Canadians on TSA security measures

Nice find by Jeffrey Goldberg who has been writing a lot about this subject over at The Atlantic. Read More......

McConnell too busy for dinner with Obama, eats with Federalist Society instead

So Obama is snubbed, and the White House covers McConnell's ass.  McConnell won't appreciate the gesture, in fact he'll perceive it as a show of weakness by the President, and the President will try that much harder next time to make McConnell like him, likely by unilaterally conceding something incredibly important.  Which will only make McConnell perceive the President as an even weaker character, which will only make the President try to please McConnell that much harder next time.  It's just incredibly sad to watch. Read More......

Cuomo sues former Obama auto industry czar

Hmmm, now isn't that interesting? An up and coming, high profile Democrat from a big state suing an Obama person.

Steven Rattner, the former Obama administration auto industry czar, was sued by New York's attorney general for allegedly paying kickbacks to win investments from the state's public pension fund.

AG Andrew Cuomo's two charges seek $26 million from Rattner and an immediate lifetime ban from practicing in New York's securities industry.

In a separate but related action, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Rattner has agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle its own civil charges related to the case and consented to a bar from investment advisory or broker-dealer services for at least two years.

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Night Music

Open Thread, the Can't Get Enough edition.

Florence + The Machine, Addicted To Love

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46% of Americans know the GOP won the House

Not much of a mandate.

Some of the questions are a bit esoteric for the average citizen (even for me). But come on...

Fewer than half (46%) know that the Republicans will have a majority only in the House of Representatives when the new Congress convenes in January.

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'The American people have been too submissive'

I'm hardly ready to support Ron Paul on other issues but on this subject, he's mostly correct. (I'm not sure privatizing the TSA is the answer.) The unfortunate reality today is that the Democrats remain terrified of being soft on terror unless they go along with extreme policies. Nobody expects them to speak out because then - gasp! - they would have to defend themselves against bogus charges by the GOP. Wouldn't it be interesting to have Congress and the White House team all go through both the porno-scanners and the groping. It's just a little too easy to say it's fine when they live outside of the rules for everyone else. (Hmm, sounds like health care, doesn't it?)

Maybe the French protest too much, too often but you have to wonder what level of humiliation or class warfare attack (against the middle class and poor) it will take to see the American public stand up and say "enough." If the Democrats aren't interested standing up for voters like me, I have no problem supporting any politician who can help promote the issues that I find important. For the most part, the Democrats show no allegiance to anyone other than the moneyed interests who fund their campaigns so why would I want to bother voting or supporting their behavior? Read More......

EPA to coastal states: check the acidity level in water

Can you even imagine the Bush EPA raising this?

The federal agency's memo Monday to states recognizes carbon dioxide as not only an air pollutant but a water pollutant, and notes the serious impacts that ocean acidification can have on aquatic life.

Ocean acidification refers to the decrease in the alkalinity of oceans, which is caused by the absorption of excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. As water becomes more acidic, scientists have raised concern about dissolving coral reefs and potential effects on fish and other sea life.

"Ocean acidification is one of the biggest threats to our marine environment," said Miyoko Sakashita, a senior attorney at Center for Biological Diversity. This EPA action "really gave the green light to using the Clean Water Act to address ocean acidification," she said.

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Hoyer says House Dems will only vote on middle class tax cuts

Greg Sargent at the Plum Line:

Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, a senior Dem aide tells me, signaling support for a confrontational move towards the GOP that liberals have been pushing.

Asked if Democrats would definitely get a chance to hold this vote, the senior aide responded: "Definitely."

And a GOP congressman admits that the Bush tax cuts didn't work.

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Rachel Maddow calls out Politico for not reporting 'real news'

Great segment from Rachel Maddow. She seems to have taken Keith Olbermann's Special Comment about "real news" to heart.

The core story — Republicans McConnell and Boehner bail on a scheduled meeting with Obama. The story around the story — none of the Republican explanations printed in Politico are even close to true. Yet Politico published them anyway. Watch:



For reference, here are the key grafs from the (revised) Politico story (my emphasis; note the sourcing):

The roots of the partisan standoff that led to the postponement of the bipartisan White House summit scheduled for Thursday date back to January, when President Barack Obama dominated a GOP meeting in Baltimore and delivered a humiliating rebuke to House Republicans.

The one-sided televised presidential lecture, which many Republicans decried as a political ambush — Obama’s staff wanted the event to be broadcast and GOP aides agreed reluctantly at the last minute — has left a lingering distrust of Obama invitations and a wariness about accommodating every scheduling request emanating from the West Wing, aides tell POLITICO.

“He has a ways to go to rebuild the trust,” said a top Republican Hill staffer “The Baltimore thing was unbelievable.”

Many Republicans; aides; top staffer. They might as well have said "Republican PR firm" — those quotes sound focus-group tested to me.

And while Rachel is being polite, I don't have to be. When Politico, in its own voice, writes: "The one-sided televised presidential lecture ... has left a lingering distrust of Obama invitations" — well, it's asserting for itself that the demonstrably false Republican spin-leaks are true. And they're not.

Looks like the deeds of a right-wing water-carrier to me. But hey, that's me, just watching the deeds. (By the way, for accuracy of attribution, the author of that phony story is Glenn Thrush. Someone to notice the next time you read his stuff. He's the one with the squeeky-wet shoes.)

Olbermann did a terrific job in his Special Comment on Real News. Maddow has continued to carry the ball on that one all week, and this segment is one of her best.

GP Read More......

Soros: If Obama 'can't do what we need, it's time to look somewhere else'

Keith Olbermann's first segment has George Soros answering a question many of us have been asking. The question — What if Obama can't do what we need him to do?

Soros' answer is in this story by Sam Stein in the Huffington Post. According to the article, Soros said:

And if this president can't do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else.

Fascinating development. Here's the Olbermann segment.



For what it's worth, the Olbermann segment is titled "Soros delivers ultimatum."

There are clearly many questions about what the Soros statement means, but they all sound to these ears like after-the-fact spinning by affected parties. Judge for yourself. According to Stein, Soros also said (my emphasis):

Soros [said] he is "used to fighting losing battles but doesn't like to lose without fighting."

"Lose without fighting" has a painful and recent ring to it. It's also encouraging to see big donors talking about a movement that goes beyond one person. Finally.

I'm just glad one of our billionaires has finally taken up the challenge. To which I say — thanks. And bring your friends. There's a whole lot of work to do.

GP Read More......

The day the TSA grabbed Penn's (of Penn and Teller) crotch

This story is both fun and a lesson we can learn from. I'm presenting it for both reasons.

First the fun. Penn Jillette, a frequent traveler to be sure, is at the airport for a flight to L.A. As expected, things get interesting at security. Here's a sample of his story from the beginning (h/t lilyannrose for the link):

Last Thursday I was flying to LA on the Midnight flight. I went through security my usual sour stuff. I beeped, of course, and was shuttled to the "toss-em" line. A security guy came over. I assumed the position. I had a button up shirt on that was untucked. He reached around while he was behind me and grabbed around my front pocket. I guess he was going for my flashlight, but the area could have loosely been called "crotch." I said, "You have to ask me before you touch me or it's assault."

He said, "Once you cross that line, I can do whatever I want."

I said that wasn't true. I say that I have the option of saying no and not flying. He said, "Are you going to let me search you, or do I just throw you out?"

I said, "Finish up, and then call the police please."

When he was finished with my shoes, he said, "Okay, you can go."

The rest of the tale is a good read. Mr. Jillette is a fine story-teller, and it's well worth five minutes of your water-cooler time.

But there's a lesson in the story as well, one we can use. All through the reporting of the "TSA owns your junk" story is the hard-line government reply: "You can't stop us and we know it." And through learned helplessness, we sort of automatically agree, submissively assuming we have to go along.

Well, if the story is accurate, Penn pushed back and the government backed way down.

My take-away? Note how deferential the TSA was once they learned who Jillette was. It's peppered throughout the story, but you can even see in the part quoted above:

I said, "Finish up, and then call the police please."

When he was finished with my shoes, he said, "Okay, you can go."

This exchange gets repeated many times in the subsequent tale:

"Please call the police." "No. Please go away."

Look, no cop with confidence, when challenged, says "Please go away." The cop puts you instantly on the ground with a baton across the back of your neck; or you get Tased. Rules of engagement.

These TSA cops, however, do not have confidence, not yet. The issue is new, and they haven't pulled their act fully together. Is what they are doing really sexual assault? No one is sure, yet. Thus, when a big enough light (a celebrity flashlight, in this case) is shining, they back away.

The lesson — now's the time to organize a challenge, before they get organized. Anyone can do it, but the best people are obviously public figures — celebrities, newsfaces, pro-privacy politicians. I've talked a lot about our billionaires. It's now time for public figures to step up, in an organized way.

This is a serious suggestion. They were afraid of Penn Jillette. What would they do with Naomi Watt? George Clooney? Dylan Ratigan? Rachel Maddow or Susan, her partner? Senator Bernie Sanders? Rep. Anthony Weiner?

Anyone newsworthy can do it. "I refuse the scanner and groping me is assault" has an nice reportable ring to it.

But the time really is now. They're on their heels, but they won't be for long. After all, those scanners represent big money for some people.

GP

Update: As noted in the comments, the Penn Jillette story is from 2002. True, and thanks for the info. My point still stands, however. The "show me your junk" news is now, it's everywhere you look, and so is the official discomfort. I say again: The time to push back is now. Read More......

TSA pats down 3 year old who screams 'stop touching me' (after they take away her teddy bear)

This video appears a bit old -- the TSA employees are wearing white shirts in this video; they got blue ones about a year ago -- so before the new enhanced pat down procedures which are even more invasive. Is this really protecting America? What traveler would really feel safer after this? Read More......

Even Wash. Post is slowly grasping that GOPers don't want to be bipartisan

Only took the Post two years to figure it out. Apparently, that brazen and unprecedented move by McConnell and Boehner to blow off a meeting with the President finally caught the attention of the DC insiders:

Since the electoral rebuke that cost Democrats the House and narrowed their margin in the Senate, Obama has repeatedly suggested that he sees opportunities for compromise with Republicans. He has hinted that he is open to temporarily extending all of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year, including those on income over $250,000. He said over the weekend that he will seek to limit earmarks, a practice that House GOP leaders have long bemoaned.

The newly emboldened Republicans, however, have shown little enthusiasm for compromise.

Um, the Republicans have shown little enthusiasm for compromise for the past two years -- even as the country was facing serious crises, many of the GOP's own making.

I'm with Markos:

The White House is so freakin' desperate for "bipartisanship", that is says idiotic things like this:

In today’s White House briefing, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs went out of his way to play down any conflict with GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican leader John Boehner over the rescheduling of the meeting, which was originally planned for Thursday. The meeting is intended to address issues that Congress will take up during its lame duck session – including the possible extension of the Bush tax cuts.

"Bipartisanship has happened," Gibbs said of the meeting.

No, it hasn't. And you know what? No one gives a shit anyway. No one, apparently, except for Obama and his brain trust inside the White House.

When even the Post has figured it out, it's pretty freaking obvious. Obama needs to get a spine and lead the nation. GOPers think he's weak. That's why they blew him off. He's got to prove them wrong ASAP. Read More......

Bernanke says bond-buying will create 700,000 jobs

Uh huh. And tomorrow the TSA will tell us that their new grope or porno-scan will save a gazillion lives. Where do these people come from and who listens to their nonsense?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the Fed's $600 billion economic aid program could create 700,000 jobs over two years.

Bernanke made the comments during a private meeting Wednesday with members of the Senate Banking Committee, according to Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and others who attended the meeting. Bernanke was citing research done by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

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Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President will be dropping by a meeting on the START Treaty this morning. That session will be attended by a bipartisan group of foreign policy experts according to the Daily Guidance:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator John Kerry; Senator Richard Lugar; former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, James Baker, and Henry Kissinger; former Secretaries of Defense William Cohen and William Perry; former National Security Advisor General Brent Scowcroft; Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright; and Senator Sam Nunn.

Republican Senators are blocking passage of the START Treaty, because that's what GOPers do these days.

The President is meeting with the Democratic leaders from Congress today. This was supposed to be a meeting with GOP leaders, too, but they blew off Obama. Even the Washington Post is ever so slowly beginning to notice (finally) that Republicans don't do bipartisanship. There's an article in today's paper titled, "GOP may be less eager than Obama for bipartisanship." I know, duh? Right? And, "less eager" is still a gross understatement. But, don't expect the Dean of the DC press corps, David Broder (who obsesses about bipartisanship), to notice. He's got another nonsensical column about how bad Democrats are today.

Looks like the Senate will be voting on the Defense Authorization bill with the DADT language. The devil is, of course, in the details. Obama and Reid have vowed to bring the bill to the floor, but that only means there will be a cloture vote. We have to get past cloture first. If that happens, the bill has to pass with the compromise DADT language intact. Then, there will be a conference on the Defense Authorization bill and three of the key players (McCain and the Chair and Ranking members of the House Armed Services Committees Skelton and McKeon) oppose repeal. That conference committee bill then has to pass both Houses. There's a lot to do and not a lot of time. Senators better be prepared to stay until this is done.

Lots swirling around... Read More......

Ireland prepares for a new wave of emigration

It was only in recent years that the population of Ireland had recovered to it's pre-emigration population level. Now it's almost certain that the country will see another wave leave for Australia, Canada and elsewhere. The Independent:

With the unemployment rate still above 13 per cent and remaining high, many with a bankable trade are now considering taking the drastic option of leaving Ireland in search of work.

The government expects as many as 100,000 people to leave over the next four years. In most cases, it is a decision taken with the utmost reluctance. Mr Lynch said he would be leaving his wife and six-month-old son behind initially while he secured a job.

A new wave of emigration would be one of the most painful symptoms of Ireland's financial crisis, which continued to be the subject of a fraught political stand-off yesterday. Brian Cowen, the under-siege Irish Prime Minister, again emphasised his government was not in need of a European bailout. However, finance minister, Brian Lenihan, conceded the country's banks needed help. A mission of EU and International Monetary Fund officials will visit Ireland today, in the latest attempt to resolve a debt crisis which some fear is putting the nation's European partners at risk. Mindful of the potential knock-on effects on the UK's economy, George Osborne declared that Britain also "stands ready" to play its part in any rescue plan, over the objections of some Tory MPs. But further evidence for the impact of Ireland's woes came as Portugal's borrowing costs sky-rocketed on the back of traders' worries over the "contagion effect" caused by the country's crisis.

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Mediterranean great whites from Australian seas

That was quite a wrong turn, but who hasn't been lost? BBC:

Great white sharks in the Mediterranean may have first arrived from the seas around Australia 450,000 years ago, genetic studies have suggested.

Researchers writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B believe the arrival may have been simply a migratory "wrong turn" by a few pregnant females.

A tumultuous climate between ice ages may have been the cause.

The species - Carcharodon carcharias - would have remained in the Med because it returns to spawn where it was born.

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US government websites 'hijacked' by Chinese hackers for 18 minutes

To be fair to the Chinese hackers, they probably looked at all of the easy business dealings from the US and figured it was fair game. If nobody is ever willing to get tough with China, why should we expect anything else?

U.S. government and military Internet traffic was briefly redirected through computer servers in China earlier this year, according to a report that is to be released by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on Wednesday.

The report says telecommunications companies in China disrupted the Internet for only about 18 minutes -- but they were a big 18 minutes. They "hijacked" about 15 percent of the world's online traffic, affecting NASA, the U.S. Senate, the four branches of the military and the office of the Secretary of Defense.

A draft copy of the report, obtained by ABC News, said, "For about 18 minutes on April 8, 2010, China Telecom advertised erroneous network traffic routes that instructed U.S. and other foreign Internet traffic to travel through Chinese servers."

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