It's that time of the year again

White asparagus from Germany. Northern Germany, in fact. My dear friend and cooking partner Wilhelm sent me a photo from Berlin to tease me. He knows that I know the white asparagus from northern Germany is the best in the world and it's hard to find here in Paris. Wilhelm has generously hand delivered white asparagus to our humble abode in the past and taught me how to cook the asparagus as well as how to make soup with the skin and the leftovers. They're only available for a short period of time so you need to cook them during this limited window. This year I will have to settle for the French-grown asparagus, which is still quite good but ever-so-slightly bitter. (For the soup, add the skins to buttered and salted water for the stock and then add cream and leftover bits. Yummmmm.) Read the rest of this post...

A brilliant synopsis of where we are on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal

Kerry Eleveld of the Advocate isn't just the unofficial dean of the gay press corps, she's also a damn good journalist in her own right. Her summary of where we are on the question of repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, and her analysis of where all of this is heading, is simply a brilliant piece of journalism. It sums up where I think many in the gay community, and our allies, are one day after the White House offered us a compromise that compromises a tad too far. Joe has more on this over at AMERICAblog Gay. Read the rest of this post...

GOP Senators were bad-mouthing Obama as soon as their meeting ended

Big surprise. The President left the room and the GOPers started trashing him:

President Obama went to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a rare meeting with Senate Republicans, but the 75-minute session yielded little progress on hot-button topics and left some senators with bruised feelings.

"He needs to take a Valium before he comes in and talks to Republicans," Sen. Pat Roberts (Kan.) told reporters. "He's pretty thin-skinned."

Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.) described the meeting as "testy," and Sen. John Thune (S.D.) called it a "lively discussion." Others questioned whether the "symbolism" of Obama's approach matched the actions of his Democratic congressional allies.

I'm sure this was another victory for bipartisanship and the Republicans will do whatever they can to make their relationship work. Read the rest of this post...

Inhofe and GOP again rally to protect BP from liability

To be fair to the Republicans, they did rake in Big Oil donations so they need to protect their leading donors. The "party of no" lives another day.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Environmental and Public Works committee, blocked a request offered by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to pass the bill, which would raise corporations' liability caps from $75 million to $10 billion.

“I agree with President Obama that our top priority is to contain and mitigate the spill,” Inhofe said. “I also agree with President Obama that BP should pay for the cleanup, and that it’s too early to decide what the appropriate federal liability cap should be.”

While Democrats still are searching a way to attach this proposal to an existing bill, Menendez says Democrats will continue to offer up the legislation on the floor, if only to force Republicans to say "no" to an popular initiative. Democrats are also discussing whether to attach the liability proposal to a must-pass tax extenders bill.

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BP CEO walks on oil covered beach, barks orders to media

So who died and made Tony Hayward the king? Yes, that's the BP CEO yelling "get 'em out of there, get 'em out of there" to the media who is filming him as he "works" on the oil slick cleanup. The last time I checked, we don't live in the United States of BP. Again, would someone in the White House like to step up and take control of this situation? This pompous ass thinks he owns the place and quite frankly, he does at the moment. Read the rest of this post...

FBI details surge in death threats against lawmakers

What a surprise, Rush Limbaugh's and Sean Hannity's names came up:

In February 2009, a man left voice mail messages for Stabenow in several of her Michigan offices.

“We’re gonna [expletive] get you,” he said in one message. “We’re gonna get you with a lot of [expletive] bolt action. Like we did RFK; like we did MLK. We know who you are. We’ll get you.”

FBI agents tracked the calls to a 54-year-old Texas man who lived alone — and who at one time had owned a 20-gun arsenal of handguns, shotguns and rifles. According to the documents, he told officers that he was “really, really drunk” when he made the calls. He said he was just “venting” — taking out his frustrations after hearing a discussion of the Fairness Doctrine and becoming concerned that the government would attempt to abolish the radio shows of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

And it's getting worse:

In testimony submitted to Congress, Capitol Police officials have said that the threats against lawmakers have caused them to dramatically increase their security efforts. Police who work on protective details say demands on their time have skyrocketed, and the department has requested a 54 percent increase — of $2.7 million — to fund travel for its dignitary protection officers in fiscal year 2011.

In fiscal year 2009, dignitary protection was provided at 139 congressional events, a nearly 100 percent increase over 2008. Capitol Police also moved to provide “a more robust role” to town hall meetings, including working with hundreds of law enforcement agencies.

Capitol Police made 3,626 mountain bike patrols around House and Senate office buildings, up from 3,500 from fiscal year 2008. They responded to 142 suspicious packages in 2009, compared with only 34 in 2008, and conducted 1,808 bomb sweeps, compared with 970 the year before.

The Republicans have bet the bank on turning the country against government, in the hopes that it will get the Democrats unelected. Except that the kooks are hearing the GOP's message, about Obama being a socialist, about there being Maoists in the Cabinet, about Obama wanting to kill your grandma, and they're responding accordingly Read the rest of this post...

Tony Blair accepts job as 'advisor' for high tech investment firm

And to think some remain suspicious of his "New Labour" ideas. Shouldn't he have to succeed with something in order to rake in so much cash?

Tony Blair's lucrative list of business activities lengthened yesterday with a job as an adviser to a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Khosla Ventures, that specialises in promoting environmentally friendly technology.

The former prime minister is to lend his expertise and his "global relationships" to the California-based company, which is led by Indian-born billionaire Vinod Khosla, one of the founders of the computer firm Sun Microsystems.

Khosla recently raised $1bn from investors to pump into promising technologies aimed at cutting carbon emissions. He is a proponent of ethanol fuel as an alternative to petrol, and he has come in for criticism for benefiting from US government subsidies towards food-based ethanol production.

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Scott Brown (R-Teabagger)

Scott Brown has just announced that he's going to vote against the DADT compromise that the Pentagon and the White House came up with yesterday. His reasons, however, don't make sense, as his concerns are already address, directly, in the legislation itself. It sounds like Brown is simply afraid that the Teabaggers who put him into office are going to be upset if he once again votes for something good. Having said that, even the Teabaggers support DADT repeal to the tune of nearly 70% of them in a recent poll. So, again, Scott Brown makes no sense. Read the rest of this post...

BP backtracks on siphon success claims, seeking new strategy

It's time to update the old lawyer joke. Q: How can you tell when BP is telling a lie? A: Their lips are moving. There is no reason at all to believe anything they say. None. The Obama administration does appear to be waking up to this news. It's late and it's still shocking to imagine they've been so gullible but better late than never, as they say.

BP admitted it is capturing less oil than initially estimated from the broken well in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday, and the group is ramping up efforts to try yet another scheme to plug the leak.

The mile-long pipe siphoning oil and gas from the broken well for the past eight days is the first successful effort to contain the leak conservatively estimated to be pumping out 5,000 barrels of oil per day. But since the so-called "riser insertion tube tool" (RITT) went into operation it has collected an average of just 1,885 barrels per day, according to the latest statistics – far from the 3,000 barrels estimated last week.

The administration is also updating the responsibility for BP now that oil has reached land. They're also now using their own labs as opposed to BP-owned labs and calling for more transparency. This is definitely a move in the right direction.

Adding to BP's woes, Jackson said that the company is liable for environmental fines and penalties now that oil has reached land. And the Commerce Department declared a "fisheries disaster" for the waters off Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, making the company responsible for compensating losses to the fishing industry.

BP's dressing down came on a day when a bipartisan cast of lawmakers and federal officials voiced unstinting criticism of the company as toxic oil washed up on nearly 75 miles of Louisiana marshland.

In refusing to rely on BP's data on the toxicity of dispersants, Jackson said, "I'd rather have my own scientists do their own analysis."

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Deepwater crew allege they were detained and forced to sign waivers

Who needs a legal system when Blackwater BP is around?

Stephen Davis, a seven-year veteran of drilling-rig work from San Antonio, told The Guardian's Suzanne Goldenberg today that he was held on a boat for 36 to 40 hours after diving into the Gulf from the burning rig and swimming to safety. Once on a crew boat, Davis said, he and the others were denied access to satellite phones or radio to get in touch with their families, many of whom were frantic to find out whether or not they were OK.

Davis' attorney told Goldenberg that while on the boat, his client and the others were told to sign the statements presented to them by attorneys for Transocean — the firm that owned the Deepwater Horizon — or they wouldn't be allowed to go home. After being awake for 50 harrowing hours, Davis caved and signed the papers. He said most of the others did as well.

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Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

So, we're still looking at votes on Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal on the House floor and in the Senate Armed Services Committee later this week. But, the votes will now be on the White House engineered compromise. According to Peter Orszag's letter to the Hill, "ideally" the White House didn't want a vote until the Pentagon's study was completed. Last night, Richard Socarides described the legislation and summed up the feelings of most as he explained what this really is:

"It may be the best we can get, and if so, I say let's grab it. But it is not repeal with delayed implementation. It's conditional future repeal."

I think we should offer conditional future support for the Obama administration as we wait to see how and if DADT repeal happens. The groups with that represent gay and lesbian military personnel, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and Servicemembers United, want the compromise to pass this week.

And, what the hell is going on in the Gulf of Mexico? Who is in charge? It really does feel like no one is. The headline of my Washington Post reads, "Administration torn on getting tough with BP." Really? They're torn about that? Jesus Christ. This disaster has the potential to define Obama's presidency.

The President is having lunch with the GOP Senators today. I'm sure that will be productive. They've been so eager to work with him. Later today, he's heading to San Francisco for fundraisers.

And, what else? Read the rest of this post...

UK ministers told to forget about chauffers and use public transport

There will be a few exceptions for the most critical positions but otherwise, the rest will be told to use the Tube or bus. And why not? The ugly cuts are still to come but this was a no-brainer. It's not going to be popular with many of the ministers but for the voters who are about to tighten their belts, they will approve. Your bus is waiting, minister.

Just as the new ministers were learning to settle into the Jags' smart, upholstered seats, the coalition government announced today an end to one of the great Whitehall status symbols.

"In the future, no minister should have a dedicated car or driver other than in exceptional circumstances," the chief secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, said. "Ministers will be expected to walk or take public transport where possible, or use a pooled car."

Ministerial chagrin will be matched by the fury of the formidable phalanx of government drivers who have a reputation as the guardians of Whitehall's most intimate secrets. Ministers can glean vital gossip about cabinet reshuffles if they keep on the right side of their drivers, who form the most high-class grapevine in Britain as they wait in the Speaker's courtyard at Westminster while their charges vote in the Commons.

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IMF warns on Spanish economy

Fears about the Greek economy was so last week. We will find out soon enough how the markets respond to this news and whether the EU bailout plan was sufficient. As if this wasn't enough, the NY Times writes today that the UK may have an even deeper hole to dig out of with their financial problems. In the UK, one research group said the country will require a "martyr" to do the right (financial) thing and get the country sorted. Perhaps, but when's the last time the world saw such a politician?

With 20% unemployment, what's next for Spain?

"It is not the first time that the IMF has said Spain needs economic reform, but the language has a much greater sense of urgency," said BBC economics correspondent Andrew Walker.

"The IMF says bluntly, the Spanish labour market is not working and needs reform of pay bargaining and lower payments for fired workers."

Last week, the Spanish government approved a 15bn euro austerity plan, including a 5% cut to public sector salaries, as it aims to reduce its deficit.

Spain is also having to cope with unemployment of more than 20%.

Concerns about the Spanish economy have to be seen in the light of the recent financial crisis in Greece, which has a deficit amounting to 13.6% of GDP.

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