Footprints and history found in Africa, again

(Photo - Matthew Bennett/Bournemouth University/Reuters)
What a fantastic discovery. I would love to see the entire collection from the river including the family prints.

Footprints found on a sandy plain in eastern Africa have been hailed by scientists as the earliest evidence of modern upright walking.

The footprints, dated to between 1.51m and 1.53m years ago, were discovered in sedimentary rock at Ileret, Kenya, researchers report in today's edition of the journal Science.

The findings mark one of the most important discoveries in recent years regarding the evolution of human walking.

Joelle and I drove hours out of the way (as you do for everything) in Namibia to see dinosaur footprints from a riverbed which were amazing. Seeing a footprint is special and then seeing a walking path made so long ago brings it to life. At one of the state parks in South Africa they have a fossil of an animal reaching it's head above the mud to take its last gasp of air. Amazing. It's also why Africa is my favorite place in the world. The history across Africa is something special. Below is Joelle pointing out the dinosaur track.
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Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel wiped out by Madoff Ponzi scheme

If Madoff is found guilty, he needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Sickening.

Nobody knows depravity like Elie Wiesel knows depravity.

And does he ever see it in Bernie Madoff.

Wiesel, whose charitable foundation was wiped out by Madoff, has until now mostly kept quiet about the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme. But today, the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient spoke passionately about his betrayal by Madoff, whom he referred to variously as "a crook, a thief, a scoundrel," as well as a "swindler" and "evil."

Wiesel acknowledged that in addition to having lost his foundation's assets, he lost his personal wealth to Madoff. "All of a sudden, everything we have done in forty years--literally, my books, my lectures, my university salary, everything—was gone," he said during a panel discussion hosted by Condé Nast Portfolio.

His foundation, the Elie Wiesel Foundaton for Humanity, lost substantially all of its $15.2 million in assets to Madoff; including his personal investments, total losses may be as high as $37 million. "We gave him everything, we thought he was God, we trusted everything in his hands," Wiesel said.

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Buttars-Palooza

Party at the Utah State Capitol for truth and justice
Music * Dancing * Street Artists * Food * Fun
Featuring a special "tribute" to everyone's favorite homophobic, racist state Senator

Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009
Time: 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Utah Capitol - South Lawn

Facebook invite.

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Obama sets firm timetable for withdrawal from Iraq

It's over. Well, soon.

President Barack Obama consigned the Iraq war to history Friday, declaring he will end combat operations within 18 months and open a new era of diplomacy in the Middle East. "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama told Marines who are about to deploy by the thousands to the other war front, Afghanistan.

Even so, Obama will leave the bulk of troops in place this year, contrary to hopes of Democratic leaders for a speedier pullout.

And after combat forces withdraw, 35,000 to 50,000 will stay behind for an additional year and half of support and counterterrorism duties....

Obama's promise to pull home the last of the U.S. troops by the end of 2011 is in accord with a deal that Iraqis signed with former President George W. Bush.

So, basically, all combat forces are out by August of next year, then a year later, everyone is out. This is very good. Interesting, however, that he's announcing it on a Friday evening. That's the time slot government officials reserve for controversial news. But, it's not like this is a controversial decision - to the contrary, I think most Americans will utter a sigh of relief. Read More......

Obama's approval rating jumped 8% this week. Up to 67%.

Take that all you Rush Limbaugh "I want him to fail" Republicans. The American people are on his side:

In the days immediately after Barack Obama's nationally televised address to Congress on Tuesday night, his public support has increased significantly to 67% in Feb. 24-26 Gallup Daily polling, and is now just two points below his term high. This comes on the heels of a term-low 59% reported by Gallup on Tuesday.

Obama's speech was well-received, and appears to have won him back support he had been losing in prior days, and then some.

The approval rating will wax and wane, but it is very interesting that after the full scale assault from the Republicans. Taking charge and being positive works. The American understand that their success is tied to his success. The Republicans can't fathom that. What people hear when Rush says he wants Obama to fail is that he wants America to fail.

Check out this graph:
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Accountability Now

Jane Hamsher's new organization, Accountability Now, which we have been supporting and advising, has been making some waves. In a nutshell, the organization is a PAC that will run primary candidates against Democrats who vote against the interests of their own constituents. Basically, if you have a Democrat who's voting conservatively in a liberal district, he or she has some explaining to do - they can't argue that they're protecting their re-election chances when their own district favors less conservative policies.

Jane and Markos did the media tour yesterday in DC to promote the group. Apparently they're scaring some people.

Better to be feared than ignored. More from the NYT. Read More......

Obama moves to undo last-minute Bush pandering to religious right

Hallelujah. This is why being in power matters. Regardless of anyone's concerns about whether Obama will be good enough on every issue, he is good enough on more than enough to make his election not just worth it, but absolutely necessary. Read More......

British bankers say they will leave UK if bonuses are capped

Knock yourselves out and do us a favor. Where oh where will they go? They still are convinced of their own "talent" which means so little to the rest of the world. Sure the system they created is little more than burning embers from the once great fires of prosperity but it was all a fraud. Those profits that they were paid on weren't profits, but paper shells. They really need to get over themselves and their odd sense of entitlement. Let them find somewhere else to destroy and if that mysterious country/city wants to pay them, great.

Half of British bankers would consider leaving the country if a cap were put on their cash bonuses, a survey showed on Friday.

The poll by jobs website eFinancialCareers.com found that 49 percent of British-based bankers would consider voting with their feet such a limit to their income were introduced. That figure rose to 71 percent among financiers with six to ten years experience.

"Were bonuses to be capped unilaterally in the UK, the country would run the risk of an exodus of top financial talent," said John Benson, chief executive of eFinancialCareers.

However, the number of alternative locations in which to work has shrunk dramatically as the credit crisis has hit hiring and pay around the world.

Ya don't say? You mean the economic crisis is global? And everyone now knows that they are fraudsters? Golly, I had no idea. Now that Europe is working together on this subject and the US is (finally) coming around, that leaves the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong or possibly China as up and coming locations. Too bad they are dropping like rocks too, thanks to the gamblers who think they are deserving. Read More......

Pay for toilets on a flight?

It doesn't even sound like it should be legal, let alone acceptable. Even on short flights I don't see where this is a good thing. I've had the wonderful luck to jump on a 10 hour flight with food poisoning so I would have run out of change quickly. Where do they even come up with these ideas to annoy customers?

Irish carrier Ryanair, Europe's largest budget airline, might start charging passengers for using the toilet while flying, chief executive Michael O'Leary said on Friday.

"One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend a pound to spend a penny in future," he told BBC television.

He said this would not inconvenience passengers travelling without cash. "I don't think there is anybody in history that has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound."

Clearly this is the same idiotic assumption that US international airport arrivals make when they demand that you pay for a luggage cart. I don't always have small change in my pockets and flight attendants are always asking for people to use change when I am on flights that charge small fees. Always. That said, Ryanair CEO O'Leary doesn't always have bad ideas. Read More......

The CPAC extremism continues with Joe the Plumber who thinks some elected members of Congress should be shot

Joe the Plumber talks like he lives in some kind of Soviet-style dictatorship where people who disagree can be shot and smacked around. But, he's a star at CPAC and fits right in with all the other right wing whackos. He's one of the their great thinkers these days. From our friends Think Progress, who have bravely ventured into the CPAC snake pit:

On Wednesday, Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher said that if he were in Congress, he would “probably be in jail” because he’d be charged with “slapping some member.” He added, “And that’s not [bull] either.” ThinkProgress caught up with Joe at CPAC yesterday and asked him which members he would most like to slap. “Pretty much anybody that’s stood there and said anything bad about our troops, pretty much anybody who sat there and talked treasonous talk about America,” Joe said.

And, then Joe took it further, describing who could be shot, yes, shot:

The CPAC crew and their GOP brethren really have nothing, absolutely nothing, to offer the American people. How can anyone take them seriously? And, if someone said something like this at a progressive conference, the traditional media would be having a field day, spurred on by Republicans on the Hill. Just saying.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Paid your taxes yet, Joe?

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Drop in Fourth Quarter GDP revised to 6.2%, much worse than previously reported 3.8%

To all of the Republicans who have tried to suggest the economic problems are not that bad and that there were even signs of recovering late last year, this will cause problems for their story. For everyone else, it confirms what people thought was happening.

The U.S. economy contracted more sharply than initially estimated in the fourth quarter, government data showed on Friday, as exports plunged and consumers cut spending by the most in over 28 years amid a severe recession.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product, which measures the total output of goods and services within U.S. borders, fell at an annual rate of 6.2 percent in the October-December quarter, the deepest slide since the first quarter of 1982. The government last month estimated the drop in fourth-quarter GDP at 3.8 percent.

The weaker GDP estimate reflected downward revisions to inventories and exports by the department.

The decline was worse than analysts' expectations for a 5.4 percent contraction in fourth-quarter GDP. The economy expanded 1.1 percent in 2008, the slowest pace since 2001, the department said.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of domestic economic activity, dropped at a 4.3 percent rate, the biggest fall since the second quarter of 1980, as household wealth plunged. That compared with a 3.5 percent fall estimated last month.

Exports, until recently one of the few pillars supporting the distressed economy, tumbled at a 23.6 percent annual rate, the steepest plunge since 1971. That was revised from the 19.7 percent drop estimated in last month's report.

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Rush, the GOP's one true Supreme Leader

This weekend, at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), which could be called the "We want Obama to fail" conference, they're all anxiously awaiting the leader of the GOP. No, it's not Newt or Mitt or Mitch or even that painful Eric Cantor. Their one true leader is Rush. He's kind of like the Kim Jong-Il of the GOP. You know, he's got all kinds of weird quirks and addictions, but they all live in fear of him and take orders without question.

Americans United and AFSCME did an ad featuring Rush and his most loyal servants:

The ad will be playing on cable nationally and in the D.C. market, which means the CPAC whackos can see their leader featured in a t.v. ad. But, the sick thing is that none of them will think this is bad. They all agree with Rush. The CPAC whackos want Obama to fail. They just don't realize out of touch with America they are. But, it's not our job to fix them. I'd rather work with Obama to fix the country and let that crowd self-destruct (like Rush does when he's popping his pills.) Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Day 2 of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Assessment after Day 1: These people are nuts. Scary nuts.

So, the first Obama budget is out. And, is it just me, or do certain members of the media (the well-paid ones who get clothing allowances) seem particularly obsessed with the new taxes on the wealthy. If you caught the briefing yesterday, you know who I mean. To me, the big news is the health care down payment because that affects all of us. But, there are some DC media elites who can't seem to get past the tax increases. You don't suppose that has anything to do with the fact that those folks and their friends are among the wealthy who will have to pay more in taxes? I mean, could the media "superstars" really be that shallow? (Okay, just kidding, I know they are.)

So, what we do we need to know? Read More......

Too big to fail no longer an option

Regulation is a good first step though it's only a first step. A year ago, many on the left in finance still bought into the self-regulation garbage but thankfully, they are moving on. It's only the GOP who is left out in the cold on this important issue. What impresses me here is not only is Volcker calling for regulation but he is also calling for international oversight which is critical. Geithner is lagging too far behind on such cooperation but nobody really expected him to be an earth shaker in the first place.

The former Federal Reserve chairman and close adviser to President Barack Obama faulted regulators for missing warning signs that financial firms were assuming too much risk, and called for "substantial changes" in oversight.

"We must not again leave the markets so vulnerable that a breakdown will again threaten the national and world economies," said Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who now heads up President Barack Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

His suggestions for regulatory reform included subjecting large banks to "particularly high" international standards for safety and soundness.

Trading and transaction-oriented firms that operate primarily in capital markets could be less intensively regulated. However, for those firms that are big and complex enough to be systemically important, capital, leverage and liquidity requirements should be imposed.

"Implicit in this approach is the need for strong cooperation and coordination among national authorities and regulators," he said.

"Some approaches -- accounting standards, capital and liquidity requirements, and registration and reporting procedures -- should be internationally agreed and consistent," he added.

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UK handed out 3.5 billion fewer plastic bags last year

Fortunately retailers joined the program and took action before the government was forced to step in. The reported 26% drop in plastic bags handed out is a move in the right direction. You see these hideous plastic bags scattered around the world in parks, in trees and bushes in the sea, under the sea, you name it.

It's been quite a few years since they handed out bags in the countryside here in France though it's only in the last year that Paris shops have made an effort to promote the "bags for life" that the stores all sell for almost nothing. Now that they are catching on in Paris, it almost seems like a competition to see who can make bags that are more fun than the others.

Environmental campaigners lambaste plastic bags as one of the worst excesses of consumerism. The bags waste resources and end up in landfill, scattered across the countryside or swirling round the seas, where they choke and kill marine life, particularly turtles. Several countries have banned the bags, including Rwanda, Bhutan, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Zanzibar and Botswana.

In the UK, 21 leading supermarkets and high street chains agreed in February 2007 to cut bag waste by 25 per cent. Britain's biggest retailer, Tesco, introduced loyalty points for customers reusing bags, helping slash the number of bags by two billion, and other stores such as Sainsbury's have moved bags from the bagging area, putting the onus on customers to request them. As a result, shoppers have become more used to reusing carrier bags or buying sturdier, long-lasting alternatives such as jute bags. "Consumers deserve congratulations for these results as they clearly show we are moving away from using bags once to re-using bags often," said Liz Goodwin, Wrap's chief executive. "They are also a credit to retailers who have worked hard to find innovative ways of helping us reuse our bags."

The British Retail Consortium urged customers to help stores by remembering to take stronger "bags for life" on shopping trips and, when they had to take them, reusing lighter carriers on five or six shopping trips before returning them for recycling.

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Failed banking CEO insists in keeping $1,000,000 per year pension

Numbers be damned! Really, who gives a damn what legal agreement was agreed upon yesterday when the bloody numbers provided by the bank were a sham? Once again, bank leaders are showing the world why they are irresponsible and deserve nothing less than our collective scorn. Apparently just as banks offered liar loans, they also managed to sign themselves up for liars compensation.

An embarrassing public row broke out last night between City minister Lord Myners and Sir Fred Goodwin over the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive's refusal to give up his £693,000 a year pension.

Goodwin insisted ministers had known of his £16m pension pot for months and accused Myners of threatening him with more bad publicity if he did not hand back some of the pension he was awarded when he left the loss-making bank last month.

"You highlighted that the absence of such a gesture would give rise to significant adverse media comment," Goodwin wrote in a defiant and combative letter to Myners which explicitly contradicts the government's insistence that it did not know the details of his payoff.

Just hours later Myners issued a letter telling Goodwin his refusal to reconsider was "unfortunate and unacceptable". He hoped "on reflection you will now share my clear view that the losses reported by the bank which you ran until October cannot justify such a huge reward".

RBS had earlier admitted it had made a record-breaking £24bn loss in 2008 and that the taxpayers' stake could rise to 95% after a further injection of up to £25.5bn of government funds.

Goodwin remained unrepentant after a day in which Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, Myners and the new RBS chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, all called on him to behave honorably. Brown's spokesman said the government would, if necessary, pursue every legal avenue to prevent Goodwin receiving such an inappropriate reward for failure.

They should pursue every legal option as well as using the court of public opinion. Read More......