Gulf sea turtle deaths up along with dolphin deaths

There have been high increased rates of death with dolphins in the past so it's not necessarily linked to the BP oil spill, but it makes you wonder. The NOAA report is still confidential though we hope to hear more soon.

Federal scientists trying to figure out why dolphin deaths along the Gulf of Mexico are up this year now have a second challenge: a sharp jump in sea turtle deaths in some Gulf areas.

"In the past couple of weeks, we've seen an increase" in turtle deaths in the northern Gulf, Connie Barclay, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told msnbc.com.

Since March 15, she noted, 39 deaths were confirmed in Mississippi, 4 in Alabama and 3 in Louisiana.

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Very cool Russian photos of earth

Much more from Gizmodo (and h/t to HuffPost Hill) Read the rest of this post...

Krugman: The only way govt. belt-tightening won't hurt growth is if consumers take on more debt

That's a rather stunning statement, isn't it? We're in an environment in which government cutback ("austerity" is the moral-sounding term for it) is being urged in the US, the UK and all across Europe. But if government slows spending, where will replacement spending come from?

The answer is in the headline: In the current jobless environment, the only way government belt-tightening can work is if households increase their debt.

And before you think this is some left-wing economist talking, the idea comes from the conservative UK government itself, from one of their reports arguing for government cutbacks. Amazing.

Paul Krugman brings us news of this deeply dishonest argument (my emphasis):

[I]n Britain, via Yves Smith, people have been digging into the details of the government forecast, and finding that it relies on the assumption that household debt will rise to new heights relative to income[.] ...

Why? Because the only way the economy can avoid taking a hit from government cuts is if private spending rises to fill the gap — and although you rarely hear the austerians admitting this, the only way that can happen is if people take on more debt. ...

All in all, it’s quite a spectacle. It would be funny, except that millions of people will suffer the cost of this folly.

The blog post contains a government-generated chart that documents that assumption; it shows "Projected ratio of household debt to income" rising, from 160% to 175% as the engine of this supposed new growth that austerity will somehow cause.

As I said, a deeply dishonest argument, yet you can hear it being made as we speak, for example, here. Krugman on the hypocrisy:

So we have the spectacle of a government that inveighs against the evils of debt pinning all its hopes on an assumption that over-indebted households will dig their hole even deeper.

It seems pretty clear that the headline statement, if true, is actually an argument that government cutbacks will contract the economy, not expand it. After all, which of us will increase our own debt if government cuts back its social services, its safety net? Very few, I think. A double-dip recession could be just as likely as economic expansion.

Not that any of this will stop the new "austerians" (as Krugman calls them), from pressing forward anyway — including, it seems, our Reagan-admiring current president. (For more about what austerity is doing to the UK, see this by Chris in Paris. Not pretty.)

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TAKE ACTION: Another DADT discharge? Sailor needs your help asap

Robin McGehee of GetEQUAL and I just sent out the following joint action alert to our email lists. This servicemember, Derek Morado, is having his DADT discharge hearing tomorrow, Thursday March 31. It's absurd that the Pentagon is proceeding with DADT discharges even after the President signed the repeal legislation. But here we are.

GetEqual and AMERICAblog will be providing Derek a list of everyone who signs our petition on his behalf, he'll then take those names into the hearing with him. Please help if you can, and thanks. Here's our alert, with more information:

When President Obama signed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010" last December, we thought the discharges were over.

Sadly, we thought wrong.

GetEQUAL was recently contacted by an active-duty servicemember named Derek, who earlier this month found out that the Pentagon is still proceeding with his discharge, and his hearing -- behind closed doors -- is scheduled for tomorrow, March 31.

Click here to show your support for Derek, and to help him fight back against his discharge -- Derek will bring your names with him to the hearing, and we'll highlight the support in the media to up the pressure!

Derek joined the Navy right after high school -- here are his own words:

This lengthy matter has been tearing me up; it has destroyed relationships and displaced loved ones who were relying on me. But even after the U.S. Government has made it clear they don’t want this law in effect the Navy has said that, because the paperwork has been submitted and the policy is technically still active, they have no choice but to continue.

I have been in the U.S. Navy since I graduated high school. It’s all I know and all I want to do. I have dreams of grandeur, hopes of retiring a young, highly-decorated, respected senior enlisted sailor. My resolve is weakened but not broken. I just have to place my fate in the hands of three strangers -- strangers who I hope have strong moral convictions and like-minded sentiments to my own.

Click here to add your name to the list of supporters Derek will take into his hearing with him.

We'll be sure to report back on how the hearing went, and the impact your names had.

John Aravosis, Editor of AMERICAblog
Robin McGehee, Director of GetEQUAL

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Judge to Wisconsin GOP: Don't you dare

The judge is ticked that GOP Governor Walker and his state legislative cronies outright ignored a court order against implementing the state's new union-busting law. So she's now making things crystal clear:

“Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of (the law) was enjoined,” Sumi said during a hearing. “That is what I now want to make crystal clear.”

This is one of the big differences between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats work within the system to change laws they deem unjust. Republicans simply ignore the law. Bush didn't like FISA, so he simply refused to go before the judges at all. Whereas when Obama didn't like DOMA, the President sent his lawyers to the court to tell the judge they'd still be showing up in court, but they'd be arguing that the law is unconstitutional (and Obama notified Congress so the Republicans could take up the suit themselves, and they are). The Republicans would simply not show up at all. Read the rest of this post...

CEO of JPMorgan Chase thinks regulatory reform will 'damage America'

Remind me again which industry lost trillions and threw the global economy into a recession? Just because spoiled brat bankers like Dimon recovered nicely doesn't mean that's the case for everyone else. It's amazing to think this guy was one of Obama's leading candidates to run the Treasury department. Who is really damaging America here?

Jamie Dimon, chief executive of Wall Street giant JPMorgan Chase, lashed out on Wednesday at efforts by U.S. regulators to police the $600 trillion swaps market, in which his bank is a big player.

"Corporate America is in very good shape. It's well-financed, it's well-funded," he said. "The consumer is spending ... housing is better than it was."

Dodd-Frank, he added, poses a "huge cost" for banks and has made regulatory compliance "even more complicated."

NOTE FROM JOHN: Yes, and corporate America got bailed out. The rest of us, not so much. And just who's doing better? Unemployment is still at horrendous levels. Income is still significantly down for a lot of us, myself included. As for consumer spending, I don't know anyone who's opening up their wallet any more this year than they did last. And finally, housing. Housing? Is back? Is he high? Read the rest of this post...

Should the US arm the Libyan rebels?

UPDATE: Reuters is reporting via Twitter: "Obama has signed secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces in Libya, officials tell Reuters. Obama signed order, known as a presidential "finding", in last two or three weeks authorizing secret CIA operations. Clinton says no decision on arming Libyan rebels. Republican lawmaker: Obama administration tells Congress it has not decided whether to arm Libyan rebels or not."
___________

NYT:

But some administration officials argue that supplying arms would further entangle the United States in a drawn-out civil war because the rebels would need to be trained to use any weapons, even relatively simple rifles and shoulder-fired anti-armor weapons. This could mean sending trainers. One official said the United States might simply let others supply the weapons.

The question of whether to arm the rebels underscores the difficult choices the United States faces as it tries to move from being the leader of the military operation to a member of a NATO-led coalition, with no clear political endgame. It also carries echoes of previous American efforts to arm rebels, in Angola, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and elsewhere, many of which backfired. The United States has a deep, often unsuccessful, history of arming insurgencies.

I think it's difficult to avoid escalation in any conflict. It's only one slight escalation, you're told, this time, then every day, every week, brings another new "slight" escalation. Maybe this time it will be enough to finally beat the bad guys. How do you say no? How do you write off the time and money already invested when presented with an option that might, just might, this time bring the battle to a close?

And there's the rub.

I still worry that this is the third war we're getting ourselves into. God bless the French, but what's so wrong about letting them arm the rebels? Is there a military reason we need to be involved in that as well? They've got trainers. And North Africa is their backyard (hell, get the Italians in there, Libya was theirs once upon a time).

What do you think? In for a cruise missile, in for a shotgun?

ABC's Jake Tapper has a useful post up on this as well. Jake notes that here are several issues to be considered, including:

1. Who are they?

The Obama administration at this point seems to regard the formal representation of the opposition a credible body. But serious questions remain about who the rebels on the ground in different cities are, made up as they are by a ragtag stew of tribes, students, guys who hate Gadhafi, with some bad guys tucked in there.

A 2007 study from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point looked at 595 fighters who entered Iraq to fight against the US. Almost 19% of them were from Libya -- the 2nd most common country of origin. The study suggested "The apparent surge in Libyan recruits traveling to Iraq may be linked the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group's increasingly cooperative relationship with al-Qa'ida..."

As Luis noted yesterday, NATO's top commander was this week asked about the opposition, and Adm. James Stavridis said “the intelligence that I'm receiving at this point makes me feel that the leadership that I'm seeing are responsible men and women who are struggling against Colonel Gadhafi. We have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al-Qaeda, Hezbollah."

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Vatican warns the Internet is leading the young to Satan, then finds way to wiggle out of pedophilia scandal (again)

A Vatican affiliated university is holding a conference on Satan and exorcism because apparently the Internet has been a big boon for the lord of darkness.

"The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism," said Carlo Climati, a member of the university who specialises in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.

"In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism. The conference is not about how to become an exorcist. It's to share information about exorcism, Satanism and sects. It's to give help to families and priests. There is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile," said Mr Climati.

The Internet is for Satan? And here I thought the Internet was for porn.


(Another very cool version of this song.)

And it wouldn't be the Vatican if they didn't roll out yet another excuse for their aiding and abetting of pedophilia.

The Vatican's chief exorcist claimed last year that the Devil lurked in the Vatican, the very heart of the Catholic Church.

Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, scream, dribble and slobber, utter blasphemies and have to be physically restrained.

He claimed that the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See.

Yes, the devil made you do it. Considering the Pope was a party to all of this, that would mean he's been influenced by the devil too. And tell us again why then its okay for him to continue leading the church? Read the rest of this post...

Anti-gay Bush crony Scott Bloch may be heading to prison this afternoon

Good riddance. Read the rest of this post...

CNN: 47% view Tea Party unfavorably

And remarkably, this is the group the GOP is pandering to with its budget cutting mania. They have little choice. The GOP built the Teabaggers, the Teabaggers helped the GOP get elected, and now the GOP has no choice but to suck up to the extremists in its own party, lest they lose Teabagger votes in 2012. But by doing the Teabaggers' bidding, they alienate the middle. Fun fun fun. The Hill:

Out of the demographic groups polled, non-whites — a group that broke heavily for President Obama in 2008 —see the Tea Party in the worst light. Twenty-one percent said they view the group favorably, compared to 57 percent who have an unfavorable view.

Democrats disapprove of the Tea Party at a greater rate than Republicans approve of it. Seventy-one percent of Democrats see it unfavorably, while 61 percent of Republicans view it favorably.

Independents' opinions (31-48 unfavorable) generally match those of the public at large.

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BP loses laptop with oil spill compensation claims

And of course, those 13,000 people who were already victims of BP's spill are now exposed to data security risks. Does BP ever try to be professional or are they just winging it every day in every aspect of their business?

BP spokesman Curtis Thomas said the oil giant on Monday mailed out letters to roughly 13,000 people whose data was stored on the computer, notifying them about the potential data security breach and offering to pay for their credit to be monitored. The company also reported the missing laptop to law enforcement, he said.

The laptop was password-protected, but the information was not encrypted, Thomas said.

The data included a spreadsheet of claimants' names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses. But Thomas said the company doesn't have any evidence that claimants' personal information has been misused.

Uh huh, and we don't have any evidence that BP management has the slightest clue or even a brain, for that matter. Read the rest of this post...

Jon Stewart on the zero taxes paid by General Electric (while it's cutting U.S jobs)

This is an especially good segment from Monday night's Daily Show (You'll see that the President thinks that "GE has something to teach businesses all across America"):

The Daily Show - I Give Up - Pay Anything...
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

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Radiation in seawater near Fukushima reactor spikes again

They are saying with this problem (as with the radiation clouds, etc) that it's not an issue for humans, but how can anyone feel comfortable with this news? It's not going to be a surprise if these numbers increase again in a few days. BBC:

Seawater near Japan's quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has a much higher level of radiation than previously reported, officials say.

In one section, radioactive iodine stood at 3,355 times the legal limit, said Japan's nuclear safety agency.

However, an official said the iodine would have deteriorated considerably by the time it reached people.

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China rounds up Tibetan monks during latest crackdown

This is a very paranoid government. Rather than address the real problem they once again go on the offensive. There was recently a self-immolation death by a Tibetan monk and protests have followed. The response by China has been arrests and more police. Why is it so hard for Beijing to allow traditional autonomy to this and other regions?

According to the Indian-based monks, the protesters marched three rounds at the market square of the Nadha township in Dzamthang (in Chinese, Rangtang) county before Chinese security forces rushed to the scene, assaulted them, and halted the protest.

"They detained eight Tibetans," including a Nadha township school teacher, according to a monk.

"The Chinese People's Armed Police are patrolling the township, and many other areas in Ngaba are under strict surveillance. They are still searching for Tibetans who participated in the protest march."

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Assad sacks cabinet and prepares to speak to Syrian nation

How many times have we seen the old "let's fire the cabinet" routine since the uprisings started? It has much less to do with the cabinet and most everything to do with the dictator at the top of the pile. When people are angry enough to stand up to a brutal dictatorship, appeasing them with mild changes hardly sounds like a recipe for success. Al Jazeera:

Syrian news agency SANA said Assad would deliver an important speech addressed to the Syrian people in which he will tackle the internal affairs and the latest events in Syria".

Assad is expected to elaborate on a string of reforms announced last week, amid a wave of dissent and protests demanding more freedoms which led to the resignation of the country's government on Tuesday.

Naji al-Otari, the resigning premier, has been chosen by Assad as caretaker prime minister. Otari has been prime minister since 2003.

The government has little power in Syria, where power is concentrated in the hand of Assad, his family and the security apparatus.

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Fighting continues in Ivory Coast as rebels control more towns

The so-called rebels already won the recent election and now they are moving forward with military force. What a complete waste of life because somebody doesn't want to accept election results. Some people are going to have a date at The Hague if they survive this war.

The escalation came as the UN accused Gbagbo's forces of shooting dead about 10 civilians in the commercial capital, Abidjan. Groups of pro-Gbagbo youths burned a man alive and attacked two groups of UN staff, it added.

The nascent civil war has also triggered a fresh humanitarian emergency with up to 30,000 people taking refuge in a church compound in the city of Duekoue without food or medical treatment.

The rapid deterioration comes four months after Alassane Ouattara was widely recognised as the winner of a UN-certified election but Gbagbo refused to step down. There have since been reports of widespread human rights abuses in Abidjan and elsewhere.

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