Newsweek kills coolest part of its Web site

From Geek.com:

Programmers for Newsweek’s website, though, might have pulled off the best implementation of the Konami Code ever. Up until Monday, if you typed in the Konami Code on the Newsweek website, all of the front page stories would become about zombies.

The lead headline, “Zombies Attack!” was followed by an article telling readers that large portions of the East Coast had been invaded by the flesh-slavering undead. Other headlines traced the infection back to a mysterious Patient Zero or advised Newsweek readers to aim for the head.

On their part, Newsweek didn’t seem to know about it until the feature became popular. ” “Now that we’ve all had a laugh, we will be removing it,” a joyless Newsweeks spokesperson said.

I'm told this was the code - it doesn't work any more: up up down down left right left right B A enter Read More......

Vuvuzela fever hits UK

They are buying them like hotcakes. Apparently there are enough people who like the sound of bees buzzing during a match. The upside is that it dampens the vulgar insults from the football hooligans. The downside is that it's only a matter of time before they're used by those same hooligans to assault someone.

The BBC was investigating the possibility of transmitting an alternative "vuvuzela free" version of its World Cup coverage tonight, as the fierce debate over the buzz of the horn looked set to be heading for football grounds all over Britain.

As players, fans and coaches weighed in on whether the loud drone of the plastic horns was an annoying irritant or joyful expression of African culture, South African organisers hit back and encouraged visiting fans to export them back to their own countries.

At the same time, fans in Britain have been snapping up the horns at the rate of one every two seconds and suppliers claimed the UK had been gripped by "vuvuzela fever".

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Reaction to Obama's speech

Olbermann was clearly not pleased, nor was Fineman. Taegan Goddard says it was a missed opportunity. Rachel just said that Obama seems to think the answer is prayer. I think this is going to get ugly.

More Rachel: Not exactly a plan.

Jed at DailyKos seems positive.

Yikes, Ezra Klein is critical on Rachel Maddow's show. Ezra isn't often critical of this administration. "Didn't say what the problem was, didn't say what success would be, so difficult to judge the follow through from the speech." (paraphrase) Read More......

Text of Obama's address to the nation about the Gulf spill

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE NATION
ON THE BP OIL SPILL

Oval Office

8:01 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges. At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American. Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it exists. And tonight, I’ve returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens.

On April 20th, an explosion ripped through BP Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana. Eleven workers lost their lives. Seventeen others were injured. And soon, nearly a mile beneath the surface of the ocean, oil began spewing into the water.

Because there has never been a leak this size at this depth, stopping it has tested the limits of human technology. That’s why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge -- a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation’s Secretary of Energy. Scientists at our national labs and experts from academia and other oil companies have also provided ideas and advice.

As a result of these efforts, we’ve directed BP to mobilize additional equipment and technology. And in the coming weeks and days, these efforts should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well. This is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that’s expected to stop the leak completely.

Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced. And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it’s not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years.

But make no mistake: We will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long as it takes. We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused. And we will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy.

Tonight I’d like to lay out for you what our battle plan is going forward: what we’re doing to clean up the oil, what we’re doing to help our neighbors in the Gulf, and what we’re doing to make sure that a catastrophe like this never happens again.

First, the cleanup. From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation’s history -- an effort led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has almost 40 years of experience responding to disasters. We now have nearly 30,000 personnel who are working across four states to contain and clean up the oil. Thousands of ships and other vessels are responding in the Gulf. And I’ve authorized the deployment of over 17,000 National Guard members along the coast. These servicemen and women are ready to help stop the oil from coming ashore, they’re ready to help clean the beaches, train response workers, or even help with processing claims -- and I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible.

Because of our efforts, millions of gallons of oil have already been removed from the water through burning, skimming and other collection methods. Over five and a half million feet of boom has been laid across the water to block and absorb the approaching oil. We’ve approved the construction of new barrier islands in Louisiana to try to stop the oil before it reaches the shore, and we’re working with Alabama, Mississippi and Florida to implement creative approaches to their unique coastlines.

As the cleanup continues, we will offer whatever additional resources and assistance our coastal states may need. Now, a mobilization of this speed and magnitude will never be perfect, and new challenges will always arise. I saw and heard evidence of that during this trip. So if something isn’t working, we want to hear about it. If there are problems in the operation, we will fix them.

But we have to recognize that despite our best efforts, oil has already caused damage to our coastline and its wildlife. And sadly, no matter how effective our response is, there will be more oil and more damage before this siege is done. That’s why the second thing we’re focused on is the recovery and restoration of the Gulf Coast.

You know, for generations, men and women who call this region home have made their living from the water. That living is now in jeopardy. I’ve talked to shrimpers and fishermen who don’t know how they’re going to support their families this year. I’ve seen empty docks and restaurants with fewer customers -– even in areas where the beaches are not yet affected. I’ve talked to owners of shops and hotels who wonder when the tourists might start coming back. The sadness and the anger they feel is not just about the money they’ve lost. It’s about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost.

I refuse to let that happen. Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness. And this fund will not be controlled by BP. In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent third party.

Beyond compensating the people of the Gulf in the short term, it’s also clear we need a long-term plan to restore the unique beauty and bounty of this region. The oil spill represents just the latest blow to a place that’s already suffered multiple economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats. And the region still hasn’t recovered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That’s why we must make a commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond responding to the crisis of the moment.

I make that commitment tonight. Earlier, I asked Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy, who is also a former governor of Mississippi and a son of the Gulf Coast, to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible. The plan will be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists and other Gulf residents. And BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region.

The third part of our response plan is the steps we’re taking to ensure that a disaster like this does not happen again. A few months ago, I approved a proposal to consider new, limited offshore drilling under the assurance that it would be absolutely safe –- that the proper technology would be in place and the necessary precautions would be taken.

That obviously was not the case in the Deepwater Horizon rig, and I want to know why. The American people deserve to know why. The families I met with last week who lost their loved ones in the explosion -- these families deserve to know why. And so I’ve established a National Commission to understand the causes of this disaster and offer recommendations on what additional safety and environmental standards we need to put in place. Already, I’ve issued a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling. I know this creates difficulty for the people who work on these rigs, but for the sake of their safety, and for the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue. And while I urge the Commission to complete its work as quickly as possible, I expect them to do that work thoroughly and impartially.

One place we’ve already begun to take action is at the agency in charge of regulating drilling and issuing permits, known as the Minerals Management Service. Over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulation with hostility -- a philosophy that says corporations should be allowed to play by their own rules and police themselves. At this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight. Oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors, and were essentially allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations.

When Ken Salazar became my Secretary of the Interior, one of his very first acts was to clean up the worst of the corruption at this agency. But it’s now clear that the problem there ran much deeper, and the pace of reform was just too slow. And so Secretary Salazar and I are bringing in new leadership at the agency -- Michael Bromwich, who was a tough federal prosecutor and Inspector General. And his charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry’s watchdog -- not its partner.

So one of the lessons we’ve learned from this spill is that we need better regulations, better safety standards, and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling. But a larger lesson is that no matter how much we improve our regulation of the industry, drilling for oil these days entails greater risk. After all, oil is a finite resource. We consume more than 20 percent of the world’s oil, but have less than 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves. And that’s part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean -- because we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we’ve talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked -- not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.

The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America. Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude.

We cannot consign our children to this future. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America’s innovation and seize control of our own destiny.

This is not some distant vision for America. The transition away from fossil fuels is going to take some time, but over the last year and a half, we’ve already taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry. As we speak, old factories are reopening to produce wind turbines, people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels. Consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and families are making their homes more energy-efficient. Scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technologies that someday will lead to entire new industries.

Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us. As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of jobs -– but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment. And only if we rally together and act as one nation –- workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors.

When I was a candidate for this office, I laid out a set of principles that would move our country towards energy independence. Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill –- a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses.

Now, there are costs associated with this transition. And there are some who believe that we can’t afford those costs right now. I say we can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy -– because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater.

So I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party -– as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development -– and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.

All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fair hearing in the months ahead. But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is somehow too big and too difficult to meet. You know, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon. And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny -– our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how we’re going to get there. We know we’ll get there.

It’s a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now.

Each year, at the beginning of shrimping season, the region’s fishermen take part in a tradition that was brought to America long ago by fishing immigrants from Europe. It’s called “The Blessing of the Fleet,” and today it’s a celebration where clergy from different religions gather to say a prayer for the safety and success of the men and women who will soon head out to sea -– some for weeks at a time.

The ceremony goes on in good times and in bad. It took place after Katrina, and it took place a few weeks ago –- at the beginning of the most difficult season these fishermen have ever faced.

And still, they came and they prayed. For as a priest and former fisherman once said of the tradition, “The blessing is not that God has promised to remove all obstacles and dangers. The blessing is that He is with us always,” a blessing that’s granted “even in the midst of the storm.”

The oil spill is not the last crisis America will face. This nation has known hard times before and we will surely know them again. What sees us through -– what has always seen us through –- is our strength, our resilience, and our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for it.

Tonight, we pray for that courage. We pray for the people of the Gulf. And we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

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Starbucks to offer free wifi

i agree with those who fear that Starbucks may end up looking like a branch of the local library, full of laptops. I'm not sure how they're going to stop people from camping out there all day, and not buying more than a cup of coffee. Still, glad they're doing it. There our to be much more free wifi, worldwide, than there is to date. Going to McDonald's for free wifi just doesn't cut it. Read More......

GOP Rep. Steve King now says illegal immigrants can be spotted by their shoes, or a 'sixth sense'

I see Latin people.

PoliticalCorrection.org:

KING: Some claim that the Arizona law will bring about racial discrimination profiling. First let me say, Mr. Speaker, that profiling has always been an important component of legitimate law enforcement. If you can't profile someone, you can't use those common sense indicators that are before your very eyes. Now, I think it's wrong to use racial profiling for the reasons of discriminating against people, but it's not wrong to use race or other indicators for the sake of identifying that are violating the law. [...]

It's just a common sense thing. Law enforcement needs to use common sense indicators. Those common sense indicators are all kinds of things, from what kind of clothes people wear - my suit in my case - what kind of shoes people wear, what kind of accident [sic] they have, um, the, the type of grooming they might have, there're, there're all kinds of indicators there and sometimes it's just a sixth sense and they can't put their finger on it. But these law enforcement officers, if they were going to be discriminating against people on the sole basis of race, singling people out, that'd be going on already.

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Have Republicans already blown their chance to recapture the Senate

From Brian Beutler:

Primary victories by Carly Fiorina in California and Sharron Angle in Nevada bolstered a growing national narrative that Republican candidates are lightweights, or too outside the mainstream, to survive in the fall, and that could harm even top tier Republicans.

"There's now a path to 'acceptable losses' for Democrats," notes one cautiously optimistic Democratic strategist.

"I totally see how the number stops at five to seven [Republican pickups]" says a Republican consultant, speaking of an optimistic scenario for the GOP.

"Nevada is the one place that fundamentally changed," says a top GOP consultant, who now predicts Harry Reid will be re-elected. "I don't think Angle can win personally."

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Why is the Senate Finance Committee screwing taxpayers in favor of Wall Street, again?

This is outrageous. How much does the US public need to fork over to Wall Street before enough is enough? They saved that selfish bunch from ruin and now we're seeing a very important and costly omission (change, really) in legislation. Representative George Miller of California is fortunately asking the right questions and needs our support. He's sending pies to the Senate Finance Committee with a big slice taken out to show them how much Wall Street is taking from our savings accounts. Here's what was sent over from the House which required 401K fee disclosure.

Annoyingly, it's Max Baucus who cut out the requirement of listing fees for 401K retirement accounts. As the US Department of Labor concluded, even a 1% difference will cut 28% over the lifetime of a worker. As if the Wall Street created crisis wasn't enough, they now want even more and the Democrats are helping them. Tell me again what the difference in end result is between the GOP plan and the Democratic plan for Wall Street? Is it possible for Democrats to stop giving Wall Street everything they ever dreamed of? Apparently in the Senate, that would be a "no."

I mentioned before that this is an area where Democrats could and should do something. It's like the Wild West again with this group on Wall Street. Fees can vary significantly and can chew into a retirement plan. The Democrats are completely missing an opportunity to let Wall Street pay back Americans by limiting these costs and making them crystal clear. If the brain trust running the Democratic party wants to know why they're about to be slaughtered in the autumn elections, add this latest effort of caving to Wall Street to the list. Read More......

Harry Reid's GOP opponent raised possibility of armed rebellion against US government

Nice. Welcome to the modern Republican party. Just this side of talking like terrorists. From the Hill:

You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact, Thomas Jefferson said it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years.

I hope that's not where we're going, but, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying, 'My goodness what can we do to turn this country around?' I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.

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Toxic clouds blowing inland from Gulf oil leak

Each day you wonder how it could get worse, yet each day, it's worse. Read More......

Obama promises to be a 'fierce advocate' for those impacted by Gulf oil disaster

Uh oh, that old line again. I hope this attempt to be a "fierce advocate" works out better than his last supposed attempt at being a "fierce advocate" (Obama had promised repeatedly during the campaign to be a "fierce advocate" for the civil rights of gays and lesbians - he's not).

Using old language from a previous failure is not the image anyone needs today. The good news is that the White House is finally coming around to the idea of moving the settlement claims process out of the hands of BP.

There is still an opportunity to take control of a bad situation that is littered with problems thanks to decades of GOP policy but he's going to have to move quickly to win over a skeptical public.

Laying the groundwork for an evening speech to the nation, President Barack Obama walked a pristine stretch of sand on Florida's shoreline Tuesday and promised to be a "fierce advocate" for those whose lives have been upended by the spreading oil lurking offshore.

Obama's challenge was spelled out clearly in a sign held up by one of the passersby who watched the president's motorcade whisk through this beach town: "Lead now," it said.

His spokesman said Obama is poised to seize the handling of oil spill damage claims from BP to ensure people get the help they need to recover from the environmental disaster. The president will outline his specific plans and expectations in a prime-time Oval Office speech.

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FBI opens Ted Kennedy's file to the public

It is kind of interesting:

Another file dealt with character assassination. A “nebulous and vague” report from an informant suggested that associates of Frank Sinatra wanted to attack “the character of Edward and Robert Kennedy and their brother-in-law Peter Lawford” by putting them in compromising positions with women. “The F.B.I. did not consider the rumor solid,” the bureau wrote in a summary of its files, “and no other mention of it appears in the file, suggesting that the informant did not supply any corroboration to the story.”

Here's the FBI page. And maybe some day the FBI will learn how to work the Internets. Check out their page in Safari.

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Gen. Petraeus passes out at Senate hearing on Afghanistan

Not much more to say, just weird. Read More......

GOP IL Senate candidate up to 9 lies about his military record

From Steve Benen:

As of about a week ago, I think the list was up to eight separate incidents: Kirk (1) falsely claimed he served "in" Operation Iraqi Freedom; (2) falsely claimed to "command the war room in the Pentagon"; (3) falsely claimed to have won the U.S. Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year award; (4) falsely claimed to have been shot at by the Iraqi Air Defense network; (5) falsely claimed to be a veteran of Desert Storm; (6) falsely claimed to be the only lawmaker to serve during Operation Iraqi Freedom; and (7) falsely claimed to have been shot at in Kosovo; and (8) falsely claimed to have been shot at in Kandahar.

This week, we have a new one for the list.

When Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk says he repeatedly deployed to Afghanistan with the Navy, he's referring to two-week training missions as part of his annual reservist requirements.

After acknowledging a series of misstatements that embellished his Navy service, Kirk is being challenged over his use of the military term "deployment," and this could be yet another opportunity for critics to parse his words in what has recently become a resume-bashing battle with Democratic Senate opponent Alexi Giannoulias.

Deployment can mean more than one thing in the military, but it is often used to describe service members going off to war for an extended time.

Navy Cmdr. Danny Hernandez said there is a difference between annual training and being deployed, which can sometimes last more than a year.

"I would think that would be (considered) two weeks of annual training," Hernandez, a Navy spokesman, said of Kirk's stints. "A deployment is a deployment and annual training is annual training."

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New polling of swing House Districts looks grim for Dems

I heard the piece on this new polling on NPR this morning. It was painful enough, but having FOX News contributor Mara Liaisson do the report on it was too much. I'm sure Mara's pals at FOX will love this new info.

NPR had a bipartisan team conduct a poll of 70 swing House Districts -- and the results weren't pretty. The word "toxic" was used to describe the findings:

For this poll, [Republican] Bolger and [Democrat] Greenberg chose the districts where incumbents are considered the most vulnerable, and, in the case of open seats, the ones most likely to switch party control in November. Sixty are currently held by Democrats — many of whom won these seats even when voters in the same district preferred Republican John McCain for president in 2008. The other 10 districts are the flip side — held by Republicans in the House, even though their voters went for Barack Obama in 2008.

These are this year's swing seats — the political terrain where the battle for control of the House of Representatives will be won or lost. In this battleground, voters are choosing Republicans over Democrats 49 percent to 41 percent.

Not good.

And, the news that isn't news is the lack of intensity on the Democratic side:

Bolger says the NPR poll has more evidence of a trend that's been apparent all year: Republican-leaning voters are energized, while the intensity seems to have leached out of the Democratic ranks.

"When you look at the generic ballot for Congress in the Democrat-held seats, the Republican is up by 5 [points]. But among those who rate their interest as 8 to 10, you know, the high-interest voters, the Republican leads in those Democratic seats 53 to 39.

"And what that means is that is in a close election, the Republican enthusiasm will put Republicans over the top, just like in '06 and '08, the Democratic enthusiasm put the Democrats over the top."

The full results can be found here. A listing of the 70 Districts that were included in the poll can be found in the pdf document titled, NPR Survey Graphs. Read More......

BP payout may be $34 billion

That is definitely a big change from the previous $10 billion figure being discussed. BP is worried about the increasing size of the payout but perhaps they should have considered the risks earlier when the costs would have been much lower for everyone. How long before the GOP runs out to protect their friend, again? At least BP can rely on CEO Tony Hayward to smooth out a bumpy situation.

BP already faces up to $14bn in civil penalties, payable under US environmental law, assuming the leak is plugged in August. These punitive damages are directly linked to the size of the spill – already estimated at being up to eight times worse than the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 – with BP liable for up to $4,300 for each barrel-worth spilt.

Senate leaders insisted the $20bn ring-fenced account should be exclusively for "payment of economic damages and clean-up costs" and should not be seen as a cap on BP's other legal liabilities. With punitive damages pending too, the theoretical total of $34bn is equivalent to more than half the corporation tax paid by all British companies last year.

Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, and other directors of the company, will meet Barack Obama at the White House on Wednesday prepared to offer concessions in the hope of taking the sting out of mounting political attacks on the company.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is still in Florida. He's comes back to DC this afternoon and addresses the nation from the Oval Office at 8:00 PM Eastern. It's his first prime time speech from that particular bully pulpit. And, it's pretty much the ultimate bully pulpit. The subject is, of course, the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

This issue is affecting Obama's presidency. Yesterday, Gallup's weekly tracking had Obama's approval rating at 46%. The aggregate polls on the President's approval rating at Pollster.com are in the same ball park:

So, the speech tonight comes at a critical point for Obama's presidency and the Gulf Coast crisis. He has a tendency to rise to the occasion when he's under pressure. Tonight, I think people will want to see a leader. I know I do.

Pretty sure BP will dominate the news today. A number of oil company executives are testifying before a House committee this morning. They'll be appearing before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, which is chaired by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA). He's a real hard-ass. It will be interesting to see if any of the oil execs are willing to throw BP under the bus.

Another interesting day ahead.... Read More......

Palin pushes for meeting with Thatcher

I can see how she would want to meet the former PM who had the honor of holding the lowest approval rating of any twentieth century British Prime Minister. Somehow people get the wrong impression about Thatcher and the UK because she consistently remained under 40% approval ratings. Her years in office said more about the system than it did about her popularity.

It sounds a bit odd that Palin would push so hard to meet Thatcher who is not in good mental or physical health. (It doesn't say much about Thatcher's family either.) Once again, it's all about Sarah Palin and appearance. It's odd to think that someone would be so aggressive with insisting on a face to face meeting with someone that they don't know in such condition. The narcissistic Fox News contributor lives another day.

Sarah Palin, the once obscure governor from Alaska who is shaking up rightwing US politics, is promising to honour the woman she calls the Iron Lady by visiting Britain to see Margaret Thatcher.

Today Palin told her 1,630,386 Facebook fans that she was in discussions about meeting the baroness. In typically convoluted Palin language, she said she had received an invitation for a visit to London that "included the offer of arranging a meeting" with Thatcher.

The post came a day after the Mail on Sunday reported that Palin herself had made the approach, with her people contacting Thatcher's office to ask for an audience. The Mail said Thatcher had agreed to see her, though no date has been specified.

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Greek government bonds downgraded to 'junk' rating, again

In other words, the ratings industry is not fully impressed with Greece's financial condition even after the bailout. It also means paying back their debt is going to be even more expensive due to the associated risks. Unfortunately, questioning the ratings industry and it's problems won't change this particular issue. BBC:

Greek government bonds have been downgraded four notches to "junk" status by Moody's credit rating agency.

The agency said there was still "considerable uncertainty" surrounding the impact of measures introduced to cut the country's high budget deficit.

Greece is looking to slash its deficit from 14% of GDP to 3% by 2014.

But Moody's said that the outlook on Greece's rating is now stable, and that it would likely remain unchanged over the next 12 to 18 months.

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