Culture of Truth

Gingrich: I Will Take on the Big Boys on Wall Street

2012-01-22T15:45:00.000-08:00

And that pesky political correctness.

"People are just sick and tired of being told what they’re allowed to think, what they’re allowed to say"

Should Journalists Tell the Truth?

2012-01-16T11:57:00.000-08:00

New York Times: Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante?

I’m looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about.

Jay Rosen

Something happened in our press over the last 40 years or so that never got acknowledged and to this day would be denied by a majority of newsroom professionals. Somewhere along the way, truthtelling was surpassed by other priorities the mainstream press felt a stronger duty to. These include such things as “maintaining objectivity,” “not imposing a judgment,” “refusing to take sides” and sticking to what I have called the View from Nowhere."

Gingrich Threatens to Sue TV Stations For Airing Romney Ad

2012-01-15T05:20:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrich has threatened to sue TV stations airing ads by a group backing Mitt Romney claiming he was fined for ethics violations. In letters sent to TV stations in Florida and South Carolina, the Gingrich campaign, said ads asserting the Georgia Republican was "fined" for violating House ethics rules are false and represent "a defamatory communication, which exposes this station to potential civil liability," NBC News reported Thursday.

"In turn, we do hereby DEMAND that your station immediately REFUSE, and if started, CEASE airing any such advertisements," the letter said.

Unemployment Falls to 8.5%

2012-01-07T05:48:00.000-08:00

Dollar Rises Against Euro, Yen

Jobless Rate Falls to 8.5%

U.S. Jobless Rate Drops to Lowest Level Since February 2009

200,000 Jobs Added in December

2012-01-07T05:20:00.000-08:00

Jobs

Since Start of Recession (Dec. 2007) - MINUS 6,083,000

Since President Obama Took Office - MINUS 937,000

Jan - Dec. 2011 - PLUS 1,640,000

What Happened to Reuters?

2011-10-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

And why would they hire Gregg Easterbrook?

The Most Indebted Country In The World

2011-10-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Dealbook: A Call for a Write-Down on Irish Debt

Oct. 14 (New York Times) -- DUBLIN -- A major write-down on Greek debt appears to be inevitable. But what about Ireland?

Bailed-out Irish banks continue to pay interest to their bondholders on 75 billion euros in debt -- about half the country's gross domestic product -- and despite Ireland's improved economic performance over the past year, many here believe that these institutions should suffer the same haircut that the banks holding Greek debt are expected to absorb.

"We need to write this stuff off," said Peter Mathews, a voluble banking and real estate consultant who was recently elected to the Irish Parliament on a robust bank-bashing platform.

Mr. Mathews estimates that if you include household and nonfinancial corporate debt, Ireland's total debt burden is a shocking 490 percent of its G.D.P. -- which, he claims, makes Ireland the most indebted country in the world.

No Dumpster Diving!

2011-10-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

NOGENT, France, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The mayor of an affluent Paris suburb says as a result of recent incidents citizens are being banned from digging through other people's trash.

This Week with Christiane Amanpour - September 25, 2011

2011-09-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Guests:
David Plouffe - Presidential Advisor
Austan Goolsbee - Fmr Obama Economic Advisor
Mohamed E-Erian - CEO Pimco
Chrystia Freeland
George Will
*********************************

Amanpour: wow look at the newly combative Obama!

Plouffe: We need action Christiane! Now!

Amanpour: Harry Reid says there’s jam on the floor

Plouffe: But Boehner said Obama was jello

Amanpour: incredibly some Democrats don’t
like parts Obama’s jobs plan

Plouffe: it’s got tax cuts, new schools, fast trains and
fun for the whole family

Amanpour: John McCain’s economic advisor says
it’s only a band-aid

Plouffe: Well when you’re bleeding you use a
damn band-aid!

Amanpour: that’s technically true

Plouffe: it’s called the American Jobs Act -
who doesn’t like American jobs?

Amanpour: Bill Clinton and other rich people said
we shouldn’t raise taxes on the rich

Plouffe: it’s a question of fairness Christiane

Amanpour: I suppose

Plouffe: we’re cutting taxes for everyone but the rich
who take advantage of these ridiculous loopholes

Amanpour: is it time to panic?

Plouffe: No - that was a year ago

Amanpour: thanks for coming

[ break ]

Amanpour: Oh noes the Dow is down!!!

Audience: aayyyiiiieee

Amanpour: George you are an expert on
international economics

Will: Imagine if things were really bad - that’s what
we face in my imagination

Amanpour: wow

Will: the next recession is the fault of lazy
unionized Greeks

Goolsbee: Europe sucks - USA! USA!

El-Erian: the world finally staged an intervention
with Europe - it was on Bravo and very moving

Freeland: this is like 2008 - everyone knows an
economic collapse is coming but no one is doing at anything about it

Amanpour: what is going to happen in Europe
in two words?

Freeland: massive shrinkage

El-Erian: we need a Sputnik moment!

Will: let Greece fail!

Amanpour: but George that’s terrible

Will: the fucking Italians are going to bring
us all down - screw ‘em all

Freeland: you’re an idiot

Goolsbee: Europe’s banks have no assets -
only worthless mortgages and stolen Holocaust art

Amanpour: is the political system completely broken?

El-Erian: we are all in the back seat of a car driven
by politicians bickering on their iPhones instead
of watching the road

Amanpour: what if the Chinese stop not buying our stuff

Freeland: the Chinese are freaked out by Tea Party

Amanpour: I know the feeling

Will: it takes real courage to admit that trying to
unify Europe was a bad idea - look at how successful
Europe was from 1914 - 1945

Goolsbee: The European Union has become a
Monty Python skit

Europe: We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune
but we take it in turns to act as a sort of executive
officer for the week but all the decision of that
officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting

Amanpour: okay okay

El-Erian: we should fix housing, credit and growth

Amanpour: brilliant

Freeland: Businesses are rich but they won’t spend their money

Will: Barack Obama is persecuting Boeing

Amanpour: no one expects the Obama Inquisition!

*****************************************************

Sultan of Oman Pays for Hiker's Release

2011-09-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

Diplomatic sources told NPR that Oman's sultan, Qaboos bin Said, paid $500,000 each to free Bauer and Fattal – the same amount paid to liberate Shourd. Oman also provided a private plane to transport the two men to its capital city of Muscat much like it did with Shourd.

The State Department had no immediate comment on Oman's involvement in Wednesday's releases. But when Shourd was freed, department spokesman P.J. Crowley praised Muscat as "a key interlocutor" that helped "work this case with the Iranian government."

House Rejects Disaster Bill With Spending Cuts

2011-09-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House rejected a bill that includes $3.65 billion in aid to victims of Hurricane Irene and other natural disasters, a setback for Republican leaders controlling the chamber.

Some Republican lawmakers objected to the measure’s overall cost and House Democrats opposed a spending cut in it, leading to the bill’s defeat. The vote against the bill was 230-195. The dispute raises the specter of a government shutdown because the disaster assistance is attached to a measure needed to fund the government until Nov. 18. The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30, and Congress is in recess next week.

Give a Kidney, Lose a Job

2011-09-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

(AP) - A Philadelphia woman says she lost her job after taking off time to donate a kidney to her son.

Claudia Rendon tells WTXF-TV she lost her job last week at an aircraft repair training company after taking time off to donate the kidney to her son, Alex.

The company tells WTXF it was within its rights to dismiss Rendon.

Absolute Last Thing To Do

2011-09-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) - European banks may resort to more jobs cuts or zero bonuses as they struggle to maintain fixed compensation levels amid deteriorating financial markets.

The companies are facing shrinking revenue and higher costs after raising base salaries of investment bankers by as much as 100 percent. That decision, which followed regulations to curb bonuses in the wake of the credit crisis, is irreversible even if conditions worsen, lawyers and consultants said, leaving banks with fewer options in their bid to improve margins.

"The absolute last thing banks will want to do is cut current salaries unless they have an explicit contractual right to do so," said Jason Butwick, a London employment attorney at law firm Dechert LLP. "The legal, reputational, commercial and logistical risks of going down that route are huge."

Name That Speaker!

2011-08-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

"We don't impeach people, we don't charge people with treason because we disagree with them on public policy. You might say that they're wrong, you might say lots of things about how misguided they are, but you don't up the ante to that type of rhetoric."

Yes, Rick Santorum is now the reasonable candidate in the GOP Primary.

Mitch McConnell: Cave Man

2011-07-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

The legislation would require Obama to suggest spending cuts to accompany those increases in the debt limit, but would not require such cuts. The legislation would prohibit Obama from recommending tax increases along with the requests to increase the debt limit.

Also, Obama would be not be allowed to “point and laugh” as he signs any debt limit increase. He would, however, be permitted one "low mordant chuckle."

Rupert Murdoch's Reign of Terror

2011-07-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

Shortly after Scotland Yard began its initial criminal inquiry of phone hacking by The News Of The World in 2006, five senior police investigators discovered that their own cellphone messages had been targeted by the tabloid and had most likely been listened to.
“If it is true that police officers knew their phones had been hacked, it is a serious matter that requires immediate investigation,” said John Whittingdale, the chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which investigated phone hacking. “It would be shocking.”
The lead police investigator on the phone-hacking case, Andy Hayman, left the Metropolitan Police in December 2007 after questions were raised in the news media about business. Mark Lewis, a lawyer who represents a number of high-profile hacking victims, said in an interview that he believed that Mr. Hayman was unwilling to investigate phone-hacking because he feared that the newspaper would reveal his relationship with a woman who worked at the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

McConnell on Party Loyalty

2011-06-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

Sen. Mitch McConnell:
The only thing I can tell you at this point is that there are differences. I’m not sure that these kind of differences might not have been there in a more latent form when you had a Republican president. But I do think there is more of a tendency to pull together when the guy in the White House is on your side. So I think some of these views were probably held by some of my members even in the previous administration, but party loyalty tended to mute them. So yeah, I think there are clearly differences and I think a lot of our members, not having a Republican in the White House, feel more free to express their reservations which might have been somewhat muted during the previous administration.

Begun the Drone Wars Have

2011-06-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

the debate over drones is like debating the merits of computers in 1979: They are here to stay, and the boom has barely begun. “We are at the Wright Brothers Flier stage of this,”

Grifting the Grifters

2011-06-20T17:55:00.000-07:00

June 20 (Washington Post) -- WASHINGTON — A judge is handing former White House chief of staff John Sununu a loss in a suit over a half-million-dollar consulting fee and a warning against handshake deals.

Lamberth closes his opinion with some practical advice: "When it doubt, write it out."

This Week with Christiane Amanpour - June 19, 2011

2011-06-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Guests:
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Husain Haqqani (U.S. Ambassador from Pakistan)
David Ignatius
Liz Cheney
******************************
Amanpour: hey we’ve been bombing
Libya for 90 days

Audience: woot

Amanpour: Senator McCain are you worried
that the GOP has suddenly discovered isolationism?

McCain: indeed they are putting party politics
over the good of then nation

Amanpour: wow

McCain: but Obama is also to blame for
deferring to those cheese-eating French

Amanpour: what about the War Powers Act?

McCain: John Kerry and I are on top of that

Amanpour: will we be at war there
for the standard 6 months to 10 years?

McCain: Yes! Predators are in the fight!

Amanpour: are the GOP Presidential
candidates isolationists?

McCain: there’s always been a strain of isolationism
in the GOP that seem to pop up whenever a Democrat is President

Amanpour: that’s true

McCain: you know yokels like Bachmann
and Cain would be the first to attack Obama if
Qadaffi had killed 700,000 people

Amanpour: but is there a vital national interest?

McCain: Reagan invaded Grenada because
those medical students were about to graduate and come here

Amanpour: what about Libya

McCain: Barack Obama had to bomb
Libya because of Pan Am 103 and German disco

Amanpour: the GOP candidates have
suddenly realized Obama has gotten us bogged
down in a useless war in Afghanistan

McCain: I don’t what the hell Mitt Romney
is talking about

Amanpour: few people do

McCain: the surge worked!

Amanpour: so I’m told

McCain: I admit Afghanistan is a big mess
but the Taliban are very mean

Amanpour: should we just leave?

McCain: we need to invade Eastern Afghanistan
but give the show one more season to gets its ratings up

Amanpour: I see

McCain: It’s a Crocker!

Amanpour: Pakistan arrested the informants
who helped the U.S. get Osama bin Laden

McCain: because we abandoned Pakistan years ago!

Amanpour: ok

McCain: we’ve poured billions in Pakistan
and we’re not getting a good return on our investment

Amanpour: it’s the Lehman Brothers of Central Asia

McCain: we need to stay there forever

Amanpour: what do you think of the
GOP Presidential candidates?

McCain: they’re all appeasing isolationist idiots

Amanpour: thanks for coming Grumpy

[ break ]

Amanpour: why is Pakistan so mad about the
U.S. military action on the soil?

Haqqani: we’re just trying to find out
what happened

Amanpour: It looks like the people who
helped catch the world’s worst terrorist are being punished

Haqqani: oh no not at all

Cheney: the Pakistanis were embarrassed -
but let’s not be too hard on them we love those crazy guys

Ignatius: Americans were shocked that
Pakistan allowed bin Laden to live in their country

Haqqani: that’s bullshit David

Ignatius: but the Pakistanis were shocked
that we violated their sovereignty

Amanpour: aren’t we in more danger
from terrorism than ever?

Cheney: We are at war - it’s very naive to think
we cannot police the world

Amanpour: really?

Cheney: if Michelle Bachmann is elected
we will surely be attacked again

Amanpour: the American people seem
to be tired of war

Cheney: Obama is soft on attacking on
Libya and Herman Cain is just crazy

Amanpour: that’s fascinating

Cheney: Obama creating a terrible deficit

Amanpour: I though deficits don’t matter

Cheney: who said that?

Amanpour: do you know where the terrorists are?

Haqqani: if Americans are tired of the
war imagine how people in Afghanistan feel

Ignatius: Obama has concluded that killing
terrorists is working but nation-building is not

Cheney: no we must never pull troops
out of Afghanistan!

Amanpour: easy there Liz

Cheney: Attack! Bomb! Kill!

Amanpour: we’ll take a break

[ break ]
***************

2011-06-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

A top Democrat in Alabama is calling on a Republican state senator to resign after he was caught on tape calling black patrons at a casino "aborigines."

A transcript of the recording was read Thursday during a gambling corruption trial. State Sen. Scott Beason is a key witness in the trial of nine people accused of buying and selling votes on pro-gambling legislation.

Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Mark Kennedy has called for Beason to resign, but Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead says Beason is an honorable man who doesn't have a racist bone in his body.

No, of course not.

Rick Perry, Defender of Salt Shaker Rights

2011-05-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

Gail Collins: Today, we are going to discuss Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.

Get back here and sit down.

He is, in his own words, “the kind of guy who goes jogging in the morning packing a Ruger .380 with laser sights and loaded with hollow point bullets, and shoots a coyote that is threatening his daughter’s dog.” That really happened. In fact, it was possibly the high point of Perry’s political career.

Nazi Dogs Do Math, Crack Jokes

2011-05-27T03:32:00.000-07:00

Nazi specialists attempted -- apparently with some success -- to train a fleet of "intelligent" dogs to read, write and speak.

The institute trained dogs such as Rolf the Airedale terrier, who was said to be able to discuss religion, contemplate complex mathematics and communicate with humans by tapping out an alphabet code using his paw.

Another dog, Kurwenal, supposedly cracked jokes like a comedian and was a symbol of the educated canines of Germany.

Obama Fever Sweeps Through Irish Village

2011-05-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Two thousand people will be part of the president's visit to the rural village of Moneygall, Co Offaly, on Monday. ahead of a free public event and address by Mr. Obama
in Dublin's College Green.
Records show Mr Obama's great-great-great-great
-grandfather was a shoemaker in Moneygall and his son, Falmouth Kearney, left for New York in 1850.
Meanwhile, the Offaly Independent has cast away tradition and temporarily changed its 119-year-old name in order
to mark the historic visit.
"The Obama Independent" will go on sale for a one-off special souvenir edition to be published tomorrow.

That's So McRaven

2011-05-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

May 9 (New York Times) -- Even the most serious of subjects - like the killing of a hunted terrorist leader - apparently needs its light moments.

At the White House last week, President Obama one such opportunity in a report that, to confirm Osama bin Laden's height after he had been killed, a Navy Seal laid down on the floor next to his body. Evidently this improvised approach took Mr. Obama aback. The Washington Post reports that the president wondered aloud to an aide, "Could we not afford to buy a tape measure?"

So, officials familiar with the event said, during a private Oval Office meeting with Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, who oversees the Seals, Mr. Obama thanked the admiral for a job well done in Pakistan, and presented him with a plaque - with a tape measure on it.

Washington Post losing money with Kaplan

2011-05-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post Company stated that its first-quarter profits fell 67% due revenue declines in its Kaplan education unit. Income dropped to $15.2 million. Revenues declined 6.9% to $1.06 billion.

Yemen President Agrees to Quit

2011-04-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

According to the Wall Street Journal, the President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has agreed to leave his office in exchange for immunity for himself and his family.

Good to Know

2011-04-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

London (DPA) -"A survey released Wednesday showed that a vast majority of British men do not envy Middleton for her future role."

Meet The Press - April 17, 2011

2011-04-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Guests:
Tim Geithner (Sec. of Treasury)
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
Alan Greenspan
Jennifer Granholm
Tavis Smiley
Jon Meacham
*************************************
Gregory: Will Obama finally agree to do the Tea Party wants?

Geithner: why should he

Gregory: the Republicans demand it

Geithner: so I’ve heard

Gregory: you must link debt ceiling and cut spending

Geithner: so you say

Gregory: your warnings about the debt ceiling are overblown

Geithner: you can’t play chicken with the credibility of the U.S. of A. bucko

Gregory: will you the shut down the government?

Geithner: Look Obama offered trillions in cuts - what more do the Republicans want?

Gregory: Obama once voted against raising the debt ceiling

Geithner: true but the whole world is watching to see how crazy we really are

Gregory: Let me tell you Americans are thinking about

Geithner: [ eyeroll ]

Gregory: the gas is too damm high!

Geithner: well you know war in the Middle East, Africa, earthquakes and meltdown in Japan are not helpful

Gregory: Mitt Romney says Obama caused a recession in 2008

Geithner: heh

Gregory: how do answer the charge that you totally suck

Geithner: we’ve created more jobs in one year than Bush did in 8 years

Gregory: I still don’t like you

Geithner: Don’t bet against America Fluffy - it survived Revolution, Civil War, Depressions and can survive my tenure as Secretary of Treasury

Gregory: probably

Geithner: we need to cut spending now so the next Republican President can raise spending

Gregory: will unemployment ever go down?

Geithner: who can say?

Gregory: Obama is insisting on raising taxes on the rich

Geithner: well either that or cut spending the disabled, gut defense, or borrow more money from the Chinese

Gregory: don’t you have to raise taxes on the middle class?

Geithner: do we?

Gregory: yes because Boehner says no way am I raising taxes on the rich

Geithner: we could afford everything if we eliminated loopholes for the wealthy

Gregory: Obama poisoned the well!

Geithner: it’s a starting point

Gregory: Obama gave poor Paul Ryan the black of his hand

Geithner: suck it up Whyan

Gregory: Won’t raising taxes hurt the economy?

Geithner: not if we truly believe in the greatness of America

Gregory: Debbie Wasserman Schultz says the Ryan plan is a deathtrap

Geithner: Debbie only said that because she’s from Florida and most of her constituents are near the end

Gregory: [ high pitched voice ] Obama is not serious!

Geithner: Calm down Fluffy

Gregory: GE paid no taxes - how do I get in on that action

Geithner: you need to lose a huge amount of money

Gregory: I think NBC is good at that

Gregory: so will you address tax inequity

Geithner: yes and even Republicans find this pretty fucking outrageous

Gregory: are you staying in your job

Geithner: no comment Fluffers

Gregory: hee hee

[ break ]

Gregory: Senator will the Tea Party raise the debt ceiling or will you destroy the USA

Lee: we will only vote for it if we also amend the Constitution to require a President to wear his birth certificate at all times around his neck on a sandwich board

Greenspan: I don’t understand what is going on

Gregory: Did Betsy get your pudding?

Greenspan: Debt is bad

Gregory: Obama Unplugged has total contempt for the GOP Congress

Granholm: the GOP has the Ryan plan and Obama has a plan and now we can have a debate and that’s how politics work

Gregory: but that’s all fantasy

Smiley: Budgets are moral documents! The poor got locked out!

Gregory: We are all ruled by the Tea Party because they Dominate The Conversation

Meacham: they are adorable lunatics

Mondale: Obama should promise to raise taxes and he will get reelected because it worked so well for me

Lee: you can’t raise taxes

Gregory: you go Mike

Lee: look the American people know what they want - more spending and lower taxes

Greenspan: Ayn Rand once told me that you can’t get out of a recession by raising taxes - then again she once served me a pie made from poor people

Gregory: Fascinating

Greenspan: We have to let the tax cuts for the rich expire

Lee: [ swoon, thud ]

Gregory: down goes Lee

Meacham: If Democrats raises taxes they will be flacked

Gregory: Jon you are so erudite

Smiley: forget the optics - what about standing up for the right thing dammit!!

Granholm: that’s what Obama did Tavis

Smiley: oh man those are just words!

Granholm: you’re a talk show host!

Tavis: and a writer!

Gregory: unemployment is still high but the stock market is going great

Greenspan: Americans have bet their retirement on shares on American corporations

Gregory: good plan

Greenspan: all those layoffs were great for corporate America

Gregory: excellent

Greenspan: but now lack of employees may hurt companies

Gregory: uh oh

Gregory: A bankrupt reality game show show host is leading the GOP polls

Meacham: Donald Trump's success proves the frustration with both parties

Audience: [ palmface ]

Smiley: Trump is a con artist and he’s playing the idiots in the D.C. media

Lee: Romney doesn’t feel pity remorse or fear - he has no feelings and he can’t be stopped

Gregory: I will now continue my absurd obsession with the idea of Jon Huntsman running for President

Lee: thanks Fluffy

Granholm: Donald Trump appears to passionately believe in something - unlike Weather Vain

Gregory: Deval Patrick says we need optimism and do great things

Lee: the Tea Party is optimistic - that we can finally declare the U.S. government an utter failure

Gregory: Alan you’re very very old - give us your insight

Greenspan: America has a good ride for 118 years but it’s over

Gregory: just like you

Gregory: Mike be honest - will you raise the debt ceiling or not?

Lee: you can’t read my poker face my po-po-poker face

Gregory: I got an e-mail from a guy complaining about Those Clowns in Congress

Greenspan: how do they stay so topical

Smiley: War is the enemy of the poor!

Meacham: Can Obama catapult the propaganda?

Gregory: Good question Jon - hey audience for more of this go to the internets where I talk to Tavis Smiley about his book and Jon Meacham about Shelby Foote’s book

Meacham: [ sobs ]

Gregory: [ hands Jon tissue ]
and that’s Meet The Press
***************************************

This Week with Christiane Amanpour - April 17, 2011

2011-04-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

April 17, 2011
Guests:
Tim Geithner (Sec. of Treasury)
Rep. Allen West (R-FL)
Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC)
Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL)
*****************************
Amanpour: we have a $14 trillion debt - so should we end Medicare or raise taxes on the rich?

Audience: hmm tough one

Amanpour: Tim what is the debt ceiling and is it made of glass

Geithner: Congress will raise the ceiling because they don’t want to see American credibility completely destroyed - I think

Amanpour: what would happen if we didn’t raise the ceiling

Geithner: we’d stop all payments to old people and soldiers - oh and cause a worldwide Depression

Amanpour: you seem confident that the nuts in Congress won’t default but you are campaigning for it

Geithner: well there are a lot of crazy people in office now

Amanpour: so I’ve heard

Geithner: the whole world is watching and waiting for us to lock in some real fun austerity

Amanpour: Obama ambushed Republicans by proposing a budget after they demanded that the propose a budget

Geithner: um yes

Amanpour: but is being to mean to the nuts the right tone?

Geithner: we could cut taxes and increase spending like the Republicans always do

Amanpour: ooh good idea

Geithner: that was sarcasm

Amanpour: but you are going to damage the recovery

Geithner: if we do this carefully we can boost the economy while cutting spending

Amanpour: I fear you will raise taxes on the rich

Geithner: we have to and Paul Ryan proved it

Amanpour: Boehner says no way to tax hikes

Geithner: their own panic on the debt shows you have to raise taxes on the rich or borrow more the Chinese

Amanpour: why not tax the poor more?

Geithner: there is spending in the tax code that goes to the rich

Amanpour: I see what you did there

Geithner: [ grins sheepishly ]

Amanpour: so what’s your plan?

Geithner: first we raise taxes on the rich and get rid of loopholes that mostly benefit billionaires

Amanpour: the IMF wants you to turn the unemployed into soylent green

Geithner: fuck those foreigners

Amanpour: the British tried austerity and surprisingly it sucks

Geithner: True but they have to support a gold and jewel encrusted monarchical drain on society

Amanpour: we have Donald Trump

Geithner: good point

Amanpour: what about putting some Wall Street crooks in jail?

Geithner: well they are very nice you know

Amanpour: what about prosecutions

Geithner: lets not look back

Amanpour: you will stay on and continue to preside over a recession?

Geithner: I do what I can Christiane

Amanpour: you want to cut the deficit and cut taxes for rich people noble ideas indeed - but ill you wreck American first but not raising the debt ceiling?

Southerland: we won’t vote for raising the ceiling if they don’t offer something serious like eliminating Medicare

Walsh: Tea Partiers were sent to Washington by Americans who realized debt was bad after a black Democrat became President

West: we should amend the Constitution to put the Supreme Court in charge of the budget

Amanpour: Privatizing Medicare will cost old people a lot of money

Ellmers: no - it will empower old people to make their own choices on whether they want to die or not

Amanpour: what if they can’t afford medical care

Ellmers: if we don’t eliminate Medicare we will have to face the horrifying prospect of losing Medicare

Amanpour: if the debt is so bad why not raise taxes on the rich

Walsh: no no no we must cut taxes and grow the economy

Amanpour: I see

Walsh: you cut taxes and revenues go up - it’s like magic!

Amanpour: overall people seem to hate your plan

Southerland: look you can’t do the best thing for America and expect people to like you

Amanpour: of course not

Southerland: I may lose in 2012 but I will do so knowing I did my best to take money from poor people and give it to rich people

Amanpour: thanks for coming
**********************************

Difference of Opinion

2011-04-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

Speaker John Boehner: "I think we all know

that no one wants a shutdown."

Rep. Mike Pence: "It's time to pick a fight, it's time

to cut spending and cut it now... I say, shut it down!"

The Diabolical Democratic Plan

2011-04-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

On CNN Republican Rep. Paul Broun sounded off on what he calls the Democrats' diabolical plan:

"They said…'We will shut government down, blame Republicans. There will be backlash against Republicans and we will get all these things accomplished,'" he declared. "I think it was a very diabolical plan they put together back last year after the November election. They are carrying it out."

Those clever Democrats, making Republicans look bad!

When is Cutting Spending Leftist?

2011-04-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

Riddle of the Day

Question: When is cutting spending considered leftist?

Answer: When it's defense spending

The Ryan budget plan does not seek any defense cuts beyond what the administration has proposed. “I don’t intend to be a lot to the left of a Democratic president on defense,” Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, said before the budget’s release.

She Prefers Van Gogh?

2011-04-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

At the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., a woman tried to pull Gauguin's "Two Tahitian Women" off the wall and banged on its clear plastic covering. Witnesses say the woman was screaming, "This is evil."

New Utah Law on Verification of Identity

2011-04-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

H.B. 116
Utah Immigration Accountability and Enforcement Amendments of 2011

Detention or arrest -- Determination of immigration status

(1)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Subsection (1), a law enforcement officer:

(i) shall request verification of the immigration status of an individual when the law enforcement officer acting in the enforcement of a state law or local ordinance:
(A) conducts a lawful stop, detention, or arrest of the individual for an alleged offense that is a class A misdemeanor or a felony

Arrest by peace officers

A peace officer may make an arrest under authority of a warrant or may, without warrant, arrest a person:

(4) when the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe the person has committed the offense of failure to disclose identity under Section 76-8-301.5 [.];

or

(5) when the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person is an alien:
(a) subject to a civil removal order issued by an immigration judge;
(b) regarding whom a civil detainer warrant has been issued by the federal Department of Homeland Security; or
(c) who has been charged or convicted in another state with one or more aggravated felonies as defined by 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(43).

Enacted - March 15, 2011

This Week with Christiane Amanpour - April 3, 2011

2011-04-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

Guests
Jim Jones - Fmr. Obama National Security Advisor
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
****************************

Amanpour: the middle east is falling into total chaos

Audience: well that’s new

Amanpour: some idiot burned a Koran so people attacked a UN post in Afghanistan

Reporter: 6 US soldiers were killed in a vicious firefight on the Pakistan border

Audience: yikes

Reporter: this is a turning point in the war

Audience: problem solved

Amanpour: this moron pastor in Florida is affecting US foreign policy

Reporter: because of this guy people are shouting ‘Death to President Obama

Amanpour: that’s odd because I heard Obama was a muslim who will impose sharia law

Reporter: it’s complicated

Amanpour: the rebels got killed by friendly fire

Rebels: Han shot first!

Reporter: Tripoli is very normal today - the rebels are disorganized and Qadaffi

Marquadt: the rebels have no leaders - just a princess, and old man and kid from Tatooine

Audience: and 2 droids

Reporter: that’s not going cut it

Audience: damm

Amanpour: General Jones how is America’s longest war going?

Jones: it’s all being disrupted by one wackjob pastor from Florida

Amanpour: when do we win?

Jones: some time next summer or possibly 2014

Amanpour: depending on what?

Jones: on who you define victory

Amanpour: I see

Jones: seriously though - it all really depends on whether Pakistan is willing to go after al-qaeda which they never have done before

Amanpour: that seems like a problem

Jones: it is

Amanpour: America is also involved in a civil war in Libya

Jones: the French need our help to prevent illegal Arab immigrants from getting to Cannes

Amanpour: America is out and NATO is in - but NATO is all-American

Jones: no the US are refueling while the British and French lead the attack

Amanpour: what is the endgame?

Jones: we need Qaddafi to stay because those rebels are untrustworthy

Amanpour: who are the rebels - who are they??

Jones: we know there’s one guy named Fred

Amanpour: ok

Jones: now we need to find out who the rest of the rebels are

Amanpour: it’s very troubling that we don’t know who they are and what their aspirations are and if they have Facebook likes

Jones: we tried poking Fred

Amanpour: what about our favorite dictator in Yemen?

Jones: it’s very worrisome because he hates al-qaeda like we do

Amanpour: can we keep him in power?

Jones: Sadly those pesky people in Yemen have other ideas

Amanpour: that’s a shame

Jones: all this democracy nonsense is a vast tectonic shift

[ break ]

Amanpour: The tea party may force John Boehner to shut the government down

Boehner: we can’t just impose our will [sobs]

Tea Partier: take of the lace panties noodlebat

USAID: the cuts would kill 70,000 kids

Dean: let a shutdow happen and blame the GOP yeeeaaahh

[ break ]

Amanpour: will you guys make a deal?

Sessions: since ignoring the debt under Reagan, Bush I and Bush Jr we have to cut the debt right now!

Schumer: fuck the debt - we need jobs

Session: but the deficit causes recession oh mah stahrs

Schumer: we should not cut cancer research instead we should cut some of those damm farm subsidies

Sessions: Obama is only adding 100,000 jobs - clearly we need to cut the debt right now

Amanpour: so you say

Sessions: we have to cut $800 billion - did you know we have to borrow all this money?!?

Amanpour: wow was this true when Reagan, Bush and Dubya were President

Sessions: who?

Amanpour: Jeff are the Tea Parties going to destroy America?

Sess: no they are very mature lunatics

Amanpour: you’re not worried

Sessions: the Democrat debt will cause the shutdown of all social programs in 2 years

Schumer: I feel sorry for the Republicans because the Tea Party are all freaks and crazies

Amanpour: Chuck you called the tea party extreme!

Schumer: you’re damm fucking right I did

Sessions: the Tea Party may not be the fastest cars on blocks but they are fundamentally right about everything

Amanpour: like what

Sessions: Obama really is a black democrat!

Amanpour: thanks for coming guys
************************************

Partial Meltdown in Reactor Two

2011-03-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

The radioactive core of Reactor Two of the Fukushima plant appears to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and may have melted on to a concrete floor, running the risk of radioactive gases being released into the surrounding area, according to experts.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973

2011-03-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Protection of civilians

Authorizes Member States that have notified the Secretary-General, acting nationally or through regional organizations or arrangements, and acting in cooperation with the Secretary-General, to take all necessary measures, notwithstanding paragraph 9 of resolution 1970 (2011), to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory, and requests the Member States concerned to inform the Secretary-General immediately of the measures they take pursuant to the authorization conferred by this paragraph which shall be immediately reported to the Security Council;

5. Recognizes the important role of the League of Arab States in matters relating to the maintenance of international peace and security in the region, and bearing in mind Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations, requests the Member States of the League of Arab States to cooperate with other Member States in the implementation of paragraph 4;

U.S., France, Britain Launch Attacks on Libyan Government

2011-03-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

U.S. naval and air forces, with the French and British military attacked targets in Libya in an effort to criple the government run Moammar Qaddafi.

The New York Times reports:
The mission to impose a United Nations-sanctioned no-fly zone was portrayed by Pentagon and NATO officials as under French and British leadership.

But the Pentagon said that American forces took the lead in the initial campaign to knock out Libya’s air defense systems, firing volley after volley of Tomahawk missiles from nearby ships against missile, radar and communications centers around Tripoli, the capital, and the western cities of Misurata and Surt.

Little Effect

2011-03-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

New York Times:
Earlier Thursday the military forces dumped seawater from a helicopter on Reactor No. 3, making four passes and dropping a total of about 8,000 gallons over it as a plume of white smoke billowed. The Japanese government said that the reactor typically needs 50 tons of water, or about 12,000 gallons, a day to keep from overheating.

The Self-Defense Forces later said the measure had little effect on reducing the temperature in the pool where the spent rods are stored.

Ice Sheets Shrinking More Quickly

2011-03-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets are shrinking more quickly, suggesting United Nations

projections for sea-level rise are too conservative, a U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration-funded study said.

From 1992 to 2009, the two regions lost on average 36.3 billion tons more ice every year than the previous year, scientists led by Eric Rignot at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a study in the Geophysical Research Letters journal. The researchers said they

linked two independent sets of measurements to validate them.

Jobless Claims Fall Again

2011-03-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

Jobless claims:

March 28, 2009: 651,000

February 26, 2011: 368,000

Team Obama Throws Cold Water on Social Security Cuts

2011-02-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

White House Budget Director Jack Lew and Jason Furman, deputy director of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council, both stressed this week that Social Security isn’t facing an immediate funding crisis and should be viewed separately from moves to reduce the federal deficit.

“They’ve dumped a big pot of ice cold water on any embers of Social Security reform,” said Chuck Blahous, a Social Security public trustee who headed a commission on the program empaneled by President George W. Bush.

Austerity!

2011-02-27T06:14:00.000-08:00

U.S. Economy Grew 2.8% in Fourth Quarter

The revised increase in gross domestic product compares with a 3.2 percent estimate issued last month and a 2.6 percent gain in the third quarter, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The economy, excluding inventories, grew at a 6.7 percent pace, the most since 1998. For all of 2010, the world’s largest economy expanded 2.8 percent, the most in five years, after shrinking 2.6 percent in 2009.

U.K. Economy Shrank More Than Estimated in Fourth Quarter

Feb. 25 -- Britain’s economy shrank more than initially estimated in the fourth quarter, complicating the task of the Bank of England as a split deepens among policy makers on whether to withdraw stimulus. Gross domestic product fell 0.6 percent from the previous three months, compared with an initial estimate for a 0.5 percent drop, the Office for National Statistics said

Revenues Rise Most in 5 Years

2011-02-08T03:18:00.000-08:00

Total revenue for S&P 500 companies may rise 7.5 percent this year, the most since 2006, to an all-time high of $1,017.44 a share, according to analyst estimates compiled through Feb. 6 by Bloomberg. Sales fell 13 percent between November 2008 and October 2009 as the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s forced businesses and consumers to cut back on spending.

Consumer Spending Gains Most in Years

2011-01-29T05:47:00.000-08:00

The U.S. economy accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2010, driven by the biggest gain in consumer spending in more than four years and rising exports.

Final sales, which includes all categories except stockpiles, rose at a 7.1 percent pace, the most since 1984.

Coolest Countries in the World

2011-01-24T20:09:00.000-08:00

Yeah, Mongolia!

Her Name Was Lola

2011-01-19T03:28:00.000-08:00

Lola, a red-tailed hawk living in Central Park since 2002 with her mate hawk Pale Male, a 20-year fixture of the park, hasn't been seen since Dec. 18 and is presumed dead.

"It's pretty clear that Lola has met her demise, probably from a poisoned prey animal (such as a rat or pigeon) or by injury," hawk expert John Blakeman said.

Fans of Pale Male said the hawk has had at least five mates since settling in the park in 1991 and has fathered at least 23 chicks.

Baucus on Wealth Transfer

2010-12-04T08:14:00.000-08:00

Baucus Seeks to Stop Wealthy From Year-End Transfer of Assets

Sen. Max Baucus has introduced a proposal intended to stop wealthy taxpayers from transferring assets to family members before the end of the year and pay less in gift taxes than the levy they would face after they die.

The Senate will vote Saturday. Under the proposal, the existing 35 percent gift tax would increase to 45 percent for transfer until the end of the year. It becomes law as part of a compromise to extend Bush-era tax cuts that expire Dec. 31, would remove an incentive to pass along fortunes to children and grandchildren before year-end to lock in a historically low gift tax rate.

Tina Fey's Remarks on Palin Edited on PBS

2010-11-16T18:46:00.001-08:00

Tina Fey is the youngest recipient of the Mark Twain prize, but not all of her speech was seen on PBS. This is the part PBS edited out:

"You know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women. Except, of course, those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape kit, 'n stuff.

But for everybody else, it’s a win-win. Unless you’re a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years – whatever.

But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know – actually, I take it back. The whole thing’s a disaster."

Who Killed Tycho Brahe?

2010-11-15T19:43:00.001-08:00

PRAGUE (AP) -- An international team of scientists opened the tomb of famous 16th-century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe Monday in an effort to shed light on his sudden and mysterious death. It had been long thought he died of a bladder infection.

But tests conducted in 1996 in Sweden and later in Denmark on samples of his mustache and hair - obtained during a previous 1901 exhumation - indicated unusually high levels of mercury, leading to a theory of mercury poisoning, even possible murder.

They also are interested in Brahe's skull. He had part of his nose cut off during a duel with a fellow nobleman as a student and it was replaced by a metal plate. The plate was not found in 1901, but the tests should be able to determine what it was made of.

James Blunt: I Prevented World War Three

2010-11-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

So he says.

Meet the Press - November 14, 2010

2010-11-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

Guests:
David Axelrod - White House advisor
Sen. John McCain - (R-AZ)
Alan Greenspan
Harold Ford
Newt Gingrich
Bethany McLean
**************************
Gregory: Dave did Obama achieve anything touring Asia?

Axelrod: Obama is out there fighting for American jobs Fluffy and he rejected a bad trade deal because it wasn't fucking good enough!

Gregory: what about those Bush tax cuts for the rich?

Axelrod: We can afford to borrow money to keep the tax cuts for the middle class but we can’t afford to borrow to keep the cuts for the wealthy

Gregory: but the rich have suffered so much

Axelrod: John McCain opposed those cuts and he was right

Gregory: can I get a compromise right now?

Axelrod: are you negotiating on behalf of the Republicans David?

Gregory: it saves time

Axelrod: I see

Gregory: is Obama open to compromise please??

Axelrod: dear god stop whining Fluffers

Gregory: is the President going to move to the right?

Axelrod: the message from the American people is they want us to act together and give them jobs

Gregory: I still hear you still fighting for liberals - dammit will you just stop and be conservative already!!

Axelrod: ok how about tax cuts for businesses?

Gregory: the Chairmen of the debt commission proposed a lot of pain and spending cuts which I hope will be very popular

Axelrod: no one wants cuts or higher taxes so this should be a lot of fun

Gregory: Is Obama willing to finally stop all this free money going to the elderly and sick?

Axelrod: the right-wing demagogues this issue

Gregory: [ grinning ] but you won’t even make any concessions on my tv show!!!

Axelrod: I heard you were a moron

Gregory: so did I

Axelrod: this is a dark cloud over us and we must make these cuts

Gregory: excellent

Gregory: what about Rahm

Axelrod: he’s fucking crazy

Gregory: are we ever going to make progress in Afghanistan?

Axelrod: we need to train the Afghans to fight and love America which is tricky

[ break ]

Gregory: President McCain what would it take to satisfy you in Afghanistan?

McCain: it’s just a fact that we must never leave that far-away country or terrorists will here and cut our heads off

Gregory: but President Karzai doesn’t even want us there

McCain: he’s paranoid

Gregory: you’re calling him paranoid?

McCain: look the entire Afghan government is corrupt and Pakistan is harboring international terrorists

Gregory: these are arguments for staying there?

McCain: exactly

Gregory: what about gays in the military

McCain: Look we need a study that says gays are icky

Gregory: fascinating

McCain: we need a thorough and complete study to determine the if gay people cause cooties

Gregory: your wife called you a bigot - what did you say to her?

McCain: I only communicate with my wife through Twitter

Gregory: doesn’t military honor require not lying

McCain: the head of the marines has validated my bigotry!

Gregory: but what do you believe personally about gays?

McCain: look I met a soldier in Kandahar who has to sleep with all the men under him

Gregory: interesting

McCain: these are petty officers!

Gregory: Indeed they are

Gregory: we have more tape of you on Meet The Press than anyone else

McCain: oh noes

Gregory: you blatantly flip-flopped on tax cuts on the rich

McCain: look this is a very different time - we now know what an incredible hypocrite I am

Gregory: what about the debt commission?

McCain: the American people have sent the message that they hate spending and want to send all of their money to the richest one-percent

Gregory: President Bush is peeved at you for not campaigning with him

McCain: I had to do it - Obama was trying to tie me Bush

Gregory: yes he tried to link you in the public’s mind

McCain: no he found us backstage and tied us up!

Gregory: my god - well that’s it until your 60th appearance

McCain: Ooh I hope I get a toaster

[ break ]

Gregory: Alan where are the jobs?

Greenspan: there are no construction jobs because we already built what we need and businesses are very uncertain about the future which we need to be certain about

Gregory: Newt you’re a failure and widely hated - tell us about world economics

Gingrich: all of this is Obama’s fault because he hate business

Ford: Newt is right that I should have been the first black President

Gingrich: um what

Ford: we should have a moratorium on regulations and accept all the debt commission recommendations

Gregory: Beth how can American thrive until we inflict more pain on homeowners

McLean: if the government stops involvement in housing there will be another crash

Greenspan: hey old white men are doing great

Gingrich: this debt commission report debate is stupid because we won’t cut social security

Gregory: but don’t we have to have an adult conversation that we must slash funding for the poor and give money to the rich??

Greenspan: the Congress will pass these recommendations because they must or bond traders will have a sad

McLean: we are headed to a huge crisis

Gregory: I’m just a talk show host but we must raise the retirement age!! [ sobs ]

Ford: Newt Gingrich is a close friend and handsome man - why can’t he lead the Democrats to cut social security ??

Gingrich: this stupid chairmen’s plan is a step backwards because it’s a hurtful proposal from bunch of rich people who won’t be affected by their own recommendations

Gregory: gee that’s what I liked about it

Gregory: [ shows tape of people rioting in Europe ]
look at this horrible social unrest just because poor people see all the benefits going to the rich

Ford: I love the Tea Party because they realize that we must eliminate Social Security for young and poor people

Gregory: Newt does Obama have the guts to slash Medicare?

Gingrich: I fear government workers in Albany will riot

Gregory: over cuts in salaries?

Gingrich: Lack of parking

Gregory: should we cut the debt by extending tax cuts for the very rich?

Greenspan: yes - also the deficit is a real problem which is why we need to cut entitlements

McLean: those tax cuts sure didn’t provide jobs

Gregory: only 8 million were lost

McLean: We’re running out of time - the bond will take their balls and go home and then we will have no balls!

Gregory: what if the government gets out of the mortgage business?

Greenspan: home prices get lower and we will have to foreclose on 8 million people which will be necessary but exhausting

Gregory: Newtie will you run for President please

Gingrich: yes but first I must create a movement for insanity

Gregory: I’m torn between you and Sarah Palin

Gingrich: true - also there’s heavyweights Huckabee, Romney and Barbour

Gregory: Don’t forget my new best buddy - Bobby Jindal - squee!!!
*************************

Holocaust Film 'Too Gruesome"?

2010-11-13T05:49:00.000-08:00

Nov. 12 (Telegraph) -- A German-made film about the horrors of the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz is so horrific that many critics have already said they will boycott it when it is
released next year. Uwe Boll's film entitled Auschwitz is already on the internet, showing disturbing images of naked victims dying in gas chambers. Mr Boll, a filmmaker who has made it his life's work to shock, said he wanted to present to the world "a movie about the Holocaust that tells it like it really was".

I Can See Chris Christie From My House!

2010-11-11T19:40:00.000-08:00

Surrounded by his family and Pennsylvania's Republican elite, Gov.-elect Tom Corbett looked into the election-night crowd in Pittsburgh and said, "Throughout the campaign, people asked me, 'What kind of role model do you have?' I reminded them: Just look across the Delaware River to New Jersey. Take a look at Gov. Christie."

Obama Cut Taxes for 95 Percent of Americans

2010-10-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration cut taxes for middle-class Americans, expects to make a profit on the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to rescue Wall Street banks and has overseen an economy that has grown for the past four quarters.

Most voters don’t believe it.

A Bloomberg National Poll conducted Oct. 24-26 finds that by a two-to-one margin , likely voters in the Nov. 2 midterm elections think taxes have gone up, the economy has shrunk, and the billions lent to banks as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program won’t be recovered.

The Obama administration has cut taxes -- largely for the middle class -- by $240 billion since taking office Jan. 20, 2009. A program aimed at families earning less than $150,000 that was contained in the stimulus package lowered the burden for 95 percent of working Americans by $116 billion, or about $400 per year for individuals and $800 for married couples.

Other measures include breaks for college education, moderate-income families and the unemployed and incentives to promote renewable energy.

Still, the poll shows the message hasn’t gotten through to Americans, especially middle-income voters. By 52 percent to 19 percent, likely voters say federal income taxes have gone up for the middle class in the past two years.

No Legos?

2010-10-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

BREMERTON, Wash., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A 4-year-old boy playing with a semiautomatic shotgun in Washington State accidentally shot and wounded his mother, police said. Investigators say the boy was given a shotgun cartridge by his father. The father apparently gave the boy the cartridge because he was interested in guns.

Digby & Watertiger Tonight on Virtually Speaking

2010-10-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

**VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYS**
* A REALITY BASED COUNTERPOINT TO SUNDAY MORNING TALKING HEADS *

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 5PM pacific / 8PM eastern
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
OUR MEDIA NOT THEIRS ---- THIS WEEK: DIGBY & WATERTIGER

DIGBY
An American political blogger and founder of the liberal blog Hullabaloo, digby has contributed to Campaign For America's Future's blog The Big Con, Salon Magazine, Eschaton and Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars and Firedoglake.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

WATERTIGER
NYC-based aquatic feline that likes long walks on the beach, illuminating the hypocrisies of "family values" Republicans, and engaging in snarling snarkitude.

http://www.dependablerenegade.com/ | http://twitter.com/WatertigerNYC
http://firedoglake.com/author/watertiger/ | http://www.wakeupworld.tv

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ABOUT VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYS
A weekly news review and counterpoint to the network opinion shows. Each week, two well regarded bloggers discuss the events of the week, with an emphasis on U.S. politics and policy.

400,000 Documents Shed Light on Truth of Iraq War

2010-10-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

WikiLeaks has published 400,000 U.S. government documents relating to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. The New York Times has extensive coverage.

Heads You Win, Tails He Loses

2010-10-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

Politico, quoting George Will:

"If Democrats lose both houses, Obama will seem repudiated. If they lose neither, he will seem impotent. So, if Democrats lose big, he loses big. If they lose smaller, he loses bigger.”

HIS WORK IS DONE

2010-10-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- AIG Chief Risk Officer Robert Lewis is stepping down after saying that the company underestimated the risk of bets tied to subprime mortgages. “We were wrong about how bad things could get,” Lewis told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in June. “What ended up happening was so extreme that it was beyond anything we had planned for.”

Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche is overhauling management at the insurer, which was bailed out in 2008 by taxpayers and posted the biggest quarterly loss in U.S. Benmosche said in a memo to staff today that Lewis will remain with AIG for “a period of time to ensure a smooth transition.”

Lewis joined New York-based AIG in 1993 and was named chief risk officer in 2004, according to the memo. He told the FCIC that responsibility for liquidity-risk management fell to others at the company.

Brazil Clown May Be Barred From Congress

2010-10-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Sao Paulo (AP) -- The clown who got more votes than any other candidate for Congress will have to convince authorities he can read and write if he wants to take office.

House To Vote on Tax Cuts Before Election?

2010-09-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House may vote next week on extending Bush-era tax cuts for most Americans in a pre-election showdown with Republicans over rates that expire at year’s end. “We will retain the right to proceed as we choose,” Pelosi said today to reporters following the decision by Senate to wait.

Texas School Books Anti-Jesus?

2010-09-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

Social conservatives are seeking to curtail references to Islam in Texas textbooks, warning of what they describe as a creeping Middle Eastern influence in the U.S. publishing industry.

The resolution cites world history books no longer used in Texas schools that it says devoted more lines of text to Islamic beliefs and practices than Christian beliefs and practices.

"Diverse reviewers have repeatedly documented gross pro-Islamic, anti-Christian distortions in social studies texts," reads a preliminary draft of the resolution. "Diverse reviewers have repeatedly documented gross pro-Islamic, anti-Christian distortions in social studies texts," reads a preliminary draft of the resolution.

Got Mail?

2010-09-25T17:01:00.001-07:00

A Philadelphia postal carrier has been sentenced to probation after admitting he stored more than 12,000 pieces of undelivered mail in his garage. According to court documents, he began stashing the mail in 1997 and added to the pile whenever he found himself unable to keep up. Authorities say Blauser's wife discovered the 12,808 pieces of undelivered mail in April and reported it to the postal service.

2010-09-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

"This is America. I don't want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American.
Then sliced by Guatemalan and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian."

I Do Not Think Grassroots Means What Huma Khan Thinks It Means

2010-09-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

by Huma Khan, ABC
Sept. 20, 2010
"Congress must sit down with a blank slate and have an honest and open process to improve America's health care system by empowering patients and their doctors," said Heritage Action for America's chief executive Michael A. Needham, who heads grassroots efforts to push for repeal. "

Two Gitmo Detainees To Germany

2010-09-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

The government has announced the transfer of two detainees from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the government of Germany.

174 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay.

Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Fall to 450,000

2010-09-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in two months, a sign the labor market is improving.

But.....

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News this month forecast unemployment will hold above 9 percent through next year, a sign it will take years to recover the more than 8 million jobs lost in the recession.

It's Hard Out There For a Pope

2010-09-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

Pope picks rap song as anthem for UK visit
By Jerome Taylor
Tuesday, 7 September 2010

He is a strict traditionalist who is known to favour the Latin Mass with all its ancient trimmings. But when it comes to finding a song that will appeal to young worshippers, the Pope has opted for rap. The committee overseeing Pope Benedict's itinerary in Britain this month says it has chosen a hip-hop track to be the official "youth anthem" for his three-day visit. "Heart's Cry", by the Catholic trio Ooberfuse, opens with extracts of a speech by the Pope on evil.

Gettysburg Casino Backed

2010-08-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

A proposal to build a new casino near the Gettysburg battlefield has picked up support from a historic preservation association that aims to protect the battlefield from development.
Last week, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association announced its support for the proposal to turn an existing conference center into a casino with 600 slot machines and 50 gaming tables near the historic Civil War site.

The proposed Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino is competing with three other applicants for Pennsylvania’s final resort casino license. The state Gaming Control Board will hold a hearing on the proposal on Aug. 31.

Sacred ground.

Welders Needed

2010-08-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Workers with specialized skills like electricians, carpenters and welders are in critically short supply in many large economies, a shortfall that marks another obstacle to the global economic recovery, a research paper by Manpower Inc concludes.

The skilled trades category also includes jobs like bricklayers, cabinet makers, plumbers and butchers, jobs that typically require a specialist's certification.

Muslim Americans are entitled to nothing less than the full rights of every American

2010-08-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

USA PATRIOT ACT

Approved October 26, 2001; amended November 2, 2002.

SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONDEMNING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ARAB AND MUSLIM AMERICANS.

(a) FINDINGS — Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia play a vital role in our Nation and are entitled to nothing less than the full rights of every American.

(2) The acts of violence that have been taken against Arab and Muslim Americans since the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States should be and are condemned by all Americans who value freedom.

(3) The concept of individual responsibility for wrongdoing is sacrosanct in American society, and applies equally to all religious, racial, and ethnic groups.

(4) When American citizens commit acts of violence against those who are, or are perceived to be, of Arab or Muslim descent, they should be punished to the full extent of the law.

(5) Muslim Americans have become so fearful of harassment that many Muslim women are changing the way they dress to avoid becoming targets.

(6) Many Arab Americans and Muslim Americans have acted heroically during the attacks on the United States, including Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old New Yorker of Pakistani descent, who is believed to have gone to the World Trade Center to offer rescue assistance and is now missing.

(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS — It is the sense of Congress that —
(1) the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans, including Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia, must be protected, and that every effort must be taken to preserve their safety;

(2) any acts of violence or discrimination against any Americans be condemned; and

(3) the Nation is called upon to recognize the patriotism of fellow citizens from all ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.

Whose Tea Party?

2010-07-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

Tea party activists said that a campaign that submitted 60,000 petition signatures to the state Wednesday to qualify candidates for office under the banner of the Tea Party is a trick to help Democrats. The activists said the group that submitted the petitions wants to siphon votes from tea party conservatives running as Republicans.

A Tuscola County man who described himself as head of the party that turned in the petitions, issued a statement Wednesday criticizing both major parties and claiming "the tea party is a grassroots movement that belongs to everybody. No one person, click (sic) or party boss owns the tea party."

"This is absolutely not legitimate," said Mark Graham, an organizer of a tea party group in Tuscola County.

A similar dispute is under way in Florida, where Republicans and tea party activists have accused Democrats of financing so-called Tea Party candidates for local office in an attempt to dilute the anti-Democratic Party vote.

Most of Michigan's public tea party activists, like those elsewhere in the country, have dismissed the idea of forming an official third-party alternative as counterproductive to their goal of reining in the cost and size of government. "We don't need another party," said Bill Hollister, chairman a Macomb County-based tea party organization. "The tea party is trying to cleanse the Republican Party." Hollister said Wednesday's filing was "as bogus as it can get. They don't have support from anybody in the tea party movement in this state."

So the only people allowed to use the term Tea Party are people who don't think there should be a Tea Party?

Build The Dang Fence!

2010-07-14T03:24:00.000-07:00

No, not that one.

Federal officials had already committed $80 million to control the spread of the Asian carp - a voracious eater which biologists fear will outmaneuver native fish and cause a collapse in the lakes' multibillion-dollar commercial and recreational fishing industries. But the control effort, which included the construction of an underwater electric fence, has apparently failed, and politicians in the region are pressing for further action.

China Arrests Environmentalist

2010-07-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

China Jails Tibetan Environmentalist
By REUTERS

BEIJING, July 3 (Reuters) - A Chinese court on Saturday sentenced a Tibetan environmentalist who organized villagers to pick up litter and plant trees to five years in jail for inciting to split the nation, his lawyer said.

The environmentalist, Rinchen Samdrup, is the third brother in his family to be jailed. Mr. Samdrup ran an environmental group in the Tibet Autonomous Region near Sichuan Province that organized about 1,700 local villagers to reforest the area and report poaching, and also ran a small magazine. His group worked with international conservation groups and was praised by Chinese media.

Exile Tibetan groups say Mr. Samdrup ran afoul of powerful local interests after accusing a local police officer of poaching.

Mr. Samdrup was accused of posting a favorable article about the Dalai Lama on his website, his lawyer, Xia Jun, said. He pleaded not guilty But the Chamdo prefecture court convicted him of incitement to split the country, the lawyer said, and deprived him of his political rights for three years.

Did Manute Bol Invent "My Bad"?

2010-06-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

Perhaps he did:

USA Today, Jan. 27, 1989: After making a bad pass, instead of saying "my fault," Manute Bol says, "my bad." Now all the other Warriors say it too.

Either way he was a very generous guy and a good example for other professional athletes.

Israel Rejects Demands for International Probe of Gaza Raid

2010-06-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

June 6 (Bloomberg) -- Israel turned down demands for an international probe of its raid on a ship bringing aid to the Gaza Strip, which left nine dead, saying it would launch its own investigation.

“We are rejecting the idea of an international commission,” Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. said, speaking on “Fox News Sunday. “We are discussing with the Obama administration the way in which our inquiry will take place.”

2010-06-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

WATERTIGER & CULTURE OF TRUTH @ VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYS
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OUR MEDIA NOT THEIRS ---- THIS WEEK: CULTURE OF TRUTH & WATERTIGER
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Culture of Truth writes The Bobblespeak Translations, political satire wherein he recaps the Sunday morning talk shows and major appearances of national political figures. "What They're Really Saying When They're Saying What They're Saying" just about sums it up.

Watertiger
NYC-based aquatic feline that likes long walks on the beach, illuminating the hypocrisies of "family values" Republicans, and engaging in snarling snarkitude.

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ABOUT VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYS
A weekly news review and counterpoint to the network opinion shows. Each week, two well regarded bloggers discuss the events of the week, with an emphasis on U.S. politics and policy.

THE VSS PRESS CORPS
Avedon Carol, Adam Lambert aka clammyc, Cliff Schecter, CS Kendrick, Culture of Truth, digby, Eve Gittleson aka nyceve, Joan McCarter aka mcjoan, Marcy Wheeler aka emptywheel, watertiger.

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Obama Meets with BP Executives

2010-05-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Obama: Hello. My name is Barack Obama. You killed the Gulf of Mexico. Prepare to die.

BP: Hi Mr. President. We'll try to pay for the clean up-

Obama: Hello!! My name is Barack Obama! You killed the Gulf of Mexico. Prepare to die!

BP: Naturally we'll meet our legal obligations-

Obama: Hello!! My name is Barack Obama!! You killed the Gulf of Mexico!! Prepare to die!!

BP: we'll try to make restitition to the people affected-

Obama: Hello!! My name is Barack Obama!! You killed the Gulf of Mexico!! Prepare to die!!

BP: Will please you stop saying that?!?

Obama: Offer me anything I want!

BP: yes billions, free oil, an apology, anything... just don't kill us!!

Obama: I want the Gulf Coast back you son-of-a-bitch!

All Was Well!

2010-05-30T04:53:00.000-07:00

Wall Street Journal:

In the minutes after a cascade of gas explosions crippled the Deepwater Horizon on April 20, confusion reigned on the drilling platform. Flames were spreading rapidly, power was out, and terrified workers were leaping into the dark, oil-coated sea. Capt. Curt Kuchta, the vessel's commander, huddled on the bridge with about 10 other managers and crew members.

Andrea Fleytas, a 23-year-old worker who helped operate the rig's sophisticated navigation machinery, suddenly noticed a glaring oversight: No one had issued a distress signal to the outside world, she recalls in an interview. Ms. Fleytas grabbed the radio and began calling over a signal monitored by the Coast Guard and other vessels.

"Mayday, Mayday. This is Deepwater Horizon. We have an uncontrollable fire."

When Capt. Kuchta realized what she had done, he reprimanded her, she says.

"I didn't give you authority to do that," he said, according to Ms. Fleytas, who says she responded: "I'm sorry."

Swim Club

2010-05-19T03:32:00.000-07:00

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Northeast Philadelphia synagogue that bought a swim club accused of racial discrimination last year says it plans to use the property for recreation for its 2,000-plus members. The Congregation Beth Solomon bought the Valley Club property in Huntingdon Valley for $1.46 million at a bankruptcy auction on Thursday. The club filed for bankruptcy in November following discrimination lawsuits.

FOX FORCE FIVE!

2010-05-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has hand-picked a team of five scientists “extraordinarily intelligent” scientists from around the country with reputations for creative problem solving.

Members of the Chu team are credited with accomplishments including designing the first hydrogen bomb, inventing techniques for mining on Mars and finding a way to precisely position biomedical needles.

Chu selected one scientist with experience operating on Mars, George Cooper, and Alexander Slocum, who holds more than five dozen patents for devices
related to biotechnology, robotics and computer science.

“He has a lot of creative ideas. One in 10 are really brilliant ideas, but nine are dumb,” said MIT professor Wai K. Cheng, a colleague in Slocum’s department. “You can’t miss that one that is brilliant.”

The team is rounded out by Tom Hunter, 64, President of Sandia Laboratories, which conducts research for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, and which houses all alien technology retrieved by the U.S. military.

“We’re using some, uh, innovative-type technology that Sandia labs has,” Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, said today in an interview on CNN.

Clearly Obama has authorized use of our secret alien technology to build a wormhole.

You go, nerds!

Palin Fact Check

2010-05-16T06:21:00.000-07:00

Phillip Elliott, Associated Press:

Palin said Obama is "the most pro-abortion president ever to occupy the White House" and asserted that the health care law
would fund abortions.

In fact, Obama's health care law would not allow federal dollars to pay for elective abortions. Catholic hospitals and organizations of Catholic nuns backed the measure. U.S. Catholic bishops and major anti-abortion groups opposed it, arguing that federal dollars could end up paying for abortions.

Good for Phil

Ex-Mexican Governor Laundered With Lehman, U.S. Says

2010-05-12T03:30:00.001-07:00

May 10 (Bloomberg) -- A former Mexican governor was scheduled to appear in federal court today in New York today to face federal drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges, using a Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. account.

Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid, the former governor of the state of Quintana Roo, was charged in two indictments, one that accused him of conspiring to import “hundreds of tons” of cocaine into the U.S. and a second alleging he laundered almost $19 million through accounts at Lehman Brothers, said Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

How charming.

Snark Alert

2010-05-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

May 10 (Telegraph) -- Raquel Welch, the actress, has blamed the Pill for the decline of the institution of marriage. Miss Welch said the widespread use of oral contraceptives had led to a breakdown in norms of sexual morality and fuelled the growth of rampant promiscuity among the young. She said that the situation has grown so grave that "these days nobody seems able to keep it in their pants or honour a commitment". While it carried some benefits, the enduring legacy of the Pill, she argued, has been social anarchy.

Miss Welch found fame in the 1966 movie One Million Years BC and was voted by readers of Playboy magazine as the "most desired female of the 1970s".

She said that in spite of her own three failed marriages she still believed that marriage is the "cornerstone of civilisation, an essential institution that stabilises society, provides a sanctuary for children and saves us from anarchy".

Nobody's Fault

2010-05-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- James “Jimmy” Cayne, the former chairman and chief executive officer of Bear Stearns Cos., will blame market forces and loss of confidence in his firm for its collapse in 2008, according to a person who has reviewed his testimony before a U.S. investigative panel. “The market’s loss of confidence, even though it was unjustified and irrational, became a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Cayne said in written testimony

Alan Schwartz, who succeeded Cayne as CEO and negotiated Bear Stearns’s fire sale to JPMorgan will blame the fall on rumors. “We did not foresee the extent to which housing prices had been driven to unsustainable levels,” Schwartz will say.

Cayne, who loved to play bridge, pulled away from hands-on management roles, spending more time away from his office even while Bear Stearns was running into trouble. When the firm ran out of money in March 2008 and faced a bank run from its hedge-fund clients and short-term creditors, Cayne was at a bridge tournament in Detroit. He couldn’t fly back to New York in time to take part in talks to sell the firm to JPMorgan under
government pressure.

No worries.

Digby & Stuart Zechman Tonight

2010-05-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

**VIRTUALLY SPEAKING SUNDAYS**
* A REALITY BASED COUNTERPOINT TO SUNDAY MORNING TALKING HEADS *

SUNDAY, MAY 2, 5PM SLT

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OUR MEDIA NOT THEIRS
THIS WEEK: DIGBY & STUART ZECHMAN

DIGBY
An American political blogger and founder of Hullabaloo, digby has contributed to Campaign For America's Future's blog The Big Con, Salon Magazine, Huffington Post, Eschaton, Crooks anhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifd Liars and Firedoglake.

STUART "Centrism IS an ideology" ZECHMAN - is a frequent commenter at TIME Magazine's political blog "Swampland" and co-founder with Jay Ackroyd of the blog "Political Lagoon." He brings the perspectives of entrepreneur and technologist to a New Liberal analysis of policy and politics.

Recent Post
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210,000 Gallons Per Day

2010-05-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

The most recent estimate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which exploded on April 20 and sank days later, is gushing as much as 210,000 gallons of crude into the gulf each day. Concern is mounting that the flow may soon grow to several times that amount.

TV ALERT

2010-04-21T18:40:00.001-07:00

Fab Tourre and Lloyd Blankfein will appear before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on April 27.

BAG OF PUS

2010-04-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Goldman Sachs' London units will be formally investigated by Britain's financial regulator after U.S. authorities sued the bank for fraud. Financial-market regulators in France and Germany are reviewing the lawsuit filed against Goldman Sachs last week by the SEC.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on the FSA, which he created in 1997, to investigate Goldman Sachs two days ago, accusing employees of the bank of "moral bankruptcy."

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said today that regulators need to take urgent steps and that the charges against Goldman Sachs had "huge ramifications." Darling, who described the securities Goldman sold as "a bag of pus," said the government would look at changing the law if necessary.

COOPER UNION PART DEUX

2010-04-19T20:08:00.001-07:00

President Barack Obama plans to travel to New York City April 22 for a speech to push his legislation for financial overhaul, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The remarks at Cooper Union comes “almost one year after the administration first laid out a detailed plan for holding Wall Street accountable and protecting consumers,” Gibbs said in an e-mailed statement.

Obama will talk about “what is at stake if we do not move forward with changing the rules of the road,” Gibbs said, as the Senate prepares to debate legislation that’s drawn Republican opposition.

THIS WEEK IN GOD

2010-04-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

Beirut (AP) -- A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.

"What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble?" Sedighi asked during a prayer sermon Friday. "There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam's moral codes."

Obama Wins Nuke Deal

2010-04-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

Obama Wins Backing for Nuclear Security Goal as Summit Ends

President Barack Obama won commitments from 46 nations to lock down nuclear material and keep it out of the hands of terrorists. The next test will be how far global leaders will go to carry out their pledges. “The summit represents a major step to overcome complacency about this threat,” said Bunn, an associate professor at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who has advised on U.S. nuclear controls. “There’s a lot of work yet to be done, but this does represent major progress.”

The presidents, prime ministers and other representatives from around the world convened by Obama endorsed the U.S. president’s timeline for securing nuclear material within four years. Obama said he set the goal because the world’s biggest security threat is the potential for al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups to acquire the materials to develop a nuclear weapon through theft or illicit sales. “We have seized the opportunity,” Obama said yesterday during a news conference at the conclusion of the summit. “The American people will be safer and the world will be more secure.”

Virtually Speaking

2010-04-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Join Adam Lambert (clammyc) and Chris Kendrick (CSKendrick) at "Virtually Speaking Sundays: A Reality-Based Counterpoint to the Sunday Morning Talking Heads."

go to blogtalkradio or Second Life

Polish President Killed En Route to Katyn Memorial

2010-04-10T04:13:00.000-07:00

Relations between Poland and Russia have been tense in part because of a perceived reluctance by Vladimir Putin to acknowledge and apologize for the Katyn forest massacre. But this week the President of Poland flew to Russia to participate in a ceremony to commemorate the event. I don't imagine the death of the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife and other high-ranking officials in a plane crash in Russia will help relations very much.

America: Blowing Things Ups to Sell Artificial Cheese

2010-04-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

Texas Stadium, the former home of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys, will be blasted into oblivion by 2,715 pounds of explosives Sunday in a public spectacle infused with fan nostalgia and some novel marketing.

Kraft Foods Inc. paid $75,000 to sponsor the demolition in as part of a campaign to introduce its “Cheddar Explosion” macaroni and cheese. An 11-year-old boy who won a Kraft essay contest will trigger the explosive charge, taking down 4 million pounds of concrete, 2 million pounds of steel and a banner reading “Demolicious.”

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sent the city a letter in March saying it would donate $75,000 if Irving dropped Kraft and hung a banner from the stadium warning about obesity and the dangers of “fatty, cholesterol-laden products.”

Face it, this is a fun, but weird, nation.

ORWELL ALERT

2010-04-07T03:29:00.000-07:00

Airline Passenger Conversations to Be Monitored Under EU Project

April 4 (Telegraph) -- Airline passengers could have their conversations and movements monitored under a European Union project aimed at tackling terrorism. Brussels is funding research at Reading University aimed at detecting suspicious behaviour on board aircraft. It uses a combination of cameras, microphones, explosives detectors and a
sophisticated computer system which would give a pilot early warning of any danger.

Oh, it's "sophisticated." Ok, then.

AND THE DEVIL CAUSES CAVITIES

2010-04-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

MADISONVILLE, TEX. -- As vendors sold yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flags nearby, Texas State Board of Education member Don McLeroy assured a gathering of Tea Party activists one recent evening that President Obama was going to keep his hands off the schools in the Lone Star State.

There would be no bid for Obama's Race to the Top grant program, no endorsement of new math and English standards that Obama backs. And the state school board, under McLeroy's prodding, would continue its push to adopt social studies standards that set Texas apart from other states because, among other changes, they recast sections on the American Revolution to put more emphasis on Christianity and less on the writings of Thomas Jefferson.

"Our children will now study some of the unintended consequences of the Great Society, such as the destruction of the black family," said McLeroy, a compact, enthusiastic dentist who keeps a copy of the Constitution in his breast pocket. "Our students will be taught that this country was founded on biblical principles."

Texas's rejection of federal education initiatives is good politics, analysts say, especially in a primary season in which Gov. Rick Perry (R) fought off a challenger by shifting rightward.

"You get a lot of issues that the other states are facing but not talking about because they want to be eligible for Race to the Top" money, said Sandy Kress, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and one of the authors of the No Child Left Behind Act.

GARAGE SALE!!!!!!

2010-03-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

London (AP) -- An auction house says it will offer for sale artworks from the ancestral home of Diana, Princess of Wales - including an $18 million Rubens portrait from
the 17th Century.

Christie's auction house said Monday it will sell $30 million worth of artifacts from Althorp House, in Northamptonshire, central England. Althorp is the home of Diana's brother Earl Charles Spencer, who recently announced his engagement to Lady Bianca Eliot.

The Rubens portrait -- "Commander Being Armed for Battle" - has been owned by the Spencer family since 1802. Other lots include a painting by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri and 19th Century horse-drawn carriages.