CEOs doing quite well, thank you very much

It's not easy being a failure yet still dragging in millions. Oh the humanity.

As the American economy slowed to a crawl and stockholders watched their money evaporate, CEO pay still chugged to yet more dizzying heights last year, an Associated Press analysis shows.

The AP review of compensation for the heads of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index finds the median pay package added up to nearly $8.4 million. That's a comfortable gain of about $280,000 from 2006.

The 3 1/2 percent pay increase for CEOs came even as the landscape for both workers and shareholders darkened considerably and the economy was choked by a housing market in free fall, layoffs and soaring prices for fuel and food.

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"I'm Voting Republican"

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Out of 300 million Americans, McCain has found 40 Democrats who say they'll vote for him

Oooh scary. Read the rest of this post...

Black conservatives conflicted on Obama campaign

Black conservatives are thinking of voting for Obama. Put aside for a moment the overwhelming desire to mock anyone who calls themself a black conservative (and the ones who are gay too, well, let's not even go there). This article is actually quite fascinating. Black conservatives are actually saying that they're not sure how they vote against Obama. Now, not like they're a very large voting bloc. But, they're evidence of something else. Obama's ability to reach across the aisle and entice the middle, or in this case, the right. And, it takes away McCain's ability to woo blacks, and more importantly, and the true reason Republicans tend to woo blacks, it takes away McCain's ability to convince moderate whites that Republicans actually care about blacks. That's why the GOP reaches out to blacks, to win liberal Republican whites by "proving" that the party isn't intolerant. And if even conservative blacks are deserting the party for Obama, that's interesting. Read the rest of this post...

FRANK RICH: McCain's new blogger said Hillary is a "monster"

Frank Rich:

The McCain Web site is showcasing a new blogger who crooned of the “genuine affection” for Mrs. Clinton “here at McCain HQ” after she lost.... You’d never know that his new campaign blogger, recruited from The Weekly Standard, had shown his genuine affection for Mrs. Clinton earlier this year by portraying her as a liar and whiner and by piling on with a locker-room jeer after she’d been called a monster. “Tell us something we don’t know,” he wrote.

You know now. Read the rest of this post...

Lobbying firm of McCain's campaign manager may have violated anti-espionage act

Big mess.

The McCain campaign is strongly denying the paper's reporting that in 2005, a White House National Security Council staffer called John McCain's Senate office to complain that [McCain campaign manager] Rick Davis' lobbying firm was "undercutting American policy on Ukraine" by representing a Kremlin-backed politician....

The story also raises the possibility that Davis' firm may have violated the anti-espionage Foreign Agents Registration Act, by failing to register work for Yanukovich with the U.S. government....

If the account of the NSC staffer's call is true, it suggests McCain should have known about the work by Davis' business -- but installed him as campaign manager anyway.

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John McCain debates himself, and loses

This is devastating, and brilliant. Watch it.

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Sunday Morning Open Thread

Joe is off in San Francisco this week, enjoying all those Nancy Pelosi values, you know. So, I thought I'd start the morning off, so he can enjoy a few days blog free. Should be interesting to see how Meet the Press handles itself just two days after Tim Russert's death. I understand Tom Brokaw will devote today's show to a tribute of Russert. Read the rest of this post...

UK targets cargo ships in climate change debate

It's not just about cars and planes. Slowing down a little will go a long way towards lowering emissions.

Kelly will tell a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation that more must be done to tackle emissions from shipping, 'the most urgent and serious' challenge for the industry. She will call for operational improvements such as slowing down ships to maximise fuel efficiency and for more research into hydrogen fuel cells for power.

Martyn Williams, of Friends of the Earth, said: 'There's been a big focus on aviation because the plane is over your head and nobody really notices ships, but globally it's at least the same as aviation, and it will become increasingly significant.'

Norwegian-based Wilh Wilhelmsen, the world's biggest car shipper, has already asked customers to accept slower deliveries. Ingar Skaug, chief executive, said that dropping average speeds of 18-19 knots by just two knots could save 5 per cent of fuel use and emissions alone.

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Mugabe threatens war if he loses the election

Well, at least it's been fair so far. The Mugabe government has arrested the opposition presidential candidate repeatedly, has arrested the #2 and charged him with treason, locked opposition voters in re-education camps, and more. He is using food as a weapon together with violence, scaring away voters as well as some police for critical polling stations.

A defiant President Robert Mugabe yesterday vowed he would 'go to war' if he lost the presidential run-off due to take place in less than two weeks.

Describing the opposition as 'traitors', he claimed Zimbabwe would never 'be lost' again. Speaking at the burial of a veteran of the independence war, Mugabe said he would never accept the Movement for Democratic Change taking over. 'It shall never happen ... as long as I am alive and those who fought for the country are alive,' he said. 'We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it.'

The threat was seen as an angry response to the pressure mounting on the government from other African leaders over the regime's harassment of the MDC leadership and supporters in the run up to the 27 June election.

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