Joe is doing well post-surgery

Joe called me around 6pm tonight to say he's doing well, post his emergency appendicitis surgery. He was sounding gravel-y as hell (a result of the tubes down his throat during surgery), and he was still a bit out of it (they used gas, so he was still feeling somewhat queasy, and had only been awake a few hours). He said he tried to use his Blackberry, but it made him nauseous. LOL Only Joe would check the Blackberry two hours after waking up from surgery! He's going to be at the hospital overnight, then hopefully heading home tomorrow. He did say he got a number of get-well emails from you guys, so thanks for doing that. Anyone who wishes to send him one, can still send him an email at sudbayjoe@yahoo.com

Oh, and unrelated... I'm going to be on CNN's Reliable Sources tomorrow morning to talk about the AIG mess. My segment should be around 10:10am Eastern (you'll have to check to see when it shows in your area). Read the rest of this post...

20 states investigating AIG bonsues

Fine, but what the heck is the problem with Congress? They should have been in front of this long ago but that might have required someone to take action. The US government owns the damned company so start acting like it. Heaven forbid they do something. After watching this problem build for some time, it's amazing to see how poorly both Congress and Obama have read this situation.

Twenty state attorneys general announced investigations Friday into the $165 million bonuses paid by insurance giant AIG last week, with Connecticut's top lawyer issuing subpoenas to CEO Edward Liddy and 11 other executives.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the Democratic chairman of the General Assembly's Banks Committee want Liddy and other executives to appear Thursday and bring with them "original or copies of documents regarding the AIG Financial Products Corp. retention bonus plan and any related contracts or agreements."

"Now living off supersized taxpayer-paid bonuses, these AIG employees have a moral and legal obligation to appear at this legislative hearing and disclose details about corporate compensation to employees as well as investment decisions by AIG Financial Products Corp. involving credit derivatives and dealings that have led to market destruction," said Blumenthal, a Democrat.

AIG officials are citing a Connecticut law to justify their payment of the bonuses. The law says that employees can sue in civil court for payments withheld that are due them and recoup double the amount of money. Many AIG employees live in Connecticut.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is already investigating AIG's bonus payments, and on Thursday received a list of employees who received bonuses that he had demanded a day earlier.

Read the rest of this post...

Sugar vs High-fructose corn syrup

Apparently companies are switching back to sugar, after decades of using high-fructose corn syrup in just about everything. Of course, the bigger issue - or at least just as big - is why companies are using so much sugar to start with? The amount of sugar in over-the-counter spaghetti sauce is just vile. It stacks up there with the amount of salt these companies put in food. I love me some sugar, and salt, but I find that cutting the volume in half in this products, still tastes fine. Whether it's Coke or Pepsi (again, a disgusting amount of sugar in each), cottage cheese (again, absurd quantities of salt), you can generally cut the amount of the offending additive by mixing it with some of the product that doesn't have the additive at all (artificially sweetened coke, or salt-free cottage cheese).

But again, the bigger question is why these companies are pumping ups full of absurd amounts of sugar and salt. I don't say this as someone who doesn't use sugar or salt. I love both. I use both. But the amounts our food industry use are made for the palettes of animals. It's no wonder we've become obese as a society. Congress ought to regulate this crap. And yes, people should be responsible for themselves, but try, just try, to find some prepared food at the supermarket that isn't loaded with ridiculous amounts of salt - and even when it comes to sugar, there's no reason for an unnatural amount of sugar to be added to tomato sauces. Read the rest of this post...

AIG sets deadline to hand back bonuses

Wonderful. And as I have said repeatedly, these people (and many more on Wall Street) were paid very well the last few years selling garbage. Everyone profited throughout these companies, pulling in superstar money regardless of the worthless products they were selling. Nobody complained in those organizations back then and to date, nobody in power has had the guts to demand repayment of those bonuses. Maybe we all have different ideas of what constitutes fraud with me having the crazy idea that selling a rotting corpse that gets smellier by the day but billing it as gold might be fraudulent. Either way, someone needs to get these latest bonuses back and then start investigating the previous rounds. This scam makes Madoff look like child's play but at least he's going to prison.

Management at American International Group's financial products unit asked its employees to let the unit know by 5 p.m. on Monday if they plan to return all or part of the bonuses they got under an employee retention program, said the Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The request comes amid tight corporate security for AIG, which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer money. The insurer urged staff to take measures "to increase their overall safety and security" due to "a growing sense of public attention fueled by increased media scrutiny."

Right. It's the media's fault and the poor little lambs are all victims. Uh huh. Poor things might have to send their kids to a boarding school that is only $10,000 per year because they can no longer afford the top schools. It's good that they do wear the badges. That way everyone knows to firmly grasp their wallet and then run for their life before the greedy bastards take what's left. Read the rest of this post...

L'AMERICAblog 2.0 est arrivé

As you can now see (hopefully), the new blog format has finally arrived. Well, it's arriving in bits and pieces over the next hour.

You can explore for yourself, but basically here's what's new:

1. Design.
There's a new design, which still keeps the patriotic red, white, and blue themes from the old site, but uses a new cool logo. I think this design is more professional, clean, and attractive. Hope you agree.

2. Labels.
We always had "labels," which are basically tags, but now they actually work. When you click on a "label" beneath a post, you'll go to a page with every other post we've ever written on that topic (I'm hoping Blogger sets a limit to how many pop up per page, so that they load quickly, but we'll find out).

3. Comments.
Same comments as ever, but the link will be at the bottom of each post.

4. Photos.
I've decided to add a section of my best photos over the year. Every time you come to the page, a new photo will be showcased in the upper-right corner of the blog, in the big blue box. Just refresh the page and you'll see a new one. You can also hover your mouse over the photo, and in a moment a name/short description of the photo should pop up. I'll probably do special photo essays once in a while, during my trips, on holidays, things like that. Maybe even do some essays based on your submissions. We'll have to brainstorm on that one, could be kind of cool.

5. Polls.
Top of the second column. Self-explanatory. I think people like polls. I intentionally tried to keep the added functionality interesting, and not silly. I like polls. I hope you do too.

6. Blog News Wire.
I really like this one. In addition to the same blog roll we had before, we now have a box, in the big blue box, where there's a never-ending update of the latest posts from our favorite blogs (title and first sentence of the post, then you click to visit the actual post on the original blog). We only include a very few sites in this the Blog News Wire. This is not intended to be our blog roll, it's intended to be a useful and interesting update of the latest stories from what we consider the best of the best in the political blogosphere. The listing is chronological, with the latest blog entry at the top.

7. AMERICAblog TV.
I like this one a lot. We've created a video section, in the blue box, below the Blog News Wire, that contains all the videos we post to the blog, from any source, all the videos Joe and I "favorite" on YouTube, and even videos some of our friends and colleagues post on their sites and favorite using YouTube. Currently, it's only pulling in the videos we post on the blog, but in a day or two the glitch should be fixed by the developer, and you'll be able to check out the latest videos that we and our bloggie friends think are worth seeing. Click on any of the videos and you'll get a neat pop-up, and you can use the scroll button at the bottom of the widget to browse through the other videos in our collection.

We've also created an entire new site for AMERICAblog TV: http://tv.americablog.com/ It contains the same videos you'll see in the smaller widget, but they're easier to browser through on the site. And remember, the site (and widget) will constantly be updating videos that Joe and I "favorite," and videos that other sister sites are posting to YouTube, so we think it will really be a constant flow of neat information and amusement.

8. News headline boxes.
We've added a series of narrow boxes, in the second column, below the poll, of links to stories (we'll only show the story title, you can click through to read the story on the original site) on some of our favorite news sites. They're broken down by category, whether it's US news, foreign news, financial, gossip, etc. Have a look. And feel free to suggest someone good that we forgot to include. As with the Blog News Wire, every time a new story comes out, if you refresh the page, that story will be at the top of the box.

9. Expanded RSS
In addition to the overall blog post RSS, we now have a media RSS that sends you our videos from AMERICAblog TV, a Twitter RSS (that sends snippets of all of our posts, real time), and we keep our Twitter feed and our Mobile Version (that you can use to access the blog via iPhone, Blackberry etc.) And once I fully figure out Facebook's "pages" function, which I suspect will be a cold day in hell, we'll be adding a link to AMERICAblog's new "page" on Facebook too.

10. Archives.
The new archive box is very cool, it's in the 4th column, just below the end of the blue box (below AMERICAblog TV). It lets you sift through the archives, by title of post, broken down by month. Considering how much content we post, I'll have to see if we can at least break it down by week, or even day.

11. Searches and tips.
The search box, and send me tips/comments link, is now on the far right, below the blue box.

I think that's it. I know it's been a long time coming - and trust me, if you ever truly loathe someone, hire them a tech consultant - but I hope you'll find the new blog even more interesting, and aesthetically pleasing, than the old one. And a special thanks to Jason Rosenbaum of the Seminal. Unlike far too many other tech consultants we dealt with, Jason actually didn't flake out. I can't say enough about how much we owe him.

Finally, new technology never works. Something always wrong. So bear with me us as we switch over to the new site. If you see a glitch, feel free to email us, or post something in the comments - our monitors will hopefully see your comment, but emailing me is always the best. Thanks again for your patience. No one is happier that the long cyber nightmare is over than I.

And now on to 3.0! Read the rest of this post...

We're messing with the site for a bit, so fret not if it disappears or gets funky

You'll see :-) Read the rest of this post...

Washington Post joins the "pity the bankers" theme

Oh please. Let's get a few points straight before I see yet another "poor bankers" story. The bankers are hardly talking with a hostile Washington. Their friends are all over Congress, the White House and Treasury. For goodness sakes, Obama's team is flooded with former Citi people and Geithner has consistently eased up on every attempt to push back on Wall Street. Congress has dithered for months and then acts surprised when the country discovers they looked the other way. Even now, they're doing nothing, so don't tell me that Washington is unfriendly territory for Wall Street.

And as far as the bankers providing value and "it's only a few that are ruining it for everyone" I call BS. The pay throughout these companies at all levels has consistently been above other industries. There has been no link between high pay and high performance. It's been no risk (for bankers) and high pay. Performance has had little to do with pay and no, there has not been any great value to the public. The public has only been on the downside of this scheme.

For the belly-aching bankers they have plenty of choices. They can live with the real world or quit. Quit their Wall Street jobs. Quit the industry. Quit whatever and go find work elsewhere and see how well it pays compared to being a fuckup on Wall Street. Quit insisting on the critical value-add delivered because it's called bailout, future inflation and a global recession. This pity party for bankers throughout the media is infuriating to read and remains unconvincing. Obviously the banks are now spending their bailout money on PR campaigns which is salt on the wound. If only the "liberal media" didn't play along with the game.

After a week of unexpected setbacks for an industry accustomed to deference, bank executives said they were now racing to convince Congress and the Obama administration that imposing punitive taxes on bonuses would unfairly punish thousands of people for the sins of a few. Executives also argued that hitting banks would hurt the broader economy.

"We are working in every appropriate way with policymakers in Washington, and with other financial institutions and industry associations, to come to agreement on a constructive industry compensation system that is good for the company, the financial system and the country," Citigroup chief executive Vikram Pandit said in a memo sent to employees.

Define "appropriate" because I'm not seeing it. Read the rest of this post...

We're gonna be working on the site today...

So if it fades in and out, and you can't access it from time to time, fret not. It's all for the greater good. Read the rest of this post...

Joe is out of surgery, all is well

Joe's boyfriend Carlos just called to say that he had surgery at 6:00 this morning, and all is well. It was his appendix. He's sleeping, and will probably have to spend the night in the hospital. If you want to send Joe a note, here's his email address: sudbayjoe@yahoo.com Read the rest of this post...

Senate Republicans block AIG bonus tax

The defenders of the rich come to the rescue, again.

Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republicans' vote counter, blocked Democratic efforts Thursday evening to bring up the Senate version of the tax bill to recoup most of the $165 million paid out by AIG last weekend and other bonuses in 2009. The House had swiftly approved its version of the bill earlier in the day.

Q: How do you spell AIG?

A: GOP Read the rest of this post...

Joe is getting his appendix removed today

I'm sure he'll have quite the tale to share in the next day or two. In a nutshell, Joe had a really bad stomach ache Thursday night and Friday day that wasn't going away, and was actually getting worse. After he called the doctor and was told that he was fine, I told him that I was pretty sure grown ups don't just get stomach aches, and that he should just tell the doctor he's coming in, or go to the emergency room. After doing his own Google diagnosis and determining that he might have an appendicitis, the doctor's office was closed, so he went to the emergency room at GW hospital and six hours later was diagnosed with an appendicitis. He texted me a bit ago that they're tentatively planning surgery in the morning. He also added that the doctors are quite cute. (That's our Joe.) He said it was all right to tell you guys, so I figured you might want to give him your well wishes. Knowing Joe, he'll be blogging in stitches shortly. Read the rest of this post...

Holiday in the sun

I had another tune stuck in my head since last night but after reading the Iraq tourism story, this was the only choice. Even though I prefer The Clash, it's hard not to love the Sex Pistols. (And yes, Joelle...this is that noisy band.) Read the rest of this post...

Iraq, the tourist destination

It's cheap. It's history. It's a holiday in the sun.

The first officially sanctioned Western tour group since 2003 is visiting Iraq in the latest sign of improved security.

The eight tourists — including Britons and Americans — say they felt safe but didn't have enough to see because many facilities remain closed.

The tour was arranged by a British organization and included stops in the semiautonomous Kurdish region and the ancient ruins of Babylon and Ur.

The group even visited the site of the destroyed golden domed shrine in Samarra, where a 2006 bombing triggered months of sectarian violence.

The group plans to leave Sunday after a 15-day tour.

Read the rest of this post...

EU to investigate protectionist move in France

It's all very shocking, really. Never would I have expected such a move within the EU because protectionism never happens. Sure they have countless active programs that could easily be labeled protectionism but mentioning it might make people mad.

France was embroiled in a protectionism row yesterday after the government announced that the assembly of some Renault cars would be shifted from Slovenia to the Paris area, creating 400 new jobs.

President Nicolas Sarkozy later insisted that the move would not cause any job losses in a fellow EU state, but the European Commission said it planned to launch an investigation.

M. Sarkozy infuriated eastern European members of the EU last month when he linked €6bn (£5.6bn) in cheap loans to the struggling French auto industry to a guarantee that car-making jobs would remain in France. He even questioned why French car firms needed plants in eastern Europe at all. Alarm bells rang in Brussels and across eastern Europe yesterday morning when the French Industry Minister, Luc Chatel, announced that production of some Clio cars would transfer from Slovenia to a giant Renault assembly plant at Flins in the Seine valley, west of Paris.

To answer Sarkozy's question, factories in Eastern Europe are required so the big firms (beyond the auto industry) want to pay people peanuts without job protections. They all do it so if he wants to raise the subject, pick any CAC40 company and spend 5 minutes reading. Read the rest of this post...

The retention bonus that the country really wants to see

Tom Toles of the Washington Post. Read the rest of this post...