Spain wants to change chewing gum so it's less sticky

It's easy enough to understand the financial consequences of having to clean it up, but adding vinyl sounds iffy.

A full cabinet meeting has decided that Spanish gum is just too sticky, costing local councils large sums of money as they try to scrub city streets back into a state of pre-gum purity.

The solution, says the government, is to employ a copolymer of vinyl acetate and vinyl laurate as the basis for Spanish gum.

"It sticks less, which makes cleaning easier," according to the health ministry.

Barcelona's city hall estimates it scrapes up 1,800 bits of gum a day from its streets - at a cost of more than €100,000 (£85,000) a year. It has introduced fines of up to €450 for gum-droppers.

Campaigners have claimed vinyl acetate could be dangerous to health, but regulators disagree.

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Harvard reverses aging process in mice

Wow, that's amazing.

Scientists claim to be a step closer to reversing the ageing process after rejuvenating worn out organs in elderly mice. The experimental treatment developed by researchers at Harvard Medical School turned weak and feeble old mice into healthy animals by regenerating their aged bodies.

The surprise recovery of the animals has raised hopes among scientists that it may be possible to achieve a similar feat in humans – or at least to slow down the ageing process.

An anti-ageing therapy could have a dramatic impact on public health by reducing the burden of age-related health problems, such as dementia, stroke and heart disease, and prolonging the quality of life for an increasingly aged population.

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No time for DADT, lots of time for judge's impeachment

What's the civil rights of millions of Americans when you have some judge who needs to be impeached now, lest we impeach him in January instead. Read the rest of this post...

Some Democrats propose 'compromise' - only raise taxes on those above $1 million per year

In other words, raise the amount so many of Senator Schumer's friends on Wall Street can easily slide under the bar. Yes, the average income on Wall Street will be down this year but it still dwarfs what everyone else is seeing in the country. The Democrats continue to be at war with the middle class in favor of the wealthiest people in the country. Not surprisingly, the GOP is balking at this "compromise" because it's not enough. Both Democrats and Republicans never fail to deliver, for their core constituencies. Keep it up Democrats, so you can compromise yourselves into a complete political minority in 2012.

Why do both parties keep thinking that the middle class should continue to pay the price for thirty years of bad policy plus this recession?

Over the past few days, a growing number of lawmakers has publicly embraced the idea of extending expiring tax cuts for families making as much as $1 million a year. They include newly elected Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who argued on "Fox News Sunday" that "we should draw the line in the sand for millionaires."

The idea's chief proponent, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), said that raising the income threshold from $250,000, as Obama has proposed, has the potential to unite fractious Democrats behind a single strategy on the tax cuts, which are set to expire Dec. 31 unless Congress acts.

Schumer said the higher threshold also would make it far more difficult for Republicans to say no.

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Krugman: Republican attacks on the Fed will put us 'in the Spanish prison'

I'm going to bottom-line this at the top: Anyone complaining about the Fed weakening the dollar, is trying to put us in the trap the Spanish are in.

Paul Krugman explains why. He devotes a lot of his latest column to discussing the Spanish problem:

The best thing about the Irish right now is that there are so few of them. By itself, Ireland can’t do all that much damage to Europe’s prospects. The same can be said of Greece and of Portugal, which is widely regarded as the next potential domino.

But then there’s Spain. The others are tapas; Spain is the main course.

The problem is that Spain, exactly like the U.S., is saddled with a classic post-bubble economy — a "surge in unemployment" coupled with a "budget deficit balloon thanks to plunging revenues and recession-related costs." The unemployed can't buy anything, so there's a demand-driven recession, a big one.

To escape, there are only two choices — devalue the currency, or devalue the economy. If you devalue the currency, you stimulate an export-driven growth boom, and the economy restarts. This, contrary to claims by Republican fear-mongers like newly-minted genius Paul Ryan, is the classic, and common way out for recession economies.

If you can't do that (as the Spanish can't without abandoning the Euro), you have to devalue the economy: "cut wages and prices until its costs are back in line" with your neighbors and trading partners.

For Spain, this is a problem:

What all this means for Spain is very poor economic prospects over the next few years. America’s recovery has been disappointing, especially in terms of jobs — but at least we’ve seen some growth, with real G.D.P. more or less back to its pre-crisis peak, and we can reasonably expect future growth to help bring our deficit under control. Spain, on the other hand, hasn’t recovered at all. And the lack of recovery translates into fears about Spain’s fiscal future.

But we're in better shape, right? Indeed we are, because we can devalue the dollar, as the Fed is now doing with the last politically acceptable tool in the tool box, the soft hammer called Quanitative Easing. Welcome to our own export-driven recovery.

Or not. Conservatives want to derail that with with "dollar down the tubes" talk. The organized shout against a Fed-driven solution, if it succeeds, means we'll have no solution at all. We'll be locked in the Spanish prison. (This is what the Chamber of Commerce, which Obama is now wooing, means when it talks about an independent Fed — it wants an unresponsive one.)

About that "dollar down the tubes" talk: Note how well that meme jibes with the presumed macho of American fantasies, marching Rambo-like through the world. A weak dollar puts you, sir, into Viagra land; can't let that happen. A nice (for Conservatives) secondary political benefit of all those "fear the limpness" ads we're now being inundated with.

This is not a small point, by the way. Culture re-enforces politics, and thanks to the 20th century, culture can be manipulated. Welcome to the world of modern, scientifically researched advertising. The ad and PR industry, the last century's unique contribution to crowd control, has much to answer for.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Moderate Republicans and Independents overwhelmingly support DADT repeal

An interesting message for any Republican who doesn't consider themselves a far-right nut. By filibustering DADT, John McCain is doing the work of a very small percentage of Republicans, let alone Americans. The GOP can't hold on to its congressional majority, and make gains in the Senate next time around, if they continue to tick off independents, leaning Republicans, and moderate Republicans. Read the rest of this post...

Twelve Days of Christmas nearly 11% more expensive this year

Even the Black Friday sales couldn't help.

Trying to buy the 364 items repeated in all the song's verses — from 12 drummers drumming to a partridge in a pear tree — would cost $96,824, an increase of 10.8 percent over last year, according to the annual Christmas Price Index compiled by PNC Wealth Management.

So you might want to try for one of everything. That would cost only $23,439, or 9.2 percent more than last year.

The 27th annual holiday index has historically mirrored the national Consumer Price Index, but not this year. The PNC Christmas Price Index grew 9.2 percent from last year, compared with just a 1.1 percent increase in the much broader Consumer Price Index.

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Obama announces pay freeze for federal workers

Maybe it's one of many steps that need to be done to get the public finances back on track. But again, how is it that we could afford the initial easy Wall Street bailout that kept bonuses flowing, followed by a watered down attempt at regulation and then the most recent quantitative easing that puts more money in the pockets of Wall Street? This routine of asking for cutbacks from everyone except those most responsible for the economic crisis is BS. It sounds like yet another example of the White House eagerly reaching out to the Republicans while asking for nothing in return. There better be strings attached or something in return (such as unemployment benefits) or else there's going to be yet another problem among the base.

I'm still waiting to see some sacrifice from Wall Street and the military budget.

According to an administration statement, the two-year pay freeze will save $2 billion for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, $28 billion over the next five years, and more than $60 billion over the next decade.

The freeze does not apply to military personnel, but will apply to all civilian federal employees, including those in various alternative pay plans and those working at the Department of Defense.

"This freeze is not to punish federal workers or to disrespect the work that they do," the White House said in a statement. "It is the first of many actions we will take in the upcoming budget to put our nation on sound fiscal footing -- which will ask for some sacrifice from us all."

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Obama sends Geithner to woo the Chamber of Commerce

Via Frank Rich, we found this item in Bloomberg BusinessWeek:

President Barack Obama is preparing new overtures to business that may start with a walk into the headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a retreat with corporate chief executive officers, according to people familiar with his plans.

It seems Tim Geithner has already taken that walk (my emphasis):

Donohue said that U.S. companies are facing a “tsunami” of regulations that are becoming a tax on citizens while disagreeing with McConnell’s proposed solution of pushing for Obama’s defeat.

“It’s not our intention to weaken the president in any way,” Donohue told reporters after his Nov. 17 speech. “We are ready to walk across this park and work with the administration on any issue.” ... The same day, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk crossed the park to speak with the Chamber’s board in closed-door meetings.

Negotiating the terms of surrender? You decide:

To address corporate criticism, Obama is also contemplating bringing business leaders into his administration. Unlike his two immediate predecessors, Obama hasn’t had a prominent corporate leader in a high-level administration job.

Unless you count the entire business-friendly economics team.

The Chamber of Commerce is seeking, among other things, to "pass pending trade agreements, cut the long-term government debt and preserve the independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve." The trade agreements are deeply unpopular; no one cares about the deficit (except for government killers like Grover Norquist); and the Fed is only independent in the sense that it sits in Big Money's front pocket, fingering the change.

Why point this out? Because the time to get organized for 2012 is now. If we don't start agitating, we'll get the same fine choices we had last time.

GP Read the rest of this post...

$2 billion in stimulus money plus oversight exemptions for polluters

If only the Obama administration could do more to reach across the aisle, everything would be fine. Besides, the left isn't very important at election time anyway. Polluters of the world, unite.

In the name of job creation and clean energy, the Obama administration has doled out about $2 billion in stimulus money to some of the nation's biggest polluters while granting them exemptions from a basic form of environmental oversight, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found.

The administration has awarded more than 179,000 "categorical exclusions" to stimulus projects funded by federal agencies, freeing the projects from review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Officials said they did not consider companies' pollution records in deciding whether to grant the waivers. They said that creating jobs quickly was an important part of the stimulus plan, and that past environmental violations should not disqualify a company from pursuing federal contracts for unrelated projects.

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Lame Duck: More lameness or, maybe, finally, a show of resolve?

Lots of buzz and many articles about what will -- and won't -- happen during the lame duck session. The next couple weeks could give us a sense of how the next two years will unfold. A succinct analysis of what to look for comes from Greg Sargent, who lays out the stakes:

A big, big week ahead: The events of this week could go a long way towards establishing just how tenacious and confrontational the White House and Democrats will prove to be in dealing with the new, emboldened GOP leadership. Obama meets with GOP leaders on Tuesday for their first sit-down meeting over a range of issues, most notably the Bush tax cuts, which will produce the most contentious and high-stakes standoff of the lame duck session.

Remember, the GOP leaders blew off their first post-election meeting with Obama. So, I guess it's a big deal if they actually show up this time. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Wild end to the weekend thanks to Wikileaks.

Members of Congress return to work after the 11-day Thanksgiving vacation. There's not much time in the lame duck to accomplish a lot. But, they really needed that vacation. The question is how long the Senate will stay in session to finish its work on the tax cut, the continuing resolution to fund the government, the START Treaty, the DREAM Act and the Defense Authorization, which includes the DADT language. Not all of it will get done, no doubt.

On DADT, the Pentagon will release its report tomorrow and there will be hearings on the report in the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday and Friday. Senators McCain and Graham were on the Sunday shows making the case to keep that law in place. There's no rational reason for keeping DADT any more. Now, opposition to repeal is based on pure homophobia. And, there's a lot of homophobia, both blatant and internalized, on Capitol Hill. One would think Lindsey, who serves in the reserves, would want to see it go. Lindsey also claimed the GOP caucus will "be united in the lame duck." Yesterday we learned from SLDN, that gay servicemembers are still being discharged.

The President has no public events. Later in the week, he's going to meet with the Congressional leaders from both parties. Well, that is, if the GOPers will deign to meet with him this time.

It's going to be an intense week. Read the rest of this post...

Should WikiLeaks have released diplomatic details?

It's unrealistic to imagine other states not having this information, so the anger sounds overdone. Also, is it a surprise to anyone that US policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan are dysfunctional or that the US and Middle East partners want Iran's nuclear program to be terminated? Part of the problem may also be related to the lack of transparency in politics, which is not just a US issue. The decisions that our political leaders make could definitely benefit from the public being made more aware of what is going on with tax dollars.

If politicians are ready to ask individuals to justify every last cent received by the meager social welfare system in the US, it's fair to ask the same from the government. The information may make many uncomfortable, but that is no reason to keep everyone in the dark. More from The Guardian:

Anything said or done in the name of a democracy is, prima facie, of public interest. When that democracy purports to be "world policeman" – an assumption that runs ghostlike through these cables – that interest is global. Nonetheless, the Guardian had to consider two things in abetting disclosure, irrespective of what is anyway published by WikiLeaks. It could not be party to putting the lives of individuals or sources at risk, nor reveal material that might compromise ongoing military operations or the location of special forces.

In this light, two backup checks were applied. The US government was told in advance the areas or themes covered, and "representations" were invited in return. These were considered. Details of "redactions" were then shared with the other four media recipients of the material and sent to WikiLeaks itself, to establish, albeit voluntarily, some common standard.

The state department knew of the leak several months ago and had ample time to alert staff in sensitive locations. Its pre-emptive scaremongering over the weekend stupidly contrived to hint at material not in fact being published. Nor is the material classified top secret, being at a level that more than 3 million US government employees are cleared to see, and available on the defence department's internal Siprnet. Such dissemination of "secrets" might be thought reckless, suggesting a diplomatic outreach that makes the British empire seem minuscule.

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Nuclear scientist killed in Iran car bomb

It's going to be hard to imagine where to even start looking for the culprit(s). BBC News:

An Iranian nuclear scientist has been killed and another wounded in two separate, but similar attacks, according to Iranian media reports.

The scientists were targeted in Tehran by attackers who attached bombs to each of their cars, reports said.

The scientist killed has been named as Majid Shahriari of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, according to the official Irna news agency.

Another scientist was killed in a bomb blast at the beginning of the year.

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Notre Dame charged with not taking girl's sexual assault allegation, and subsequent suicide, seriously

A Catholic university overlooking a sex crime. It's not pedophilia, but still I bet someone in the Vatican is smiling.

It's a disgusting story. Read this and this.

It seems inconceivable that Notre Dame could complete even a preliminary investigation and conclude its player committed no wrongdoing between the time officials became aware of the allegation and the next football game, just a matter of days. Yet judging from the carefree tone of [Notre Dame football coach Brian] Kelly's comments Sunday and multiple conversations with people familiar with the case, that's exactly what happened.

In the months since the allegation, the university gave the impression to more than just questioning reporters that it didn't take the accusation seriously.

That's not the Notre Dame they brag about in brochures and commercials.

I know it's not politics, but it's important. Read the rest of this post...