Ancient Nubians added antibiotics to beer

So the discoveries in 1928 and 1948 were only a few thousand years after the Nubians were widely using antibiotics to address various illnesses. Let's see if the history books are correctly updated.

The first of the modern day tetracyclines was discovered in 1948. It was given the name auereomycin, after the Latin word 'aerous,' which means containing gold.

'Streptomyces produce a golden colony of bacteria, and if it was floating on a batch of beer, it must have look pretty impressive to ancient people who revered gold,' Nelson said.

The ancient Egyptians and Jordanians also used beer to treat gum disease and other ailments.

The team now intends to try and work out exactly when the knowledge of the antibiotic properties of the beer was lost to history.

Alexander Fleming is credited with discovering the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1928.

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Peter Orszag argues for Bush tax extension 'compromise'

Peter Orszag, former OMB director for Team Obama, has written his first Times editorial, and it contains all you need to know about Peter Orszag.

Peter Orszag is now pimping for the richest 120,000 Americans. How do we know? See if you can find the flaw in this ointment (h/t First Read):

In the face of the dueling deficits, the best approach is a compromise: extend the tax cuts for two years and then end them altogether. Ideally only the middle-class tax cuts would be continued for now. Getting a deal in Congress, though, may require keeping the high-income tax cuts, too. And that would still be worth it.

Why does this combination make sense? The answer is that over the medium term, the tax cuts are simply not affordable. Yet no one wants to make an already stagnating jobs market worse over the next year or two, which is exactly what would happen if the cuts expire as planned.

Did you spot it? We just have to give more money to Jaime Dimon (and Pete Peterson and Richard Mellon Scaife), because ... well ... jobs!

Later in the article he equates all taxes with taxes on the rich:

Higher taxes now would crimp consumer spending[.]

Right out of the Movement Conservative playbook, whose plays he now seems to be running. All you need to know about Peter Orszag.

That playbook is classic, but very easy to read. HINT: Every time a Conservative says "jobs" — substitute "profit" and the comment will make perfect sense.

By the way, my guess is that Orszag will follow this up by repolishing his obfuscation (i.e., saying something Dem), so as to continue to appear unlike a rebranded Republican. My advice — keep him on your you've-been-made radar until you know for a fact he's off it.

Peter Orszag, welcome to The List. Which list? Stealth Conservative activists, of course.

GP Read the rest of this post...

When Roy Blunt met the bulls on Robin Carnahan's farm

I just think this is funny.
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Horton: Rahm's real competency test—confirming Dem judges

Scott Horton has added himself to the list of those pointing the fickle finger at Rahm Emanuel. But unlike folks like Michael Moore, Horton is paying attention to Rahm's actual job (my emphasis):

Most of the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has focused on his management of policy issues. As all political advisors do, he has prioritized initiatives based on his assessment of the risks and benefits to his president of championing them. Less often discussed, however, is a more objective test of Emanuel’s competence: has he succeeded in getting the president’s nominees through their confirmation process? Few tasks are more important than this one, as was well understood by Andrew Card and Karl Rove, who put considerable energy into providing the essential White House “push through.”

By this test, Emanuel has been an abject failure. Consider the appointment of federal judges. Few things count more towards a president’s “legacy” than this, since judges have lifetime tenure. But, as the Associated Press shows in a study published this weekend, under the first two years of Barack Obama’s presidency, the G.O.P.’s already strong grip on the federal judiciary has actually tightened[.]

Horton calls this result "inexplicable" and a failure of management by Senate leaders Reid and Leahy as well. But the bulk of his scorn goes to Emanuel, for not doing his actual job.

And this is the guy who wants to run Chicago? I'm not sure he can run his own bathwater.

(First Read also has some First Thoughts on Mayor Rahm.)

GP Read the rest of this post...

DADT faces unclear path in Senate, could die without action soon

Just posted this at AMERICAblog Gay. This is not good. Not good at all.

There's a reason why Servicemember United's Alex Nicholson raised concerns about moving the Defense Authorization bill last week. There's a reason why SLDN's Aubrey Sarvis raised concerns about moving the Defense Authorization bill today. There's no clear path to getting that bill to the floor. And, the compromise DADT repeal legislation is included in that Defense bill.

Kerry Eleveld reports that the key decision about moving forward now rests with Majority Leader Harry Reid:

Fearful that delaying action on “don’t ask, don’t tell” until after the midterms could potentially kill the measure for the year, repeal advocates are pushing Senate majority leader Harry Reid to schedule a Senate floor vote on the defense funding bill in September.

“I’m a little anxious,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “The reality is the number of legislative days in this Congress are rapidly dwindling, and we need to see that the defense authorization bill up on the Senate floor in September.”

When Congress returns to Washington next week, the Senate will have until October 8 when they leave for the midterms to take the crucial vote on the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which contains the provision to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

But one political operative and repeal advocate noted the bill will be competing for attention with new legislation Democrats are pushing that would provide tax breaks for businesses.

“The Democrats are trying to figure out what they can effectively do in those four weeks to distinguish themselves from Republicans before the midterm elections,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “The tax cut issue may provide that contrast.”

The source wagered that if the Senate floor vote does not take place before the midterms, the defense funding bill would have a “50-50” shot of passing before the end of this Congress. If it is not finalized by year’s end, the repeal effort will die.

You read that right. Despite all the promise, the repeal effort could die.

That's why SLDN is ready to turn up the heat:

But if Sarvis does not see such a commitment soon, he said, SLDN will take the fight to Reid’s home turf in order to lobby for action.

“We’ll take it to Nevada or Arizona or wherever we need to go to get the job done,” he said.

Also, HRC's Fred Sainz isn't quite accurate about this:

Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, said the Senate has no reason to shy away from addressing “don’t ask, don’t tell” politically because House members who voted for repeal have not been targeted on the issue.

“We have yet to see even one member where the fact that they voted for repeal is being used against them in their reelection battle,” Sainz said

One member has been targeted with a DADT ad. That would be Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Family Research Council put an ad on the air in Nevada aimed at Reid -- on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. What a coincidence, huh? When this ad appeared on August 26th, I wrote:

My guess is that, given the timing, FRC's ad is not so much about the Senate campaign. It's more about trying to make Reid delay consideration of the Defense Authorization bill, which currently includes the DADT repeal legislation. As we noted earlier today, Republicans want to push this issue into the lame duck session in order to kill it. FRC is hoping this ad psyches out Harry Reid. I can't imagine it will work.

I'm starting to wonder if that ad had more of an impact than I initially imagined.

Repealing DADT is as close to a political no-brainer as exists. There's huge public support. There's bipartisan support. The Cheney's support it. Only among the professional Democrats in DC is it viewed as a political liability.

Not passing the compromise DADT language will become a political liability for those responsible. Promises were made. Promises better be kept. Read the rest of this post...

Why isn't the GOP protecting the troops and criticizing Quran burning pastor?

Why do the Republicans want to put the US military in danger? Why does the GOP hate America?

...Whose side are they on? With the exception of Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who appeared on Fox News to defend the right of American Muslims to build an Islamic community center two blocks from the World Trade Center site (on the conservative principle that owners of private property should be able to do as they please), elected Republicans—and, to be fair, most elected Democrats as well—have ducked and run.

In September 2007, the Senate voted 72-25 to condemn the anti-war group MoveOn.org for running a full-page newspaper ad that denounced Gen. Petraeus, then the U.S. commander in Iraq, as "General Betray Us."

If the senators want to show their genuine support for Petraeus (and not just indulge in an easy political stunt), they should denounce Terry Jones for endangering the troops and providing aid and comfort to the enemy—and, better still, send federal marshals to Gainesville, Fla., to help the local fire chief (who has ordered Jones not to burn the books) maintain public safety.

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Fired Up Obama blasts GOP and Boehner (by name)

Obama was in Cleveland, Ohio today and delivered one of his "fired up" kind of speeches. He blasted the Republicans and called out John Boeher (the tan who could be Speaker) by name eight times.

Obama laid down the gauntlet on the Bush tax cuts. Would be good to see more of this Obama on the campaign trail and in the White House.

From the transcript:

I’ll give you one final example of the differences between us and the Republicans, and that’s on the issue of tax cuts. Under the tax plan passed by the last administration, taxes are scheduled to go up substantially next year -- for everybody. By the way, this was by design. When they passed these tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, they didn’t want everybody to know what it would do to our deficit, so they pretended like they were going to end, even though now they say they don't.

Now, I believe we ought to make the tax cuts for the middle class permanent. (Applause.) For the middle class, permanent. These families are the ones who saw their wages and incomes flat-line over the last decade -– you deserve a break. (Applause.) You deserve some help. And because folks in the middle class are more likely to spend their tax cut on basic necessities, that strengthens the economy as a whole.

But the Republican leader of the House doesn’t want to stop there. Make no mistake: He and his party believe we should also give a permanent tax cut to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.

AUDIENCE: Nooo!

THE PRESIDENT: With all the other budgetary pressures we have -– with all the Republicans’ talk about wanting to shrink the deficit -- they would have us borrow $700 billion over the next 10 years to give a tax cut of about $100,000 each to folks who are already millionaires. And keep in mind wealthy Americans are just about the only folks who saw their incomes rise when Republicans were in charge. And these are the folks who are less likely to spend the money -- which is why economists don’t think tax breaks for the wealthy would do much to boost the economy.

So let me be clear to Mr. Boehner and everybody else: We should not hold middle-class tax cuts hostage any longer. (Applause.) We are ready, this week, if they want, to give tax cuts to every American making $250,000 or less. (Applause.) That's 98-97 percent of Americans. Now, for any income over this amount, the tax rates would just go back to what they were under President Clinton.

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BP gladly accepts blame for half of one of eight problems that led to disaster

What else should we expect from BP? Why is the US government still doing business with this revolting company? Until they sign an unconditional document accepting all costs for their mistake, it's unclear why they are still allowed to make a profit from the US.

BP on Wednesday released an internal report blaming itself but also partners for the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill, but its key partner, Transocean Ltd., quickly lashed out, calling it a "self-serving report" that minimized what it said was critical: BP's "fatally flawed" well design.

"This is a self-serving report that attempts to conceal the critical factor that set the stage for the Macondo incident: BP's fatally flawed well design," Transocean said in a statement released shortly after BP released its internal review. "In both its design and construction, BP made a series of cost-saving decisions that increased risk — in some cases, severely."

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US job openings up

It's not all doom and gloom, fortunately.

Job openings in the U.S. rose in July, a sign some employers are getting ready to expand as the world’s largest economy recovers, a government report showed.

Openings increased by 178,000 to 3.04 million, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people hired fell from the prior month and separations decreased.

Companies added 67,000 jobs in August, more than forecast, after a 107,000 gain in July that was more than initially estimated, the Labor Department said last week. The jobless rate, which rose to 9.6 percent last month, will still take time to decline, restraining consumer spending and the economy.

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Barclays Bank thumbs nose at industry critics with new CEO

Even though Barclays Bank did not directly receive a bailout, the bank admittedly benefited from central bank lending policies during the peak of the crisis. While some banks are now trying to keep a low profile (the banking crisis is not yet over) Barclays is making it clear that they could care less what the public or the politicians think of their flashy bonus programs. They're probably right that the politicians are much too gutless to do take serious action as the Conservative Chancellor is doing his best to beg the bank to stay in London and not leave. How brave.

One has to wonder what the banks need to do before someone wakes up and realizes how badly they've shafted the economy and the public. Why would anyone want to be a customer of such a bank? One more thumb in the eye from Big Finance.

Sources close to the Liberal Democrat minister said he felt the move to install Diamond, a high-profile investment banker who has taken home £75m in the last five years, at the top of Barclays vindicated the government's decision to set up the commission, which is chaired by Sir John Vickers.

Although Diamond and other members of the Barclays board insisted that they were not pre-empting the outcome of the commission, due to report next year, the bank has previously warned that it is considering whether to move out of the UK because of the Vickers inquiry.

The 59-year-old American, who has been with Barclays for the last 14 years, was described as the "unacceptable face of banking" by Cable's predecessor, Lord Mandelson. He will replace the current chief executive, John Varley, at the end of March.

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Despite promises, Obama's antitrust department 'not markedly different' than Bush

More of the same is not what we were promised. If the entire campaign is going to revolve around "change" than it's only fair to expect change. Is there any wonder that there's such a lack of enthusiasm on the left?

Instead, federal antitrust lawyers have eschewed aggressive litigation against big business in favor of a less-risky approach that works with companies to resolve anti-competitive concerns, according to many antitrust experts.

"They're running a good shop. It's just not markedly different," said Albert A. Foer, president of the American Antitrust Institute, a research and advocacy group. "Anybody that wants to argue the Obama administration is anti-business or socializing America is not going to find much evidence in the antitrust division."

A pattern is emerging in how the administration treats corporate America. In spite of some tough rhetoric, Obama has shown a certain reluctance to radically reshape industries. Rather than break up big Wall Street banks, the White House largely pressed to toughen rules as part of the financial regulatory overhaul. Instead of putting limits on how much bank executives earn, the administration encouraged federal supervisors to push these firms to tie pay to performance.

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Ensign: 'If you don't hold us accountable, we'll do some real bad things in Washington, D.C.'

John Ensign knows of what he speaks. He's already done some bad things. The big question remains: Why is John Ensign still in the U.S. Senate. We keep hearing rumors of an indictment.

And, as Jed reports, Ensign's "bad things" are causing more problems for fellow GOP Senator/C Street resident Tom Coburn. Read the rest of this post...

Twitter to the rescue in Afghanistan

What an amazing story about how Twitter helped lead to the rescue of a Japanese journalist being help prisoner in Afghanistan. PCWorld:

A Japanese journalist freed over the weekend by captors in Afghanistan managed to send two Twitter messages before his release while teaching a captor how to access the Internet on a new cell phone, he said Tuesday.

Kosuke Tsuneoka, a freelance journalist, was released from five months of captivity on Saturday. His freedom came a day after the first messages since his disappearance were posted to his Twitter account.

"i am still allive [sic], but in jail," read a message sent at 1:15 p.m. GMT on Friday. It was followed a few minutes later with a second message, also in English, that read, "here is archi in kunduz. in the jail of commander lativ." The message referred to the Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz where he was being held.

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Business groups lukewarm on Obama's tax credit, still want tax cuts

So once again, Obama has made attempts to reach out to business and those on the right and surprise, surprise, it's not enough. They want more. Do these people realize that we're in a recession and there are limitations to what's possible? One of these days Democrats are going to learn that there is no pleasing the right. No matter how far to the right Obama moves, it will never be far enough. Never. The end result is wingnut mania, who now have another opportunity to bash Obama and an even more annoyed and alienated left, who continue to wonder whether the administration can ever stand up for them. Somehow the administration believes that pushing back against that remaining 1% will charm the left. It's fine and it makes sense not to change that position but is it enough to energize supporters?

Tell me again how maintaining the Bush tax cuts for 1% of the population is a "game changer" and makes sense right now? There is zero proof that keeping tax cuts for 1% of the population will provide economic benefit. If anything, it will only worsen the economic pain for everyone else. LA Times:

"He's not really addressing the big issues," Brad Benson, president of Squires-Belt Material Co. in San Diego, said of Obama. Benson does welcome the president's proposal on depreciation costs, which would save businesses $200 billion over two years.

"I think it's maybe a small step in the right direction, but as a manufacturer, I'm more concerned with the tax-cut issue," said Benson, whose company supplies drywall and other building supplies for commercial and residential construction.

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, said Obama's proposal would help the recovery but was not "a game changer."

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is heading to Cleveland today to deliver a speech on the economy. It's more than just a speech. He's going to oppose extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Here's how the White House "Daily Guidsnce" describes teh event:

The President will update the American people on the state of the economy, talk about the progress we have made, and discuss some targeted proposals to keep the economy growing including extending tax cuts for the middle class, and investing in the areas of our economy where the potential for job growth is greatest. It took years to create our economic problems, and it’ll take more time than any of us would like to fully repair the damage. There are no silver bullets and anyone who is promising them is not being straight with the American people. But there are some ideas that will help the economy and help American families that are hurting and those proposals will be a part of the President’s remarks. Speaking in the city where Minority Leader Boehner recently detailed the Republican economic agenda, the President will lay out the choice between his ideas and the failed policies and failed philosophy that led us into this mess.

Yep. Making this a direct rebuttal to Boehner, the tan who could be Speaker.

Just saw a report on NBC about fires sweeping through Detroit. High winds have been knocking over power lines, then spreading the fire. Numerous homes have been destroyed. Good lord, can that city suffer any more?

So, Mayor Daley is retiring. Above the fold headline in the print edition of today's Washington Post: In Chicago, Mayor Emanuel? Go, Rahm. Just go. (Not to be confused with wanting him to actually become the Mayor. I just want him to go.)

Rosh Hashanah starts tonight. L'shanah tovah. Read the rest of this post...

Paris Metro to heat apartment buildings

Why not use the heat that is already being generated to help reduce costs? It's a surprise more of this is not done around the world, but of course, they already do in Norway and Sweden. The Guardian:

Warmth generated by sweaty passengers as they commute on the Paris Mètro may be used to heat a block of low-income flats located near the Pompidou Centre in the city centre. This could slash the building's energy bill and carbon footprint by a third, according to the property's owner.

The temperature in nearby Rambuteau Mètro station stays at a toasty 14-20C degrees all year round thanks to the heat generated by passengers, trains and other machinery. Paris Habitat-OPH, the owners of the building, plan to use the underground heat to warm up water as it courses through pipes. It will then be pumped to the surface into an underfloor heating system in the block of flats.

"It's a huge source of free, zero-carbon heat so it couldn't make more sense," said Dr Patrick James, a researcher at the University of Southampton's School of Civil Engineering and the Environment. "I guess the only problem will be if there's a train strike in the winter, in which case they'll need a back-up source of heat."

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Blair's autobiography moved to crime and fantasy section of book stores

Every now and then, Facebook is part of something worth while.

A Facebook group entitled 'Subversively move Tony Blair's memoirs to the crime section in book shops' gained more than 1,000 members inside a day.

The group's creator, Euan Booth, said the idea was non-violent direct action against a man he described as "our generation's greatest war criminal".

His idea found support on Twitter, with a Viz Top Tips tweet suggesting: "Brighten up your day by moving at least one of Tony Blair's books to the crime section in your local book shop."

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