X Prize Challenge finalists: Create the car of the future

The X-Prize Foundation offers prize money and awards for innovative technology that meets socially important technical challenges. From their blurb (my emphasis):

The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit organization whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity thereby inspiring the formation of new industries, jobs and the revitalization of markets that are currently stuck.

The Foundation's latest challenge — technology that cleans oil off water surfaces. Previous challenges range from space travel to genome sequencing.

The following Rachel Maddow clip highlights their "dream car" challenge — create an automobile that gets the equivalent of 100 mpg, has a 200-mile range, is safe and producible. The contest is down to nine finalists. Chris Hayes, subbing for Rachel, in a fascinating segment:



One reservation — I'm not a fan of public-private partnerships; I think the public gets screwed most of the time. The beast is still the beast, after all. Despite (or because of) their non-profit status, X Prize's challenges seem to have lots of corporate and foundation "partners". The auto competition is "partnered" with Progressive Insurance. The oil challenge is "partnered" with Wendy Schmidt, president of The Schmidt Family Foundation, and co-founder of the Schmidt Marine Science Research Institute.

Both of these orgs have naming rights to their competition — it's officially the "Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE" for example. Kind of like the "Frito-Lay It's-All-in-the-Wrist Olathe Kansas Bowl".

So this may be wonderfully generous and unselfish, but still, color me questioning. There's a lot of patent money on the table. (Mm, money...) Still, great stuff technically.

Technically yours,

GP Read the rest of this post...

Film a cop, face 16 years in jail

That's what a Maryland man is looking at — 16 years if convicted, for filming police at his own traffic stop and then posting the video on YouTube. All of this according to Ray Sanchez of ABC News (h/t Scott Horton).

The arrestee is charged with violating the state's anti-wiretapping laws. The ABC News story is here. The YouTube video is here. (Don't let the Maryland police catch you watching it.)

Sanchez says these arrests are more and more common, with an obvious purpose:

"The message is clearly, 'Don't criticize the police,'" said David Rocah, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland who is part of Graber's defense team. "With these charges, anyone who would even think to record the police is now justifiably in fear that they will also be criminally charged."

Click through to the news story; there are lots of other instances. Horton agrees this is a "growing trend." He concludes:

This is an extreme example of the arrogance of power, in which a Maryland cop exercised bad judgment, was embarrassed when he was publicly exposed, and got his colleagues and prosecutors to exercise still worse judgment.

As Aristotle teaches us, in a democracy the people are entitled to throw light on the dealings of public officials to keep them honest, whereas the private dealings of the people are to be sheltered from unreasonable intrusion. In a tyranny, the officials of the government are enshrouded in secrecy but constantly invade the privacy of the common citizens. Which model does this bring the people of Maryland closer to?

The cop was filmed with a gun in his hand at a traffic stop. Rules of engagement?

GP Read the rest of this post...

Eric Cantor's donations from the financial sector catch up with him

House GOP whip Eric Cantor has seen a sudden 32% increase in donations from the financial sector. Why imagine that. Read the rest of this post...

The ADL thinks religious freedom exists only if bigots don't find you icky

What kind of BS is this coming out of the ADL? You'd think a Jewish civil rights group might appreciate the irony of caving to bigots simply because they find your religion uncomfortable.

From the ADL, about that new mosque being discussed for construction near Ground Zero.

We regard freedom of religion as a cornerstone of the American democracy, and that freedom must include the right of all Americans – Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faiths – to build community centers and houses of worship.

We categorically reject appeals to bigotry on the basis of religion, and condemn those whose opposition to this proposed Islamic Center is a manifestation of such bigotry.

The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process. Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.

The healing process? It's been 9 years. Just how long do we ban Muslim-Americans from participating in our democracy, before we're all well and healed? Is ten years enough? How about twenty? And does the same rule apply to synagogues? After all, Israel makes some people mighty uncomfortable too. Should we ban synagogues in, say, Detroit - you know, for that healing process thing.

This is disgusting.

J Street responds, God bless them:

The principle at stake in the Cordoba House controversy goes to the heart of American democracy and the value we place on freedom of religion. Should one religious group in this country be treated differently than another? We believe the answer is no.

As Mayor Bloomberg has said, proposing a church or a synagogue for that site would raise no questions. The Muslim community has an equal right to build a community center wherever it is legal to do so. We would hope the American Jewish community would be at the forefront of standing up for the freedom and equality of a religious minority looking to exercise its legal rights in the United States, rather than casting aspersions on its funders and giving in to the fear-mongerers and pandering politicians urging it to relocate.

What better ammunition to feed the Osama Bin Laden’s of the world and their claim of anti-Muslim bias in the United States as they seek to whip up global jihad than to hold this proposal for a Muslim religious center to a different and tougher standard than other religious institutions would be.

UPDATE: Krugman agrees. Read the rest of this post...

Fewer people moving to find a new job, economists worry this could set the economy back

From the Wash Post:

Labor mobility has nearly ground to a halt in the past two years, and policymakers are increasingly worried that the slowdown is not just a symptom of the nation's economic struggles but also a barrier to overcoming them.

With many people locked in homes by underwater mortgages, only 1.6 percent of Americans moved between states in a one-year period that ended in March 2009 -- a labor stagnation not seen in half a century. Though household mobility has gradually declined for more than two decades, the recent sharp downturn has caused economists to worry that it could harm the already struggling recovery.

"In the past, people tended to move to where the jobs are," said Assistant Treasury Secretary Alan B. Krueger, who oversees economic policy for the department. "Now it is necessary to have more of a strategy to move the jobs -- and create new jobs -- in areas where the people are."

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Environmentalists say pollution makes baptism at sacred spot in Jordan River unsafe

A scary sign of the times, even though Israel denies it. Read the rest of this post...

Obama & the Embeds (DEA edition)

Tell me again why it's called the "Obama administration"?

Last October (almost a year ago, if you're counting) Eric Holder called a halt to DEA raids on medical marijuana patients and facilities (my emphasis):

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. directed federal prosecutors Monday to back away from pursuing cases against medical marijuana patients, signaling a broad policy shift that drug reform advocates interpret as the first step toward legalization of the drug.

The government's top lawyer said that in 14 states with some provisions for medical marijuana use, federal prosecutors should focus only on cases involving higher-level drug traffickers, money launderers or people who use the state laws as a cover. . . .

In a statement, Holder asserted that drug traffickers and people who use firearms will continue to be direct targets of federal prosecutors, but that, on his watch, "it will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana."

Seems clear enough. So why is the DEA raiding legal California marijuana facilities? Steve Elliott at Alternet (h/t Michael Whitney):

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has flouted Mendocino County, California’s newly enacted medical marijuana ordinance by raiding the first collective that had applied to the sheriff’s cultivation permit program.

A multi-agency federal task force descended on the property of Joy Greenfield, the first Mendo patient to pay the $1,050 application fee under the ordinance, which allows collectives to grow up to 99 plants provided they comply with certain regulations.

July 2010 raids were also conducted in San Diego county.

Sounds like an Embed. Let's see. DEA, Acting Administrator, Michele Leonhart. Bingo — Bush-nominated as Deputy Administrator of the DEA in 2003, confirmed in 2004. Bush-nominated as DEA head in 2008, but never confirmed. Re-nominated by Obama in February 2010.

And it seems Ms. Leonhart doesn't much like medical marijuana. Alternet again (all you need is the headline, though click if you like):

Obama Wants a Bush Crony Appointed as a Top Drug Enforcer

Jeez. Come on, Mr. President. If you can post up Reggie Love, you can block this nomination — all by yourself.


The Marijuana Policy Project has a petition, if you're so inclined. Jane Hamsher has some thoughts as well.

GP Read the rest of this post...

How to lose an 11 point lead in seven weeks?

We love Sharron Angle:

Throughout Angle's primary campaign, the conservative candidate touted a wide range of controversial views as she took to the campaign trail to sell her candidacy.

From expressing her desire to "phase out" social security to appearing to advocate for an armed insurrection if "Congress keeps going the way it is," Angle didn't fail to raise eyebrows in communicating her positions.

The Tea Party-backed hopeful has made visible efforts to soften the language she uses to communicate her views since securing the Republican nomination; however, her statements have nevertheless been well-documented.

Here are a few examples of stances Angle has taken that have led her to face criticism and scrutiny:

- Calling the BP oil spill an "accident" and suggesting to "deregulate" the oil industry

- Offering advice to victims of rape considering abortion: 'Lemons can be made into lemonade.'

- Advancing abortion-causes-breast-cancer myth

- Expressing a desire to abolish Social Security

- Raising the possibility of an armed insurrection

Yeah, armed insurrection against the government was my personal fav. Read the rest of this post...

Rep. Weiner Goes Off On Republicans Over Blocking 9/11 Health Compensation Act

Hat tip, the Political Carnival.

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Reid plans showdown with GOP on funds for education, Medicaid

This sure sounds like the food stamp cuts that the administration was reportedly pushing a few weeks ago:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will force Republicans to vote next week on a $26.1 billion package of education funding and Medicaid assistance to states.

It will be a tough vote for centrist Republicans because the provisions are popular with Democratic and Republican governors and would not add to the deficit.

The entire cost of the bill is covered by offsets, such as a provision to end tax credits on corporate foreign-earned income. Closing the foreign income tax credits will raise $9 billion in revenue.

Democrats will also make $8.4 billion in spending recissions. Another $6.7 billion will come from cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP is the Food Stamp program. And I quote an interview with David Obey of a little more than a week ago:

We were told we have to offset every damn dime of [new teacher spending]. Well, it ain’t easy to find offsets, and with all due respect to the administration their first suggestion for offsets was to cut food stamps. Now they were careful not to make an official budget request, because they didn’t want to take the political heat for it, but that was the first trial balloon they sent down here. … Their line of argument was, well, the cost of food relative to what we thought it would be has come down, so people on food stamps are getting a pretty good deal in comparison to what we thought they were going to get. Well isn’t that nice. Some poor bastard is going to get a break for a change.

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Swift Boat donors charged with 'extensive securities fraud' by SEC

Excellent. From the NYT:

Samuel and Charles Wyly, the billionaire brothers from Dallas who are large donors to philanthropies and to conservative causes, were charged Thursday with conducting an extensive securities fraud that the Securities and Exchange Commission said reaped $550 million in undisclosed gains.
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The brothers, who founded Sterling Software, a business software and services company that they sold for $4 billion in stock to the software company CA in 2000, were also charged with insider trading violations from which they profited by more than $31 million, the S.E.C. said.

I do hope all the Republicans they've funded are now going to give their tainted money back:

Charles and Samuel Wyly, along with their wives, have donated $2.5 million to more than 200 Republican candidates and committees over the past 20 years, including over $1.3 million to the Republican National Committee, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The top recipients of their largesse have been Texas Republicans. George W. Bush received at least $100,000 raised by the Wyly clan during the 2000 presidential election. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson has received $30,400 from the family; Rep. Pete Sessions, $29,000.

Other Republican senators who've received their donations include John Cornyn of Texas, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, John Thune of South Dakota and Kit Bond of Missouri. Sam Wyly also funded the Swift Boat campaign that torpedoed Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign.

And the Wyly brothers have been busy in the 2010 election cycle, most recently writing a check dated June 10 for $10,000 to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee. Charles Wyly has contributed to FreedomWorks PAC, which has been instrumental in the Tea Party movement. The Wylys and their companies have also reportedly contributed $353,500 to Texas Gov. Rick Perry in recent years.

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Friday morning open thread

Joe is off celebrating a milestone birthday in Maine (all those wishing to extend him their best, here you go: sudbayjoe@yahoo.com), so you get me this morning. I'm finally off doing my annual August cat-sitting for Chris and his wife Joelle while they take the traditional French August vacation. And you know what that means.... no, not retinal detachments. Rather, the breakfast of champions is back, baby.



I did my junior year abroad in Paris, and speak French, so for me, in many ways, Paris is a second (or third) home, alongside DC and Chicago. Chris and Joelle live in the same general neighborhood where I lived at 19, and some of my classes took place literally around the corner from their apartment on Blvd. Raspail. I'll continue to blog, as usual, this month, while throwing in a bit of French flavor here and there.

And oh yes, there will be cats.

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