Open Thread

The true, real life Internet Stars, courtesy of South Park:
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Rice shortage triggers 50% price increase in two weeks

This increase is in addition to the massive price increases for other staples such as corn and wheat. It's difficult enough for middle class people in rich countries to keep up with these price increases so imagine how hard it is for people living day to day in poor countries. A large part of the world struggles to generate enough money to put two, possibly three meals a day on the table for their families so this is going to be a painful year around the world.

With rice stocks at their lowest for 30 years, prices of the grain rose more than 10 per cent on Friday to record highs and are expected to soar further in the coming months. Already China, India, Egypt, Vietnam and Cambodia have imposed tariffs or export bans, as it has become clear that world production of rice this year will decline in real terms by 3.5 per cent. The impact will be felt most keenly by the world's poorest populations, who have become increasingly dependent on the crop as the prices of other grains have become too costly.

Rice is the staple food for more than half the world's population. This is the second year running in which production - which increased in real terms last year - has failed to keep pace with population growth. The harvest has also been hit by drought, particularly in China and Australia, forcing producers to hoard their crops to satisfy local markets.

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Mark Penn quits as Clinton's "chief strategist" -- he's still doing polling and giving advice

The fallout continues from the meeting Mark Penn had with his (now former) client, the Colombian government, to strategize about a trade pact that his client, Hillary Clinton, opposes. Yesterday, Colombia fired Penn. Today, according to AP, Penn gave up his job as top strategist for Hillary Clinton:

The manager of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign says Mark Penn has asked to give up his role as chief strategist of the campaign.

Campaign manager Maggie Williams issued a statement Sunday saying the action comes after what she referred to as ''the events of the last few days.''

Williams says Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, Inc. will continue to provide polling and advice to the campaign.

The New York Times described the statement from Williams as "terse" and added some background:

Mr. Penn, who has been associated with Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton for a dozen years, has come under withering criticism for continuing to consult with clients as chief executive of Burson-Marsteller, the international lobbying and public relations firm.

He has also been held responsible for the flawed electoral strategy considered partly responsible for Mrs. Clinton’s difficult political position, trailing Senator Barack Obama by more than a hundred delegates and with a very narrow path to winning the Democratic nomination.

I suspect, given the way everyone on the Clinton campaign seems to hate Mark Penn, that we'll probably hear more about this over the next few days and weeks. Read More......

The hazards of obsessive blogging

A reminder from the NYT to get up and take a walk once in a while. Read More......

Iraq continues to confuse and befuddle John McCain

McCain really doesn't know what he's talking about when he talks about Iraq. Well, he either really doesn't or he's really confused. Not sure which is worse.

Think Progress spotted another blatant error today: The GOP nominee doesn't understand what happened over the past couple weeks. McCain thinks 1) al Sadr asked for the recent ceasefire; and 2) the Iraqi military is functioning "functioning very effectively." Wrong and wrong:

In fact, it was members of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government who brokered the ceasefire, to which Sadr agreed. Experts agree that Sadr’s influence was strengthened — rather than diminished — by the Basra battle.

Finally, the New York Times reported Friday that at least 1,000 Iraqi national soldiers deserted or refused to fight in Basra.

Like Bush, McCain just says things that aren't true. Part of it may be deliberate, but part may just be befuddlement.

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Greenspan endorses McCain

The man who owns three bubbles including the current financial mess has come out in support of McCain. Last year it was McCain who admitted he knew nothing about economics (except perhaps his Keating-5 experience) but he "was going to read Greenspan's book" and now it's Mr Bubble himself giving back the love. Birds of a feather...

Greenspan, the U.S. Fed chairman from 1987 to 2006, endorsed the Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the interview.

"I'm Republican and I support John McCain, who I know very well and who I respect a lot,'' he said.

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"We’re paying executives like successful entrepreneurs, without asking them to take entrepreneurial risks"

Good results or bad, real or fake, job creation or job cuts, it's all the same to corporate America. Regardless of the deliverables, executive compensation never stops rising. The same people in Congress who believe until their dying day that tax changes can make or break business never make the same link with executive compensation. Apparently they must believe that negative tax consequences for business (and I mean the business itself) would not encourage or discourage behavior. We can offer tax incentives or tax penalties for everything else but not for executive pay. Funny how that works.

The compensation research firm Equilar recently compiled data about chief executive pay at 200 companies that filed their proxies by March 28 and had revenues of at least $6.5 billion. And the data illustrates Mr. Hodgson’s point. It shows that average compensation for chief executives who had held the job at least two years rose 5 percent in 2007, to $11.2 million (If new C.E.O.’s are counted, that number is $11.7 million). Even though performance-based bonuses were down last year, the value and prevalence of discretionary bonuses — ones not linked to performance — were up. A result is that C.E.O.’s who have held their jobs for two years received an average total bonus payout of $2.8 million, up 1.1 percent from 2006.

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Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

With Petraeus testifying on the Hill this week, Iraq gets some attention on the shows. Jim Webb debates Lindsey Graham on ABC. Webb has been an ardent foe of the war and probably the strongest advocate for the troops in Congress. Graham is a toady who parrots the Bush/McCain talking points. McCain brings his pro-war, pro-Bush sideshow to GOP TV, but John Kerry is there to rebut him (and should remind all those hard core FOX watchers that McCain almost jumped off the GOP ship a couple times not too long ago.)

On the partisan political front, Howard Dean makes a couple of appearances. This weekend, the inevitable Democratic nominee appeared before huge crowds in North Dakota and Montana. Further proof that is why Dean was always right about the 50-state strategy. With two weeks and two days til the PA primary, Russert has Rendell and Casey.

The full lineup is after the break.

ABC's "This Week" — Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Howard Dean.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa.; Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa.; Michael Eric Dyson, author of a book on Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. ; Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor and an aide to King during the civil rights movement.

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CNN's "Late Edition" — Martin Luther King III; Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.; Catholic University President David O'Connell; Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and John Cornyn, R-Texas; Robert Reich, former labor secretary; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, adviser for John McCain's presidential campaign.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and John Kerry, D-Mass.; Joe Urschel, executive director of the Newseum media museum.

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Mbube - Solomon Linda And The Evening Birds

This Zulu song was later changed in to English with all of the usual horror stories related to the always slimy music recording industry. This original version has a different sound than The Tokens version and was a massive hit in South Africa well before it hit the UK and America. Read More......