Less carbon emissions due to volcano

When fewer planes are in the air, it's to be expected. Of course, there are some raising the possible link between climate change and the volcano erupting but it might take years to finalize any study.

A larger effect on the atmosphere, though still small in global terms, comes from the mass-grounding of European flights over the past few days. According to the Environmental Transport Association, by the end of today the flight ban will have prevented the emission of some 2.8m tonnes of carbon dioxide since the first flights were grounded.

The volcanic eruption has released carbon dioxide, but the amount is dwarfed by the savings. Based on readings taken by scientists during the first phase of Eyjafjallajokull activity last month, the website Information is Beautiful calculated the volcano has emitted about 15,000 tonnes of CO2 each day. Worldwide, the US Geological Survey says volcanoes produce about 200m tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

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Right-wing anti-immigrant group says Lindsey Graham may be being blackmailed because he's gay

We've poked fun before at GOP Senator Lindsey Graham's unclear sexual orientation, but this is getting downright nasty. This comes on the heels of the Teabaggers outing, and attacking, Graham this weekend.

The national border security organization known as Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is officially calling for US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to make his homosexual lifestyle public knowledge in the interest of political integrity and national security...

"US Senator Lindsey Graham is gay and while many people in South Carolina and Washington DC know that, the general public and Graham's constituents do not," said William Gheen President of ALIPAC. "I personally do not care about Graham's private life, but in this situation his desire to keep this a secret may explain why he is doing a lot of political dirty work for others who have the power to reveal his secrets. Senator Graham needs to come out of the closet inside that log cabin so the public can rest assured he is not being manipulated with his secret."

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Arizona legislature demands immigrants and President of the United States verify their status

Putting aside the birther thing, which is just embarrassing for Arizona, how do the police propose to determine who is and who isn't a legal immigrant? Are they planning on stopping people on the street? Make you prove your birthplace if you're pulled over for a traffic ticket? Who carries that kind of proof on them? Your driver's license doesn't say where you're born, so how exactly will police enforce this? The danger is that they'll simply use this new law to terrorize Latinos, Arabs, and any other out of stater the local police want to harass (and from what I understand from family in Arizona, harassing out of state cars is the local police pastime in parts of Arizona). Read More......

Fox too liberal for you? Kelsey Grammer backs upstart right-wing TV network, RightNetwork

Nothing is ever enough for these folks. It's why you can't appease them, ever.

Actor Kelsey Grammer is one of the names behind The RightNetwork, a new operation that is being targeted at "Americans who are looking for content that reflects and reinforces their perspective and world-view."

The network is expected to launch this summer and is hoping to be available to on-demand cable offerings, online and mobile phones.

"There's wrong, and there's right, right network, all that's right with the world," Grammer says in a video clip on the network's Web site.

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Someone found Apple's next iPhone in a bar

It's not politics, but it's cool. Read More......

Six vets handcuff selves to White House fence to protest Obama's inaction on Don't Ask Don't Tell

And to make things even more fun, the leader of the protest, Robin McGehee of GetEqual, saw Robert Gibbs walking back from lunch, ran over, and had a little chat with him! More on AMERICAblog Gay. Oh, and if anyone asks "why are the gays so upset with Obama over Don't Ask Don't Tell," read this. Read More......

AIG reviewing possible legal action against Goldman

And here we all thought they were getting along so well. Young love can be so emotional sometimes. If this gets traction, the general love affair with Goldman could get dicey. CNBC:

AIG, the US government-controlled insurer, is considering pursuing Goldman Sachs over losses incurred on $6 billion of insurance deals on mortgage-backed securities similar to the one that led to fraud charges against the US bank.

AIG’s move over the deals that caused it a loss of about $2 billion is a sign that Friday’s decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to file civil fraud charges against Goldman could spark actions from investors who lost money on mortgage-backed securities.

If AIG and others discover that their transactions had disclosure issues similar to those alleged in the SEC charges, they would be able to complain to the SEC, file a private lawsuit, or both, lawyers said.

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Dem to Obama: Push immigration or I’ll tell Latino voters to stay home

And the White House thinks the gays are bad? This is what hard-assed advocacy looks like. And so far, the Latinos are the only ones practicing it.

A congressman from the president’s home state is threatening that he will urge Latino voters to stay home this November if the Democratic Party does not make a concerted effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Ill.) is arguably President Barack Obama’s biggest Democratic critic in Congress. And he’s not fond of Obama’s top advisers at the White House, either.


The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) member has strongly criticized the administration’s policy on deportation and questioned its commitment to far-reaching reform.

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VIDEO: Tax Day Teabaggers

Our friends Chase and Erick were at the Tax Day Teabagger protest, camera in hand.

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Civil rights legend Dorothy Height died this morning

An American heroine died today in DC:

Dorothy I. Height, 98, a founding matriarch of the American civil rights movement whose crusade for racial justice and gender equality spanned more than six decades, died early Tuesday morning of natural causes, a spokesperson for the National Council of Negro Women said.

Ms. Height was among the coalition of African American leaders who pushed civil rights to the center of the American political stage after World War II, and she was a key figure in the struggles for school desegregation, voting rights, employment opportunities and public accommodations in the 1950s and 1960s.

Height and her colleagues changed the course of history. What an amazing legacy. Read More......

Republicans in SEC vote against Goldman lawsuit

Why does the GOP hate America? Bloomberg:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission split 3-2 along party lines to approve an enforcement case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to two people with knowledge of the vote.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro sided with Democrats Luis Aguilar and Elisse Walter to approve the case filed on April 16, said the people, who declined to be identified because the vote wasn’t public. Republican commissioners Kathleen Casey and Troy Paredes voted against suing, the people said yesterday.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President returns from California today. Last night, at a fundraiser for Barbara Boxer, Obama was repeatedly interrupted by protesters from GetEQUAL who were demanding action on the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The President say he didn't know why they were "hollering" since he wants to repeal that law. In fact, he promised to repeal it "this year" in the State of the Union.

Seems that Obama should really have a meeting with his top staffers about this. He should ask them what the plan is to get it done. What's the strategy? Just yesterday, the head of the leading organization working on DADT wrote to the President expressing concerns that administration officials were on Capitol Hill saying they don't want repeal this year. And, despite weeks of publicly airing concerns, Barney Frank still hasn't heard from the White House. Again, Obama committed to getting DADT repealed "this year" in the State of the Union. This wasn't just some campaign pledge that we're supposed to just forget about. This is about men and women who want to put their lives on the line to defend the rest of us. And, time is running out to get it done this year.

This week, the U.S. House is going to vote on the legislation to give DC voting representation in Congress. The trade off is that the NRA gets its legislation to weaken DC's voting laws. This will be the second legislative victory for the NRA during this session of Congress. They already won on the bill to let people carry guns in national parks, which was attached to the credit card reform bill. The NRA is a key player in the right-wing/GOP coalition. Trying to think of a progressive group that has had two big wins during the Obama presidency and while Democrats have large majorities in both the House and Senate....UPDATE: No vote on DC voting rights this year after all.

Never a dull moment... Read More......

UK to ban Uganda MP if anti gay legislation passes

He better be blocked from any travel, anywhere, if not arrested for inciting hatred. The Guardian:

The British government will ban a Ugandan MP from travelling to the UK if he is successful in passing a law that would impose the death penalty in Uganda for being gay.

Civil servants in the Foreign Office, the Department for International Development and the Borders Agency are drawing up plans to block the visa of born-again Christian MP David Bahati if he does not drop legislation that would see consenting adults who have gay sex imprisoned for life and impose the death penalty on those with HIV – which will be called "aggravated homosexuality".

The bill also proposes the death penalty for those having gay sex with anyone under the age of 18, with someone disabled or what the legislation describes as "serial offenders".

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European air space opening as another cloud approaches

A few travelers might make it out today as more northern Europe airports start to open. The airlines are backed up for days though, so it's going to take a while to get everyone back on schedule. Making matters worse are the reports of a new ash cloud plus the possibility of a second volcano in Iceland preparing to erupt. The airlines have run some test flights and have been lobbying heavily to open the skies (or at least, open the government wallets for bailouts) but both NATO and Finland have flown jets through the clouds and the engines have shown damage.

We're still hosting our friend who is trying to make it to the US and a second friend comes through Paris later today en route to London with his family. They did the overnight train from Rome and then catch the Eurostar and will make it back a few days later than expected.

EU transport ministers proposed creating a core no-fly area, a limited-service zone and an open-skies area.

Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings said his country "taking a lead" in restarting flights, but warned that further suspensions might prove necessary if the situation worsens.

Swiss and northern Italian airspace will reopen from 0600 GMT, and France is opening some air corridors to Paris.

But the skies over Germany are due to remain closed until 1200 GMT, with some exceptions.

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