Paris sun bathers

Some Parisians aren't afraid to show it all when the sun comes out. The neighbors are certainly talking. Read More......

California state govt. may resort to IOUs as new fiscal year begins. It's a mess.

Can a state go bankrupt? We may find out how close California can come to it tonight at midnight when the state's new fiscal year begins. It's not looking good at all:

California prepared on Tuesday to resort to issuing IOUs as the giant but cash-strapped U.S. state struggled to approve a new budget in time for the new fiscal year that begins on Wednesday.

The IOUs, which are notes promising payment to vendors and local agencies, or shutting down some public services, are among measures that California and other states may have to rely on as they contend with staggering budget gaps caused by the U.S. recession.

Several U.S. states are due to start their fiscal years on July 1 with budget talks at an impasse. California, the most populous state, is especially hard hit.

The Golden State, hit by a leap in unemployment and a crash in property values, is suffering its worst tax revenue fall since the Great Depression and faces a $24.3 billion budget deficit.

"It's been a sort of perfect storm, of a very deep recession hitting us and exposing the weakness of depending on revenue sources sensitive to economic cycles," labor lobbyist Barry Broad said.

So much for Arnold saving the state. This crisis is going to really hurt those who can least afford it. That's the real tragedy. Read More......

Gay leader Ann Northrop has a question for President Obama

I want to clear up one thing re: DOMA.

Obama is required to obey the law. He is not required not to challenge the constitutionality of the law in court.

These are entirely different things. Our complaint about Bush was that he made up his own interpretations of laws--a rogue administration. That's not what we're asking of Obama. We're asking him to go into court to question whether the law is actually legal.

Why don't people understand this? And why does Obama either lie or just act confused about this himself?

Ann Northrop

Read More......

Housing decline slows in April

You know it's a troubled market when there is rejoicing over an 18.1% decline. It's bad but you have to start somewhere.

Home prices fell again in April, but at a slower rate, suggesting some parts of the housing market could be stabilizing, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released today.

The closely watched home index found that, nationwide, prices declined 18.1 percent compared with April 2008. That was slower than the 18.7 percent decline seen in March.

Read More......

Help a servicemember kicked out because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell serve in Congress

Tonight is the end of the fundraising quarter for congressional candidates. And, I know people are getting deluged with fundraising requests. But, if you want to help one candidate, consider donating to Tony Woods. He's running for the seat being vacated by Ellen Tauscher in California. Here's an interview I did with Tony last week:

If you can help, donate here. There will be a lot of focus on the fundraising numbers and we want to make sure Tony is off to a very good start.

The FEC quarter ends at midnight tonight -- and, I'm told that's midnight where you are, not Eastern time. Read More......

Updates on gay man's brain injury after Ft. Worth police raided gay bar on Stonewall Anniversary

Fort Worth police better start clarifying gay bar 'check'.

Rainbow Lounge bouncer Justin McCarty said, “I’ve worked in gay bars in four different counties in Texas. I’ve never seen anything this aggressive.”

Update on Chad Gibson, injured in Rainbow Lounge raid, now has bleeding around his brain.

Fort Worth council members call for probe in raid of gay bar.

Condemnations of Rainbow Lounge Raid Pour In.

But in good news, President Obama gave a speech. Read More......

Maine Freedom to Marry launched its new website today

While the gay A-listers were having a party, real activists are actually trying to further the cause and save marriage equality.

The campaign to preserve Maine's same-sex marriage law is moving along. Yesterday, Maine Freedom to Marry launched its new website.

The Catholic Church in Maine is leading the effort to get a measure on the ballot to repeal the new law. They've been collecting signatures for the referendum at weekend masses, because, you know there are no other pressing social issues in Maine during the recession. They've teamed up with the smarmy National Organization for Marriage, too. And, you know it's just a matter of time before the Mormons weigh in, although they'll probably be less blatant about it this time around.

We've got an ActBlue page set up to help the Maine campaign. We have to win this one. The other side will have lots and lots and lots of money. But, the times they are a changin' and changin' fast -- and we can win.


Help us win in Maine. Read More......

WSJ: Charlie Crist is "The Republican Barney Frank"

There's an increasingly competitive Republican primary underway for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat. It wasn't supposed to be tough. It was supposed to be a cakewalk for somewhat moderate Republican Governor Charlie Crist. But, Crist got a very conservative opponent, Marc Rubio. Polling shows there is hope for Rubio. And, the right wingers are lining up against Crist.

Witness the Wall Street Journal editorial, "Hurricane Charlie: The Republican Barney Frank":

Florida Governor Charlie Crist is running for the U.S. Senate next year, and we wonder if one reason is that he doesn't want to be in Tallahassee when the next hurricane hits his state. His veto of a hurricane insurance reform bill last week all but guarantees a state disaster on top of any wrought by Mother Nature.

The bill would have trimmed the cost of a state-run enterprise that insures homeowners against storm damage. The program has an $18 billion unfunded liability and has taxpayers on the line for tens of billions in property losses from the next major hurricane. The Republican legislature tried to reduce those future losses, but Mr. Crist sounded like Barney Frank rolling the dice on Fannie Mae in declaring there's nothing to worry about.

Oh, that's what they meant. Hurricane insurance is somehow akin to Fannie Mae. Sure. That seems like a bit of a stretch, doesn't it? I think the WSJ is playing some games here. Read More......

Breaking: Minnesota Supreme Court rules in favor of Al Franken

Finally!

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for a resolution in the seven-month fight over the seat.

The high court rejected a legal challenge from Republican Norm Coleman, whose options for regaining the Senate seat are dwindling.

Justices said Franken is entitled to the election certificate he needs to assume office. With Franken and the usual backing of two independents, Democrats will have a big enough majority to overcome Republican filibusters.

Coleman hasn't ruled out seeking federal court intervention.

Read More......

Krugman: Treason against the planet

Paul Krugman:

The fact is that the planet is changing faster than even pessimists expected: ice caps are shrinking, arid zones spreading, at a terrifying rate. And according to a number of recent studies, catastrophe — a rise in temperature so large as to be almost unthinkable — can no longer be considered a mere possibility. It is, instead, the most likely outcome if we continue along our present course.
Thus researchers at M.I.T., who were previously predicting a temperature rise of a little more than 4 degrees by the end of this century, are now predicting a rise of more than 9 degrees. Why? Global greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than expected; some mitigating factors, like absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans, are turning out to be weaker than hoped; and there’s growing evidence that climate change is self-reinforcing — that, for example, rising temperatures will cause some arctic tundra to defrost, releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Temperature increases on the scale predicted by the M.I.T. researchers and others would create huge disruptions in our lives and our economy. As a recent authoritative U.S. government report points out, by the end of this century New Hampshire may well have the climate of North Carolina today, Illinois may have the climate of East Texas, and across the country extreme, deadly heat waves — the kind that traditionally occur only once in a generation — may become annual or biannual events.

In other words, we’re facing a clear and present danger to our way of life, perhaps even to civilization itself. How can anyone justify failing to act?

Read More......

Gay White House attendee says our leaders were "wide-eyed" at Obama's feet

Tony-nominated producer Tom Gregory:

The Obama Administration assembled a group of two hundred or more of America's well-heeled leaders for equality, but like little doggies most were wide-eyed at his feet.

Politicians work for us. If they do their job with good intention, they demand our respect. They deserve fervent applause when they are heroic. Today I expected to hear the explanations of a champion knocked off his path by a country in financial distress, but instead I heard platitudes, cracked promises, and disappointments- still the crowd cheered for more....

In today's speech President Obama said gay America would be happy by the time his administration is over, if he doesn't stop offering excuses and empty promises, they will be.

Read More......

FDA confirms E. coli in Nestlé Toll House cookie dough

How exactly does something from inside the intestines of cows make it in cookie dough? The factory food industry continues to be a problem but at least there's some interest in Washington in changing that system.

The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it had confirmed the presence of E. coli 0157, a deadly strain of bacteria, in samples of Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough produced at the company's plant in Danville, Va.

Investigators did not find the bacterium inside the factory or on equipment but in a tub of chocolate cookie dough made at the site in February, said David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety at the FDA. The dough had a June 10 expiration date.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Nestlé voluntarily recalled 30,000 cases of its refrigerated cookie dough on June 19 after officials at the FDA and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspected that dozens of cases of E. coli-related illness were linked to the product.

Read More......

63 women out of 176 invitees (that's 36%)

I was just going through the invite list to the White House gay party last night. I counted around 63 women out of around 176 invitees. (Some names were hard to determine the gender, and it's always possible my back-of-the-envelope count is off by one or two, but that won't change the overall percentage enough to make a difference.)

113 men (64%)
63 women (36%)

That would be a bit more than one-third women invited to a major civil rights event hosted by a Democratic president. Let me explain something. For good or for bad, and I happen to think it's good, when a big liberal group or politician holds a public event, they try to get a representative mix of people showing up. That means you pay attention to how many women you have, or haven't, invited, how many African-Americans, etc. Even in the 1990s, inviting nearly twice as many men as women would raise more than a few eyebrows. But in 2009?

(Perhaps all the lesbians got too uppity about their civil rights and got blacklisted too.)

Which leads us to ask the question, yet again, just who is advising Obama on gay civil rights issues? If a gay rights group had done this, they'd be excoriated by the community. And rightly so.

It will be interesting to see how many people of color, and other minorities, were invited as well. Read More......

Holiday declared in Iraq as US troops leave cities

It's a holiday, but people aren't exactly in the streets celebrating. But, finally, there's been a first major step towards getting U.S. troops out of Iraq. Our soldiers pulled out of the cities today:

Iraq declared a public holiday Tuesday to celebrate the official withdrawal of American troops from Iraqi cities and towns, emptying the streets as many people stayed home because they feared violence.

As official Iraq celebrated, the American military announced the death of four soldiers on Monday from combat operations in Baghdad, a reminder of the continuing hazards for American troops here and the vulnerability of soldiers as they wrap up operations in the field.

In the past few weeks, with the approach of the official date for withdrawal, nationalist sentiments have spread within the Iraqi government and military, with officials all but boasting publicly that Iraq is ready to handle the security situation on its own. The date of June 30 was set in an Iraqi-American security agreement that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.

Let's hope they are ready to handle it.

Even as this was unfolding, four more U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq today. Read More......

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Last night, we finished another semester at Language ETC. My partner, Carlos, and I teach English to immigrants every Monday night. Carlos has been doing it for ten years and is a masterful teacher. I'm still a relative newbie. We teach a basic class, spending a lot of time on the verbs "to be" and "to have." We also do lots of vocabulary about food, housing, money and family. This semester we had a particularly enthusiastic -- and younger -- group. Most spoke Spanish, but we did have one young man from Afghanistan. Through the course of the semester, he not only learned English, the other students taught him Spanish. In return, he taught them a lot about his culture. Sometimes, I think this is the most productive two hours of my week. It's impressive to watch the students work so hard at learning English, while holding down a job or, sometimes two. Anyway, I don't want to sound to corny, but, I'm very proud of the students. They really do inspire me.

Okay, what's the news today? Read More......

CNBC Editor: if you just smile, the recession will be gone!

For the umpteenth time, CNBC is declaring an end to the recession. That's right, we've turned the corner again. For those following CNBC we've turned so many corners that some might say we're going in circles. In the minds of the Wall Street cheerleaders, a few positive signs are enough to stand up and say "mission accomplished" and start promoting the next run. It's really cute and the new varsity letter that CNBC will receive from Wall Street will surely look nice but there's a lot more reason for concern than celebration these days.

This ongoing theory that the economy is can be magically improved with a few smiles is ridiculous. Absolutely, the market can be moved with sentiment but to cherry pick a few small positive points and overlook the fact that the banks were on life-support a few months ago is quite a stretch. They are only alive because of massive government intervention and the pumped up numbers by a few may not last. The market needs more than a smile to move forward in any meaningful way.

The global central bankers have delivered their updated report and there's plenty to suggest a double dip recession is a likely outcome. We still have banks that aren't lending and while consumers are feeling more confident, anyone who thinks they will return to the credit bubble days is deluding themselves. It is not going to happen anytime soon. For 2009 the best we can expect is a leveling off and no more surprises but with unemployment sniffing 10% in the autumn, that will be a challenging psychological barrier for everyone. Everyone except CNBC who failed to see the recession coming despite being the self-proclaimed experts.

Maybe, just maybe investor Wilbur Ross is more accurate when we pushes out the recovery until deep into 2010. Even that sounds like a best case scenario. Read More......

Honduran military detains journalists under gunpoint

Intimidating journalists using guns is so retro, but there's a lot of that retro behavior going around these days. Meanwhile, world leaders continue to protest the military coup that removed Manuel Zelaya from office.

Honduran troops detained seven international journalists covering the aftermath of a military coup Monday, freeing them unhurt a short time later. The government also took at least two television stations off the air and interrupted the broadcasts of others.

At least 10 soldiers, most with rifles drawn, arrived at the hotel where journalists from The Associated Press and the Venezuela-based television network Telesur were staying and unplugged their editing equipment in an apparent attempt to stop their coverage of protests in support of deposed President Manuel Zelaya.

One of the Telesur journalists was speaking on a telephone at the time of the detention, and AP's Nicolas Garcia saw a soldier lightly slapping her hand so she would hang up.

Read More......

Exxon agrees to pay interest on Valdez oil spill

And it only took them twenty years to come around.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. has decided not to appeal hundreds of millions of dollars in interest on punitive damages resulting from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The Irving, Texas-based company will pay about $470 million in interest on more than $507.5 million in punitive damages following the 11 million gallon spill of crude in Prince William Sound, company spokesman Tony Cudmore said Monday.

The company expects to make payment on the interest in the next few days, said plaintiffs' lawyer David Oesting. Exxon's decision was first reported Monday by the Anchorage Daily News.

Read More......

The cat days of summer

Our summer has been pretty spotty so far with lots of rain and cooler temperatures but the last few days have been hot. Well, hot for Paris in June. One day I'm wearing a wool sweater and the next, we're roasting. Today, Sushi was so hot that he curled up in my rhododendron flower pot seeking some cool dirt. His mouth is open because he's now into "talking" with us and was talking up a storm when he saw me approach with the camera.

For the friendly gardeners who gave the good advice on cutting back the stems after the flowers dropped you might notice that it's full of nice new growth. Thanks again for that because I think 2010 may look even better when she blooms. Read More......

BIS report: test financial products like drugs

Oh the junkies on Wall Street won't like this. They'll be begging for one last fix before being sent to the methadone clinic for Stimulus Part II. Reuters:

Financial products should be treated like medicines and sold to consumers only when they are certified safe to prevent a repeat of last year's financial meltdown, the world's central bankers said on Monday.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which acts as a forum for central banks, said government efforts to revive the global economy might have only a temporary impact because banks are not being pushed hard enough to fix their underlying problems.

Banks' lending and other practices, including the approval of risky mortgages in the United States, led the global economy into the worst recession in decades.

Read More......

Rep. Jared Polis on DOMA and that DOMA brief

Congress is in recess, so Rep. Polis was in his district today, not at the White House party. For those who don't know him yet, Polis is an openly gay, first-term Democrat from Colorado. He's the first openly gay man to run and win a US House seat as an openly gay man right from the start (as opposed to coming out after being elected.) It only took til 2008 for that to happen.

Chuck Todd interviewed Polis on Hardball tonight about Obama and gay issues. I found the DOMA segment particularly interesting. Polis made it quite clear that the problem was the DOMA brief. Polis explained, as we and many others have explained, that the Obama administration didn't have to defend the law and certainly didn't have to respond in the way they did:


Polis is a new generation of gay leader. We need a new generation of gay leaders. We also do need to build the political will to repeal DOMA -- at the White House and on the Hill, starting with our Democratic allies.

Polis was pretty clear. But, this is what confuses me about the Obama administration: Shortly before the President gave another great speech today, his press secretary couldn't seem to give clear information on action being taken by the administration. As Pam put it:

While the VIP LGBTs were waiting for the President to meet and greet, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was taking a pummeling today at the daily presser about the inaction of the administration regarding several LGBT issues on the back burner. Clearly it's more than just the "whining homos" wondering why the President talks a good game but seems quite passive about doing anything concrete. Gibbs does his usual song and dance saying the Pentagon and Congress have to be involved, but that the President hasn't met with the people in the Pentagon or Congress. Sounds like a circular reference to me.

Read the transcript in Pam's post. Confusing, at best. What we've seen over the past few months is that when the Obama administration wants something, everyone knows they want it -- from the traditional media to the Hill to the Cabinet Departments involved. Read More......

Lindsey Graham: The GOP's new 'it' guy?

Please let it be Lindsey. Please let Lindsey be the GOP's new "it" guy. Please. Political Wire reports:

Jonathan Martin and Chris Cilliza rave about "an inspired performance" on Meet the Press by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) yesterday.

From Cillizza:

Does one solid performance on a Sunday show mean that Graham is the new "it" guy for the GOP? No. But the notoriously private Graham seemed to signal on Sunday that he is ready to take more of a leadership role.

"I can be a leader on an issue, quite frankly," Graham told MTP host David Gregory at one point.

Yes, you can, Lindsey. Don't let anyone in the GOP hold you back. You go. Read More......

Madoff receives top limit in sentencing - 150 years in prison

Sounds like the judge would have given 500 years if that was an option and rightly so. There still so much more to this story including the possibility of a few "lucky" investors who somehow managed to rake in healthy increases of nearly 1000% in a year when others were receiving the normal 10-12%. Crazy odds...maybe a little too crazy. And the crowd roared.

Cheers erupted as a federal judge sentenced swindler Bernard Madoff to 150 years in prison Monday, calling his claims less than compelling.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said Madoff's breach of trust was massive, and that he lied to investors and to the SEC to buy homes, yachts and pay country club fees. He called the maximum sentence symbolic to those who might imitate the fraud and to the victims seeking relief.

"Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll," Chin said.

"Not a single letter was submitted in support of Madoff," Chin said. "Not friends, not family. That is telling."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs is talking about the message this sends to the market but hell, how about sending a message from the White House? Obama wants others to get their hands dirty cleaning up this mess but he's too willing to take a pass. How pathetic is it that a judge takes more of a stand against Wall Street than a president who ran on the theme of "change"? Is Obama really that timid and afraid to confront such clear abuse? Read More......

Obama and the big gay party

Well, it's over.

The President gave his speech to the big gay A-listers at the White House (well, minus those who were blacklisted). Boy, that crowd was really into it. They clapped wildly when he said the words, "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender." Just because he said the words. Even though Bill Clinton said those words - what? - 17 years ago?

Also, your president wants you to know that unjust laws must be overturned. Some day. The crowd loved that one too. One might forget that the Obama administration defended the Defense of Marriage Act law recently. They not only defended it, they defended it in a way that demeaned and mocked same-sex marriages by invoking incest and pedophilia. But never mind.

Obama also told us that some would deny us full equality. Um, that would include him. He doesn't support marriage equality -- and his words are being used against our efforts to achieve those rights. But again, never mind.

The President tells us that he's looking for a "practical" solution to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. (We've also heard the solution has to be "durable" or "sustainable.") But, it has to be an Act of Congress. It really really really really has to be an Act of Congress and not a stop-loss order that could achieve the same thing by executive order immediately. It's too bad that in the meantime two gay service men and women are kicked out every day. But hey, we're a nation at war. And, for some reason it means that we should have fewer, and not more, Arabic linguists. See, we're going to continue to ruin the lives of people who want to serve their nation, but, in the long run, that's okay. Because we're perpetually at war. But, someday we'll have a "practical" or "durable" or "sustainable" solution. Although, it is funny how how "practical" and "durable" and "sustainable" weren't talking points on DADT during the campaign. (Search for those terms in Senator Obama's Statement on Don't Ask Don't Tell from November 2007.) They sure are now that Obama is dragging his feet on every major campaign promise to the gay community.

All in all, the president gave a very eloquent speech. But, you know what, we've heard those speeches already. He's the president now, not some candidate. He can do more than talk. And so far, he's chosen not to, and made up some pretty flimsy excuses to justify his action. And, while many of the so-called gay "leaders" in the East Room may be assuaged and bought off by the promise of champagne and a heartfelt "God bless you" from the man who promised much, lots more people are mad as hell and starting to think they're being taken for a ride.

The people are way ahead of their leaders on these issues -- both their gay and their elected leaders.

For some background on why we're in this situation, read my post, Democrats and Political Homophobia, which reads, in part:

Political homophobes aren't gay-hating in the traditional sense. In fact, publicly, most are strong supporters of LGBT equality. But, behind closed doors, many Democratic leaders, consultants, Hill staffers and the rest will vociferously argue that there is no political benefit to actually supporting LGBT rights. Political homophobia is rampant among some Democrats. In some ways, it's worse than blatant homophobia, since we think most Democrats are on our side. And outwardly, they are.

Political homophobia dictates policy in DC more than we'd like to think.

Read More......

Today's taste of Sweden

Jane Hamsher and I just went to watch Huff Post editor (and friend) Katharine Zaleski talk at the Swedish political conference we've been invited to attend this week. The moderator was from a conservative paper, and had a bit of an issue with HuffPo being liberal. She also didn't understand why the American press focused on Obama's dog, as if this were a sign of the press' liberal bias. (They focused on Bush's dog too.)

Anyway, our panel is on Thursday, but we're also going to be meeting up with Swedish bloggers and other politicos this week to share what we know about using the Internet for politics. I hope to meet some people involved in gay politics here as well.



A lot of Stockholm is on the water. The city reminds you of so many other European cities - like Amsterdam (the waterfront buildings), Venice (the church silhouettes), Rome (the colors), and even Vienna.



The other thing that Stockholm makes me think of is some of the master European paintings of old. The way the sun hits the buildings, the colors, the shadows, and even the rooftops. This rooftop above made think of this famous painting by Caillebotte.



I mean, look at these colors. This is simply an alleyway.



Swede's taking in that all-important sun along the water in Stockholm.



There's a rather nice town square with a huge fountain in the middle of town, near the culture center - this is where the Iran protest took place (see below).



Iran protest.



Big maritime country.



I love the duck keeping up with the canoe.



Just wonderful light and shadow everywhere.



From really high up, we all look like Swedes.



Same photo, upside down.



And finally, this is kind of a cliché, as photos go, but I still always like it. Read More......

Are you a good coup or a bad coup?

I found myself reading the International Herald Tribune over breakfast, saw "Coup in Honduras," and thought "that can't be good." Then I read the article and started having a different point of view.

Yes, coups are bad. Bad coup, BAD coup. Except in this case, where the president of Honduras was an ally of Hugo Chavez, and was trying to set himself up for an illegal second term, in violation of a court order and ruling by the country's congress. The military refused to go along with the president's plans to, in essence, have his own coup, so they staged their own.

That's a lot messier than "coup in Honduras" might suggest.

Obama's reaction has been carefully pro-democracy, and understandably. It's not like we want to support a Chavez ally, but at the same time, we really don't want Latin America to start adopting the coup solution that was so prevalent over the last half century.

So what do you do? Read More......

DC political fundraiser for former ThinkProgress blogger & Hillary staffer Judd Legum

Judd Legum (MD-HD-30)
$

From Judd:

Just wanted to remind you that there is an event this Monday with John Podesta in support of my campaign for Maryland State Delegate.

This is an absolutely critical event for our campaign. This campaign is about bringing new energy and new progressive ideas to Annapolis. But my likely Republican opponent, Ron George, sells diamonds for a living and self-financed a good portion of his last campaign. So it's essential that we have a strong financial position to compete.

(You can read my likely GOP opponent's latest fundraising missive -- featuring yours truly -- on the Republican Women of Anne Arundel County website, a group that has recently been the national news for comparing Obama to Hitler. Several local Republicans have had their names to be removed from the website but George's remains.)

I really hope you can make it to Monday's event. Tickets start at just $50.
When: Monday, June 29 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM.

Where: Local 16. 1602 U St. NW, Washington, DC 20009

The best thing to do is to buy your tickets in advance at http://www.actblue.com/page/podesta629. (Alternatively, you can purchase your ticket at the door by cash or check.)

You can also help by blogging, tweeting or Facebooking the info about the event.

If you aren't in the area or can't make it, I hope you'll still consider purchasing a ticket to support the campaign. I promise I'll make these the hardest working dollars you've ever spent.

Also, feel free to donate to Judd's campaign via our ActBlue page we set up for him - all the money goes to Judd's campaign. Read More......

Obama team hints at second stimulus

Will it be needed? Probably. Will Americans or Congress who runs for reelection support it? Not so sure. If the Obama administration had focused more on getting a fair deal out of Wall Street it might not be as much of a struggle but they didn't. They caved too often and then Wall Street didn't know when to stop thumbing their nose at the public as they lavished rich bonuses and pay on themselves. A collective "go to hell" from voters is waiting ahead and Obama along with Wall Street have only themselves to blame.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Let me add another point. We're seeing in recent polls that support for the initial stimulus is sinking. As I've written previously, that is due, in part, to the administration's know-it-all hubris. They didn't need friends and allies to pass the stimulus plan initially, so they thought, and they don't need to justify that plan to anyone after the fact. Unless, of course, they want to have a second plan, then they might just want to actually defend the first one at some point before it's all too late.

Reuters:

U.S. officials and private economists forecast a gradual resumption of growth in the second half of the year. But they warn that unemployment will continue to climb for a while, even after the recession has ended.

This has generated talk about a second stimulus package. Obama said during a press conference last week that it was too soon to say if this was the case.

Investors are wary of more government aid on top of a record U.S. budget deficit, and Republicans slam Democrat Obama for what they say is typical liberal tax and spending.

Too soon, perhaps, but that hasn't stopped them from floating this idea. Clearly they are preparing the ground for this next intervention yet they won't have any friends left by the time it's necessary. Republican protests are a joke since they didn't even think their economy needed help nor was in a recession. Even so, they will control the discussion when the economy softens again in the second half. It's unfortunate that Obama has done so poorly with reaching out to those within his own party because if they need to push a second stimulus, he's going to struggle finding friends out there. Read More......

A note to our dear gay leaders

I'm so proud of our gay leaders today. Getting all spiffed up to go to the White House and "deliver our president a message."

That'll be the day.

Oh, I'm sure, in the 8 minutes or so that a small select handful of those present will be shuffled into a private ante-room to meet the president, they'll tell him things like "people were hurt" or "people were disappointed." (The overwhelming rest of the invitees will get a whopping 0.5 seconds to deliver their "stern" message to the president as he's shaking their hand and looking to the next person).

Obama knows we're hurt and disappointed. Telling him that we have families too, with him nodding, Clinton-like, perhaps even biting his lip to show that he too feels our pain, will accomplish absolutely nothing. The message that our leaders need to send President Obama is that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore.

If any of our leaders want to deliver a real message to the president, try asking him any of these questions - you can say it's from one of our leaders who was a big Obama supporter during the campaign, raised $50,000 for the president, and then was banned from attending:

1. Our lawyers say you didn't have to support DOMA in court at all, you could have opposed it if you actually felt that our civil rights were important enough. When are you going to oppose DOMA in court and start following through on your promise to push for its repeal?

or

2. Comparing our marriages to pedophilia and incest? Our community expects an apology, why have you refused to give one?

or

3. Two gay service members are being discharged a day under Don't Ask Don't Tell. You could stop the discharges right now by issuing a stop-loss order. You refuse to, giving some BS explanation about wanting a legislative fix. Yeah, we all want a legislative fix. What does that have to do with the fact that you have the power to stop this travesty now, as you promised, and you refuse to?

4. You didn't include health benefits in that memo for federal employees you signed last week. You claimed DOMA wouldn't let you. Our lawyers say that's BS. You can provide health benefits to, for example, domestic partners. Tell us the real reason that you're treating gay federal employees as separate but unequal to straight federal employees?

Yes, if you ask my questions you might not get an invite back for more canapé next year. But you might just actually make a difference. That is why you're all going, right? Read More......

South Carolina GOPers want Sanford to quit

I do love reading The State these days. One of the updates from the Sanford scandal is that some prominent South Carolina Republicans want the Governor to quit -- and they're already planning the succession:

Some Republican state lawmakers are privately saying they want Republican Gov. Mark Sanford to step down — of his own volition — this week.

Meanwhile, Sanford has spent portions of the last few days phoning key lawmakers and Republican Party activists, apologizing for his affair with an Argentinian woman that left him out of touch with his staff and other state leaders for the better part of a week.

On another note, a source close to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said Sunday that Bauer has approached members of the Senate to discuss the possibility that, if Sanford resigns, Bauer would only serve the remainder of the governor’s term, focusing on job creation, and would not run for governor in 2010 as Bauer had originally intended.

“(Lawmakers) have given (Sanford) 72 hours of breathing room,” said Katon Dawson, immediate past chairman of the state Republican Party, who said he has spent the last few days playing referee between lawmakers who want the governor out and those who want to give him another chance. “But I think, early next week, their patience will run out.”

I hope the patience doesn't run out too soon. And, I hope Mark Sanford won't give in. Let it drag out. This is too much. Read More......

Supreme Court finds white firefighters were "unfairly denied promotions" in New Haven case

A major, but not completely unexpected decision, in an employment case today from the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor was on the Circuit Court panel whose decision was overturned, which means we'll hear endless discussion about this decision:

The Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide, potentially limiting the circumstances in which employers can be held liable for decisions when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination against minorities.

"Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

This decision will be the focus of a lot of spin today and for the next several weeks. Republicans have been looking for a line of attack on Sotomayor -- and may try to make this case a bigger issue. As far as I can tell, Sotomayor and her colleagues on the Court of Appeals were following precedence in their decision. Today, the Supreme Court changed the precedent and the interpretation of federal employment law. Read More......

A message for those LGBT "leaders" going to the Big Gay White House Party

For any gay A-lister who may be going to the White House party on Monday; Get a good look at the picture below. The man's name is Victor Fehrenbach. He's being kicked out of the military because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- under Commander-in-chief Barack Obama (who promised to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell.) Fehrenbach wasn't invited by the White House directly. Servicemebers Legal Defense Network is bringing him as its guest to the party on Monday. (SLDN had the protest in front of the White House on Saturday.)

Lt. Col. Fehrenbach better meet the President.

Now, we keep hearing that the noble people who are going on Monday are planning to talk about issues and really let the White House know we've got problems. That's BS. Many of them had a chance two weeks ago in the Oval Office to tell the president what they thought, and how many of those groups let him have it? This is a show-off event for the star-f*ckers, and it's a chance for the Obama administration to use our community's "leaders" for some much-needed CYA. They'll show the world how much they really do love the gays, after all, they gave them champagne! The White House is taking full advantage of this.

But, Lt. Col. Fehrenbach isn't a star-f*cker, and he's probably not somebody the White House wants to see at all.

Lt. Col. Fehrenbach actually has a message for the President about Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It's a message the President needs to hear -- so Fehrenbach better be able to deliver it. When Obama enters the room, everyone else clear away. Our "leaders" need to make sure Fehrenbach meets Obama. It'll be very ugly if the A-list gays all swarm Obama and the one person who actually has a message for the president, the one person who isn't there to suck up and sell out our community, isn't able to deliver it. That would be a big problem and will tarnish the reputations of everyone who prevents it from happening. Got that, A-list gays?

We're watching.

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Hugo Chavez suggests invading Honduras after coup

That ought to help a bad situation improve quickly. There's nothing quite like the loony Chavez getting involved in a problem. He's about as calming as George Bush. The Independent:

Honduras was plunged into a political crisis that threatened to spill across the region hours after President Manuel Zelaya was thrown out by the army and exiled to Costa Rica prompting his leftist ally in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, to threaten military intervention.

In the first successful military coup in Central America since the end of the Cold War, the army sent masked soldiers into the presidential palace before dawn. The President, who was in dispute with his military about a planned constitutional referendum, was then escorted to a military plane which took him into exile.

Mr Chavez went on state television later in the day claiming that the coup leaders had taken away the Cuban ambassador to Honduras and left the Venezuelan ambassador by the road in the capital, Tegucigalpa, after beating him. He said that if troops enter his embassy "that military junta would be entering a de facto state of war," and "we would have to act militarily".

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Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Congress is in recess until July 6. If you have anything to say to your member of Congress, do it over the next week. When Senators and Representatives are here in DC, they are treated like royalty. People fawn over them. But, when they're back home, they're just retail politicians -- and they need your votes. So, for example, if you want the public option in health care reform, tell them this week. Call the local offices. Attend a town hall meeting if there is one. Show up at the Fourth of July parade. Almost nothing freaks out Capitol Hill staffers more than the boss coming back to Washington after a trip home with a report on what constituents are saying. It's one of the few things that can trump the high-powered lobbyists.

Today is the big gay party at the White House to celebrate Stonewall. LGBT "leaders" have been tripping over themselves to get invited. But, no worries. Everyone who is going is really going so they can tell the President that he really needs to address LGBT issues. Yes, that's why everyone is going. More on this later...

Let's get it started.... Read More......

Property bubble building in China

So far during this global recession, Beijing has moved quickly to pump billions into the economy to keep it flowing. Their rescue plan was focused on modifying the export based economy into an inward looking economy while the global recession passes. To a large degree it's worked. Exports are down, obviously, but the government has managed to keep growth at a relatively high level though maybe not as high as required to keep up with the always heavy influx of new workers. Their own stimulus may be running out of gas and it's highly probably they will need to act again because it's wishful thinking to believe Western consumers will come back in the near term. China has the money to invest internally but still, it's a stress and a radical change from the export bubble economy.

With that background, now China may be looking at yet another bubble. A real estate bubble which of course, means problems for banks as well. Facing one bubble is challenging enough but another?

Wei Jianing, a senior researcher at the State Council Development & Research Centre, was quoted as saying that nearly half of China's newly created liquidity has been circulating in the financial system instead of flowing into the real economy to support growth, thus pushing up asset prices.

"There have already appeared some new early indications of asset price bubbles in China," Wei was quoted as telling a conference.

The newspaper also quoted Cheng Siwei, an influential former Chinese lawmaker, as saying that about 2.4 trillion yuan ($351 billion) of new lending in the first quarter of this year was used for investment purposes, including stock and property investment.

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World central bankers report: bank debt will slow recovery

The problems in the banking world are not over quite yet. In reality that doesn't really mean the banks themselves are in trouble - they remain untouchable - but the taxpayers who saved their sorry asses from ruin are in trouble. The bankers have made sure they win regardless of performance and aren't very interested in the "we're all in this together" spirit that others had when they rescued them. Other than total failure like Lehman, what does it take for them to understand? Even at Lehman, the top few people walked away with millions in bonus money even after going bust. It's unfortunate but there's no reason why any of the banks should be helped when they run into trouble next time.

In their latest quarterly financial services survey, the CBI and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) say many parts of the sector expect business volumes to rise in the next quarter after 21 months of falls. But despite these early signs of optimism, Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic adviser, cautioned that banking remains "under pressure".

"Conditions remain challenging, particularly for the banks. Although demand looks like it is beginning to recover, it is doing so from a very low base. We can still expect lower profitability, significant job losses and cuts to investment in the coming months. The rising levels of bad debt are a further worry for the industry," he said.

His note of caution chimed with the warning from the BIS. As one of the few bodies consistently sounding the alarm about the build-up of risky financial assets and under-capitalised banks in the run-up to the credit crisis, the BIS's assessment will carry weight with governments. It says: "The lack of progress threatens to prolong the crisis and delay the recovery because a dysfunctional financial system reduces the ability of monetary and fiscal actions to stimulate the economy."

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British MP report: besides a few public beatings and a death, G20 was good policing

That's telling 'em. Now the Metropolitan police surely won't ever do that again. The MPs did provide criticism but it almost sounds as though they were more bothered with police hiding their identity than they were with protecting peaceful protesters. The report on the G20 policing did not mention the specifics of Ian Tomlinson (who died) nor Nicola Fisher who was hit hard and caught on video. The Guardian:

The conclusion from the Commons home affairs select committee inquiry into the G20 protests of April 1 follows admissions from senior Metropolitan police officers that some inexperienced officers, who were clearly quite scared, used "inappropriate force".

The report by the cross-party group of MPs says they "cannot condone the use of untrained, inexperienced officers on the frontline of a public protest under any circumstances".

Their inquiry also calls for the police to seriously consider whether they can continue with the use of tactics such as kettling – containing protesters behind cordons for a sustained period of time – and the controlled use of force against those who appear hostile without first holding a public debate over the future of policing public protests.

During the G20 protests the Met repeatedly attempted to "kettle" thousands of mainly peaceful demonstrators.

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A coup in Honduras ousted the President

A coup:

President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was ousted by the army on Sunday, capping months of tensions over his efforts to lift presidential term limits, in the first military coup in Central America since the end of the cold war.

Soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa, early Sunday, disarming the presidential guard, seizing Mr. Zelaya and putting him on a plane to Costa Rica.

Mr. Zelaya, a leftist aligned with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, angrily denounced the coup as illegal. “I am the president of Honduras,” he insisted at a news conference at the San José airport in Costa Rica, still wearing his pajamas.

Later Sunday the Honduran Congress voted him out of office, replacing him with the president of Congress, Roberto Micheletti.

The Honduran military offered no public explanation for its actions but the Supreme Court issued a statement saying that the military had acted to defend the law against “those who had publicly spoken out and acted against the Constitution’s provisions.”

Now, admittedly, I'm no expert on the Honduran constitution. But, it seems like the document would have a way of dealing this in a way short of arresting, deporting and replacing the president. Bad precedent. Read More......

Doing more HAARM

SEIU and Living Liberally have skewered the opponents of health care reform. Unfortunately, too many Democrats on the Hill are inclined to believe those who will do us harm. Visit HAARM.org to meet the HAARM-ful heros who hold too much sway on Capitol Hill.

Here's another HAARM video:
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Fort Worth Gay Bar raided -- on 40th anniversary of Stonewall

We keep saying that in DC, it feels like the 90s again. Last night in Fort Worth, it was 1969. June 27, 1969. The bar wasn't Stonewall. It was the Rainbow Lounge.

Details are still coming in, but it looks like there was a raid on a new gay bar in Fort Worth last night. Initial details came via "Instant Tea," the blog of Dallas Voice:

I got a phone call at 3 this morning from Todd Camp, the founder of Q Cinema and former reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It was Camp’s birthday and the night of a special Q Cinema screening of two Stonewall documentaries… because it was ALSO the 40th anniverary of Stonewall, as anyone knows.

Except, apparently, the Fort Worth PD.

Or maybe worse, they DID know and wanted to make a point.

The horrific details after the jump.

According to Camp, the newly-opened Rainbow Lounge is “the only cool gay bar in town,” but the police raided it, arresting numerous patrons for no reason.

Instant Tea has had several more updates since that first post. Burnt Orange Report has more:

Early this morning a new LGBT club in Fort Worth was raided by Fort Worth police, to which reports indicate that one individual arrested suffered a fractured skull. Eyewitness reports say that anywhere between 10-20 were arrested. This activity occurs on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall protests in New York where gays and lesbians protested harassment by police and began the modern gay rights movement.

Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns issued the following statement:

I want all citizens of Texas and Fort Worth to know and be assured that the laws and ordinances of our great State and City will be applied fairly, equally and without malice or selective enforcement. I consider this to be part of "The Fort Worth Way" here. As an elected representative of the city of Fort Worth, I am calling for an immediate and thorough investigation of the actions of the City of Fort Worth Police and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission in relation to the incident at the Rainbow Lounge earlier this morning, June 28, 2009.

It is unfortunate that this incident occurred in Fort Worth and even more so to have occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall protests. Unlike 40 years ago, though, the people of this community have elective representation that will make sure our government is accountable and that the rights of all of its citizens are protected. I are working together with our Mayor, Police Chief, the City of Fort Worth Human Relations Commission, and our State Legislative colleagues to get a complete and accurate accounting of what occurred.

Rest assured that neither the people of Fort Worth, nor the city government of Fort Worth, will tolerate discrimination against any of its citizens. And know that the GLBT Community is an integral part of the economic and cultural life of Fort Worth.

Every Fort Worth citizen deserves to have questions around this incident answered and I am working aggressively toward that end.

Thanks to SD_Dave for reporting this news in the comments tonight -- and to superstition who had also posted this disturbing news. Read More......

On the radio

UPDATE @ 9:45 PM: It's over. That was fun. Thanks to the hosts, George and George, who were very supportive. As we know here at AMERICAblog, an awful lot of straight people are paying attention to the way the Obama administration is handling LGBT issues, too.
________________
Doing a radio show tonight at 9:15 PM. The show is called "The Weekly Forum with George and George" and it's on 1340am in the Tampa Bay Area and online here. We'll be talking about the Obama administration and LGBT issues, something we've discussed a bit here on AMERICAblog over the last few weeks. Read More......

Washington Post's Dana Milbank called Huffington's Nico Pitney a "dick"

Dana Milbank has presented himself as the defender of the Washington press corps. Last week, he wrote a bizarre column attacking Nico Pitney for asking a question at the Obama press conference. It really was a pathetic and ridiculous screed.

Today, Milbank and Nico Pitney were on CNN's Reliable Sources. I only caught the tail end of the segment. But, I did get to watch the video. Nico holds Milbank accountable for some of his buffoonish coverage in the past. That didn't go over well. Nico tells us that when the camera was off, Milbank called him "a dick":

The only thing that surprised me was when Dana turned to me after our initial sparring and called me a "dick" in a whispered tone (the specific phrase was, I believe, "You're such a dick"). Howie Kurtz wrote on Twitter that he didn't hear it, which is understandable -- he was doing the lead-in for the next part of the segment on the ABC White House special. But it happened (I urge Howie to watch the video of the panel during the ABC intro) and it was frankly pretty odd.

Class act, that Dana Milbank.

Awhile back, the incomparable Digby coined the term "The Villagers" to describe the inside-the-beltway elite who demonstrate a group-think that is definitely not reality based. Milbank is in that club and they all live in their elite little bubble. There is enormous interaction between any administration and the elite media. Off-the-record conversations, dinners, drinks, backgrounders -- the elite have always had unparalleled access -- and still do. The White House press corps colluded with the Bush administration to bring us into the war with Iraq. The White House press corps colluded with the Bush administration to cover-up the leak of Valerie Plame's undercover status. Many, many reporters sitting in the press briefing knew the administration was lying about the Plame leak lie, but they played along.

I don't know Dana Milbank. I do know Nico. If there's one person in the media (new or old) who isn't a dick, it's Nico Pitney. He is one of the most decent people I've ever met. Nico is a class act all the way -- and his coverage of the crisis in Iran far surpassed anything else out there. The Villagers would rather talk about Nico's question instead of doing real reporting. No wonder old journalism is tanking. Read More......

NYT's Nagourney on the gay brouhaha

NYT

Yet if the culture is moving on, national politics is not, or at least not as rapidly. Mr. Obama has yet to fulfill a campaign promise to repeal the policy barring openly gay people from serving in the military. The prospects that Congress will ever send him a bill overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, appear dim. An effort to extend hate-crime legislation to include gay victims has produced a bitter backlash in some quarters....

The Obama White House in particular is reluctant to embrace gay rights issues now, officials there say, because they do not want to provide social conservatives a rallying cry while the president is trying to assemble legislative coalitions on health care and other initiatives.

This is, I think, the crux of the problem. Obama will do nothing that gives social conservatives an excuse to bitch and moan. He's never going to get fulfilling his major promises on gay rights, nor most of his other major "progressive" promises, provided he continues to live in mortal fear that someone on the right might get mad at him. Read More......

Dem. Senators are cranky because they're being called out for screwing up health care reform

The gist of this Washington Post article is that it's bad, very bad, for Democratic activists to fulfill Democratic promises on health care reform. Democratic Senators don't like being asked to keep promises:

"We are getting to the point if people aren't going to respond to the patience and openness of Senator Baucus, we should begin to make a different plan," said Andrew Stern, president of the 2 million-member SEIU.

Stern said his organization issued a release chastising Feinstein last week, because she should "put her foot on the gas, not the brake" on health reform.

"The gas pedal to go where?" Feinstein replied, explaining she has questions about how a broad expansion of health coverage will be paid for.

"I do not think this is helpful. It doesn't move me one whit," she said. "They are spending a lot of money on something that is not productive."

How dare any Democrat expect to influence Dianne Feinstein. She is a United States Senator, after all. I swear, so many of those Senators think they're in the House of Lords, forgetting they've actually been elected to solve problems. But, they're annoyed that people expect them to solve the problems upon which they and their colleagues (and their president) campaigned. It's lunacy.

Many Senators really do believe they're immune to public pressure. They'll listen to lobbyists, that's for sure. And, they fall for the allure of bipartisanship. Democratic Senators have a huge majority because the Republicans were total failures at solving the nation's problems. In 2006, there were 55 Republicans Senators. Today, there are 40. The political pendulum swang very quickly. Now, Democrats need to deliver.

And, I love this excerpt:

One Democratic strategist who is working full-time on health reform was apoplectic over what he called wasted time, energy and resources by the organizations.

The strategist, who asked for anonymity because he was criticizing colleagues, said: "These are friends of ours. I would much rather see a quiet call placed by [Obama chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel saying this isn't helpful. Instead, we try to decimate them?"

If they are siding with the insurance lobby, they're not our friends. And, why hasn't Rahm already placed "the quiet call"? If all it takes is a call from Rahm, then why do we need the Organizing for America health care campaign?

People in DC only want to play the inside game. But, in the Senate, it really feels like the inside game is controlled by the insurance industry. The city is a tangled web of competing and conflicting interests. It's all a game for the insiders. They really have no idea how what they're doing -- or not doing -- impacts the real world. That's why the "outside" game is so important. That's why the t.v. ads matter. That's why the health care rally on Thursday was so important. That's why the DNC is organizing a health care reform campaign. This can't be left to the insiders. They'll screw it up for sure. Read More......

Frank Rich: 40 Years Later, Still Second-Class Americans

From Frank:

No president possesses that magic wand, but Obama’s inaction on gay civil rights is striking. So is his utterly uncharacteristic inarticulateness. The Justice Department brief defending DOMA has spoken louder for this president than any of his own words on the subject. Chrisler noted that he has given major speeches on race, on abortion and to the Muslim world. “People are waiting for that passionate speech from him on equal rights,” she said, “and the time is now.”

Action would be even better. It’s a press cliché that “gay supporters” are disappointed with Obama, but we should all be. Gay Americans aren’t just another political special interest group. They are Americans who are actively discriminated against by federal laws. If the president is to properly honor the memory of Stonewall, he should get up to speed on what happened there 40 years ago, when courageous kids who had nothing, not even a public acknowledgment of their existence, stood up to make history happen in the least likely of places.

Who am I to contradict Chrisler, Obama's favorite new token gay, but we don't want any speeches. The last ones didn't get us very far. We know President Obama is very good at making promises. Now let's see if he can keep one. Read More......

Iran detains members of UK Embassy staff

Definitely not a good sign in Iran. The extremists are looking for someone to blame and the UK is taking a lot of the blame for the problems. If the US had an embassy there, one can only imagine what would happen and how much blame they would receive. From the AP:

The semi-official Fars news agency reported Sunday that eight local employees of the British Embassy in Tehran were detained. The eight were suspected of having played a "significant role" in the recent unrest, Fars said in a report also cited by Iran's English-language, state-run Press TV.

The arrests announced Sunday come after a senior Iranian cleric, Ahmed Khatami, on Friday lashed out at Britain in a nationally televised sermon. "In this unrest, Britons have behaved very mischievously and it is fair to add the slogan of 'down with England' to the slogan of 'down with USA,'" he said.

The U.S. and Europe have become increasingly vocal about their condemnation of Iran's harsh crackdown. Iran's leaders have pushed back with angry rhetoric, and the confrontation appears to be dashing any hopes for a new dialogue, as initially envisioned by President Barack Obama when he took office.

Read More......

Happy 40th Stonewall Anniversary

(Photo credit, well, photoshop credit to Jason Cobb, who wants everyone to know he's "just a lawyer," so he hopes you don't hold him accountable for his photoshop skills :-) Read More......

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

So, basically, looks like health care and Iraq are the topics today.

The White House is sending out one of its big dogs, David Axelrod, to push the Obama message. He's on ABC and NBC. David Gregory at "Meet the Press" invited two GOPers, Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney, to counter Axelrod.

The GOP is represented by two of the remaining 2012 candidates, Haley Barbour and Tim Pawlenty. We probably won't be seeing much of Governor Mark Sanford or Senator John Ensign on the Sunday shows for awhile. Haley must be loving this. He's got aspirations -- and the field is clearing itself.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — David Axelrod, White House senior adviser; Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Axelrod; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.

___

CNN's "State of the Union" — Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq; Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; T. Boone Pickens, chairman and CEO of the energy investment fund BP Capital.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Odierno.

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Tracy Chapman

Joelle and I had such a wonderful time at Tracy Chapman's concert Friday night here in Paris thanks to AMERICAblog reader Joe Gore. There was so much emotion and love in the music and having the wonderful opportunity to meet everyone after the show confirmed what we felt during the show. We appreciated the invitation so we invited Joe and the band to join us for a home cooked meal last night. The weather gods were with us so we popped some of our friends' wine and dined on the terrace.

Joelle often tells me that food is love so we tried to share a bit of it with the band who gave us so much the night before. I lucked out and found some yummy early season figs and poached them in wine Karoo style, stuffed with Roquefort. (We had them at a restaurant in the Karoo called the Blue Fig so for us, that's "Karoo style.") The main course was a modified daube (Provencal stew) cooked for hours and hours. I love adding in red peppers and eggplant which aren't traditional, but the taste is hard to beat. (Again...any time you put tomatoes, peppers and eggplant together, it's going to be good.) Even better though was just talking around the table, nestled in our little garden. What a great bunch of people and a total pleasure to meet. The fact that they all liked cats, better still. Read More......

Report: Mugabe takes over diamond fields

Never underestimate Robert Mugabe. He will never give up power so naturally he grabbed one of the last money-making ventures to fund his police state efforts. (Well, one of the last money making businesses that hasn't been given to China in exchange for military equipment.) NY Times.

Zimbabwe’s military, controlled by President Robert Mugabe’s political party, violently took over diamond fields in Zimbabwe last year and has used the illicit revenues to buy the loyalty of restive soldiers and enrich party leaders, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released Friday.

The party, ZANU-PF, has used the money from diamonds — smuggled out of the country or illegally sold through the Reserve Bank — to reinforce its hold over the security forces, which seemed to be slipping last year as the value of soldiers’ pay collapsed with soaring inflation, Human Rights Watch researchers said.

On Friday, Zimbabwe’s government roundly denied the charges in the report, which cited visits by its researcher to the diamond fields in February and interviews with soldiers, miners and other witnesses.

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