Friday Orchid Blogging

Below are the two parents of this flower, so you can get a sense of the breeding that goes on here - I don't own the parents:



This is a Paphiopedilum Freckles 'Pinkie' crossed with an Amanda 'Joyance.' It's a first bloom from this rather young plant, and is showing great potential. It's a cute little thing, under 2 inches across, and if I can keep the plant alive, it should be even better next year time it blooms (which may not be until next winter). This is the season for a lot of orchids of this type, paphs, to bloom, so I'm looking forward to several of mine opening up any day now. I also have another plant that I can't wait to show you. It's rather insane. It's throwing a spike, as we call it, the long thin shoot that the flowers will eventually be on, but the damn spike is five feet long and growing. The spike was maybe 2.5 feet long when I bought the plant a few years ago - this is the first time it's bloomed since, and boy what a whopper. I can't wait for this thing to bloom, then to get pictures to show you, with me standing next to it so you'll get the full sense of it. Plants really can be amazing sometimes. They're not Carmela the wonderdog, but still, they're pretty cool. Enjoy. Read More......

Shocking Swiss AIDS finding

I say shocking because it, well, is.

Swiss AIDS officials have determined that if you're taking anti-HIV drugs and you always take the drugs on schedule and your HIV blood tests come back "undetectable" for six months in a row and you don't have any other sexually transmitted diseases, it is next to impossible that you could transmit HIV during unprotected sex (barebacking).

The Swiss Federal Commission on HIV/AIDS issued its stunning report Jan. 30, concluding that people with HIV who have no detectable viral load as a result of anti-retroviral treatment apparently are unable to transmit the virus.

I don't know. I'm willing to believe that the Swiss got it right, but I can imagine a lot of stupid people saying "whoopee!" and then not following all the specific rules as laid out above, and getting themselves sick. Cause for elation or concern? Check out a more thorough discusison of the report here (h/t reader Steve in CNJ). Read More......

Bailout fever continues

When will it ever end? Much like the previous attempts by the banks to bail themselves out or have tax payers bail them out for their own stupidity, now the bond insurers who helped prop up the subprime bubble are in talks with the banks (yes, many of the same who bought and sold the junk) to prop up the bond insurers. Sounds easy and straightforward, doesn't it?

When common sense and facts disappear from the business model, there is a problem. This market stopped making sense a few years ago but was clouded by the billions in profits that were being dragged in by everyone. It really would have helped back then to have an SEC who cared or a Fed chief who knew how to speak out. To think McCain actually thinks Greenspan is a genius. Heaven forbid... Read More......

It's the delegates, stupid

Reuters reminds us of a very important point for Super Tuesday:

In a hotly contested presidential race, votes are nice -- but it's delegates to this summer's nominating conventions that count....

More than half of all Democratic delegates will be up for grabs on Tuesday, and about 40 percent of Republican delegates are at stake in the biggest single day of presidential primary voting in campaign history.

"It's useful to win states, but states don't vote -- delegates do," said Harold Ickes, who is heading up the delegate operation for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

It will be interesting to see how the media juggles "who won the most states" with "who won the most delegates." It's totally possible that one candidate could win a majority of the states while their opponent wins a majority of the delegates. In simple math, the one with the most delegates wins. But how will the media spin it? Hell, how will the candidates spin it? If one candidate has most of the states, won't that look like a blow-out? Is it a blow-out? Will the public TAKE it as a blow-out, possibly affecting future primaries? Will people be ticked at the media if the media says that the candidate with a majority of states ISN'T the real winner? This delegate thing is really a mess. Read More......

Ann Coulter: Hillary will be more conservative and stronger on the war on terror than McCain

I don't even know how to begin to take this. Yes Coulter is laughable, to us, but she's beloved by lots of Republicans. Her excoriation of John McCain will only feed a sense among Republicans that he can't be trusted. This is a sign of a much larger problem for McCain. And it's great.

ANN COULTER: "She's more conservative than he is. I think she'd be stronger on the war on terrorism. I absolutely believe that.... I will campaign for her if it's McCain... She lies less than John McCain, she's smarter than John McCain."

ALAN COLMES: "Let me get this straight, would you vote for Hillary Clinton?"

COULTER: "Yeah."

COLMES: "You would actually go into a voting booth..."

COULTER: "If it's close and the candidate is John McCain, because John McCain is not only bad for Republicanism, which he definitely is, he is bad for the country, very very bad for the country."

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Bush sees 'troubling signs' in economy

What's even more troubling is that he actually thinks inflation is low. In reality, inflation is actually quite high at 4.1% and oil prices are almost twice as high as they were this time last year, so inflation is going to remain high for a while. Bush thinks this is just a "rough patch" though he remains ignorant to why we are in this situation. His friends are all doing well so it must be fine..

This is all the result of decades of Republican talking points transformed into policy. Forget about regulation and let business decide everything. This is why the poverty rate has increased in America. This is why so few jobs have been created. This is why inflation is growing and Americans are barely keeping ahead of costs. When people have to decide between heating their home or feeding their kids, there is a serious problem. This isn't a "rough patch" at all. This is the end result of Republican policies. It was designed to work this way and it worked. The rich are richer and everyone else can just wing it. Read More......

Clinton campaign call: Obama ad evokes Nazis marching on Skokie

(UPDATE via Politico: "At the end of the call, Clinton aide Howard Wolfson disavowed the Nazi reference, saying the campaign didn't think it was appropriate, though he acknowledged the passions the issue stirs." NOTE FROM JOHN: Had the Clinton campaign repudiated the comment as soon as it was made, and not at the end of the call, I probably would not have posted this. I really don't care what some guy said on the call IF the campaign swiftly denounced what he said. But I suspect Ben at the Politico was live-blogging while on the call, so the disavowal didn't come until the end, and thus the update to the story just came now, after Ben (and we) had already written about it. I still think this fits into a pattern, of late, of the Clinton campaign being off their game message-wise. More on this later.)

The ad does nothing of the sort. It's a pretty high hurdle for a campaign to invoke the Nazis. This ad is tame even by the lame standards we use to judge Democratic non-chutzpah. Here's the ad. And here's what the Clinton Campaign call with reporters said about it:

The Clinton campaign convened a conference call with health policy experts to denounce Obama's new mailer (.pdf), which attacks Clintons plan for "forcing" Americans to sign up for insurance, and which features a couple at a kitchen table that recalls, for some, the famous insurance-industry financed "Harry and Louise" ads against the original Clinton plan.

"I am personally outraged at the picture used in this mailing," said Len Nichols of the New America foundation, a leading supporter of mandatory insurance, who called it a "Harry and Louise evocation."

"It is as outrageous as having Nazis march through Skokie, Illinois," Nichols said. "I just find it disgusting that this kind of imagery is being used to attack the only way to get to universal coverage."

Clinton advisor Neera Tanden called the mailer "politically dangerous."

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Right wing leader admits: We put making money for ourselves over the principles of our supporters

Thanks to David Keene, head of the American Conservative Union, for explaining the mindset of the hard core conservatives. Principles don't matter. Their money does. No wonder the GOP base is disillusioned. They get sold out, literally, by their leaders:

Meanwhile, conservatives are growing increasingly “resigned” to the idea of a McCain nomination, said David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, adding that among Washington activists, many of whom, like him, double as lobbyists, self-interest may also be a factor.

“There are people who don’t like the idea of a being off a campaign or being on the bad list if the guy gets into the White House,” Mr. Keene said. “This is a town in which 90 percent of the people balance their access and income on the one hand versus their principles on the other.”

Again, no wonder the GOP base is so depressed. Read More......

Bush administration retaliating against more journalists

Feels like Kabul, or Moscow. That beacon of democracy thing kind of worked in reverse. Oh, and how's Scooter doing? Oh that's right, leaks are okay when THEY do it. Just like every other law in America, it's okay when the Republicans break them because they know what's best. Which takes us back to Kabul and Moscow... Read More......

John McCain's trophy bride

He's running as a conservative in a party that touts "the sanctity of marriage" as one of their top issues. Therefore his having divorced his first wife because she was involved in a bad accident, and his having married his second wife, 17 years his junior, shortly thereafter, is relevant. John McCain likes to talk about he was a POW. He doesn't like to talk as much about how he ditched his wife a few years after returning home. If we're being asked to consider 8 more years of these people, and their morality, then it's time we inquired about their morality. McCain would like us to remember the hero part, then forget the trophy bride part, even though they both happened around the same time. You get one, you get the other. And he was 42 years old at the time, so let's stop excusing Republicans for their "youthful indiscretions" that happened about the time of menopause. The Bible doesn't have a statute of limitations. If we have to live by it, they have to live by it.

From the NYT eight years ago:

Mr. McCain has acknowledged running around with women and accepted responsibility for the breakup of the marriage, without going into details. But his supporters and his biographer, Robert Timberg, all suggest that the marriage had already effectively ended and that the couple had separated by the time he met Cindy, his present wife.

That might be the most soothing way of explaining a politician's divorce from a disabled wife and his remarriage to a wealthy heiress, but it does not jibe with accounts of family members and friends.

Lots more after the jump...

John and Carol McCain had separated once briefly after they moved to Washington, when he moved his gear into his mother's house on Connecticut Avenue. That was the first hint that Joe McCain, John's younger brother, had of any marital problems, for neither John nor Carol confided much about personal problems....

''For somebody to say that they were separated or at each other's throats is just nonsense,'' Mr. Smith said.

Yet at precisely the time that Mr. Smith was a guest in what appeared to be a happy household, in April 1979, Mr. McCain accompanied a group of senators on a trip to China. The Navy threw a big cocktail party for the group during a stopover in Honolulu.

''John and I were talking, and then somebody tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and exchanged a few words,'' said Albert A. Lakeland, then a Senate staff member. ''When I turned around, John was gone. I looked around, and he was making a beeline for this very attractive blond woman.

''He spent the whole party talking to her, and he kept avoiding me when I approached,'' Mr. Lakeland said. After the reception, Mr. McCain and the young woman, Cindy Hensley, went out to dinner, and the romance blossomed....

Over the next six months, Mr. McCain pursued Miss Hensley aggressively, flying around the country to see her, and he began to push to end his marriage. Friends say that Carol McCain was in shock.

Late that year, the McCains finally separated, and Mrs. McCain accepted a divorce the next February. Mr. McCain promptly married Miss Hensley, his present wife.

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Jobs report much worse than usual

Forecasts prior to the announcement were for a soft 70,000+ new jobs though the results were much, much worse. The US economy is going in reverse thanks to years of Republican policies. The economic boom that most never experienced (outside of the board rooms) is crashing down. The unlucky Americans who never bounced back from the last Bush recession are sinking even lower. The new report says 17,000 jobs were cut. Meanwhile, oil prices are booming and wages are softening. This all translates into stagflation.

Job losses were widespread. Manufacturers, construction firms and a variety of professional and business services eliminated jobs in January — reflecting the toll of the housing and credit debacles. The government cut jobs, too. All those cuts swamped job gains in education, health care, retailing and elsewhere.

Wage growth also slowed, another indication that employers are tightening their belts amid the economic slowdown.

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Exxon Mobil sets new profit record

Earlier this week Shell set a new profit record for the UK.

Exxon Mobil said on Friday record oil prices boosted its fourth-quarter earnings to $11.66 billion, the highest ever operating profit by a U.S. company.

Net earnings per share at the world's largest non-government-controlled oil company rose to $2.13 a share from $1.76 a share last year. Net income in the year-earlier quarter was $10.25 billion.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The pundits and media types seem genuinely disappointed that Clinton and Obama had a discussion about substance last night. Wolf tried to make it ugly -- but didn't happen. It's like they all want those stupid Crossfire type battles all the time and don't know how to handle anything else.

I will say again that the difference between the Democratic candidates and Republican candidates is just amazing. The Dems have so much more to offer the country.

According to my local weather, seems like half of DC is getting an ice storm and the rest is getting rain. I think I'm on the border.

Start the thread. Read More......

China prepares for Olympics

The question is, will anyone call them out for their arrests of human rights activists? Though I lost interest in most Olympic events decades ago thanks to widespread doping and other methods of cheating, boycotting offers nothing. Will anyone in power speak out or offer any support to political dissidents? As long as the business machine produces money for everyone, it seems doubtful. In the mean time, China continues to round up anyone who criticizes the state.

Many fellow dissidents have been locked up in the pre-Olympic crackdown. Last year, a leading petitioner, Liu Jie, was sent to a re-education through labour camp after complaining about demolitions aimed at clearing up the city ahead of the Games. Yang Chunlin, who campaigned against land seizures, was imprisoned after launching a "we want human rights not the Olympics" campaign.

Also under house arrest is Yuan Weijing, who stayed with Hu for a month last year while she was trying to publicise the case of her imprisoned husband, the blind civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng.

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No sign of decline in oil prices - this means inflation

Apparently everything is just fine with the oil markets. From the Saudi Arabian oil minister:

In an interview with the London-based daily al-Hayat, Ali al-Naimi also said the kingdom was now pumping 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd), in line with analysts' estimates it had stepped up output above its formal OPEC allocation of less than 9 million bpd in order to meet seasonally strong winter demand.

"The condition of the market is sound currently, supply and demand are equal, and global reserves are fine," Naimi said, adding that world inventories were in line with the five-year average.

He said OPEC would have taken action if there was a need, adding: "But the condition now shows that all market fundamentals are sound."

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Open thread

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