Hu leaves G8 to monitor Xinjiang riots

Obviously all is not well in China.

A Foreign Ministry statement said "given the current situation in Xinjiang," President Hu Jintao cut short a trip to Italy for a Group of Eight meeting later Wednesday to return home. It was not known if he would travel to Urumqi, about four hours by air west of Beijing.

After an overnight curfew, streets were calmer Wednesday, but residents showed cell phone and video camera footage of the earlier chaos, reporting neighbor-on-neighbor violence and pointing out bloodstains.

"The government told us today not to get involved in any kind of violence. They've been broadcasting this on the radio and they even drove through neighborhoods with speakers telling people not to carry weapons," said one Han Chinese man who would give only his surname, Wang.

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Are branding deals a bad idea for public property?

New York announced a deal with British bank, Barclays, who will have naming rights added to an existing subway station. In Paris, the Metro has tried from time to time adding adverts on the outside of trains as a way of reducing costs though the public reaction has been very negative. For me, as much as I think branding can go too far, it also doesn't bother me though I wouldn't mind seeing a stronger return for the transport systems. The fact that it's a British bank or any other foreign business doesn't bother me. With the budget issues and stress on public transport is it OK or is it too much? CNN:

Renaming the Atlantic-Pacific Station is tied to the construction of Barclays Center, the new sports arena for the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets.

Barclays is paying developer Forest City Ratner $300 million for naming rights to this arena. Ratner, in a separate deal, will be paying the Metropolitan Transportation Authority $200,000 a year for the next 20 years to rename this commuter hub.

Authority Press Secretary Jeremy Soffin said, "Like transit systems all over the U.S. and around the world, we are facing budget deficits."

In an effort to bridge the authority's $1 billion deficit, the transit giant that oversees the operation of the city's subways, buses and rail lines wants to follow the Barclays example with stations throughout the system.

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Key reason Palin gave for quitting may be false

I love her. Read the rest of this post...

Should they chop down the "Hitler tree"?

Why chop it down when it could be turned around in a more positive way such as a peace tree or something to commemorate the victims? It's a tree, not a brutal murderer. Thankfully others in the town agree and are against chopping it down.

An oak tree planted in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War Two to mark Adolf Hitler's birthday may soon face the axe if the local mayor has her way.

Authorities in Jaslo in rural southeastern Poland discovered the origins of the tree when plans were lodged to fell it to make way for a traffic roundabout.

"We obtained information that this is no ordinary tree but was put here to mark Adolf Hitler's birthday," said Jaslo's mayor, Maria Kurowska. "So should I try to improve our town's communications or should I allow a memorial to that criminal to remain standing? The choice is simple for me."

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Honey I shrunk the dog

Mom and dad, finally, took Koukla to get a haircut. Mom likes the dog's long hair, so they were delaying it. But being a warm Chicago summer, and the fact that Koukla was about to bump into poles, it seemed time. Well. The haircutter informed my mom that even though she was in fact brushing Koukla's hair on a regular basis, the hair was all matted at the base - i.e., one big knot. There was not way to trim it. So, a buzz cut was in order. The results are, well, disturbing.



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Surprise surprise

Obama's email list just got asked to contact members of Congress on health care reform, including a push for a public option. Pressure is the only thing that works with these folks. Read the rest of this post...

China prepares to go Tiananmen again - threatening executions

This regime is nuts. Giving them the Olympics last year and sending the boot licking political leaders from around the world was a complete waste of time. As posh as the new regime may dress, underneath they're the same old thugs of yesteryear. Until they're sent packing, their obsession with violence will never end. Thanks to western political leaders, get a good look at your global factory managers. Who can trust business partners such as this?

Ethnic clashes have paralyzed Urumqi in the past several days — with minority Uighur and Han Chinese mobs roaming the streets and attacking each other. The violence forced President Hu Jintao to cut short a trip to Italy where he was to take part in a Group of Eight summit — an unprecedented move by a Chinese leader.

The government responded to the violence by pouring columns of troops into the far-flung, oil-rich province, hundreds of which were stationed in People's Square in the middle of the city. Earlier in the week, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that more than 20,000 armed police, special police, firefighters and troops had been dispatched to quell the unrest.

Communist Party chief Li Zhi told a televised news conference that many people had been arrested, including students.

"To those who committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them," he said, adding government forces would crack down on any security risk. He did not elaborate.

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Under blogger pressure, Blanche Lincoln shifts on public option

Those bloggers are mean. Read the rest of this post...

Krugman: The stimulus may very well be working, but the problem is larger than the administration thought

Paul Krugman gave an interesting explanation the other day for why more stimulus money is needed. Basically, it's not that the administration's stimulus package isn't working - very few of the funds were expected to be spent by this point, so the impact on reducing unemployment was expected to be minimal this early on. Rather, unemployment was only expected to be 8.6% (ish) around now, not in the mid 9s. Thus, it's not that the stimulus bill isn't working, but rather, the bill we already passed is trying to fix a much smaller unemployment problem. It's as if you took the right medicine, but your infection was a lot stronger than the doctor realized, so now you have to up the dose.

Again, Krugman and Stiglitz saw this coming, and warned everyone, so the administration still needs to eat some crow on that one. But, it's unfair for Republicans to say that the first stimulus bill isn't working. It may very well be working, but it was intended to fix a much smaller problem than we now have. (More from Krugman on this here.) Read the rest of this post...

Ezra Klein on why a bipartisan health care bill is a mistake

Ezra Klein:

According to Roll Call, Harry Reid has sent Max Baucus a pretty strong message: Stop letting Lucy hold the football. The Republicans, Reid said, are not going to vote for health-care reform in large numbers. And the concessions necessary to attract Chuck Grassley and Olympia Snowe would probably result in the loss of 10 or 15 Democrats.

The story doesn't say this, but the likely concessions would also have another effect: They would make the bill less appealing to the public. Taxing employer health benefits, which I support, is a wildly unpopular idea. So too is eliminating the public insurance option, which commands large majorities in polling (much larger majorities, actually, than health-care reform as a whole). A bipartisan bill, in other words, will probably attract three to four Republicans, and in return, sacrifice a half-dozen Democrats, demoralize the liberal base and create a plan that's harder to sell to the public. It's hard to imagine the cost-benefit calculus that could bring those sides of the ledger into balance. The point of the legislative process isn't your relationship with Lucy. It's winning the game (where the game is good policy, and winning is passing your bill, and oh no, I've become Sarah Palin).

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Boehner calls Biden a liar

This should get interesting. Boehner is, of course, simply trying to get attention. But the manner in which he's doing it is potentially hazardous to Biden.

"I found it ... interesting over the last couple of days to hear Vice President Biden and the president mention the fact that they didn’t realize how difficult an economic circumstance we were in,” Boehner said. “Now this is the greatest fabrication I have seen since I’ve been in Congress.”

“I’ve sat in meetings in the White House with the vice president and the president. There’s not one person that sat in those rooms that didn’t understand how serious our economic crisis was,” Boehner said.

Boehner also took a shot at the idea of a second stimulus – something Biden said he was open to last week.

“All of this talk of a second stimulus bill, I think, is an admission on the part of the administration that their stimulus plan is not working,” Boehner said.

First off, Biden and the entire administration are on tricky ice when it comes to asking for a second stimulus bill. It begs the question as to whether the first one isn't working, or at least isn't enough, and why the administration didn't know any of this when they were pushing for the first bill. (Thus, the Krugman problem we've been writing about - namely, the administration chose to ignore the warnings of Krugman and Stiglitz, that the first stimulus wasn't large enough, so now they're going to have to answer the hard questions in order to get the second much-needed package).

Second, however, it's odd for Boehner to be arguing that the first package didn't work when the Republicans had been arguing that we weren't even in a crisis at all. Read the rest of this post...

Meyerson says OFA not sufficiently using email list to push for health care reform

Harold Meyerson in the Washington Post:

The problem begins with the administration's inability -- or disinclination -- to use its greatest political asset, the list of 13 million supporters that the Obama presidential campaign amassed last year. In 2008, that list was the wonder of the political world, enabling Barack Obama to run the best-funded campaign in history and to activate more volunteers than any candidate ever had.

This year, however, the administration has asked far less of that list and received, not surprisingly, far less in return. Organizing for America (formerly Obama for America), which maintains that list within the confines of the Democratic National Committee, has asked those 13 million Obamaites to "create a conversation within their communities," in the words of one DNC official. Specifically, the DNC has asked them to collect health insurance horror stories and put them online, to support a set of broad health-care principles, and to go door-to-door among independent voters in their neighborhood and talk to them about those principles. On June 27, some activists participated in what the DNC termed a "day of service," working in blood banks, volunteering at health clinics, raising money for medical research.

All very commendable, and about as likely to affect the outcome of the health-care deliberations as the phases of the moon. "What made the presidential campaign so potent were clear goals and a strategy that made sense to people," says Marshall Ganz, one of liberal America's foremost organizing geniuses (who led training sessions for Obama campaign staffers and volunteers last year). Such goals and strategies are hard to discern today, and the participation of Obama volunteers has declined accordingly.

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How the media made Krugman an unperson

Not just him, but Stiglitz and others as well. From Paul Krugman:

One of the mysteries of the way issues are covered in much of the news media is how certain views get ruled “out of the mainstream” and just don’t get covered — even when many well-informed people hold those views.

The most notorious example was during the buildup to the Iraq war: skepticism about the case for war was treated as a fringe view, even though the evidence being presented by the hawks was flimsy on its face, and the ranks of the skeptics included a number of people with excellent national-security credentials.

But in a way, the implicit censorship on the stimulus debate is even stranger. During the initial discussion of the stimulus, the debate was framed almost entirely as a debate between Obama and those who said the stimulus was too big; the voices of those saying it was too small were largely frozen out. And they still are...

Chris wrote yesterday about how the administration is starting to suggest that we may need a second stimulus bill because the first was too small. What you don't find in the coverage of this new fact is that lead economists, such as Nobel laureates Paul Krugman and Joe Stiglitz, screamed at the top of their logs that in fact the stimulus was too small, and their opinions were not just ignored by the administration, they were largely ignored by the media (well, to be fair, Krugman got coverage, but he was treated as some extreme anomaly, not as a legitimate voice in opposition to the limited size of the stimulus). And now that the media is covering Stimulus the Sequel, you again see no mention of Krugman or Stiglitz or anyone else who predicted all of this would happen.

As a practical matter, this is far more important than whether Krugman and Stiglitz got their feelings hurt. The last stimulus package got watered down precisely because the debate was over whether Obama's stimulus proposal was too high or not - not whether Obama's proposal might have been too small. Read the rest of this post...

I've just added two more news sections to the blog

I've just added "Health Care Reform" and "Gay Civil Rights" sections to the blog, in the second column.

You may have noticed that in the second column of the blog, if you scroll down a bit, you'll begin to see categories of news headlines, including traditional media, opinion, economic blogs, business, foreign press, gossip, and Chris' favorite food blogs. In those boxes, you'll see regular news update from sites around the Web about those issues. All you'll see is the headlines, you'll have to click through to get the story. I also have a similar feature in the far-right column - "Hot Off the Wire" - which are real-time updates from my favorite, very select few, political blogs.

My intent is to make this blog a one-stop-shop where you can keep up on what's happening on a variety of issues from a variety of blogs and news sources, and then when you find an interesting story, you can click over to the original source and read it.

Today I'm adding two new sections - Health Care Reform, and Gay Civil Rights. As always, we'll provide you with updated headlines from the top blogs in each area, and then if you see a story you like, you can click through and read the story on those sites.

For me, at least, I've come to find these news update boxes an invaluable resource for keeping up on what's going on around the Web, without having to visit each site every hour to see if there's anything new and interesting. Give it a try. I think you'll find that it's quite a useful way of keeping up on the news. Thanks, JOHN Read the rest of this post...

Rove finally testifies about his role in firing of US Attorneys

It took a couple years and dogged persistence by House Judiciary Chair John Conyers (D-MI) and his staff and colleagues, but Karl Rove finally spent a day under oath answering questions about his role in the U.S. Attorneys scandal:

Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was deposed Tuesday by attorneys for the House Judiciary Committee, according to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the panel’s chairman.

Rove’s deposition began at 10 a.m. and ended around 6:30 p.m, with several breaks, Conyers said.

Conyers would not comment on what Rove told congressional investigators, what the next step in the long-running Judiciary Committee investigation would be or whether Rove would face additional questioning.

“He was deposed today,” Conyers said in an interview. “That’s all I can tell you.”

This was a long time coming. I wonder if Rove realizes what it means to be under oath?

Back in March of 2007, Newsweek's Michael Isikoff was reporting on Rove's central role in decisions surrounding U.S. Attorneys. Several U.S. Attorneys who were fired believed it happened because they wouldn't launch politically-based prosecutions. Rove was obsessed with pushing the prosecution of voter fraud -- even where none existed. We all know Rove like to play dirty and preventing people from voting was one of his favorite tricks. Interestingly, that the GOP's fixation with ACORN was at the core of at least one of the firings:

New disclosures in the U.S. attorney controversy have increased the pressure on White House aide Karl Rove. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's ex-chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson, testified last week that "during the run-up to the midterm elections," the A.G. told him Rove had "complained" that David Iglesias, the U.S. attorney in New Mexico, and two other federal prosecutors, were not doing enough to prosecute voter fraud—a top GOP priority. It was shortly after that, Sampson said, that Iglesias got added to the list of U.S. attorneys to be fired. (Iglesias told NEWSWEEK he had been repeatedly pushed by New Mexico GOP officials to prosecute workers for ACORN, an activist group that was registering voters in minority neighborhoods, but he found no cases worth bringing.) Justice was also forced to correct its earlier assertion that Rove did not play "any role" in replacing the U.S. attorney in Little Rock. Sampson's e-mails showed he had described the replacement as "important to ... Karl."

How great would it be if Rove went to jail because of ACORN? That would be fitting. Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President has left Moscow. He's now in Italy for the G-8 Summit hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian PM is always good for some drama, so we'll see if he's a statesman or the playboy this week.

At 10:30 a.m., the Vice President is going to be making a big announcement about health care, specifically on hospital savings (in the $150 billion range.) Having had a recent. short hospital stay, even I was shocked at the costs. I was in the George Washington University Hospital for approximately 40 hours when I had my appendectomy back in March. The total bill was $19,000 -- and that didn't include services provided by the doctors. So, I'm thinking there is room for savings.

The traditional media has to start weaning itself of the Michael Jackson addiction so we may actually see some real news today. Some.

Let's get started... Read the rest of this post...

What are the positives, in your opinion?

While it's not much of a secret about where some of us believe Obama has been off track, there are obviously areas of agreement. The other week when we joined the Pride parade in Paris one of those areas was highlighted as the group walked down the street and people along the way cheered "Obama." (The group had posters with Obama and "equality", thus the lead in for Obama chants.) This was unimaginable during the Bush years and quite a change from the period of the invasion of Iraq. At that time, despite some revisionist history (or convenient memories) it was awful being here or traveling outside of the US. Even though we were strongly against the invasion and against Bush, that did not prevent us from taking verbal attacks in Paris as well as in Africa. It's a positive change to have a President that is appreciated around the world.

The other positives for me would have to be movement in the right direction on the environment and at least a willingness to start movement on health care. The devil is in the details, of course, but they are still big steps. Even starting the discussion was out of question during Bush and would McCain's plan was even worse. Clearly the better of two bad options is not where we want to be but there has been progress. With the help of a few key Senators, we could see much more progress. There have been small steps taken to tackle some of the worst abuses on Wall Street which again, would not have been promoted during another Republican administration. There's no need to repeat my concerns (and others) in that area as I'd rather hear more from AMERICAblog readers about what they find are the positives. John's poll last night showed an interesting divide of opinions so it would be of great interest to hear more. Read the rest of this post...

Iran claims French student is a spy

This regime becomes nuttier by the day. Now they have spies around every corner including a French student who took a photograph of a protest. Maybe she should have been more cautious but rounding up foreigners is only going to push the European Union and others towards stronger unification against the regime. As much as they may like bashing outsiders, Iran still relies on foreign business including the French businesses such as Peugot and Total.

France demanded yesterday the immediate release of a 23-year-old student accused by Iran of spying after she took pictures of a street demonstration with her mobile phone.

President Nicolas Sarkozy dismissed the accusations against Clotilde Reiss, from Lille, who was arrested last week as she was about to board a flight leaving Iran.

"These accusations of spying are the height of fantasy and should never have been brought," M. Sarkozy said. "That a French citizen should be kidnapped and held on a so-called charge of espionage is wholly unacceptable." Mlle Reiss, who had been teaching French in Isfahan for five months, was arrested last Wednesday at Tehran airport as she was making her way back to France, via Beirut.

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Berlusconi responds to G8 criticism

Who ever heard of The Guardian anyway but while we're at it, let's cut their access? They're all lies.

The Italian prime minister said a report in the Guardian, citing senior western officials as saying the US had taken the lead in managing the agenda for the summit, was "a colossal blunder by a small newspaper".

Officials from G8 countries, who did not want to be named, told the Guardian that in the absence of Italian initiatives for the summit, Washington had arranged conference calls among the "sherpas" – the diplomats preparing the summit. There was also fierce criticism of Italy's failure to deliver on promises of overseas aid.

The Guardian today issued a statement saying it wholeheartedly rejected any suggestion that the news story was unfounded.

"I hope that the Guardian is expelled from the great newspapers of the world," said the foreign minister, Franco Frattini. "What the Guardian says is a joke – nonsense."

Meanwhile, aftershocks from the deadly earthquake continue to jolt the region. It may have been well intentioned to help the troubled region but maybe it isn't an ideal location for so many world leaders at once. Read the rest of this post...

Coffee...sweet, sweet coffee

Another great benefit of coffee and one of my favorite veggies (broccoli) is also in the mix once again. It does remind me that I need to do more with green leafy vegetables.

Coffee drinkers will be clinking mugs in a toast to new research suggesting that just two strong cups of the black stuff a day can reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Dr Gary Arendash of the University of Florida showed that coffee not only helped to reverse symptoms in mice but also staved off production in the brain of abnormal protein plaques, which are the hallmark of Alzheimer's.

In the UK the Alzheimer's Society is anxious not to suggest that everyone develop a caffeine habit but says that if further research confirms its benefits, coffee could become part of a lifestyle prevention plan for the disease.

So what else could be in the armoury? Researchers at Columbia University in New York recently found that a Mediterranean-style diet high in fish oil and vegetables prevented people with mild memory loss from getting full-blown dementia, and also seemed to prevent memory decline in the general population. Blueberries, kale and broccoli seem particularly helpful.

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Krugman: an unknown country

Some days I love the guy even more than others. Short and sweet:

A correspondent writes in, denouncing my latest column, and says that if things go my way we’ll end up with the government providing health care to everyone, which will “destroy the American way of life.”

Hmm. There’s a country this correspondent — and many others who denounce “socialized medicine” — should look at. It’s a country where there is, indeed, a substantial private health insurance industry, which pays 35 percent of medical bills. But the government pays a larger share — 46 percent. (Most of the rest is out-of-pocket spending.)

The country is called the United States of America.

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