Coalition of the Willing member Tonga holds coronation

Nothing helps promote democracy in the Middle East quite like a coronation in a poverty-stricken country like Tonga. How touching and perfectly in line with our values. It was a Christian ceremony, after all.

George Tupou V has been crowned king of Tonga in the capital Nuku'alofa, marking the South Pacific state's first coronation in more than 40 years.

He was anointed with oil and had a gold crown placed on his head in the Christian ceremony, performed in a church before 1,000 guests.

The new monarch was called upon to rule "wisely, justly and truly".

Thousands of people had lined the route to the church and cheered when the new monarch emerged.

Earlier, Prime Minister Fred Sevele defended the lavish festivities marking the coronation saying that "the great majority of Tongans" would make no apologies for them

Officials say some 5.7m Tongan dollars (US$2.5m) have been spent on the event in a country where poverty is widespread.

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JP Morgan doing well, building new EMEA HQ in London

Obviously they don't need to sponge off of everyone else which is great news. Apparently the countless sob stories of tough times on Wall Street are overrated so fine, let them go back to working for a dollar just like the rest of us. Maybe I have a different understanding of what a troubled market is but since they are building new offices in one of the most expensive cities in the world, they must be doing OK. By extending handouts to Wall Street we are enabling their luxurious lifestyle instead of letting them compete and survive or go bankrupt like other businesses. There's something very disturbing about this flashy venture but I'm sure Paulson and the Fed are happy to help out any way they can. Read the rest of this post...

Analysts on McCain's latest attack ads: "I don't get it"

Seems the experts are confused as to what McCain is doing.

In a celebrity-driven culture that has left little space for John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate has decided to go tabloid.

By featuring Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in an attack ad against Barack Obama, the senator from Arizona has risked charges of silliness to draw attention to his frequently overshadowed campaign.... analysts questioned what message McCain was sending by interspersing footage of his Democratic opponent before a huge crowd in Berlin with that of two socialites famous for their irresponsible antics.

"I don't get it," said Ken Goldstein, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "Is it valid to go after Barack Obama on inexperience, being a bit glib, perhaps even a bit arrogant for doing the European tour? Absolutely. But you just sound dopey when you put Paris Hilton in an ad."

Shanto Iyengar, a professor of political science and communications at Stanford University, said McCain needs "to come up with a more affirmative narrative for his candidacy -- Why is he running? What does he stand for? -- before going after Barack Obama." But he added: "McCain has lost the free media contest over the past couple of weeks; he's desperate to make the news....

Even some McCain allies have winced at the Paris/Britney spot. Republican strategist Dan Schnur, a former McCain adviser, said that "most voters won't see the parallels between a presidential candidate and two party girls. So a legitimate point about inexperience gets lost in the appearance of name-calling."

Read the rest of this post...

Friday Cat Orchid Blogging

It's a rare day when the orbs align...



And now for a little more cat love. First, we have Sushi's new bed - my new suitcase. The cats liked my old suitcase, but it broke, and anyway this new one has more hard parts on it, and Lord knows why, but the cats like to lay down on hard edges, especially with their heads. Very strange. Can't get Sushi off my suitcase:



Well, that is, unless Sushi is in Chris and Joelle's bedroom trying to stop them from taking their vacation tomorrow. Their cats are very good at gleaning when you're packing your suitcase. They then jump inside, whether to stop you, come with, or something. In this case, Sushi discovered the pile of stuff that Chris and Joelle are packing for their 3 week trip to the south, and Sushi wormed his way in:



Nasdaq, on the other hand, is guarding the bed. Diligently.

Read the rest of this post...

Test how fast your Internet connection is

You can use this site to test the speed of your Internet connection for free.

Chris just got a new fiber optic Internet connection installed in his apartment. The service includes high speech Internet, telephone service (which includes free calls to Europe and the US), and digital cable TV all for 49 euros a month (about 75 bucks, and that's at our lousy exchange rate). His service rocks. His old service rocked. The rates are ridiculously cheap in Europe - I saw the same rock-bottom rates when I was in Spain. I'm paying $140/month for cable TV and Internet combined, and the only extra I have on my TV is HBO (so that adds, what, ten bucks a month?) 140 bucks. And these guys are paying 75 bucks for even more service (and the exchange rate is so out of whack, the real price is lower).

There are several Web sites where you can test the speed of your Internet connection for free. I just ran it for Chris, and his new fiber optic connection is about 2.5 times faster uploading, and over 10x faster downloading (they're usually different speeds because, normally, you download much more than you upload - downloading is when you surf the Web, uploading is when you send an email). Anyway, I'm curious what you pay for your Internet (and or phone, and cable TV), and how quick your connections are. So here's a site you can try - test your connection, then post the results in the comments. And here are Chris' results:

Old DSL connection:


New fiber optic connection:


As an aside, this is why I travel, at least part of the reason. You learn things about your own country - such as the fact that people in piddly old France have faster and cheaper Internet connections than we do. Yes, we now have fiber optic Internet in DC, and I can only imagine how much it costs. Somehow I'm guessing that if I switch to fiber optic Internet I'm not going to cut my bill in half AND add extra service. Our system sucks in the states, while Europe is moving ahead and passing us by. No amount of Republican rah-rah "we're number one!" crap is going to change the fact that we're missing out on a lot of innovation, and that isn't good for our future. Read the rest of this post...

California judge forbids cell phone "early termination fees"

What? A judge wants to give consumers a break and limit the excessive powers of the telecom industry? Watch out now, this may lead to the type of consumer-oriented business that made America, America. Consumers are only responsible for 70% of the US economy so it's not like they deserve special treatment.

In a preliminary ruling Monday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw said Sprint Nextel must pay California mobile-phone consumers $18.2 million as part of a class-action lawsuit challenging early termination fees.

Though the decision could be appealed, it's the first in the country to declare the fees illegal in a state and could affect other similar lawsuits, with broad implications for the nation's fast-growing legions of cell phone users.

The judge - who is overseeing several other suits against telecommunications companies that involve similar fees - also told the company to stop trying to collect $54.7 million from other customers who haven't yet paid the charges they were assessed. The suit said about 2 million Californians were assessed the fee.

Read the rest of this post...

High-Ranking McCain Campaign Staffer Lobbied For Repeal Of Economic Sanctions Against Cuba

Oops. Read the rest of this post...

Chicago Sun-Times: McCain's negative ads could make him look "angry" and "petulant"

You think? The thing is, McCain's negative ads have and haven't been successful. Typically, you want to make a small ad buy and then get the media and your opponent to talk about your ads, showing them endlessly for free on TV, etc. I.e., earned media, as we call it - or free publicity. The problem is when the free publicity is all negative. In this case, all the chatter is about how McCain has gotten angry, petulant, off-message, confused, tabloid. It's about how McCain has abandoned his "straight talk" image. How McCain has gone back on his promise to run a clean campaign. During the Swift Boating of John Kerry, the media didn't do their job. They rebroadcast the Swift Boat commercials, and surrogates, and let them spew, without calling them on their bs. This time, the media is running with McCain's story, but they're running it as an example of how bad McCain has gotten. That is not the goal of free media. Read the rest of this post...

Jobless rate hits four year high

Again, the US needs to add roughly 150,000 jobs per month to break even and we've been bleeding jobs for seven straight months. Besides the 51,000 fewer jobs last month, unemployment jumped to 5.7%. Keep in mind that we are perhaps halfway through the credit crunch, so the next few months are likely to remain bumpy. The only bright spot with the report is that analysts were expecting 70,000 fewer jobs and we "only" lost 51,000. Read the rest of this post...

Voters trust Obama on energy more than McCain

From USA Today:

Which candidate would do a better job on energy, including gas prices?
--Obama: 41%
--McCain: 28%
--Neither would do a good job: 21%
--No opinion: 10%

Would you be more or less likely to vote for a candidate who supported:
--Establishing tax incentives to encourage energy conservation: 69% (more likely); 20% (less likely)
--Raising fuel mileage standards on vehicles: 68%/20%
--Imposing a windfall profits tax on oil companies: 58%/31%
--Easing restrictions on offshore drilling: 57%/31%
--Building more nuclear power plants: 47%/41%
--Suspending the federal gasoline tax for several months: 46%/39% Read the rest of this post...

What's the best way to respond to sleazy attacks like McCain is now launching?

As you know, McCain has pulled out the old kitchen sink the past week, accusing Obama of hating the troops, wanting to lose the war, and being a vacuous busty blond chick. The question is, what's the best way to respond?

One argument is that you don't respond at all. You don't do anything that gives the other guy's attacks oxygen. If you respond at all, the argument goes, you give the media something to report. It's better to just let the charge die.

A second argument is to respond, hard. This is the "don't let them do to you what they did to John Kerry" argument. And in fact, sometimes it's better to let charges go unanswered, and other times it's best to respond. If you do respond, the question is, how strongly? Is it better for Obama to brush the McCain attacks off, talk about how they're beneath the dignity of this race, or should Obama go for the jugular? (Though I'm not sure what the jugular would be - question McCain's state of mind, perhaps?) The thing with going nuclear in response is that, again, you help make the attack a story (but if the story is how unfair and untrue and sleazy the attack is, then it's a good story for the guy on the receiving end). Also, if your counterattack isn't done just right, the media and the public can turn on you, and suddenly you're the one who's sleazy and negative.

Another benefit from going nuclear is "looking like a man." Seriously. We're still a somewhat sexist, and certainly macho, culture. We like our presidents to be "real men," even if they're women. To wit: Hillary's surrogates constantly saying that she had balls. There was a reason they were saying that. It wasn't just that Hillary is a woman and society is sexist. It's because even if you're a man running for president, the American people want to know that you're willing to defend their homes and their families - their children - to the death. Nice, clean-cut, intelligent men (or women) don't cut it, at least not 100%. Voters want to know that you can be an asshole too. I'd argue that neither John Kerry nor Al Gore ever demonstrated an inner asshole. Has Obama? Does he need to?

So what do you think? How has Obama responded to McCain's attacks? And how should he? Read the rest of this post...

Tell me again why anyone should feel sorry for this woman?

I sincerely hope she isn't included\ in this bail-out, because this is ridiculous. I'm willing to believe that innocent people are getting screwed in the housing crisis, but then why do the media keep finding people who sound like well-off jerks?

In May 2006, at the height of the housing boom, Karen Trainer bought a $500,000 apartment in California - with money borrowed from her bank.

By this year, Karen still owed $500,000 on her mortgage, but her apartment was worth $200,000 less.

So she was deep in negative equity and, to make matters worse, the interest rate on her loan was about to increase.

"I thought 'this is crazy'," Ms Trainer says. "It just does not make financial sense."

Take the hit

As a successful professional, Karen could comfortably have managed the higher mortgage payments her bank demanded.

Instead, she decided to stop her mortgage payments altogether and let her bank repossess her apartment.

Her credit record will be badly damaged by the decision, but Ms Trainer expects this to recover soon.

"Generally speaking, within 5 years you are about back where you were, so my husband and I decided we'll take the hit and live with it."

Read the rest of this post...

Case study in bad journalism: USA Today

This is on USA Today's home page.



It is beyond me how good newspapers hire such morons. Seriously. I'm sure the guys who write at USA Today are nice people and all, but where do they get off publishing a piece asking readers to vote on who they "think" went negative first, after basically telling the readers that it was McCain and the RNC who went negative first? This is classic neo-journalism, as I may start calling it. They take an issue that's decided, that we already know the answer to, that THEY already know the answer to, and they muddy it up and pretend that there are actually two sides to the story and maybe, just maybe, the truth isn't so clear after all. Except that USA Today basically tells you that the RNC and the McCain people went negative first, and then Obama responded - but then they follow it with comments suggesting that Obama may just be wrong. Maybe the RNC and McCain's ads weren't negative at all, just comparative, whereas Obama's was the real negative ad, they suggest. Maybe. And maybe pies will come shooting out of my ass.

Do your freaking job, people. Stop pretending like there are two sides to a story when the answer is already known, and worse, when you already know the answer - no, worst of all, when you've already told your readers the answer, then you undercut yourself in order to appear "fair." This is sloppy journalism. And spare us the "it's only our blog" defense. I'm not permitted to get things wrong on my blog, USA Today shouldn't either. Read the rest of this post...

AP: McCain seems to have a problem with details

The bigger problem for McCain isn't that he's not a detail man. The problem is that in the past, he apparently was, but now he isn't. McCain has been under media scrutiny for 30 years, especially the last eight years (remember, this isn't the first time he ran for president and had to face never-ending press scrutiny) and he never came off as a ditz before. It's only this year that suddenly McCain can't seem to remember facts any longer, or worse, he confuses his facts and simply gets things wrong, again and again and again, things that are supposedly his specialty. That suggests that McCain's mind has changed somehow in the past year, rather than simply suggesting that McCain isn't a details guy. And the fact that the media, and his own supporters (see the WSJ article I posted (or will post) today), are now noticing is not good. Read the rest of this post...

China agrees again to orginal agreement on censorship

One thing is certain, China is not going to win any medals for its repeated bumbling of world PR. China wanted this moment in the spotlight and surprise, surprise, this is what comes with the territory. The Olympics have been planned as their big moment to shine and it's just one misstep after another. China somehow thinks they can act the same as they do with regional closed governments or distant African dictatorships and that nobody will call them on their actions. The Beijing government is either stuck in a time warp or completely incapable of working on the global stage. I can't even imagine what PR train wreck will come next but I'm sure they have it in them.

The International Olympic Committee and the Chinese organizers BOCOG have agreed to lift all Internet restrictions for the Beijing Games, IOC vice-president Gunilla Lindberg told Reuters on Friday.

"The issue has been solved," Lindberg said. "The IOC Coordination Commission and BOCOG met last night and agreed. Internet use will be just like in any Olympics."

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WSJ again slams McCain

Check out the first line of today's story about McCain from the Wall Street Journal:

Sen. John McCain continues to slam rival Barack Obama for wanting to raise taxes on Social Security, even as he periodically explains that he might be willing to do the same.

Meeowwwww! The rest of the article isn't much better for McCain:

"I will not raise your taxes nor support a tax increase. I will not do it," Sen. McCain said Wednesday at a town hall meeting outside of Denver. He said Sen. Obama "wants to raise your taxes to pay for bigger government."

But that evening, at a fund-raiser in Kansas City, Mo., Sen. McCain said the matter has to be worked out with both parties. "In any negotiation that I might have, when I go in, my position will be that I am opposed to raising taxes," he said. "But we have to work together to save Social Security." That echoed comments to ABC News's "This Week" on Sunday when he said that "everything's on the table," including raising taxes.

Asked about the apparent conflict in Sen. McCain's position, spokesman Tucker Bounds said the senator "is running for president to make big changes and fix Social Security....Americans are looking for leadership that will make real change and not raise taxes."

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Totally Off-Topic

John beat me to it, but I am taking full advantage of my AMERICAblog posting privileges to wish Joe a very Happy Birthday. You all know his wisdom and insight from being regular readers, but if you have the honor of getting to know him in person, he is truly one of the greatest human beings on the planet. I consider myself lucky to be his friend.

Happy Birthday, Joe! Read the rest of this post...

WSJ column headline: "Is John McCain stupid?"

Doesn't the Wall Street Journal know that John McCain is an American hero? It doesn't matter if he's stupid.

Perhaps even more damning, the column's first line: "Is John McCain losing it?" Not only is this more evidence that conservatives are not happy, and downright concerned, about McCain's candidacy, but they seem to be concerned about his mental health as well. That's a topic that Obama wouldn't dare touch, and hasn't. And it's one that even we've been careful about getting into. But the WSJ just asked outright if John McCain is losing his marbles. He just keeps making these mistakes, again and again and again. This is bad. Well, bad for McCain. It's funny as hell, otherwise. What a great way to start a morning :-) And now for an even better way to start the morning:

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

What's the next outrage we can expect from the McCain campaign? And, while we expected the GOP to get vicious, interesting timing that the ugliest attacks came at the same time McCain was having another medical issue. Sure, we're told everything is okay. But, McCain really, really doesn't want Americans thinking about his health. Just interesting timing. That's all I'm saying.

Anyway, thread the news, please. Read the rest of this post...

Shhh.... today is Joe's birthday

But he's a very private guy, so don't tell anyone.

Read the rest of this post...

Big Oil: let us pollute or you will all die

Are they channeling Dick Cheney or is he back on the payroll? I knew McCain was now on their dime (or million) but even this isn't his style. Just because Big Oil has McCain in their pocket, it doesn't make their argument suddenly accurate, as he would have everyone believe. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather not give away energy policy to special interest lobbyists as McCain prefers to do.

Shell warned environmentalists and ethical investors yesterday that failure to exploit tar sands and other unconventional oil products would worsen climate change because it would lead to the world burning even more carbon-heavy coal.

Jeroen van der Veer, Shell's chief executive, said the world needed every kind of energy source it could find at a time of soaring demand. He said groups that had threatened to organise a ban on alternative fossil fuels should be careful because without unconventionals "the balancing fuel will be coal".

Shell revealed that its tar sands operation had seen a 74% profit growth to $351m (£177m) in the second quarter, providing a relatively modest but important boost to total group profits of $7.9bn on a current cost of supplies basis. In the US, its rival ExxonMobil reported earnings of $11.7bn for the last quarter, the highest in US corporate history.

The Co-op and the wildlife group WWF announced this week that they were calling a meeting of ethical investment funds in September to try to put pressure on governments not to buy any oil supplies coming from tar sands.

While environmentalists have claimed that tar sands extraction uses at least three times more energy than traditional oil, Van der Veer said yesterday that the "well-to-wheels" carbon footprint was only 15% higher than conventional oil.

Last night Greenpeace questioned the carbon figures and expressed further concern at Shell's growing use of tar sands. "Oil companies are increasingly dependent on these unconventionals as they get squeezed out of countries such as Nigeria and Russia. We fear tar sands are just the entrance ramp to oil shale, gas-to-liquids and other non-conventionals, which will just press the red button for climate change disaster," said Charlie Kronick, a climate change campaigner at Greenpeace.

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NASA confirms water on Mars

Very cool news.

NASA scientists said on Thursday they had definitive proof that water exists on Mars after further tests on ice found on the planet in June by the Phoenix Mars Lander.

"We have water," said William Boynton, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer instrument on Phoenix.

"We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted," he said, referring to the craft's instruments.

NASA on Thursday also extended the mission of the Phoenix Mars Lander by five weeks, saying its work was moving beyond the search for water to exploring whether the red planet was ever capable of sustaining life.

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Hilarious Muppet Bloopers!

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