Mont Blanc shrinks 18 inches in two years

Yikes. They're still going to need to do more testing a lower levels to determine whether or not this is directly linked to climate change but it's still a stunning figure. They also noticed that the summit is now 26 meters closer to the Italian border.

Western Europe's tallest peak, the snow-capped Alpine giant Mont Blanc, has shrunk by 45 centimetres (18 inches) in two years, experts said Thursday following an official survey.

The new height of Mont Blanc, which lies on the three-way border between France, Italy and Switzerland, is now 4,810.45 metres (15,782.3 feet), just over half that of Nepal's Everest but still the tallest Alpine peak.

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For Glenn Beck, SEIU is 'radical, marxist,' except when its nurses treat him for appendicitis

If Beck were true to his convictions, he'd have left the Marxist hospital and prayed at home for a cure. More from Alternet:

Earlier today, a hospitalized Glenn Beck tweeted in praise of the "AMAZING drs/nurses" who have cared for him since the emergency removal of his inflamed appendix yesterday afternoon.

The quality of care he is receiving should not have come as a surprise. When Beck complained of acute abdominal pain during his radio program on Wednesday, he was rushed to a nearby hospital. The security-conscious Beck has not disclosed the name of the facility, but it's a safe bet that it is staffed by proud members of a storied union: New York's Local 1199, aka United Healthcare Workers East, which belongs to the Service Employees International Union. The SEIU has organized all of Manhattan's major hospitals, including every facility to which Beck could have conceivably been sent....

Just hours before his hospitalization, Beck was at work increasing the pitch of his attacks on SEIU and its leaders. On Monday, he warned his Fox News audience that SEIU president Andy Stern is "controlling our country." On Wednesday, he claimed Stern was spouting "communist, Marxist propaganda" by addressing the need for labor to organize globally in a globalized world.

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DNC misled gay community. DNC Treasurer Andy Tobias admits DNC intentionally asked Mainers to help Corzine, after DNC denied it.

The DNC and the White House are already in hot water with the gay community for a growing list of slights and grievances. But outright lying to the community about what the Democratic party did, or didn't do, to help gay and lesbian Americans and Democrats defend their civil rights this past election day in Maine - that crosses a line. A big one. Read my exposé on AMERICAblog gay. Read the rest of this post...

House health care vote expected on Saturday

Reuters:

Urged on by President Barack Obama, Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives hustled on Thursday to round up support for a sweeping healthcare overhaul headed to a close floor vote on Saturday.

The House drive for healthcare reform, Obama's top domestic priority, was bolstered on Thursday by the backing of the American Medical Association, which represents U.S. doctors, and AARP, the powerful lobbying group for older Americans.

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A dozen teabaggers arrested at Pelosi's office

Even better, they were Operation Rescue teabaggers. Nuts of the nuts. Greg Sargent at Plum Line has the details. Read the rest of this post...

UPDATED: 12 dead, 31 wounded, in Ft Hood (Texas) shooting

UPDATE: CNN is reportedly saying 9 12 dead including the alleged shooter, 31 wounded. That alleged shooter was identified as Army Major Malik Nadal Hasan. And, two other "suspects" have been detained.

MSNBC:

At least seven people are dead and 12 wounded in a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas, the base's public affairs office told NBC News on Thursday....

KCEN in Waco reported that the second suspect may be holed up in a building on the post. A congressman told MSNBC that a graduation ceremony may have been taking place at the time of the shooting.

More from the Statesman:

Greg Schannep, an aide to U.S. Rep. John Carter, said he was on the Army post to attend a graduation service. He said that as he neared the entrance of a building where the service was being held, a soldier with blood on his uniform ran past him and said a man was shooting.

Schannep said the shootings appeared to have occurred in a complex near a theater where the service was scheduled. He was with the injured soldier, who he said appeared to have been struck in the shoulder but did not have life-threatening injuries.

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GOP party chair Michael Steele threatens anyone who supports health care reform

What are you gonna do, throw their seats to the Dems too, Steele? Brilliant strategy. From ABC:

Asked if he’d be comfortable with Republican candidates in 2010 who supported President Obama’s stimulus package, or his push to overhaul health care, Steele said:

“Well I’m gonna tell you honestly, that’s where the line gets a little bit tricky. And you saw in the House and in the Senate that there are ramifications, because that goes against a core principle. And trust me, you’re assuming that people want to have bloated debt, government expenditures and growth into their lives -- they don’t. That’s a talking point out of the DNC.”

“People aren’t buying that. So candidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line on conservative principles, fiscal principles, because we’ll come after you,” Steele continued.

GOP: Teabagger owned and operated. Read the rest of this post...

Teabagger protesters carry sign with Dachau dead bodies, titled "National Socialist Health Care, Dachau, Germany - 1945"

From ThinkProgress. Click the photo to see a larger version.

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Senate bill may force you to be uninsured 6 months before getting coverage

AP:

The six-month wait is in the health care bill the Senate Finance Committee approved last month. To qualify for the pool, patients must be turned down for coverage because of a pre-existing condition and uninsured for at least six months....

Senate Finance staffers say the restriction is meant to prevent people switching from more expensive coverage to take advantage of government assistance.

Yes, God forbid people actually choose to switch to a better government plan. Isn't that kind of the point? Read the rest of this post...

Wall Street is getting H1N1 vaccine ahead of the rest of us

President Obama's Dept of HHS approved this. From CREW:

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked Health and Human Service (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to investigate why the Center for Disease Control (CDC) approved the distribution of the H1NI vaccine to Wall Street firms at a time when the vaccine is unavailable to most Americans.

Recent news reports indicate 13 companies, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Time Warner, have been cleared to receive the vaccine.

The CDC is distributing the much sought-after vaccine to Wall Street firms despite reports of vast shortages. In fact, just yesterday CDC Director Thomas Frieden informed Congress that only 32.3 million doses are available, far less than the 159 million needed to cover those at the highest risk. Given the scarce supply, the CDC has recommended the vaccine be directed only to those at highest risk: pregnant women, infants and children and those up to 24 years, those who care for infants, health and emergency services personnel, and adults with compromised immune systems or other chronic health problems.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said today, “Although CREW has been unable to uncover the demographic makeup of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and JP Morgan Chase, it seems safe to assume the vast majority of their employees are not pregnant women, infants and children, young adults up to 24 years old, and healthcare workers.”

This is an example of why Democratic turnout was low in the Tuesday's election. Not because Democrats have somehow "moved too far to the left." In fact, Democrats have moved too far to the right, and voters have had enough - including Democratic voters who are starting to wonder why "change" keeps looking like the same old corporate patronage crap we had under the Bush administration. Read the rest of this post...

Maybe this is what Volcker had in mind the other day

Earlier this week Paul Volcker said that the US needs to move away from such a heavy reliance on consumer spending to drive the economy. Somehow I think he may have had products like this in mind. Hard to say whether this is better or worse than the Margaritaville machine but I'm sure the teabaggers will love the Freedom Tray. Read the rest of this post...

Teabaggers descend on Congress today to 'scare' them out of passing health care reform

Unfortunately, it doesn't take much.

Minnesotta wingnut Republican House member Michele Bachmann called on the teabagging protesters to descend on the US Capitol building today to "scare" Members of Congress into not passing health care reform. Read the article, it's quite illustrative. Bachmann notes that Democrats got "scared" by the Teabagging protests last August, and that all the protesters need do is "scare" the Democrats again - bring video cameras, Bachmann suggests - and the Democrats will cave, like they did in August.

And Bachmann is right. Courage is at a minimum in our party, in our Congress, and in our White House. Scared is their middle name. Will the racist Teabaggers be able to con Congress and the White House again into thinking the nation - read: the 19% of the electorate that watches FOX News and never votes Democratic - is rising up in anger, or will Congress and the White House finally do its job and lead?

To remind you exactly who Michele Bachmann's teabagging friends really are, I take you back to the video we posted a few months ago from our new friends, Chase Whiteside (the guy in the video) and Erick Stoll (his cameraman and business partner at New Left Media), who we met in Maine (they're undergrads and drove out on their own dime from Ohio to help). The video is priceless, and has had over 800,000 views on YouTube. I asked the boys whether they cherry-picked the worst of the crowd for their video. They said, absolutely not. They included EVERY SINGLE INTERVIEW THEY DID. And they were all horrible. No cherry-picking necessary. If you want to donate to help the guys do more work like this, here is their PayPal page. I highly recommend helping them out - after you watch this video, I think you'll agree that we need more people like these two college kids in the Democratic party.

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Report: Wall Street bonuses up 40% this year

Let's see raised hands for investors who have bounced back so strongly with their retirement plans. Anyone? How many people in the real world are seeing such strong compensation this year? As they often do, the article also provides cover for the ridiculous pay, suggesting that without these bonuses the poor workers would starve. Except we all know that is a lie.

Goldman Sachs is expected to have an average of $526,814 this year and in general traders are making around half or one third of their income via salary. After saving them all from ruin and bankruptcy last year, the increases are not acceptable at all. If Obama and the Democrats want to coddle Wall Street and give away money, open the check book and give some to everyone. These numbers have been annoying for far too long and the Democrats should expect a thrashing at the polls next year if they don't wake up and do something to turn the tide.

Wall Street cash bonuses are set to increase by about 40 percent this year, the Wall Street Journal said citing a report by compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates.

In a report to be released later on Thursday, Johnson Associates projects that the biggest increases in year-end cash bonuses and equity awards will go to employees in rebounding businesses such as fixed income and equities, the paper said.

(Old Wall Street photo courtesy of the Frances Loeb Library, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University) Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

This morning, your President is speaking at the White House Tribal Nations Conference. According to the emailed White House "Daily Guidance and Press Schedule":

As part of President Obama’s sustained outreach to the American people, this conference will provide leaders from the 564 federally recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the President and representatives from the highest levels of his Administration.

Now, that sounds like a good idea. And, it sounds very policy and substance focused. I look forward to the White House LGBT Conference when the President invites LGBT leaders and activists and gives them the opportunity to interact directly with the President and representatives from the highest levels of his Administration. I'm sure Brian Bond, the LGBT liaison at the White House, is working on this right now. If not, he should be.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann, arguably the most extreme of the extremist GOPers in Congress, has invited the teabaggers to Capitol Hill today. They're taking a "last stand" against the health insurance reform bill. Busloads of teabaggers are descending on the Capitol. And, no matter how many teabaggers really show up, we'll be told it's millions. It should make for some good visuals and video.

Let's get threading... Read the rest of this post...

Murdoch's News Corp still bleeding on advertising revenue

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp delivered better than expected quarterly numbers yesterday though overall revenue is still down. The bright spots for Murdoch were movies and cable. Advertising revenues are still way down, like most in the industry. The other bad news for Murdoch is that his new scheme for online payments has been delayed. (Welcome to the world of IT change.)

The results come as News Corp tries to stem advertising revenue declines at its newspapers and local U.S. TV stations.

News Corp's newspaper unit posted an 81 percent decline in operating income as people gave up their print editions and went online. Advertising sales have fallen as a result. Local TV operating income fell 54 percent.

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Italy convicts 23 US CIA agents

You never quite know where Italy is going next. The down side to these convictions is that it's falling on some but not all of those involved in the disgraceful "extraordinary rendition" policy. What about those who gave the orders at the top? Why should the Bush administration get a free pass on this? The Guardian:

Twenty-three Americans were tonight convicted of kidnapping by an Italian court at the end of the first trial anywhere in the world involving the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" programme for abducting terrorist suspects.

The former head of the CIA in Milan Robert Lady was given an eight-year jail sentence for his part in the seizure of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar, who claimed that he was subsequently tortured in Egypt. Lady's superior, Jeff Castelli, the then head of the CIA in Italy, and two other Americans were acquitted on the grounds that they enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

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