EU bans BPA in baby bottles

It is going to take quite a while to get it removed from other packaging, as it's so widely used by the packaged food industry. BBC:

The European Commission has announced a ban on the use of Bisphenol-A (BPA) in plastic baby bottles.

The commission cited fears that the compound could affect development and immune response in young children.

The EU ban will come into effect during 2011.

There has been concern over the use of BPA for some time, with six US manufacturers removing it in 2009 from bottles they sold in the US, although not other markets.

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Welsh cheese rated best in the world this year

Although the article seems to suggest the French might be upset, there's no reason to think anyone wouldn't appreciate a great cheese regardless of where it's produced. I always try to make my pilgrimage to Neil's Yard in London to pick up some British (and Irish) cheese, which can be excellent. Not so surprisingly, our French friends always love it. (Mmmmmm, Montgomery Cheddar and Red Leicester.) Good cheese is good cheese.

The producers of Roquefort and Époisses de Bourgogne may view it as infernal rind but the world's best cheese comes from England. Cornish Blue, made in Liskeard by Philip and Carol Stansfield, nosed ahead of 2,600 entries from 26 countries to win this year's World Cheese Awards.

This cows' milk cheese has a freshness that is a world away from the briny tang of Roquefort or the aged complexity of Stilton. Creamy and young, it is a wholly different approach to blue cheese.

Of course, the great classics will retain their place on the cheeseboard, but Britain's willingness to accept lactic innovation means they have been joined by a host of newcomers. According to Juliet Harbutt, organiser of the World Cheese Awards, we now have a choice of 700 homegrown cheeses while the French have only 600 fromages to savour. If this means we are heading for anarchy, in line with de Gaulle's famous dictum about the ungovernability of a country that produces many different kinds of cheese, it seems a small price to pay.

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And another Canadian view of our glorious TSA

Thanks for the link from one of our Canadian friends to many, many more. Read More......

London bankers have such a dilemma on their hands

How will they ever make ends meet in this nasty, brutal climate? Since they're so valuable, maybe it's time they put that theory to the test and tried living without government handouts.

A senior banker on the managing director level can expect to receive as much as £300,000, or $479,000, in base salary this year, up from £150,000 in 2007, said Shaun Springer, founder and chief executive of Square Mile Services, which advises firms on pay. In addition, they could get a bonus of about £600,000 for this year, down from £850,000 in 2007.

Especially for senior bankers, most of the bonus will be paid in shares, many of them deferred. New rules by the Financial Services Authority, Britain’s financial regulator, state that at least 40 percent of bonuses shall be deferred for at least three years and that at least half of the bonus shall be paid in shares.

“I took home more in cash when I first went into banking,” said one banker who works as a managing director in London for a Wall Street. He declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on behalf of his company.

There is also the expectation that a smaller bonus pool will widen the pay gap as banks try to retain crucial staff members by paying them more. “It will be the 20:80 rule,” said the banker, meaning that 20 percent of staff will get a larger share of the bonuses, while the remaining 80 percent will get far less.

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Krugman: Ireland's austerity is financing a private-debt Bankers' Bailout

Paul Krugman has a nice column today detailing the differences between what's happening in Ireland (austerity, lots of it, without discernible result) versus Iceland (letting bankers fail, recovery on the horizon). It's a terrific, and telling, comparison.

But I'd just like to focus on these few paragraphs. The Billionaires' Coup has gone international, and it doesn't get clearer than this. "Eating the Irish" (an apt title; my emphasis):

The Irish story began with a genuine economic miracle. But eventually this gave way to a speculative frenzy driven by runaway banks and real estate developers, all in a cozy relationship with leading politicians. The frenzy was financed with huge borrowing on the part of Irish banks, largely from banks in other European nations.

Then the bubble burst, and those banks faced huge losses. You might have expected those who lent money to the banks to share in the losses. After all, they were consenting adults, and if they failed to understand the risks they were taking that was nobody’s fault but their own. But, no, the Irish government stepped in to guarantee the banks’ debt, turning private losses into public obligations.

Before the bank bust, Ireland had little public debt. But with taxpayers suddenly on the hook for gigantic bank losses, even as revenues plunged, the nation’s creditworthiness was put in doubt. So Ireland tried to reassure the markets with a harsh program of spending cuts.

Step back for a minute and think about that. These debts were incurred, not to pay for public programs, but by private wheeler-dealers seeking nothing but their own profit. Yet ordinary Irish citizens are now bearing the burden of those debts.

Eating the Irish indeed. Note the presence of (1) billionaire bankers; (2) corrupt politicians; (3) reimbursing private losses with public money; and (4) an international PR campaign that casts Irish austerity as penance for Irish sins.

What do you call it when the super-rich have control of absolutely everything in the world? Mission accomplished, of course, if we continue to let them have it.

Thank you, Mr. Krugman, for being so painfully clear today.

GP Read More......

US Fish and Wildlife creates 'critical habitat' for Alaska polar bears

You didn't really think Palin's Alaska would do something like this, did you? Big Oil wants to drill in the area but they might have to wait until another GOP majority moves into Washington. CNN:

The setting aside of 187,000 square miles in Alaska as "critical habitat" for polar bears could have an impact on oil and gas drilling, federal and environmental officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) designated the land along the north coast of Alaska as part of a partial settlement in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups.

"This critical habitat designation enables us to work with federal partners to ensure their actions within its boundaries do not harm polar bear populations," Tom Strickland, assistant secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said in a statement. "Polar bears are completely dependent upon Arctic sea-ice habitat for survival."

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Homeland Security to drop color coded alerts

Ever since Tom Ridge abused that system during the Bush re-election, has anyone bothered to pay attention? And besides, as is mentioned inside, it was only about fear and it never translated into different action for travelers.

The Department of Homeland Security is planning to get rid of the color-coded terrorism alert system. Known officially as the Homeland Security Advisory System, the five-color scheme was introduced by the Bush administration in March 2002.

Red, the highest level, meant “severe risk of terrorist attacks.” The lowest level, green, meant “low risk of terrorist attacks.” Between those were blue (guarded risk), yellow (significant) and orange (high).

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Pelosi picks Blue Dog for DCCC chairman

Via Digby, we have this multi-pronged story. First the news. Nancy Pelosi has chosen a former Blue Dog, Steve Israel, to lead the DCCC, the group responsible for electing more Dems to the House. Israel was chosen over the "perceived favorite", Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

About Steve Israel, from Howie Klein (my emphasis):

Friday Nancy Pelosi didn't pick supposed front runner Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the next chair of the DCCC. She picked someone just as bad, Steve Israel. In fact, he's actually worse that Wasserman Schultz in one key way. She at least supports progressive legislation. Until 2 years ago the conservative Suffolk County congressman was a member of the Blue Dog Caucus. He's the epitome of the DLC/Third Way hack. The Washington Post describes him as someone who "joined the Blue Dog Democrats in the House and crossed party lines to support President George W. Bush on a number of key issues, most notably Bush’s 2001 tax cut package [one of only 28 mostly right wing Democrats who did] and the GOP prescription drug bill the following year. He has also espoused more hawkish views on foreign policy, voting to authorize military force in Iraq."

In other words, while Wasserman Schultz is no trip to the ice cream store, she's no Steve Israel either.

So why did Pelosi pick him? Best conventional guess — fund-raising. (Though Howie Klein thinks Hoyer's involved; see below.) Brian Beutler at TPM:

In the 10 years since Israel took office, his district has become more liberal and he has moved closer to the mainstream of his party. As an appropriator and an assistant whip, he's put himself on a glide path to party leadership.

According to internal DCCC figures, in 2010 alone, Israel provided the campaign arm with over $3.4 million: Nearly $2 million of that he raised explicitly for the DCCC; just over $1.2 million went to swing districts trending toward Democrats and $250,000 came from his dues.

And therein lies the problem. Key Israel aides from his Blue Dog days are already in place at the DCCC. Howie Klein:

I've been working on a DCCC investigation since September and, just by coincidence I ran across an interesting relationship I wasn't aware of-- or looking for-- one between top DCCC operatives John Lapp, Jon Vogel and... Steve Israel. And now they'll all be together again, just like they were when they all worked on Israel's first congressional campaign in 2000 to win the seat being vacated by hapless Long Island Congressman Rick Lazio.

The DCCC is tasked with increasing the number of Dems in House seats. And they have a lot of money to throw around. Where's that money going to go? Friends of friends, of course. Howie Klein has a problem with that:

For whatever reason-- most people suspect pressure from Hoyer-- Nancy Pelosi just selected another right-of-center, corrupt Democrat to head the DCCC, Steve Israel. He's been adept at squeezing money out of corporations and executives eager to buy influence in Congress-- and since being elected in 2000 he's worked hard to steer House Democrats away from a progressive agenda. He voted for the Bush tax cuts, for Medicare Part D, for the attack of Iraq and he's worked closely first with the Blue Dogs and then with Republicans in the House Center Aisle Caucus he founded. And now he's expected to head the organization that's supposed to defeat the people in the Center Aisle Caucus?

Three take-aways from this: (1) If Digby and Klein are right, the DCCC is pretty corrupt.

(2) If we don't start organizing now, we'll get ourselves a nice steaming pile of Heath Shulers in 2012.

And (3), Nancy Pelosi, for all the good she's done, is no trip to the ice cream store either. She's the reason the Deficit Commission proposal ("From your pocket to mine, sucker") will get a vote in the House.

She's a beltway insider who gives stuff to get stuff, and sometimes she gives your stuff to get back her stuff. They all have to be herded; if not, they stray. And the time for strays is way far behind us.

GP Read More......

Traveler wears bikini through TSA security

Funny how some people don't want to be subjected to harmful radiation. Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Should be a fairly low key weekend for political news. The President and the Veep have no public events planned. It is, however, "funny" how often big news is broken on these long holiday weekends. North Korea seems adept at filling news holes whenever there's an American holiday.

I know it's "Black Friday," which is a great big shopping day for many Americans. I loathe shopping, so won't be participating in any way. But, we'll all be watching for signs from today and the rest of the holiday season that indicate our economy is actually on the mend. I loathe shopping, so won't be participating in any way. But, I do hope it meets or exceeds expectations. After causing the economic crisis and having the rest of us bail them out, as Chris has reported, Wall Street execs are doing quite well. It's about time the rest of the country got on solid economic footing. That would be something to be thankful for... Read More......

Some UK banks discussing bonus curbs

But one bank, Standard Chartered, has already canned the idea because most of their business is done in Asia. Perhaps, but why should the UK people be immune? There's a reason this industry is among the most distrusted and disliked. It's difficult to say what "moderation" means among bankers these days but at least a few are actually making an effort.

Britain's main banks are working on a joint plan to cut bonus payouts this year and boost lending to small businesses in 2011, The Times newspaper said in its Thursday edition.

The report, citing one insider, said senior executives from Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Scotland held discussions last week about a possible "pact."

The banks would be planning to release a joint statement before Christmas with an offer to cut the overall level of bonus payments without capping individual bonuses, in a deal involving the Financial Services Authority, the UK's market regulator.

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Chinese villagers may have descended from Roman army

It will be interesting to see what they discover as the tests and digs progress.

Archeologists plan to conduct digs in the region, along the ancient Silk Route, to search for remains of forts or other structures built by the fabled army.

"We hope to prove the legend by digging and discovering more evidence of China's early contacts with the Roman Empire," Yuan Honggeng, the head of a newly-established Italian Studies Centre at Lanzhou University in Gansu province, told the China Daily newspaper.

The genetic tests have leant weight to the theory that Roman legionaries settled in the area in the first century BC after fleeing a disastrous battle.

The clash took place in 53BC between an army led by Marcus Crassus, a Roman general, and a larger force of Parthians, from what is now Iran, bringing to an abrupt halt the Roman Empire's eastwards expansion.

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