3.3 million jobs to the economy during the second quarter of this year, and may have prevented the nation from lapsing back into recession, according to a report released Tuesday by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

In its latest quarterly assessment of the act, the CBO said the stimulus lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.7 and 1.8 percentage points during the quarter ending in June and increased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million. The higher figure would come close to making good on Obama's pledge that the act would save or create as many as 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year.

Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Obama is still on the Vineyard. This morning, Biden is holding an event with small business from the DC area. According to the Daily Guidance:

The Vice President will emphasize the Administration’s tax cuts for 95 percent of working families, the importance of preserving tax cuts for the middle class, and the need for Congress to pass legislation to give small businesses additional tax relief and access to capital.

I have a feeling most Americans aren't aware of that 95% of them have received a tax cut.

So, John McCain defeated GOP right-wing butthead JD Hayworth by a 56% - 32% margin. The DNC's Hari Sevugan sent a statement via email last night that captures the essence of McCain:

“Today, the Republican party of Arizona nominated for Senate JD Hayworth in the shell of a politician that was once John McCain. The complete takeover of the Republican party by the Tea Party has included taking over the soul of a Senator who was once the face of comprehensive immigration reform and who now would just build the ‘danged fence;’ a man who once reveled in being a maverick and who now is a rubber stamp for the extreme rightwing; a man whose name was synonymous with campaign finance reform and who now barely registers a notice when the law that bears his name was gutted by the Supreme Court to favor corporate America. So, we congratulate JD Hayworth on his nomination tonight,” said DNC National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan.

Excellent. The Washington Post headline states, McCain crushes primary foe. But, McCain morphed into his primary foe. Also in AZ, Ben "Brock Landers" Quayle won his congressional primary.

Right now, with 84% of the vote in, incumbent Lisa Murkowski is behind in Alaska's GOP Senate primary by approximately 2,500 votes. Sarah Palin's endorsed candidate, Joe Miller, has the lead. Things don't look good for Murkowski, but the results won't be known for at least a week according to the Anchorage Daily News:

The Alaska Division of Elections said over 16,000 absentee ballots were requested and as of Monday night 7,600 had been returned. The first count of absentees will be next Tuesday and there will be two subsequent counts as the absentee votes trickle in on Sept. 3 and on Sept. 8.

We link to ADN.com a lot. The Murkowski's must really hate Palin.

So, lots of news for late August. What else? Read More......

UK austerity programs hit the poor the most

Surely nobody thought the rich bankers who caused the financial meltdown would foot the bill, did they? Besides, poor families with kids are already too busy making ends meet to find time to voice their opposition and it's not as though they have the spare cash to throw at political parties to plead their case. If the GOP wins in November we should expect to see a lot more out of them that will look much like this. Wall Street has been sending cash to the Republicans who are revving up their engines, preparing to throw more handouts and tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.

So does anyone still like Nick Clegg? Somehow he makes Blair sound honest and sincere and that's no easy task. The Guardian:

In a direct challenge to Treasury claims that the package of spending cuts and tax increases announced in June was fair, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said welfare cuts meant working families on the lowest incomes – particularly those with children – were the biggest losers.

The IFS said it had always been sceptical about Osborne's claim that the budget was "progressive" but added that this instant judgment had been reinforced by a study of proposed changes to housing benefit, disability allowances and tax credits due to come in between now and 2015.

Passing judgment that is likely to make uncomfortable reading for the Liberal Democrats, the IFS concluded: "Once all of the benefit cuts are considered, the tax and benefit changes announced in the emergency budget are clearly regressive as, on average, they hit the poorest households more than those in the upper middle of the income distribution in cash, let alone percentage, terms."

Read More......

US general pleads case for Banana Republic

Putting aside his typical Republican talking point for the moment, why is this behavior tolerated? Outside of the US, senior generals criticizing the president is Banana Republic territory. It's creepy and has no place in a functioning democracy. The last time I checked, General James Conway works for the president. Criticism is fine in the right context but this is not it. Maybe we've all become too accustomed to blowhard generals thinking they're above the system but the older I get the less I like hearing from them in public. If they can't accept one of the most basic functions of their job (accepting orders from the president) or they don't like it, resign. Is it posturing for a political career or a new job? Who knows but it turns my stomach to see this garbage and then watch it be tolerated. BBC:

A senior US general has warned President Barack Obama's deadline to begin pulling troops out of Afghanistan is encouraging the Taliban.

US General James Conway, head of the US Marine Corps, said the deadline was "giving our enemy sustenance".

Gen Conway warned that US forces in southern Afghanistan will likely have to stay in place for several years.

His comments are likely to fuel debate over US strategy in Afghanistan and Mr Obama's July 2011 withdrawal date.

Read More......

David Cay Johnston on the Bush tax cuts

Countdown had a nice Bush tax cuts segment, including an interview with David Cay Johnston (this guy). Johnston is always very clear and very specific. (I'm including the whole piece, including the lead-in bit from Meet the Press. The Johnston interview starts at 3:58.)



So from Johnston we learn:

The Bush tax cuts were financed with $2.4 trillion in borrowed money.

Interest alone on that: All income taxes paid in January & February of this year. (That's 1/6th, if you got through grade school math.)

Right now, Small Business needs domestic demand, not tax cuts, to be profitable.

Which prompts me to ask, does Big Business need domestic demand? Because the rich are doing everything they can to kill it, and when the subject is money, those folks aren't stupid. (That's not a facetious question, by the way; it's worth pursuing. Do the rich still need the U.S. consumer?)

About that "relentless questioning" by David Gregory, I have the same media curiosity I had before. Assuming Gregory's not off the reservation, it seems he's busting Boehner's chops because:

1. The fix is in to kill the Big Boy tax cuts, and this is his piece of it; or
   
2. The fix is in to extend the tax cuts, and he's burnishing populist cred in spite of that.

Either way, he's leaving an actual mark on GOP chops — not something you normally see on the Sunday talks.

GP Read More......

Late night Paris

An evening with friends in Paris usually consists of dinner or a bar, or on the weekend, dancing. I decided to grab a few videos of nights out with the friends, in order to share with you guys a typical Parisian night on the town.

One evening last week, I took a visiting American friend to Marcus' favorite new bar, Les Souffleurs, in the Marais. From what I can tell, Souffleurs comes from souffle, to blow. A souffleur is actually a prompter in the theater - someone off stage who gives the actors their lines, or "blows" the words to the actors. Souffleur has also been used as the name of a French submarine, because of the "blow spout." So it's hard to know the intent. Hell, it could even be a sexual pun.

I guess you'd call Les Souffleurs a "gay bar," except it's really just a very cool bar that just happens to have a pretty gay clientelle. Maybe calling it straight-friendly would be more appropriate. It's a skinny little hole in the wall with all sorts of charm and ambience. A nice, cute, relatively young - and friendly - crowd, and dancing in the very small basement cave until the hour is late. (And the mojitos are good, and not outrageously priced, for Paris.) Here's a quick video of Marcus sharing a story at the bar.



Saturday night we had arranged with Friday night's picnic crowd to meet at a bar where, before midnight, they dance Tango and waltzes. It was a total hoot. Then at midnight, they switch for a few minutes to a line dance that they call "the Madison." It sounded awfully familiar to me until an American friend mentioned "it's the Hustle!" I unfortunately did not get a video of the Frenchies doing the Hustle, as I had been grabbed onto the dance floor by my friend Clément, and was trying desperately to remember the dance steps I learned in 8th grade (a long time ago). I failed miserably.

After midnight, the music switched to "Rock" as the French call it. Which isn't really rock. It's oldies from the French and American 60s, 70s, and a wee bit from the 80s (too wee a bit). It was great fun. Basically a healthy mix of American and French 70s discos (and more). Here's the gang dancing to Claude François' "Magnolias for Ever." Which, best as I can gather, is a cheesy French disco song.

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CNBC: tax cuts *do* add to deficit

Of course they do but who wants to get in the way of a good rant by the Republicans? As you can read inside the link, even many top Republican economic advisers going back to the Reagan years admit tax cuts add to the deficit. CNBC:

I was very encouraged to read an article last Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Voters Back Tough Steps to Reduce Budget Deficit.” What is discouraging is that some people, mostly Republican politicians, are trying to convince people that tax cuts do not contribute to the deficit. This is not only misinformation, it is dangerous misinformation.

The misinformers’ claim is that tax cuts pay for themselves and thus do not impact the deficit negatively. They claim that lower tax rates stimulate the economy and job growth so much that you wind up with more tax revenues at lower rates than you do at higher rates. While President Bush was telling the public that tax cuts pay for themselves, his 2003 Economic Report of the President, pages 57-58, told a very different story...

Yes, the GOP politicians are dangerous. Read More......

Primary results from FL. Still waiting on AZ.

First, if you want the most up-to-date info., go to Swing State Project. The crew over there are always on top of what's going on electorally, but they truly shine on election nights.

In Florida, Congressman Kendrick Meek is the Democratic nominee for Senate. He beat shady billionaire Jeff Greene tonight by a pretty convincing margin. Meek will now face Republican Marco Rubio and Independent (former GOPer) Charlie Crist.

Looks like Rick Scott, another shady billionaire, won the GOP nomination for Governor. AP just called it. He beat Attorney General Bill McCollum (of George "Rentboy" Rekers infamy.) Scott spent almost $40 million of his own money on this race. His name is synonymous with Medicare fraud. We'll be hearing a lot more about that over the next few months. His Democratic opponent, Alex Sink is ready for him. Earlier this year, her campaign said:

"If Scott proposes the same accountability measures for Florida government that he used at Columbia/HCA, we'll have to back up the paddy wagon to the front door of the Capitol," Sink spokeswoman Kyra Jennings said in a May 18, 2010, press release. "Florida simply can't trust someone who was forced to resign as the head of a company that pled guilty to massive amounts of systematic fraud, including 14 felonies, leading to a historic $1.7 billion fine."

And, the key thing is that Politifact reports this is true.

In FL-02, hard-core Blue Dog incumbent Allen Boyd is locked in a close race with State Senator Al Lawson, who is much more progressive. Boyd pulled it out, but it was pretty darn close.

And, in the 8th Congressional District, Alan Grayson will face Daniel Webster, described by Howie Klein as "the hapless imbecile who drummed up the Terri Schiavo controversy."

In Arizona, where polls closed at 7 PM local time, the results haven't been reported yet. The Arizona Republic reports turnout was light.

UDPATED @ 11:19 PM: McCain will likely be was just declared the winner of his primary against butthead JD Hayworth. I'll add more when the numbers come in from Arizona. We're interested in the results of the Democratic Senate primary and how the Ben "Brock Landers" Quayle kid did in his primary. (Watch Andy Cobb's video mocking Quayle here.) Read More......

Debt Commission co-chair Simpson: Social Security is 'like a milk cow with 310 million tits!'

I'm monitoring election results and will have a post up soon, but I had to post this. It's just too much. The Debt Commission, a.k.a. the Cat Food commission, appears intent on dismantling Social Security. And, it's co-chair, Alan Simpson, confirmed it. Via Ryan Grim:

Alan Simpson believes that Social Security is "like a milk cow with 310 million tits," according to an email he sent to the executive director of National Older Women's League Tuesday morning. Simpson co-chairs the deficit commission, which is considering various proposals to cut Social Security benefits.

Simpson's email, which OWL chief Ashley Carson released publicly, (PDF) was sent in response to an April blog post Carson wrote for the Huffington Post. Carson criticized Simpson for repeatedly describing his Social Security opponents as "Pink Panthers," arguing that the description had sexist connotations.

His email is peppered with exclamation points and condescension. At one point he urged Carson to read a certain graph, "which I hope you are able to discern if you are any good at reading graphs."

Simpson was appointed by President Obama. He should resign. But, he won't. Obama needs to fire him.

Here's the key paragraph in the email from Simpson:

Anyway, have a look at it and if you should choose, you might communicate with me. If you have some better suggestions about how to stabilize Social Security instead of just babbling into the vapors, let me know. And yes, I’ve made some plenty smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last degree. You know ‘em too. It’s the same with any system in America. We’ve reached a point now where it’s like a milk cow with 310 million tits! Call when you get honest work!

Honest work. Ha. Read More......

Gas prices hit eight-month low, and it's apparently a bad sign for the economy

Fascinating.

With the end of the summer driving season just around the corner, traders and investors on Monday drove gasoline prices to an eight-month low on U.S. commodities markets, providing the latest sign of pessimism about the economic recovery.

The surge in U.S. consumption that many refiners expected earlier this year has not materialized. Last week, the American Petroleum Institute reported that in July, U.S. gasoline deliveries (a measure of demand) were 9.3 million barrels a day, down slightly compared with July 2009. Except for 2008, it was the lowest July gasoline demand number since 2003.

A lack of consumer confidence and continuing high unemployment have kept people cautious about spending and traveling. "With unemployment high and July regular gasoline prices more than 20 cents a gallon above those a year ago, consumers likely have been shopping and vacationing less and trimmed their gasoline purchases accordingly," said John Felmy, the institute's chief economist.

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Daily Show on 'terror funder' & Fox co-owner Prince al-Waleed bin Talal

A stunning segment, not because the news is new, but because it's really well analyzed. Funny is just gravy on this very meaty dish (h/t Blue Texan).



Bottom line (for those of you who want to read the meaty bits):

1. Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal ("the world's 22nd richest person") is the second-largest owner of Fox News.
   
2. Billionaire Prince al-Waleed also funds the Kingdom Foundation.
   
3. Fox says that the Kingdom Foundation "funds terror groups."
   
4. The Prince also funds Imam Rauf, the man behind the Park 51 Muslim community center.
   
   
5. Bonus: Fox & Friends announces points 2–4 without ever naming al-Waleed.

For Fox, this means Imam Rauf is financed by terror-funders. For Stewart, this means that Fox is either Stupid or Evil.

But for us, this is valuable information, including the part about connections to Bush II. Forget the "mosque"; the Saudi royal family's relationship to right-wing and GOP politics has needed a spotlight for years. Thank you, Daily Show, for shining it.

Just wait till the Saudis start flexing their Citizens United muscles. Mr. Roberts, you are truly a "revolutionary force".

GP

(By the way, I'm with Evil all the way, even though Evil can also be "inspiringly Stupid." Why?

Because about 1:55 into the segment (repeated at 5:08), Dan Senor says, "The Kingdom Foundation, so you know, is this Saudi organization headed up by the guy who tried to give Rudy Guilani $10 million after 9/11 that was sent back, he funds radical madrassas all over the world" — with a picture of Imam Rauf, not our billionaire Prince, behind the voice-over.

It's the Prince he's talking about. From Dan Senor especially, that's not Stupid, that's inspiringly Evil.) Read More......

Egg producers consolidate, putting us all at risk

Wash Post:

The largest egg recall in U.S. history comes at a point of great consolidation in the egg industry, when a shrinking number of companies produce most of the eggs found on grocery shelves and a defect in one operation can jeopardize a significant segment of the marketplace.

Just 192 large egg companies own about 95 percent of laying hens in this country, down from 2,500 in 1987, according to United Egg Producers, an industry group. Most of those producers are concentrated in five states: Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and California.

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GOP says they won't get anything done until the 2012 eletions

From ThinkProgress:

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Assuming it’s accurate that Republicans will get the House, how effective will that be in throwing a monkey wrench in the gears of everything Obama does?

[Rep. Jim] JORDAN [R-OH]: If we win, what will we get done? Mostly, I’ll be honest, most of what we can get done is have the big fight, have the big debate, and have the framework for the 2012 election.

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Boehner wants Obama to fire Geithner and Summers

Get in line John because so do quite a few Democrats though for different reasons. Democrats are fed up with Geithner and Summers (and Obama) continuing GOP economic policies or scaling back the stimulus to win over Republican support that never materialized. Maybe Boehner could tell us how the Obama economic team has differed from the Bush team because it's not obvious.

U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner in a speech today called on President Barack Obama to fire Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the other remaining members of the president’s economic team.

In a speech to the City Club of Cleveland, Boehner said Obama’s stimulus policies are failing to create jobs.

It would be interesting to hear Boehner expand more on his plan to privatize Social Security and turn health insurance back in the wrong direction. Read More......

Boehner attacks stimulus again

The White House should blow him out of the water. The data is irrefutable. The stimulus created millions of jobs. Not enough, to be sure. (And I do blame the White House for the fact that the stimulus wasn't enough - they were told it wasn't enough, but refused to even try for more.) But to say that the stimulus didn't work at all, is an outright lie. It shows the minority leader to be a liar, or a moron. Read More......

Federal Reserve loses again in court over secret bailout of financial industry

Wouldn't it be nice to know what really happened behind closed doors? If our government is going to talk about openness and transparency then perhaps - crazy thought, I know - they ought to actually deliver openness and transparency. The more the Fed moves to keep the bailout details secret, the more voters will be suspicious of the deep connections linking government and industry. It does make one wonder if those links are even more extensive than we currently know.

Let's have the ugly details.

The U.S. 2d Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Fed's motion on Friday to rehear the case in which Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News and News Corp's Fox News Network sought information on the U.S. central bank's emergency lending programs that began in late 2007.

The programs, designed to shore up the financial markets, more than doubled the Fed's balance sheet to well over $2 trillion, especially in the wake of the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The Fed maintained that disclosing the information sought by the news outlets under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) could stigmatize banks, causing a loss of confidence that could lead to deposit runs and the demise of some lenders. The Clearing House Association, a group of major U.S. and European banks, supported the Fed's efforts.

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Massive fish kill at mouth of Mississippi River

Just a coincidence, surely. Dig in though because the government has given the green light to eat fish from the region.

Thousands of fish have turned up dead at the mouth of Mississippi River, prompting authorities to check whether oil was the cause of mass death, local media reports said Monday.

The fish were found Sunday floating on the surface of the water and collected in booms that had been deployed to contain oil that leaked from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Times-Picayune reported.

"By our estimates there were thousands, and I'm talking about 5,000 to 15,000 dead fish," St Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro was quoted as saying in a statement.

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Much more detail on the WikiLeaks–Assange non-rape story

From the always-good Scott Horton, comes a whole lot more detail on the Assange rape-but-not-really story.

This is bar none the best account I've found of what's happened. I really want to print the whole thing — it's that good. But I'll make do with a taste (I'll find a prime slice) and then strongly suggest you read it all. Horton's a lawyer and an expert in these things; he's also a hell of a researcher.

The prime slice (with my secondary emphasis):

This weekend, the controversies surrounding WikiLeaks took another strange turn. Late on Friday, the Swedish newspaper Expressen disclosed that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was the subject of an arrest warrant arising out of charges by two female witnesses that he had raped them within a three-day period. The late-hours special duty prosecutor, Maria Häljebo Kjellstrand, issued an arrest warrant for Assange, who quickly protested his innocence and charged that the claims against him were a “dirty trick.” Within twenty-four hours, Swedish prosecutors did a near complete about-face. . . . One of the women behind the charges gave an interview to the Swedish paper Aftonbladet on Sunday, backpedaling furiously. She stated that she was surprised to learn that the accusations were treated as a rape charge and denied that there had been any encounter with Assange involving violence or force. She suggested that the controversy had to do with Assange’s failure to use a condom during intercourse. In the meantime, Sweden’s Justice Ombudsman was demanding a formal investigation into how the accusations came to be sensationalized by the press on the basis of an improperly issued arrest warrant.

A few points should be noted about this case. . . . [U]nder the Swedish criminal justice system, like in many others, the preliminary investigation of allegations of a crime is a secret matter. That is doubly the case in questions relating to sexual misconduct, since disclosure may do severe damage to the reputation of all the parties involved. In this case, the information was fanned in a tabloid-style paper within minutes of its being opened. The prosecutors involved insist that they did not disclose this information. Who did? The Guardian speculates that it was the Swedish police.

Assange, however, quickly laid the blame on the Pentagon.

This doesn't begin to do justice to this valuable piece. Please do click through.

Note in just this small bit, we get the name of the prosecutor, the way that system works, and links to original sources — Expressen, Aftonbladet and de Verdieping Trouw — with information none of the English-language papers offered.

Why are we getting this information? Because Horton's consulting Swedish and Dutch sources and passing the info along instead of keeping it all safely low-key. (I assume Horton reads Swedish and Dutch himself; he reads everything else.)

Scott Horton is a valuable resource, someone to keep on the radar. For me he's a daily read.

Our own earlier coverage of the rape charge is here. The asymmetrical war, coming to a homeland near you. As I said, stay tuned.

GP

UPDATE: From The Local: Sweden's News in English, the initial prosecutor has been "reported for violating rules on the confidentiality of preliminary investigations."

The prosecutor on duty, Maria Häljebo Kjellstrand, decided on Friday to issue a warrant to arrest Assange on suspicion of rape. She later confirmed to Expressen that there was a case and that Assange was charged in absentia. The warrant was withdrawn one day later. . . .

According to the organisation, the prosecutor violated the confidentiality of preliminary investigations by giving the media information about this case, DJ reported.

Two dots left to connect. The on-call prosecutor confirmed the case to the tabloid. Who tipped the tabloid to ask about it? (Thanks to Marshall for tipping us.) Read More......

Know John Boehner who really knows the ways of Washington

GOP leader John Boehner is on a p.r. offensive this week. He's introducing himself to America as the man who could be speaker. This morning, he's making a "major economic address" in Cleveland. Yes, Boehner, as one of the leading GOPers, helped create the economic crisis and ballooned the deficit. Then, Boehner and his party failed to lift a finger to help fix the crisis, instead, they did everything possible to undermine any solutions. Despite all that, this morning, Boehner is going to be giving advice about the economy. (Speech is heavy on gimmicks, like fire Geithner and Summers, but really weak on substance, just more tax cuts for the rich.)

The DNC thinks people should know Boehner and his ways.


UPDATE: Just saw a tweet from AFL-CIO's Eddie Vale that summed up the Boehner speech:

No matter what kind of fake tan you slap on it Boehner has the same washed up policies that only benefit Wall Street and the very rich.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is on vacation. The Veep is holding down the fort. He's doing an event on the Recovery Act's investment in science, meeting with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, then swearing in James Clapper as Director of National Intelligence.

It's primary day in Alaska, Arizona and Florida. In Alaska, Sarah Palin's endorsee, Joe Miller, is challenging incumbent Lisa Murkowski in the GOP Senate primary. Palin's endorsements aren't worth much in the lower 48, but we'll see if people in Alaska pay attention to her.

In Arizona, the GOP Senate primary has been a battle between incumbent John McCain and right-wing butthead JD Hayworth. McCain will win, but Hayworth pretty much set the agenda in the U.S. Senate this year. McCain swung hard to the right on a range of issues, flip-flopping to save his seat. (And, of course, McCain's lapdog, Lindsey Graham, did the same thing.) On the Democratic side, the two main contenders are Randy Parraz and Rodney Glassman. I like Parraz. He's smart, aggressive and will make McCain work for it.

In Florida, the GOP Senate primary fizzled when Charlie Crist became an independent. But, there's been a really ugly GOP gubernatorial primary between Attorney General Bill McCollum and anti-health care reform crusader Rick Scott, a billionaire with a shady past. In the Democratic Senate primary, Rep. Kendrick Meek is being challenged by Jeff Greene, also a billionaire with a shady past.

So, busy political day for late August. Read More......

Jerusalem light rail reviews segregation by sex

Religious extremists are religious extremists, regardless of religion. What's with the obsession of so many to step backwards in time? How does any government, whether in the US, Israel or wherever, move a country forward when such a substantial percent of the population controls so much political power? Some politicians are speaking out but there appears to be precedent for segregating trains, unfortunately.

The company building a light railway across Jerusalem is considering segregating some carriages along gender lines to serve the city's ultra-orthodox Jewish population.

The railway, which is due to be operational next spring, could have separate compartments for men and women, Yair Naveh, the chief executive of CityPass, said today.

"The train was built to serve everyone," he said. "It is not a problem to declare every third or fourth car a mehadrin [kosher] car."

The suggestion was swiftly condemned by Jerusalem city councillor Rachel Azariya, who said: "Naveh was appointed to run a project – that doesn't mean that he can tell people where to sit and where not to sit, nor does it mean that he knows anything about values and democracy."

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New scientific research suggests Darwin may have been wrong

And it's real science, as opposed to the wacko-Christian-right rubbish that disputes Darwin. More research will be required but it's an interesting challenge to the well known theory. BBC:

The new study proposes that really big evolutionary changes happen when animals move into empty areas of living space, not occupied by other animals.

For example, when birds evolved the ability to fly, that opened up a vast range of new possibilities not available to other animals. Suddenly the skies were the limit, triggering a new evolutionary burst.

The extinction of the dinosaurs gave mammals their lucky break.

This concept challenges the idea that intense competition for resources in overcrowded habitats is the major driving force of evolution.

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Be careful when using your credit cards abroad

I recently had a hunch that my various American credits were charging me different amounts for purchases made in Europe.

Now put aside for a moment the fact that our credit card companies refuse to use the microchips that European credit cards now have, so you can't even use American credit cards in many places in Europe anymore (we're number one!). The other problem many Americans might not be aware of is that our credit card companies are charging us an extra fee to use our cards outside of the US. (Probably because it's really really hard for them to do the math.)

Now, lest they claim that this fee is being used to pay for the cost of the currency conversion, why is it that every credit card issuer charges a different fee for the same transaction? That's because they're simply gouging us.

Here's a quick comparison of my credit cards:

United States Senate Federal Credit Union
1% conversion fee to use credit card from abroad (i.e., they charge you an additional 1% of your purchase)

ING Direct
2% conversion fee to use credit card from abroad

American Express
2.7% conversion fee to use credit card abroad

Needless to say, I won't be using either ING or AMEX ever against while I'm abroad. It really ticks me off that a European bank (ING) is charging me extra to use my credit card in... Europe. Then there's AMEX, a company that prides itself on members services. In addition to the fact that it's simply inconvenient to use them as your travel card -a lot of places simply refuse to take them - but they charge you the highest annual fee of any other credit card, and they end being the biggest gouger of them all. Read More......

AIG repays 2% of bailout money

Oh hooray, we're saved. Let's talk when the entire $180 billion plus interest is received. Read More......

Paris, Je T'aime

8 minutes long. A-dor-able, as we say in French. (The subtitles are hard to read, but they are JUST readable, if you try.) Part of a larger series of films made about the different arrondissements, or neighborhoods, in Paris. This one is about the 14th, where Chris and Joelle live, and where I lived when I studied here. It's not very long. Worth watching.

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Tracey Ullman as Rachel Maddow, Arianna, Barney Frank and Meagan McCain

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WikiLeaks' Assange: I think Pentagon is behind phony rape charges

Following our earlier coverage on Julian Assange's withdrawn Swedish rape charges, an update. You get this story two ways, depending on where you look. "Straight" coverage, like the Wall Street Journal online, plays it, well, straight (my emphasis throughout):

Swedish Chief Prosecutor Eva Finne will investigate the charges brought against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange this week, she said Monday.

The prosecution authority Friday said Assange was suspected of alleged rape and molestation, but dropped the rape investigations the following day. . . .

The rape charges were dropped Saturday because new information regarding the case became available, Finne told Dow Jones Newswires without providing further details.

She defended the decision Friday to bring forth the initial charge of allegated rape, saying it was taken in accordance with normal legal procedures.

But apparently Assange is accusing the Pentagon of waging info-war against him, something the WSJ doesn't tell you. Yahoo News:

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said in an interview published on Sunday that he believes the Pentagon could be behind a rape accusation against him that was later dropped by Swedish prosecutors. . . .

The Aftonbladet newspaper quoted Assange, 39, as saying he did not know who was "hiding behind" the claims, which came amid a stand-off with Washington over the website's publication of secret Afghan war documents.

The UK Daily Mail online, quoting the same interview:

He said he did not know how they had come about, but gave a clear indication of who he thought was behind them, adding: 'We have been warned that the Pentagon plans to use dirty tricks to destroy us. And I have been warned of sex traps.

Within hours of the warrant being issued, chief prosecutor Eva Finne said she was revoking it, and a spokesman yesterday blamed an 'on-call prosecutor' for the decision.

If I'm doing the Rockford Files thing, I start with that "on-call prosecutor" and whoever he/she talked to. (Notice that of the three, only the Daily Mail mentions him/her.)

This one really interests me, so I'm watching how it plays out. It's a classic case of asymmetrical warfare on the anywhere-battlefield, but this time against one of "us" — fair-skinned blond Westerners with political objections — instead of one of "them" (you know, incorrectly-religioned brown people with anti-colonial objections).

The asymmetrical war was bound to come home; this is its first arrival. In that sense, this is a tip-of-the-spear story.

And as usual, it's as much about us (i.e., how we handle the Pentagon dealing with "us" the way it deals with "them") as it is about any of the players. Stay tuned; I sure will.

Our original "stain on the pavement" coverage is here (and h/t mirth for the lead).

GP Read More......

GOP receives bailout from AIG

When you know the other team will go easier on you, handing over $900,000 in campaign contributions is a no-brainer. Why do the Republicans like bailing out corporate scoundrels like AIG? Remember that it was the Bush/Paulson team who initiated the massive corporate welfare scheme that rescued AIG (and Goldman) from financial ruin. Read More......

FDA chief understands the problem

One of the bright areas (for the most part) of the Obama administration has been the FDA. The most recent salmonella outbreak has confirmed what everyone outside of Washington (and the GOP) has known for years. Failure to regulate food safety will always, always, always lead to food safety problems. Somehow the GOP thinks it's fine to let consumers pay the price for self-regulation. Now this is change.

Food and Drug Administration chief Margaret Hamburg said Monday her agency hasn't had enough authority to help prevent outbreaks like the more than 1,000 cases of salmonella poisoning linked to the eggs from two Iowa farms.

Giving a series of network interviews, Hamburg said the FDA is taking the issue "very, very seriously." At the same time, she said Congress should pass legislation stalled in the Senate that would increase the frequency of inspections and give the agency authority to order a recall. Companies now have to issue such recalls voluntarily.

"We need better abilities and authorities to put in place these preventive controls and hold companies accountable," Hamburg said.

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Washington Times may close this week

So goes the rumor:

DCRTV hears that the Washington Times is close to closing. A source tells us that Reverend Moon's son, Preston, was prepared to close the Times as recently as last Friday. A press release was reportedly ready for distribution when an apparent last minute and revised offer to buy the paper was submitted, we hear.

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How the summer of 2010 became the GOP's season of bigotry, blatant lies and hate

It's not just New York. Today, the Washington Post takes a look at the opposition to a mosque in Tennessee. The article examines the increased intensity of the bigotry aimed at Muslims across the country. It's really a sad reflection on this country. But, it feels like something we've read about in our history books aimed at people of different religions, races and ethnicities:

"It shouldn't be surprising that there's a negative reaction to this mosque," said Richard Lloyd, a sociology professor at Vanderbilt University. "Because you can connect it to this global media event in New York, it just reinforces this siege mentality local residents have."

Akbar Ahmed, chairman of Islamic studies at American University, said a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of Sept. 11 is emblematic of the country's new mood.

"Something more is happening," Ahmed said. "We are becoming aware that the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims is wider than it was after 9/11, and that's a frightening prospect."

You'd like to think our leaders were trying to tamp down this kind of hatred. But, as we've seen, from Newt to Palin, that's not the case. There are, of course, GOPers more than willing to do their part to stir the pot with lies. It never ends:

Last Friday, a Republican National Committee woman Kim Lehman, responding to an article about the polls in Politico, accused the publication of trying "to protect Obama" by denying his true religious heritage.

"BTW he personally told the muslims that he IS a muslim," wrote the Iowa RNC member. "Read his lips."

Lehman wrote this on twitter. Her exact words were:

@politico you're funny. They must pay you a lot to protect Obama. BTW he personally told the muslims that he IS a muslim. Read his lips.

Sam Stein talked to Lehman and she stands by her accusation -- even if there is nothing to back up her claim. She just lied.

This seems like it's part of a new GOP strategy. Kirsten Powers calls it "The GOP's long, hot racist summer." Unfortunately, there's a market for this message. Read More......

Krugman: 'Our political culture has become ... deeply corrupt'

Despite the headline, this is not about the state of the economy (we know what state that's in). It's about the state of the Krugman.

As you may know, I've been monitoring the state of the Krugman for a while (the most recent sounding is here, but there's a bunch of them). The key question: When does the Professor call out the full dimensions of the storm he says is coming. When does he accurately describe what's flying toward the fan?

He's sneaking up on it. When last we left our Krugman, he'd moved through two important preliminary stages:

Partial call-out: It's gonna be bad, and I just don't understand why conservative economists and ministers don't understand. 'Cause, you know, I've already explained it.

Semi-partial call-out: Hmm. Maybe something else is going on. What could that be?

As of last week, he seemed to be stuck at the end-with-a-question phase, Semi-partial call-out.

With that in mind, here's new Krugman, talking about the push by "Republicans and conservative Democrats" to extend tax cuts on the "richest 120,000 people in the country" (my emphasis):

So, for example, we’re told that [extending tax cuts for the very rich is] all about helping small business . . . [o]r we’re told that it’s about helping the economy recover. But it’s hard to think of a less cost-effective way to help the economy than giving money to people who already have plenty, and aren’t likely to spend a windfall.

No, this has nothing to do with sound economic policy. Instead, as I said, it’s about a dysfunctional and corrupt political culture, in which Congress won’t take action to revive the economy, pleads poverty when it comes to protecting the jobs of schoolteachers and firefighters, but declares cost no object when it comes to sparing the already wealthy even the slightest financial inconvenience.

So far, the Obama administration is standing firm against this outrage. Let’s hope that it prevails in its fight. Otherwise, it will be hard not to lose all faith in America’s future.

Not bad. Hemi-demi-semi-partial call-out: "The political culture is corrupt" (which it is).

Now if only he would move to Full Call-Out, like that guy, um, Paul Krugman, in his 2003 book, and talk about Movement Conservatives as a "revolutionary force" who are taking us over the way the mafia takes over a manufacturing business and strips it clean.

Or to be more pointed — Yes, the political culture is deeply corrupt. But that's almost passive voice. Talk about the politicians, the actual doers, what they are doing, and why. It's already in your book.

These are radical revolutionaries with radical plans; the Movement is big, organized and very well funded; and we're already in the 3rd quarter of a game that's not going well. Professor, please say so.

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The nighttime picnic in Paris

In summertime, especially August, Parisians love their picnics (called pique-niques [peek-neek)). Often we'll have them along the Seine river, cutting through the center of Paris. But you could also picnic at any city park (they're everywhere), or along the Canal St. Martin is also a popular spot. (Interestingly, a reader notes that "picnic" first appeared in the French, according to Wikipedia.)

In Paris, picnics are generally evening affairs. A French friend expressed shock when I made the common American mistake of saying that last Friday's picnic was at "17 heures" (I meant 7pm) instead of "19 heures." No one picnics at 5pm, he told me in disgust. And of course he was right. No respectable Parisian would ever picnic before 7pm, the traditional time at least for my Paris-dwelling friends.

Our usual haunt, near the end of Paris Plage by the Pont Marie, was a bust when we were summarily kicked out by the cops at 730pm. It seems that we picked the last day of Paris Plage (where they turn a mile of street along the Seine into one big public beach, sand and all, for a month) to do our picnic, and the city was closing the event abruptly at 730 (because it would be silly to close the event at the end of evening, or worse, at the close of the weekend).



Above would have been our view had the cops not kicked us out. Fortunately, Marcus and company came up with a much better plan. We'd go over to the Ile St. Louis and picnic at what has always been one of my favorite spots in Paris, since I lived here when I was 19. The spot is right here at a bend in the island and the river. Viewed from the other side, this is where we picnicked on Friday, just around the bend to the left, where you can't see any longer.



French picnics are a big communal smorgasbord of a mess. Usually advertised and organized on Facebook (or Fess-book, as they say in French (which is a pun, since "fesses" in French means "butt")), you never really know how many Friends will make it, but normally we get a good 15 to 20. The French like their food cocktail-y. So there's always some kind of salted nuts and cherry tomatoes, pâté and prosciutto, and of course a few perfectly crisp baguettes. The main course is usually chicken and maybe Chinese (that's my usual fallback), and dessert might be some kind of cake or tarte. Oh, and there's always lots of wine, and even sometimes some champagne (this time someone, God bless him, brought a bottle of Veuve).

Another interesting thing: Some guys working for the city came by and left us a big green plastic garbage bag. They go by all the picnic spots and leave people bags so they can clean up afterwards. Yes, there are garbage cans already there, as you can see in the picture below, but the bags usually already have garbage in them, and couldn't take all that we had to throw away (and all of the other picnics taking place just a few yards away). Brilliant move by the city - a very cool small-town move.



This late in the summer, the sun tends to set by 8:40 - mid-summer in Paris, in late June, it sets at 10pm (and twilight lasts until a good 1030) - I remember working here for a summer when I was 23, and going to bed before 10ish, and it was bright as daylight outside. Sunset, and the streetlight-accented darkness after, are the best part of picnicking, especially along the river.



The picnic ended around 11 or 1130pm, just in time for us to hit a few bars and then go dancing until 3am (something I hadn't done in possibly 15 years.) It was fun, and exhausting. Below is the view as we left the picnic, heading over to Marcus' favorite bar, Les Souffleurs. I'll save the video from the Souffleurs for another day.



You'll see our picnic spot, very small in the left hand side of the photo, along the bank, just below Notre Dame in the picture. This is the actual view on the way to the bar. My view in DC on the way to the bar takes me past lots of chicken bones, broken glass, and a few scary housing complexes where people get shot every few months. And people ask why I come to Paris every August. Read More......

Is 2010, 1994? (Election-wise, that is)

From Cillizza at the Post:

Although few savvy Democratic strategists debate the difficulty of the national political environment, they do note that there are two important differences between the 1994 election and this one.

The first is the relative weakness of the Republican brand. In 1994, Republicans had been out of power in the House for four decades, and most voters had a limited sense of what a GOP House would be like. In 2010, the American public has fired Republicans -- in the House, Senate and White House -- twice in the past four years. And, in a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, the GOP had its lowest favorability ratings ever. (We repeat: ever.)

Second, Democrats understand the building frustration and desire for change in a way that the party simply didn't get 16 years ago. "The one advantage Democrats have is early-warning radar that we are facing a tough environment, and many of our incumbents have geared up their campaigns much earlier than in 1994," said Fred Yang, a leading Democratic pollster. "The possible wave may be too big for any campaign, but we're going to be ready this time and run harder and more aggressive campaigns."

Yang's last point is the central question on which the comparison between 1994 and 2010 rests: Can well-run and well-funded campaigns by Democratic incumbents save them from being dragged out to sea politically? Democrats think so, Republicans hope not.

Charlie Cook, a political handicapper and editor of the Cook Political Report, acknowledged that every election has "its own set of unique characteristics and dynamics" but added that Democrats shouldn't take too much comfort in that. "Is 2010 the same as 1994? No, it isn't," he said. "But that doesn't mean that the outcome can't be roughly comparable."

Cook also noted that the state of the economy, which may have mitigated Democratic losses in 1994 with an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent, almost certainly will exacerbate them this year, as unemployment now stands at 9.5 percent.

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Sen. Franken: Our media system is at risk everywhere

Huffington Post (h/t hector in the comments):

Sen. Al Franken (D.-Minn.) warned a packed house Thursday night in Minneapolis that the corporate takeover of our media, and the government's failure to stop it, is one of the most important issues of our time.

Franken said our media system is at risk everywhere we turn -- from our free speech online to the growing power of companies who own a massive number of media outlets. . . .

He spoke about recent efforts by Verizon and Google to push a "policy framework" on Washington that transfers control over Internet content from the people who go online into the hands of a few powerful corporations. . . .

He also warned of the looming merger between cable giant Comcast and NBC-Universal, urging Copps and Clyburn to oppose the merger and enforce Net Neutrality rules that would protect free speech online.

Click the link to watch the whole speech. It's a nice one.

(By the way, if this were a novel, that shot through the window of his condo was fired from corporate headquarters.)

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