McDonald's recalls 12 million tainted Shrek glasses

I never heard of cadmium before but it doesn't sound very good. Someone in the process wasn't thinking if they allowed such an enormous mistake.

The CPSC noted in its recall notice that "long-term exposure to cadmium can cause adverse health effects." Cadmium is a known carcinogen that research shows also can cause bone softening and severe kidney problems.

In the case of the Shrek-themed glassware, the potential danger would be long-term exposure to low levels of cadmium, which could leach from the paint onto a child's hand, then enter the body if the child puts that unwashed hand to his or her mouth.

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A reader from Alabama writes 'The anger is not only focused at BP, but at Obama and his team.'

Earlier today, I wrote that I'd seen a BP ad featuring the CEO on our local affiliate. I wondered if these ads were being placed elsewhere. I heard from a friend in Alabama that the ads were playing there -- and I heard a whole lot more. My friend, besides reading AMERICAblog, is a hard-core Democrat, which isn't always easy in Alabama. But, he's also a very smart measured guy, so the vehemence of his email really struck me. He said I could share the email.

yes, they been playing those BP pr ads here in the Gulf South for several days. I’m from MS, went to law school at Tulane in NOLA and now live in AL, so most of my family and friends live in the Gulf South. I can’t begin to describe to you just how ANGRY everyone is here (and it’s not just the hard working fishermen who have lost their livelihoods etc...it’s the republicans too – because there beach homes are now worthless)

The anger is not only focused at BP, but at Obama and his team. They have really bumbled the response incredibly (at least from a communication stand point) - and seeing Paul McCartney croon Barack and Michelle at a fancy White House event, while folks can’t sleep because the oil stench outside their homes is making them sick, didn’t help Obama’s cause either.

Granted, he was never popular with the masses here (this is Red State America, right) but now even the loyal Dems are screaming that Hillary would have done a better job. Carville’s criticism of the administration is “measured” compared to what you hear from other loyal Dems down here.

That probably explains why the President went to the Gulf again today -- and appeared on Larry King Live last night. Team Obama does seem slow to adjust to real problems. And, this oil spill is a disaster. Read the rest of this post...

IL GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk asked if he's gay // also gives weird excuse for why he lied about his military record

Kirk says he lied repeatedly about a military medal he never won personally because sometimes you have to dumb down military things for civilians. In fact, Kirk claimed he personally won a specific award when his entire unit won a completely different award. Giving Kirk the benefit of the doubt, and assuming Illinois voters are as dumb as he thinks they are, wouldn't dumb people have even understood "my unit won X award"? It's not that difficult. Why is Kirk still making up phony excuses? Can the man ever tell the truth?


And a bonus, he gets asked if he's gay:

WGN-TV: "You've said unequivocally that you're not gay; why do these bloggers keep saying that?"

U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk: "Because, I guess, I got divorced. But I hope to remarry one day."

WGN: "To a woman?"

Kirk: "Absolutely, yeah."

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Help design BP's new logo

Lots on the board but here's the link to contribute. Read the rest of this post...

Drill Baby Drill. Spill Baby Spill

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Haley Barbour again underplays seriousness of oil

I'm still waiting to see the governor take his extended family - young kids and elderly alike - down to the polluted beach and show us how safe it is. After all, it's just like toothpaste. More from Think Progress including the latest count on wildlife killed by this "toothpaste" like glop.

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Director Trudy Fisher said samples of what was apparently the same oil slick, taken when it was farther south of the barrier islands, were “nontoxic.” Fisher said water and weather had helped all the volatile chemicals in the oil evaporate. Barbour described the oil as “weathered, emulsified, caramel-colored mousse, like the food mousse.” “Once it gets to this stage, it’s not poisonous,” Barbour said. “But if a small animal got coated enough with it, it could smother it. But if you got enough toothpaste on you, you couldn’t breathe.” Barbour said he spoke with a member of President Barack Obama’s staff on Air Force One while he was on the island, after telling the administration in an early-morning conference call that oil had come ashore in Mississippi.

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Rep. Marcia Fudge drafts bill to restrict ethics office that investigated her top aide

She's a Democrat. And apparently really dumb.

Rep. Marcia Fudge has introduced legislation that would weaken a congressional ethics office that found her top aide improperly helped Congressional Black Caucus members take a free Caribbean trip that was funded by corporations.

The Warrensville Heights Democrat introduced legislation Friday to restrict disclosure of investigations by the Office of Congressional Ethics and require it to have a sworn complaint from a citizen with personal knowledge of alleged wrongdoing before initiating a probe.

Ethics watchdogs said Fudge's resolution would gut the independent office that Congress created after corruption scandals cast doubt on the House Ethics Committee's effectiveness.

The resolution's 19 cosponsors are all members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Many of them went on Carib News trips.

Melanie Sloan, who heads the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Fudge's resolution would make the ethics office "entirely ineffectual without killing it altogether." She doubts it will be approved because Congress won't want to look soft on ethics before a tough election.

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IL GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk caught lying AGAIN about his military record

He claims he was shot at over Iraq. He wasn't. And there's video of him claiming it. From McJoan at Daily Kos:

Appearing before the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board, Kirk would not directly answer questions about whether the series of errors amounted to an effort to embellish his military military history as he takes on Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias.

Instead, he said he had tried to translate precise military terms into “civilian-speak.” In the future, he said, he would speak more precisely about his record in the reserve. And he said he would let his military fitness reports, which he promised to release soon, speak for his service.

In a new disclosure, Kirk acknowledged that his campaign's promotion of him coming under fire while flying aboard an intelligence reconnaissance plane in Iraq may not be correct because there is no record of whether his aircraft was being fired upon.

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American citizen among those killed in flotilla incident

Whether he was American or not, the details of the death are troubling.

A U.S. citizen who lived in Turkey is among the nine people killed when Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish aid ship heading for the Gaza Strip, officials said today. The victim was identified as Furkan Dogan, 19, a Turkish-American. A forensic report said he was shot at close range, with four bullets in his head and one in his chest, according to the Anatolian news agency.

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Wildlife images from the Gulf

I think this pelican would like its life back too.


If you can stand it, more AP photos from Charlie Riedel here at the Boston Globe. Maybe we can let Tony Hayward roll around in his mess to get a better feel for the problem he created. Read the rest of this post...

David Vitter goes to bat for BP and Big Oil

I know, I know. I was as surprised as everyone else when I read the news. Then again, he's used to hookers though he's now changed from buying one to being one. Time:

But it's Vitter's early support of a liability cap – he introduced legislation that he promoted in last weekend's weekly GOP radio address – that's landing the son of a Chevron petroleum engineer in trouble. Local and national Democrats have been pounding Vitter for seeking to limit the amount of legal damages BP would be responsible for to the last four quarters of profit. “Unlike Republicans, Democrats are not going to protect BP – and given their track record, we are certainly not going to rely on BP's word as the only thing ensuring that taxpayers are not left on the hook to pay for the disaster they caused,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement.

Vitter's been courting his conservative base since July 2007 when it was revealed that he had been a client of “DC Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey. Vitter held a press conference, his wife by his side, where he admitted to “a very serious sin,” though he didn't detail the sin. In the years since he's slowly and steadily rebuilt his conservative credentials. He passed an amendment to bar funding for organizations that advocate international gun control policies. He attempted to deny family planning funds to organizations that perform abortions but that failed the Senate 52-41. And he sponsored legislation to require all states to collect DNA samples from convicted felons. Vitter's also been a strong advocate for President Bush's tax cuts and, when he ran in 2004 he tied himself closely to Bush – images that are sure to come back to haunt him.

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Unemployment drops to 9.7%

The May job numbers are out:

The Labor Department said on Friday payrolls rose 431,000 as the government hired 411,000 workers to conduct the population count. That was the largest monthly increase since March 2000 and marked a fifth straight month of gains.

Private employment, a barometer of labor market strength, increased just 41,000 after rising 218,000 in April. Employers did increase hours, however, and the average workweek increased to 34.2 hours from 34.1 hours in April.

Payrolls data for March and April was revised to show 22,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported. May's hefty employment gain lowered the unemployment rate to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in April.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected non-farm payrolls to rise 513,000 and private businesses to create 190,000 jobs. The jobless rate had been seen dipping to 9.8 percent.

So, expectations were a bit off. Fewer jobs were created, especially in the private sector and there's a tad less unemployment. Seems like a mixed bag.

Just keep in mind that the unemployment rate under counts the actual number of unemployed. Here's how the Bureau of Labor Statistics defines the term:

Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.

This definition doesn't factor in the long-term unemployed. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The monthly jobs numbers for May come out this morning. Expect a statement from the President at around 9:45 a.m. He will be at an event in Hyattsville, Maryland.

This afternoon, Obama is heading to the Gulf Coast again. The latest effort to place a cap over the gusher may be working (at least partially), but it's too early to tell how much oil is being captured. Obama was on Larry King last night talking about the oil spill and other issues.

Just saw an ad on our local NBC affiliate from the CEO of BP, Tony Hayward. He told us that his company has "helped organize the largest environmental response in this country's history." Um, yeah. That's because this is the largest environmental crisis in our country's history. He also said the clean up costs won't cost us anything. And, he apologized. Yesterday, Hayward was bitching, "I want my life back." That's rich. The tv ad mirrors the full-page ads that are running every day in the Washington Post. Also wondering if this ad is running nationwide or just in markets like DC.

Obama, however, isn't going on a trip to Australia and Indonesia. Via the Press Secretary:

President Obama spoke tonight with Prime Minister Rudd of Australia, and with President Yudhoyono of Indonesia. President Obama expressed his deep regret that he has to postpone his trip to Asia that was scheduled for later this month. The President looked forward to rescheduling so that he can visit both countries soon.

Pretty clear that the trip was postponed because of the oil spill crisis.

Congress returns next week. Read the rest of this post...

BP prepares $10 billion shareholder payout

And the reason for delaying temporarily taking over BP during the crisis is...what? At a minimum, Washington needs to demand a substantial lump sum immediately and take over payouts to those involved and impacted by the oil leak. BP has already been late paying fishermen and health care clinics and probably more.

BP declined to comment on its strategy tonight but it is understood that Hayward will say he is confident the company can pay for liabilities resulting from the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion – now estimated by analysts at $20bn to $60bn – as well as rewarding investors.

The move follows demands from senators Charles Schumer and Ron Wyden in a letter to Hayward all dividends be halted until the cost of the clean-up is known.

Analysts warned that committing to the dividend risked further political opprobrium in the US, with Alex Stewart from Evolution Securities fearing it could force Hayward to make a U-turn next month. BP reports its results on 27 July, when it will announce the size of its next quarterly payout, but it is expected to spend more than $10bn in total dividends this year.

"The problem they have is that the oil is likely to be still flowing by the time they announce results," said Stewart. "It's not going to look good paying about $3bn in [quarterly] dividends to shareholders if at the same time local fishermen are having their livelihoods destroyed in the Gulf."

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Wal-Mart offering online college degrees for employees

A few years ago, few would have predicted anything like this from Wal-Mart. Wouldn't it be nice if programs like this helped drive down the outrageously high university costs?

The partnership with American Public University, a for-profit school with about 70,000 online students, will allow some Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club employees to earn credits in areas like retail management and logistics for performing their regular jobs.

The university will offer eligible employees 15 percent price reductions on tuition, and Wal-Mart will invest $50 million over three years in other tuition assistance for the employees who participate.

Executives at Wal-Mart, the nations’ largest retailer, said the company was not interested in entering the online-education field in a broader way. The point of the program, they said, was to help employees get more education and to build a better work force.

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