Open Thread

I've been at Joe's tonight with a group of our Netroots friends. As much as I complain about living in Washington, it really is kind of neat having your close friends work in such interestng places like MoveOn, Huff Post, and Media Matters. Our professional lives are our personal passions as well. It makes for a lot of political talk even during our off-hours, but I have to admit I love it.

So we're taking a bit of a Saturday night blogging break until Chris wakes up in Paris. Enjoy your evening. Read the rest of this post...

Heatwave in Australia

I received the photos from a friend earlier in the week and today I found the story from Australia. There has been terrible heat in Victoria, Australia which led this baby koala to approach a family. More photos inside but this was my favorite.

The citizens of an small country town hit hard by Victoria's record heatwave now know how intense the temperatures really are — even the native animals are seeking respite.

Images circulating via email reveal a family sheltering in their home in Maude, between Melbourne and Geelong, when a koala walked onto their back porch and into the laundry.

Assuming it was distressed by the heat, the girl in the photos filled a bucket with water and — after a prod and a quick drink — the marsupial climbed in for a refreshing dip.

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FDA back in business again under Obama

It seems a bit crazy for the FDA to bother with regulating food and drugs since industry has done such an excellent job with self regulation, but sure, give it a try and see what happens. How could anything possibly be any better than the years of self regulation that the GOP sold to America? It worked for food, pharmaceuticals and Wall Street, didn't it?

A Georgia peanut plant knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products as far back as 2007, at times sending out tainted products after tests confirmed contamination, according to inspection records released Friday.

Food and Drug Administration officials earlier had said Peanut Corp. of America waited for a second test to clear peanut butter and peanuts that initially were positive for salmonella. But the agency amended its report Friday, noting that the Blakely, Ga., plant actually shipped some products before receiving the second test and sold others after confirming salmonella.

Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could make it harmful to consumers' health.

In 2007 the company shipped chopped peanuts on July 18 and 24 after salmonella was confirmed by private lab tests. Peanut Corp. sold products "on or after the positive salmonella results were obtained," the FDA report states.

In other cases, the company didn't wait for a second round of salmonella tests.

"In some instances, peanut products were shipped by (the company) prior to having assurance that the products were negative for salmonella," said Michael Rogers, head of field investigations for the FDA.

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Pope's Holocaust denier agrees to investigate whether Holocaust actually happened - rejects visit to Auschwitz

The Pope's favorite new bishop, who doesn't think the Holocaust happened, has agreed to do a little more digging, to see if any new evidence has come up in the past couple of years to prove that the Holocaust actually occurred. But he warns, it might take a long time to find such evidence.

The former Hitler Youth Pope needs to do a bit of research himself the next time he decides to promote someone. At a minimum, the Pope ought to force the Holocaust denier to visit some of the death camps and meet with survivors. Not to mention, the very notion that a Catholic bishop personally endorsed by the Pope is still questioning the Holocaust, and now claims it may take a long time before he's able to satisfy himself that it happened, is absolutely despicable. The Vatican is now, quite literally, enabling Holocaust deniers across the globe.

On Wednesday, the Vatican demanded that Williamson recant his denial before he can be admitted as a bishop into the Roman Catholic Church. Williamson made clear he does not plan to comply immediately, the weekly Der Spiegel reported.

"Since I see that there are many honest and intelligent people who think differently, I must look again at the historical evidence," the British bishop was quoted as saying.

"It is about historical evidence, not about emotions," he added, according to the report. "And if I find this evidence, I will correct myself. But that will take time."

The Hitler Youth Pope needs to give this cretin 24 hours, then show him the door. It's simply astounding that the Vatican is tolerating, and now downright abetting, a Holocaust denier. No one needs "time" to figure out whether the Holocaust occurred, and the Vatican shouldn't be giving such notions credibility. Read the rest of this post...

RNC chair Steele's campaign under investigation by feds

Page 1 of the Washington Post:

Michael S. Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, arranged for his 2006 Senate campaign to pay a defunct company run by his sister for services that were never performed, his finance chairman from that campaign has told federal prosecutors....

The recent allegations outlined four specific transactions. In addition to the payment to Steele's sister, Fabian said that the candidate used money from his state campaign improperly; that Steele paid $75,000 from the state campaign to a law firm for work that was never performed; and that he or an aide transferred more than $500,000 in campaign cash from one bank to another without authorization.

The bank transfer was made against the explicit wishes of other Maryland Republicans, who had hoped to use it to support the campaigns of state legislators, said aides to Steele and former governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

The U.S. attorney's office inadvertently sent the confidential document, a defense sentencing memorandum filed under seal, to The Washington Post after the newspaper requested the prosecution's sentencing memorandum.

Oops. Read the rest of this post...

Your weekly address from your president: It's about the jobs, stupid Republicans

Obama focuses on the job losses announced yesterday and the need to pass the stimulus. He gets to the key purpose of the legisation: creating jobs. That's Obama's top priority, but seems lost on almost all of the Republicans.



An excerpt on jobs creation, noting what's going to happen in different states:

From the beginning, this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea: Let's put Americans to work doing the work America needs done. It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, nearly 80,000 in Indiana – almost all of them in the private sector, and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow.

Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide – at least 485 in Florida alone – and train an army of teachers in math and science.

Jobs that modernize our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

Jobs that construct a smart electric grid, connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway, double our capacity to generate renewable energy, and grow the economy of tomorrow.

Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and levees and dams, so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again.

Jobs, it's about jobs. I wonder if David Vitter, one of the leaders of the Senate Republicans (and a patron of the DC Madam), has any interest in fixing those levees in New Orleans. Probably not. I really don't think the Republicans grasp how freaked out people are about the economy. It's real and it's pervasive and it's lost on the GOP. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Kind of a hectic week. Still sorting out what actually has been agreed to in the Senate stimulus compromise. More on that later. But, the bottom line is that almost all the Republican, except the "wussy" ones, still oppose saving the economy.

For a respite from that ruckus, check out the poem of the week, "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop. The first line is "The art of losing isn't hard to master..." It's quite powerful.

One of our readers, KarenMrsLloydRichards, has been writing a series of "Haikus for the Obama administration." The haikus usually appear in the comments for the morning open thread -- and are very clever, funny and pointed. I love them. Two of my favorites this week:

Can Barack please drive
a huge stake in the rotting
corpse of Miss Ayn Rand?

And:

Credit default swaps
The apple of Phil Gramm's eye
Brought us to our knees

Karen says so much in those very few syllables.

Enjoy. Read the rest of this post...

Who needs coffee when you can listen to this?

Is this music or is this music? I can never get enough of this sound. Read the rest of this post...

What are a few electrocution deaths between friends?

Darth Cheney did a heckuva job. When is the new government going to sack this bunch or are they saying that it's OK to let US soldiers die from electrocution?

Defense contractor KBR Inc., which is under criminal investigation in the electrocution deaths of at least two U.S. soldiers in Iraq, has been awarded a $35 million contract by the Pentagon to build an electrical distribution center and other projects there.

The announcement of the new KBR contract comes just months after the Pentagon, in strongly worded correspondence obtained by The Associated Press, rejected the company's explanation of serious mistakes in Iraq and its proposed improvements. A senior Pentagon official, David J. Graff, cited the company's "continuing quality deficiencies" and said KBR executives were "not sufficiently in touch with the urgency or realities of what was actually occurring on the ground."

"Many within DOD (the Department of Defense) have lost or are losing all remaining confidence in KBR's ability to successfully and repeatedly perform the required electrical support services mission in Iraq," wrote Graff, commander of the Defense Contract Management Agency, in a Sept. 30 letter.

Graff rejected the company's claims that it wasn't required to follow U.S. electrical codes for its work on U.S. military facilities in Iraq. KBR has said it would cost an extra $560 million to refurbish buildings in Iraq used by the U.S. military, including Saddam Hussein's palaces, which among other problems are based on a 220-volt standard rather than the American 120-volt standard.

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Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to repay TARP early

Yes, it's so they can avoid the pay restrictions. See, for them, it's all about them. Whatever is convenient for Wall Street, right? Goldman specifically was the subject of intense rumors last fall and many questioned their ability to survive the credit crisis that had taken down Lehman. They received assistance from former Goldman exec Henry Paulson and lived another day. Now that they've made it through that patch they see no need for any assistance, so no pay restrictions.

It's great to hear that they are doing well now but it's also disgusting to see them attempt to move quickly to avoid the pay restrictions. It's really time to tax these people harder so instead of them pumping up revenues on hedge fund deals where everyone barely pays taxes, let them pay taxes like other businesses or individuals. The Wall Street gamblers need to be brought in check and come back down to planet earth. They're not all that because if they were, they wouldn't have had to beg for cash. Let Wall Street start refilling the coffers so that the Treasury has sufficient funds in case of emergency. Just because Wall Street wants out doesn't mean they should get out.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said the bank is keen to avoid restrictions it agreed to after receiving funds from the U.S. government late last year and it is looking to pay the money back as soon as possible.

The investment bank, which received a $10 billion capital injection from the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program in October, is not happy with the strings that came attached to the money.

Compensation restrictions and certain capital requirements were part of the original injection, and extra limitations may be in store after U.S. President Barack Obama imposed tough new rules limiting pay for companies receiving government aid.

"We would like to get out from under that," Viniar said, adding that the bank aims to pay back the $10 billion this year.

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US Air back to being Useless Air

Why let some good PR courtesy of a brilliant pilot help when you can charge $7 for a blanket and pillow to win over America.

If you want a pillow and blanket in coach on US Airways, it's going to cost you $7.

US Airways said Thursday it will begin charging for its "Power-Nap Sack" on Feb. 16. It's following the lead of JetBlue Airways, which announced a similar policy last summer.

Airlines are adding fees on checked luggage and now pillows and blankets to raise more money as they battle a downturn in travel caused by the recession. US Airways reported that January traffic fell 6.2 percent.

Kevin Jackson, a marketing official for Tempe-based US Airways, said selling the pillows and blankets "is a natural extension of our 'pay for what you choose and use' model we began rolling out last year."

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