Classic Bea Arthur

She brought so many laughs to us all. I loved seeing the All in the Family episodes when she drove Archie insane but this "condom" episode is a classic. Read More......

Fortune 500 CEOs averaged $11.4 million in 2008

The numbers are down but continue to be dreamland for most people. Forbes:

After a 15 percent collective pay cut in 2007, chief executives of the 500 biggest companies in the U.S. (as measured by a composite ranking of sales, profits, assets and market value) took another reduction in total compensation, 11 percent, for 2008. The last time the big bosses took a pay hit for two consecutive years was in 2001 and 2002.

In total, these 500 executives earned $5.7 billion in 2008, which averages out to $11.4 million apiece and computes to less than 1 percent of total revenues and 3 percent of total profits of their companies.

It's always nice to see the apologizers throw in nonsense statistics like this, as if it's so small, who could notice? It would be much more appropriate to reflect executive compensation with the average worker salary but this is always too embarrassingly high so they avoid it. As we are discovering during the recession, the overpaid executives are not nearly as valuable or perfect as they like to believe. To their credit, they sell themselves very well compared to what they deliver in the market. Read More......

GOP is filibustering the confirmation of the Secretary of HHS in the midst of swine flu preparations

Never underestimate the willingness of the GOP to put politics over the best interests of the nation. Last week, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell started a filibuster to prevent confirmation of Obama's choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. The right wing, anti-choice zealots have been apoplectic about Sebelius -- and we all know that the GOP caters to its most extreme elements. Now, this is a filibuster (even though most of the traditional media won't exactly say that and Mitch McConnell denies it.) Again, here's the definition:

filibuster - Informal term for any attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length, by offering numerous procedural motions, or by any other delaying or obstructive actions.

This is vintage GOP obstruction. In the few days since the GOP Senators launched their filibuster, it's become clear that we may be facing a major health threat. The key government departments and agencies are gathering to plot strategy. Absent is a Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Today, at the White House briefing, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, was there as was John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. They were joined by the Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). But, we don't even have a head of CDC because the Secretary of HHS appoints that person. And, no Secretary of HHS. In fact, as the White House transcript shows, Napolitano had to make the announcement about the "public health emergency" for HHS:

The first thing I want to announce today is that the Department of Health and Human Services will declare today a public health emergency in the United States.

For the time being, HHS is being led by Acting Secretary Charles Johnson, a Bush-appointee from Utah who spent most of his career working as an accountant.

Meanwhile, the GOP Senate games continue. Via a unanimous consent agreement, on Tuesday, the Senate has scheduled eight hours of debate on the Sebelius nomination to assuage the GOP and a cloture vote -- requiring 60 votes -- could happen on Tuesday. Here's the text of that agreement:

Ordered, That at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 28, 2009, the Senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius, of Kansas, to be Secretary of Health and Human Services; that there be 8 hours of debate with respect to the nomination, with the time equally divided and controlled between the Leaders or their designees and that the Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Bunning) be allotted 20 minutes; thatupon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination; and that confirmation be subject to an affirmative 60 vote threshold; that upon achieving that threshold, the nomination be confirmed and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that no further motions be in order; the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then resume legislative session.

That's wasting too much more time in the middle of a crisis.

Tomorrow, the Senate convenes at 2:00 PM. Majority Leader Harry Reid's first act should be to move for an up-or-down vote on the confirmation of Sebelius. If the Republicans want to further obstruct that nomination, make them actually filibuster it. They've had plenty of time to bitch and complain already. Let them all vote to further prevent the nation from having a Secretary of Health and Human Services -- when we're in the midst of a public health emergency and preparing for a possible pandemic. This isn't the time for GOP games when everyone in the Senate knows Sebelius will be confirmed.

Now, just for fun, imagine what would happen if the situation were reversed: Would the Republicans wait, in the name of Senate comity, to allow for a Democratic filibuster to play out?

Put the Republican Senators to the test. See if the GOP puts its own extreme political base before the well-being of the nation Read More......

Oh, now Rick Perry wants the benefits of statehood

NYT, re the Swine Flu outbreak.

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas asked the C.D.C. to send 37,430 doses of Tamiflu.

I guess Rick got tired of teabagging. Read More......

Dick Cheney's security clearance

Dick Cheney has been asking the Obama administration to release certain pages of certain classified documents, in order to "prove" that torture works. Here's a question: How does a 68 year old man remember specific pages of specific documents when he left his job over three months ago and, presumably, presumably lost his access to those documents at the time he left the White House? Did Cheney take copies of classified documents with him? Is someone leaking Cheney information about classified documents? Did Cheney takes notes on classified documents, which would themselves be classified?

Consider the amount of paperwork the vice president of the United States sees on a daily basis. Then consider that Cheney held the job for 8 years. We're to believe that he can remember specific pages of specific documents well enough to request in writing that those specific pages and documents be declassified? I smell a leak. Read More......

"Public Health Emergency" (which sounds worse than what it is) declared in US because of Swine Flu

Action today from the Obama administration on the swine flu:

At a White House news conference, Besser and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sought to assure Americans that health officials are taking all appropriate steps to minimize the impact of the outbreak.

Top among those is declaring the public health emergency. As part of that, Napolitano said roughly 12 million doses of the drug Tamiflu will be moved from a federal stockpile to places where states can quickly get their share if they decide they need it. Priority will be given to the five states with known cases so far: California, Texas, New York, Ohio and Kansas.

Napolitano called the emergency declaration standard operating procedure — one was declared recently for the inauguration and for flooding. She urged people to think of it as a "declaration of emergency preparedness."

It sure sounds worse than that.

For up-to-date information from public health experts, check out the blog, Effect Measure.

UPDATE @ 4:16 PM: Concise explanation of "public health emergency" from Effect Measure:

DHHS has declared a "public health emergency," a legal designation that permits certain public health resources like a portion of the 50 million courses of antivirals in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) to be prepositioned in the states should the need arise.

Read More......

Pay for Wall Street banksters bouncing back

After the 1929 crash, pay on Wall Street declined after reaching bubble proportions. Following that depression, banker pay came more in line with other professions. Not this time though if these early actions continue. Congress remains owned by Wall Street and yes, Timmy Geithner remains too easy on this bunch of freeloaders. The normal Wall Street apologists and cheerleaders will all praise this move though it's hard to make sense of it in the real world. There is no reason why everyone else should fund their lifestyle in these times. Let them pay off the government and quit suckling from the government teat and then let them make money on their own. Maybe instead of thinking about themselves first - their collective butts were saved by regular people - they should worry more about getting everyone's retirement plans back before they worry about funding their own greed. Screw these people and screw Washington for allowing it.

Even as the industry’s compensation has been put in the spotlight for being so high at a time when many banks have received taxpayer help, six of the biggest banks set aside over $36 billion in the first quarter to pay their employees, according to a review of financial statements.

If that pace continues all year, the money set aside for compensation suggests that workers at many banks will see their pay — much of it in bonuses — recover from the lows of last year.

“I just haven’t seen huge changes in the way people are talking about compensation,” said Sandy Gross, managing partner of Pinetum Partners, a financial recruiting firm. “Wall Street is being realistic. You have to retain your human capital.”

Yeah, and screw this clown as well. What about the "capital" that used to be in the 401K and retirement plans? It's more than fair that everyone else should get their jobs back and recover their own personal losses before Wall Street banksters get to buy a new house in the Hamptons. Read More......

Swine flu spreading beyond Mexico

The speed of movement is taking many by surprise and the WHO is calling this "a public health emergency of international concern." More from the AP:

A new strain of swine flu has this metropolis of 20 million people increasingly fearful as suspected flu deaths grow, and world health officials warn that Mexico City could be at the epicenter of a global epidemic.

Everything from concerts to sports matches and church services were canceled Sunday to keep people from congregating and spreading the virus in large crowds.

President Felipe Calderon assumed new powers to isolate people infected with a deadly swine flu strain that Mexico's health minister says has killed up to 81 people and likely sickened 1,324 since April 13.

And, cases have been reported in the U.S., via Reuters:

While all the deaths so far have been in Mexico, the flu is spreading in the United States. Eleven cases were confirmed in California, Kansas and Texas, and eight schoolchildren in New York City caught a type A influenza virus that health officials say is likely to be the swine flu.

Read More......

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

The networks and cable channels are working themselves into a frenzy this week as Obama hits the 100-day mark. It's the most important milestone EVER. So, there are smattering of Obama staffers and a slew of pundits today. The roundtables are pretty painful, if you ask me.

Besides that, we get the King of Jordan and the whacko President of Iran.

Here's the lineup:

Meet the Press hosts WH press sec. Robert Gibbs, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and features a roundtable with WH historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and Newsweek's Jon Meacham.

Face the Nation hosts Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and features a roundtable with Washington Post's Bob Woodward and "Daily Beast"'s Tina Brown.

This Week hosts Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and features a roundtable with Dem strategist Donna Brazile, ex-Bush strategist Matthew Dowd, Financial Times' Chrystia Freeland, New York Times' David Sanger and George Will.

Fox News Sunday hosts NEC Chair Lawrence Summers, Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI). The "Power Player" is Commanding General of Walter Reed: Maj. Gen. Carla Hawley-Bowland.

State of the Union hosts sr. WH adviser Valerie Jarrett, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), GOP strategist Mary Matalin, Dem strategist James Carville, ex-Clinton CoS John Podesta, ex-Reagan CoS Ken Duberstein and ex-WH adviser David Gergen.

Read More......

A little more Horowitz

Thanks to one of the comments yesterday I checked this out and yes, it's pretty amazing. We're listening to it and shaking our head in disbelief and awe. Wow! As a kid I played the drums and would play just about any kind of music if it gave me a chance to play. (The neighbors were less enthusiastic.) Looking back it's completely silly that I was fixated only on the drums and not the piano or anything else but live and learn. About the time I started to inch my way into wanting to play marimba I was on the receiving end of a brawl. After getting my head kicked in by a few classmates I managed to shove one of the attackers into a wall but it didn't work out very well for my hand. Too many broken bones in both hands made playing drums impossible so whether I like it or not, I'm a listener today instead of playing any musical instrument. Read More......

British billionaires cut in half, super rich suffer in crisis

Maybe the previous numbers were too unrealistically inflated but nevertheless it's a significant loss of wealth for a large number people. At least Elton John (and sheesh, it's 2009 so can the Brits ditch the "sir" crap?) lost parts of his fortune because he's been giving it away to charity.

Figures compiled for the Sunday Times Rich List 2009 reveal that the number of billionaires has fallen from 75 to 43 in the past 12 months.

Lakshmi Mittal, the London-based steel magnate, was the biggest loser among the billionaires after his fortune dropped by almost £17bn to £10.8bn. But he retains his place as Britain's richest man for the fifth year running.

Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea Football Club, keeps his position at second on the list despite also suffering from the downturn. His fortune has fallen to £7bn from £11.7bn. The richest British-born billionaire is the Duke of Westminster. His fortune, mainly based on property, has shrunk from £7bn to £6.5bn.

Collectively, the 1,000 multimillionaires on the list are worth £258bn, down from last year's record total of £413bn.

Read More......

Case builds against London police G20 violence

The tools more often used by the police such as video, Facebook and internet surveillance are now being used to build the case against the Metropolitan police following the death of Ian Tomlinson and many more reports of extreme violence. The G20 is going to be a modern low point of this organization. More from The Guardian:

The latest inflammatory remarks from serving policemen over the treatment of G20 protesters surfaced after it emerged that PC Rob Ward, 27, had allegedly bragged on Facebook how he was going to "bash some long-haired hippies" at the G20 demonstrations. On Friday, Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson responded to rising anti-police sentiment following Mr Tomlinson's death by announcing a new regime of "intrusive supervision" to root out rogue officers.

Meanwhile, the prospect of more Met officers facing criminal investigation for assaulting G20 protesters appears to be increasing, after lawyers revealed they had accumulated evidence indicating that more than 25 people may have sustained head injuries in the protests.

London law firm has collated material indicating that 14 protesters sustained wounds to the head caused directly by police violence. Another 15 cases are being examined in which people were punched or struck in the face by police riot shields or batons and suffered injury or trauma wounds.

Read More......