We’re blacking the site out today to protest SOPA/PIPA

Back tonight at midnight. Read the rest of this post...

Turkish media calls Rick Perry an 'idiot'

Tell us what we don't already know.

Turkey is "a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists," Perry said, in response to a question about whether Turkey, a top American ally, should remain a member of the NATO alliance. The NATO ally had moved "far away" from the strict secular tenets that governed it when he served there in the 1970s as a U.S. Air Force pilot. "Rick Perry: what an idiot," was the reaction from top Turkish Hurriyet Daily News columnist Mustafa Akyol on Twitter, according to CNN's Ivan Watson and Yesim Comert.

If ever there was a US politician who would know something about being an extremist (a Christian extremist in Perry's case) it would be Rick Perry. Read the rest of this post...

World Bank warns of 2008-09 repeat for global economy

When you look at the problems in Europe plus the slowing economy in China, it does look likely that this year will be a struggle. If this happens, will the political class finally wake up and make real adjustments or will it be more window dressing as we saw after the 2008 crisis? Until they feel the pressure from voters, few changes should be expected.

In its half-yearly health check on the global economy the Washington-based institution said the world had "entered a very difficult phase characterised by significant downside risks and fragility". The bank lowered its forecast for global growth in 2012 from 3.4% to 2.5% but said governments should be preparing for a downturn as bad as that which followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. "An escalation of the crisis would spare no one," said Andrew Burns, manager of global macroeconomics at the World bank and the report's author. "Developed and developing country growth rates could fall by as much or more than in 2008-09. The importance of contingency planning cannot be stressed enough. It is clear that whatever probability is attached to this downside scenario, it has increased since June last year. "Developing countries should hope for the best and plan for the worst. If these downside risks materialised there is not much developing countries can do to prevent it. But they can prepare for it." He added that such countries should be drawing up list of public spending priorities and stress testing their banks.

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An essential SOPA–PIPA video

We've talked about this before (mainly here), but it bears repeating on this day of SOPA & PIPA darkness.

Again, go here for the supplemental text should you want it. But if all you want is a nice video that explains it all, this is a good one. Enjoy.



H/T Digby for the reminder. For another nice SOPA–PIPA video, this time from the Guardian, click here.

By the way, you'll notice that Google has "gone black" for the day, but only in the sense that they're wearing a black armband, as it were. Imagine if they were actually, well, closed. As in "come back tomorrow — after you've complained to your friendly SOPA and PIPA supporters."

What's the over-under on how fast these bills would be withdrawn? That's blackmail, of course, but hey, a business has a right to shut its doors. (Or maybe that's just "playing to win." You do want to win, don't you folks?)

Oh, did I forget to mention that "progressive" Al Franken is a PIPA co-sponsor? Yep, surprised me too. Perhaps you can tell him how surprised you are as well. I'm sure he doesn't want to fund-raise without that precious "Wellstone" branding:

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)
DC ph: 202-224-5641
District ph: 651-221-1016

Or if you like, you can tell the whole lot of them. (Search on "cosponsor" and be prepared for a few surprises.)

Occupy the Darkness, at least for the day.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Obama to say no to Keystone pipeline today

GOP messed that one up. From the LA Times:

The Obama administration has decided that it will not issue a permit before Feb. 21 for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, according to people with knowledge of the decision.
The announcement, which could come as early as this afternoon, comes in response to a 60-day deadline Congress imposed in late December on the decision-making process for the permit, in exchange for extending the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits for two months.

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Video: SOPA for dummies

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SOPA to return in February

It's zombie legislation, as TechDirt says. The wealthy powers behind this lousy legislation won't let it die. This fight is going to require more people getting outraged and force the political class to kill it. Read the rest of this post...

What if Romney flips back from his flops?

Maureen Dowd in the NYT asks the essential question about Romney: What if he flips back from his flops?

Bush 41 went from supporting Planned Parenthood to declaring at his first debate with Dukakis that abortion was a crime that might need penalties. Romney went from being a passionate supporter of abortion rights who appeared at a fund-raiser for Planned Parenthood and endorsed the legalization of RU-486 to being “firmly pro-life.”

Many conservatives here don’t trust Romney to stay conservative if he becomes president. What if he began to think it’s his civic duty to cut the deficit by raising taxes, like Poppy? What if he flips back from his flops?

Her point: You can't trust this guy. It's like marrying the guy you're having an affair with. (Et tu, Mrs. Gingriches.) What's to guarantee that he won't stray again the next time some pretty young thing (or interest group) catches his eye?

By all accounts, Mitt Romney is faithful to his wife. But he's far less faithful to himself, and the truth. And conservatives make a jealous mistress. Read the rest of this post...

Sites go black today to protest SOPA bill

This is Wikipedia:

More on the protest from the Washington Post. And more on why the bill stinks from Alexandra Petri at the Washington Post.  (I'd be joining in the protest if I had any idea how to black out our site and not make it permanent.) Read the rest of this post...

Arab League looks to extend mission in Syria

The presence of the Arab League monitors has been a mix of blissful ignorance and irrelevance but they're currently discussing an extension to their mission. They've conveniently missed signs of government repression and murder and without a greater presence and broader mission, it's not going to accomplish much in terms of limiting the violence. Meanwhile, Obama has been trying to rally neighboring countries to support change. Qatar has even gone as far as proposing military action inside Syria by neighbors but rallying regional support sounds highly unlikely. Al Jazeera:

Earlier on Tuesday, Syria rejected any plans to send Arab troops into the country, saying it will "confront" and "stand firm" against military intervention after the ruler of Qatar said in a television interview that Arab countries should step in with force. The state-run SANA news agency quoted a "credible source" at the foreign ministry as saying on Tuesday that the country is "shocked" by the Qatari emir's comments, which "could worsen the conflict and kill the chances of Syria working closely with Arabs". The source warned that it will be "unfortunate to see Arab blood flow on Syrian soil".

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Hedge funds blocking Greek economy

Who would ever guess that the hedge funds are happy to drive the Greek economy into complete ruin? There were no complaints when the banks and hedge funds were screwing everyone with high fees that were impossible to maintain over time, but now that they're being forced to take a hair cut along with everyone else, they're not happy. There's virtually no chance Greece can repay the debts and everyone is going to have to share the pain, including the financiers. The Independent:

There will be a final attempt today – when a group representing Greece's private sector bondholders meets senior ministers in Athens – to negotiate a writedown of the value of the country's debt ahead of a crucial bond repayment deadline next month. Sources familiar with the talks, which collapsed at the end of last week, have said that a number of hedge funds are holding up the restructuring deal to ensure that they make a fat profit, after snapping up Greek bonds at distressed prices. Greece's official backers – European governments and the International Monetary Fund – have said they will not deliver the next tranche of bailout funds that Athens needs to redeem €14.4bn (£12bn) in maturing bonds on 20 March unless a deal to cut Greece's €355bn debt pile by €100bn is concluded by the end of the month. Without those bailout funds, Athens will be forced into a disorderly default, which could plunge the eurozone into further financial chaos and possibly prompt Greece's exit from the single currency.

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Edvard Munch’s "The Scream," animated and put to music

Definitely one of the oddest videos I've ever seen. Apparently the painting was inspired by Munch walking and suddenly noticing the bright red sunset, he felt that a scream had passed through nature.


The Scream from Sebastian Cosor on Vimeo. Read the rest of this post...