RSSMix.com Mix ID 18865

NCAA: Houston looking tired in final minutes (AP)

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:20:53 -0400

AP - Houston coach Tom Penders said he didn't think his team would be tired from playing four games in four days to win the Conference USA tournament, but the legs look like they're starting to go for the Cougars.

Obama appeals to Iranian people in Internet video (AP)

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:18:27 -0400

AP - In a fresh appeal directly to the Iranian people, President Barack Obama says in an online video that the United States wants more educational and cultural exchanges for their students and better access to the Internet to give them a more hopeful future.

Letter: Lehman accounting tricks possibly illegal (AP)

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:08:03 -0400

AP - A Lehman Brothers whistleblower warned his bosses that accounting gimmicks the bank used before its collapse may have been illegal, his lawyer said Friday.

Judge orders renegotiation of 9/11 settlement (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:57:53 -0400

AP - A federal judge on Friday rejected a legal settlement that would have given at least $575 million to people sickened by ash and dust from the World Trade Center, saying the deal shortchanged 10,000 ground zero workers whom he called heroes.

Nestle Meltdown on Facebook shows Sticky Side of Social Medi

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:56:52 -0400

Food giant Nestle, already under pressure from environmentalists, became the subject of a Facebook- and Twitter-based twitstorm

Swine Flu in Pregnancy Leads Some to ICU (HealthDay)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:49:19 -0400

HealthDay - THURSDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women with the H1N1 (swine) flu were 13 times more likely to become critically ill than non-pregnant women infected with H1N1, according to a report from researchers in Australia and New Zealand.

Avandia Researchers' Financial Ties Questioned (HealthDay)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:49:13 -0400

HealthDay - FRIDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- A new review of studies on the controversial diabetes drug Avandia finds that most of the researchers who reported positive results had financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, but it's not clear if being paid by drug makers directly leads to supportive research.

Clinical Trials Update: March 19, 2010 (HealthDay)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:49:11 -0400

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of ClinicalConnection.com:

Rising Drug Prices Slam Some Medicare Recipients (HealthDay)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:49:10 -0400

HealthDay - FRIDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- Medicare Part D Plan coverage gap prices for widely used brand name drugs rose in 2010, and price increases since 2006 have far exceeded the rate of inflation, a new study finds.

With Infertility May Come Sexual Dysfunction (HealthDay)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:49:04 -0400

HealthDay - FRIDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- Infertile women face an increased risk for sexual dysfunction, a new study reports.

House Democrats see momentum on health bill (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:46:57 -0400

Reuters - Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives lobbied undecided members for support and voiced growing confidence on Friday they will win a close vote on final passage of a sweeping healthcare overhaul.

Cinderella's Magic Graces Murray State

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:30:03 -0400

If March is the month when we fall in love again, when all of sport's ills are ignored and infatuation is found in the fury of college basketball, then Murray State is the cute girl in the Ugg boots.

Command & Conquer 4: No DRM, But Yes Internet Connection

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:30:02 -0400

EA just announced that upcoming Command & Conquer 4 will have no DRM, but also mentioned that the game will sort of need you to be connected to the internet to play the game.

ACORN on verge of bankruptcy: report (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:28:09 -0400

Reuters - The U.S. liberal grass-roots group ACORN is on the brink of bankruptcy and its leaders will hold a teleconference this weekend to discuss the group's future, The New York Times reported on its website on Friday.

US General Blames Gay Soldiers For Bosnian Massacre

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:17:27 -0400

A retired American general has blamed the UN's historic failure to protect the Bosnian "safe haven" of Srebrenica on the fact that there were openly gay soldiers in the Dutch peacekeeping battalion assigned to it.

For One Instant, Physicists May Have Broken a Law of Nature

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:10:02 -0400

For a brief instant, it appears, scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island recently discovered a law of nature had been broken.

Court: Anna Nicole Smith gets none of oil fortune (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:54:14 -0400

AP - The elderly Texas billionaire who married Anna Nicole Smith in the last year of his life never intended to leave the former stripper any portion of his vast fortune, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

Court: Anna Nicole Smith gets none of oil fortune (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:54:14 -0400

Pope's Irish letter faces critical Catholic world (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:54:10 -0400

AP - Pope Benedict XVI addresses Ireland on Saturday in a letter apologizing for the sex abuse scandal here — a message being watched closely by Catholics from Boston to Berlin to see if it also acknowledges decades of Vatican-approved cover-ups.

7th anniversary of Iraq War passes, little noticed (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:53:11 -0400

AP - It was a day like any other day — except that it was the seventh anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And, for the most part, that was forgotten.

Final health bill omits some of Obama's promises (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:51:21 -0400

AP - It was a bold response to skyrocketing health insurance premiums. President Barack Obama would give federal authorities the power to block unreasonable rate hikes.

End in sight, health care battle tilts Obama's way (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:50:02 -0400

AP - One by one, House Democratic fence-sitters began choosing sides Friday, and the long, turbulent struggle over landmark health care legislation tilted unmistakably in President Barack Obama's direction.

Quartet tells Israel to halt settlement activity (AFP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:46:20 -0400

AFP - The Middle East Quartet urged Israel to stop building settlements and set a bold target for a final deal with the Palestinians by 2012 as it tried to kickstart the stalled peace process.

No. 12 seed Cornell dominates Temple 78-65 (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:45:25 -0400

AP - Confident, relaxed and definitely on their game.

ISC Releases the First Look At BIND 10

Ethanol writes "Internet Systems Consortium, producers of BIND 9 (the most popular DNS implementation on the internet), have spent the past year working on a successor, BIND 10. It's entirely new code, redesigned and rewritten from the ground up, and now the first glimpse of what it will eventually look like has been released. 'This code is not intended for general use, and is known to be inefficient, difficult to work with, and riddled with bugs. These problems will all be fixed over the next couple of years, as functionality is added and refined, and the software matures. However, the codebase has a good framework for moving forward, and the software is capable of serving as a DNS server with significant functionality.' (Full disclosure: I work for ISC and I'm one of the engineers on the project.)"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

NASA's strange history of sci-fi mission posters (PICS)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:40:03 -0400

We knew the folks at NASA had brains and courage, but who knew they had a sense of humor, too? Turns out the National Aeronautics and Space Administration celebrates every mission that gets sent out into space with its own poster, and some of them are amazing!

Gunmen block roads in Mexico's drug-plagued north (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:06:34 -0400

Reuters - Armed men likely linked to drug gangs blocked highways with trucks and buses in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey on Friday in an apparent attempt to hamper army operations near the U.S. border.

Nation on brink of history, Obama says, as health care vote looms (AFP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:58:19 -0400

AFP - US President Barack Obama girded for a crucial weekend vote on his sweeping health care overhaul plan, with Democrats poised to make history after a century of struggling for reform.

MGM could go it alone if bids disappoint: sources (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:45:37 -0400

Reuters - Storied Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer may opt for a stand-alone plan if bids disappoint, and creditors are expected to meet early next week as the company sifts through expected offers, sources said.

James Toney Still Calling Out UFC, Kimbo

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:40:02 -0400

James Toney is back with a new video about how he deserves to be in the UFC. He wants to knock out Kimbo and seems to be friends with an emaciated version of Dr. Dre.

Universal betting on lower prices to boost CD sales (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:37:39 -0400

Reuters - Universal Music Group (UMG) is embarking on one of the most ambitious efforts yet to boost U.S. CD sales, with the test of a new pricing structure designed to sell most new releases by current artists at $10 or less at retail.

'Glow-in-the-dark' Sperm Sheds Light On Sexual Selection

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:30:02 -0400

Previously unobservable events occurring between insemination and fertilization are the subject of a groundbreaking new article in Science magazine.

Am I the Only one who Still Prefers Windows XP?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:20:43 -0400

Its all about transparent windows!

As China's Pollution Toll Grows, Protesters, Media Push Back

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:00:02 -0400

In recent months, protests over the severe illnesses caused by China's heavy industries have resulted in a crackdown on polluters. Leading the charge has been the state-run media, which the central government is now using to gain control over corrupt local authorities and powerful commercial enterprises.

How Obama Wins in 2012

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:40:49 -0400

Despite sagging poll numbers, the president has bottomed out, and Republicans still lack the leaders and the ideas to beat him, argues former Bush strategist Mark McKinnon.

Lady Gaga fires back in NY court at music producer (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:37:49 -0400

AP - Lady Gaga is firing back at a music producer who claims he launched her career and is suing her for $30.5 million.

British Airways battles cabin crew strike (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:35:40 -0400

Reuters - British Airways said it would fly more than 60 percent of passengers with flights booked for this weekend despite a three-day cabin crew strike that risks hurting the Labor government weeks before an election.

Federal Judge Bars Instant Publishing of Analysts' Stock Tips

An anonymous reader writes "Big Banking firms Barclay's Capital, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch successfully obtained an injunction against theflyonthewall.com, Inc., preventing them from immediately publishing the firms' stock upgrades and downgrades. This case could have far-reaching consequences concerning internet communication and publication of news." Here's some interesting analysis from Paul Levy, via Dave Farber's Interesting People list.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Putin offers U.S. hints of support (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:21:48 -0400

Reuters - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered hints he could support the United States on two key issues -- an arms pact and Iran -- after a meeting on Friday with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Unprecedented 25 Year Sentence Sought for TJX Hacker

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:20:03 -0400

Computer hacker Albert Gonzalez deserves a quarter-century behind bars for leading a gang of cyber-thieves that stole tens of millions of credit and debit card numbers from a transaction processor and giant retail chains, federal prosecutors argued in a court filing Thursday night.

Court: Anna Nicole Smith gets none of oil fortune (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:08:53 -0400

Scientists Use Sex-Crazed Bugs As Pesticide

ByronScott writes "In today's 'gross news' category, some female insects just might be getting lucky. As an alternative to toxic pesticides, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have created 'super-sexed' sterilized male leafhoppers to knock bug boots with females in the wild, resulting in decreased populations. Yes, that means that the female bugs will miss out on the joys of motherhood, but the idea that the insects will be having some fun instead of being gassed to death by poisons is pretty cool."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

10 of the Most Expensive Alcohols ($1,000,000+)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:50:05 -0400

Today I found our priciest alcohol at the liquor store. It costs $599.99. It got me thinking...how much are people willing to pay to get intoxicated?

She Gotta Bump (VID)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:50:04 -0400

Meet a man that is obsessed with giving ladies some lovin'...as long as they have a bun in the oven.

Pop star's porn video distracts Greeks from economic issues

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:50:03 -0400

Julia Alexandratou, a 23-year-old minor Greek-British celebrity, attained Paris Hilton-esque infamy overnight when a controversial porn film starring her went on sale across Greece this month. Rather than focusing on Greece's unprecedented economic crisis and the harsh new measures aimed at reducing the state deficit, 240,000 copies have been sold.

Man arrested for peeing on 7 Hispanic girls

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:40:04 -0400

He'd been doing it on the streets of Jersey City since December, but was caught in a police stakeout.

Repossession Hell: 5 Extremely Wrongful Foreclosures

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:40:03 -0400

A Pittsburgh woman is suing the Bank of America after it wrongfullyforeclosed on her home, ransacking her possessions, cutting powerlines, padlocking her doors, and confiscating her pet parrot. AngelaIannelli, 46who was away when repo men made off with her beloved bluemacaw, Lukesays she's now "afraid to set foot in her house.

Spectacular Nintendo Gameboy Papercraft (PICS)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:40:02 -0400

Nintendo has always been one for Video Games, attention to detail and many fans, and this unofficial Nintendo Gameboy Papercraft really proves so and shows it in amazing and bright colors.

Boehner Claims Student Loan Reform Will ‘Eliminate Every Bank In The Country’

This weekend, Democrats plan to vote on their health care reform reconciliation package, which also includes student loan reform. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which would cut billions of dollars in senseless subsidies to private student lenders, passed the House last year. As of yesterday, it has a corresponding senate counterpart, which will be included in the reconciliation bill.

Currently, the federal government gives billions of dollars to student lenders to originate loans, and then guarantees loan repayment up to 97 percent, so the lenders are essentially useless middlemen that aren’t exposed to any of the loan risk. This is corporate welfare at its finest. So in order to build opposition to the bill, both the lenders and Republicans in Congress have been borrowing a tactic from the health care debate by falsely characterizing student loan reform as a “Washington takeover” of lending.

But House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) took this a step further last night, saying that student loan reform would actually “eliminate every bank in the country and all student loan lenders,” replacing them with the government:

Well, if you look at this student loan provision in there, they eliminate every bank in the country and all private student loan lenders so the government can do it instead.

This is just astoundingly wrong. On a very basic level, it could only be true if the sole thing banks did was make student loans, which is obviously not the case. The day after student loan reform passes, banks will still be there, cashing checks, taking deposits, making home loans, and on and on.

But the greater point Boehner was trying to make is that student loan reform is somehow a new expansion of government into the private economy. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) echoed this sentiment yesterday, saying that student loan reform amounts to “seizing control of industries and squeezing out private competition.” But the government already provides the money for the loans and guarantees the lenders against loss, in addition to directly making millions of loans every year. So student lending is, for all intents and purposes, already a federal program.

In fact, the subsidized private program that Boehner and Enzi want to preserve is called the Federal Family Education Loan Program. By cutting the middlemen out of the process, the government will not only save billions of dollars to be used for deficit reduction, but will also have the money to increase Pell Grants and thus boost the number of college graduates. According to an analysis by CAP Senior Fellow Ulrich Boser, the boost in incomes due to student loan reform will top $100 billion.

And at the end of the day, the bill doesn’t even cut private lenders completely out of the loop, as they still would be contracted to service the loans (collect payments, etc.). But Boehner has decided that this is his week to go all out for the bankers — telling them to stand up to “punk staffers” trying to write new regulations — so it’s really not surprising that he’s willing to distort student loan reform to argue for his bank-friendly policies.

Cross-posted at The Wonk Room.

YouTube Was Evil, and Google Knew It

pcause writes "Silicon Alley Insider has the most damning evidence released in the Viacom/YouTube suit. It seems clear from these snippets that YouTube knew it was pirating content, and did it to grow fast and sell for a lot of money. It also seems clear that Google knew the site contained pirated content and bought it and continued the pirating."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Testing overseas may explain big drop in TB cases (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:28:59 -0400

AP - An unexpected big drop in new U.S. tuberculosis cases is probably because of stepped up screening and treatment of immigrants before they leave their native countries, health officials say.

Secrets unravel as "Breaking Bad" returns to TV (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:26:49 -0400

Reuters - Walt White's wife has left him, his crystal meth partner in crime has gone into rehab, and his desperate double life as a chemistry teacher turned drug lord is in danger of unraveling.

Famed for divorce, Yemeni girl set to read memoir (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:23:16 -0400

Reuters - In a harrowing memoir she has yet to read herself, Nujood Ali tells how at age 9 she was forced to marry a man three times her age, raped and beaten, then made Yemeni history by getting a divorce.

Naming and Shaming Bad ISPs

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:20:02 -0400

I polled some of the most vigilant sources of this information for their recent data, and put together a rough chart indicating the Top Ten most prevalent ISPs from each of their vantage points.

A Lot of 30 Rock's Humor is in the Details (PIC)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:10:03 -0400

The show sometimes seems custom made for HDTV viewers and PVR-pausers.

Hubble 3D Debuts at IMAX Theaters

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:10:02 -0400

Space and wrap around theaters...is there a better combination for a mind blowing experience? Hubble 3D debuts in Imax theaters nationwide today. To celebrate, find the top 10 Hubble images below.

What You Should Know About Age Discrimination

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:50:03 -0400

Proving you've been denied a job or laid off to make way for younger, cheaper workers isn't easy. The byproduct of a Supreme Court decision has increased the burden of proof to win, too. The recession just got tougher for those over 40.

Ghostbusters Alignment Chart

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:50:02 -0400

Where do Ghostbusters characters rank on an alignment chart?

How to Calculate a Dog's Age in Dog Years (Infographic)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:40:00 -0400

A popular misconception is that dogs age 7 years for each calendar year. In fact, canine aging is much more rapid during the first 2 years of a dog's life. After the first 2 years the ratio settles down to 5 to 1 for small and medium breeds. For large breeds the rate is 6 to 1, and for giant breeds the rate is 7 to 1. Thus, at 10 years of age...

Cuccinelli: Homosexual ‘acts’ are a ‘detriment to our culture.’

This month, far-right Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli “urged the state’s public colleges and universities to rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing in a letter sent to each school that their boards of visitors had no legal authority to adopt such statements.” The move was so controversial that even Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) slightly backed away from supporting it. In a new interview with CBS 6, Cuccinelli says that gay “acts” are harmful to society:

Q: Do you think that gays — the practice of homosexuality — is a detriment to our culture?
CUCCINELLI: The acts are. You certainly want everybody in your society to be integrated into your society. So, that’s a focus I’d like to take, but there’s a distinction. And it’s one that the General Assembly seems to be wrestling with every year, and we’ll leave that one to them for now.

Watch it:

(HT: Right Wing Watch)

Company Sued, Loses For Not Using Patented Tech

bdcrazy writes "A man was recently awarded $1.5M in a jury trial after his hand was injured by a Ryobi table saw. The saw did not include the patented 'Saw Stop' technology that the plaintiff argued would have prevented all the problems." 60 similar cases have now been filed nationwide. TechDirt makes the argument that this jury decision is completely crazy: "If the government is going to require companies to use a patented technology, it seems that the only reasonable solution is to remove the patent on it and allow competition in the market place." If the decision stands, not only will the price of table saws go way up, but other hungry patent-holders will probably get a gleam in their eye.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Oracle Shuttering OpenSSO

mdm42 writes "OpenSSO is one of the best open source web Single Sign On projects out there. Sun Microsystems made OpenSSO open source in 2008, so it's sad to see how, after absorbing Sun, Oracle is shutting down this amazing project, labelling it 'not strategic' and dismembering the few parts they think are worthwhile for their own SSO effort. They started by freezing the next express release, and during the last few weeks they have been removing all the open source downloads from the OpenSSO website and removing content from the wiki. Fortunately, a Norwegian company called ForgeRock has stepped up to the plate in an attempt to salvage the project under the new name OpenAM."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

March Madness: The Changing Data Center Landscape

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:30:03 -0400

While big players like Oracle and Microsoft position for the next wave of innovation, companies like VMware and EMC are trying to get in. Competitive developments in the Fibre Channel business are intended to lock customers in and the bottom-line is users want something simpler.

Maryland lawmakers not feeling so Southern anymore

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:30:02 -0400

Though Marylanders live just south of the Mason-Dixon Line, their attitudes and even their accents straddle that border. These days, leaders feel they've got more in common with states to the north.

Judge in NY orders more talks on 9/11 deal (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:28:10 -0400

Reuters - A U.S. federal judge on Friday delayed a $657.5 million settlement for workers who suffered health problems after the September 11, 2001, attacks, saying the process must be transparent and lawyers fees should not be drawn from the funds.

Another Safety Problem with 1.2 Millon Toyotas

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:10:03 -0400

The nightmare never seems to end for Toyota (TM). In a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Japanese car company requested a meeting about a stalling issue on 1.2 million Corollas and Matrix models. The issue was raised in a March 2nd notice to the agency.

Who Will Profit When Google Exits from China?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:10:00 -0400

Microsoft's Bing is sharpening its knives over Google China's potential exit over the search-engine censorship issue, but so are the aggressive, ambitious companies Baidu, Tencent and Sohu.com

REMIX: "Blue People" Movie Trailer (Video)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:00:02 -0400

They will be judged by the color of their skin and not by the content of their character.

Twitter by Numbers: Not So Hot (Graphic)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:50:02 -0400

Twitter's rise to global popularity has been pretty astonishing. It has turned into the world's biggest social networking and micro-blogging phenomenon. However, growth in the number of users peaked at nearly 20 percent last April, but had dropped down to 0.15 percent in December 2009, according to a new study released this week.

WOW! Do Your Crayons Look Like This? (PIC)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:40:04 -0400

Crayons carved into the 12 symbols of the Chinese zodiac Artist Diem Chau usually works in porcelain, but she sometimes steps it up and uses crayons as her medium. This post has lots of photos showing her carvings of the 12 symbols of the Chinese zodiac. They're on exhibit at the Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago. My favorite is the rat.

21 Awesomely Weird Guitars (PICS)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:40:00 -0400

What? Doesn't every boy dream of being a rock star with a rattlesnake-, bedpan- or pot leaf-shaped guitar?

Pay to Play: Some iPhone App Sites Demand Money for Reviews

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:30:02 -0400

If you cant pitch the press, pay them. Thats the proposition some review sites have for publicity-starved iPhone developers.

Corella brings his Spanish charm to New York stage (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:21:19 -0400

AP - In art, as in life, genuine charm can go a long way.

Nature by Numbers

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:20:03 -0400

A short movie inspired on numbers, geometry and nature, by Cristbal Vila. Absolutely stunning.

The Top 25 Funniest People Working in Hollywood (Right Now)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:10:03 -0400

Humor and what makes people laugh in general are very difficult qualities to quantify. Often, the very thing that makes Joe howl makes Jane groan (and maybe re-assess her opinion of Joe). It's that personal.

Spike Jonze's Robot Love Story 'I'm Here' Hits the Web

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:10:02 -0400

If you want to see online Spike Jonze's Sundance-premiered short 'robot' film, now you can. It's up on a website offering limited 'virtual' seating and may only be available for a short time. For Spike Jonze fans, definitely good stuff....

Mandatory rotation of audit firms not advisable

Rotation of audit firms is not the right path to ensure transparent audit of companies, says the global chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dennis M Nally.

Sothebys auction of Warhol portrait may fetch $15 m

The 1986 painting, featuring the artist in his signature spiky 'fright wig,' is estimated to sell for $10 million to $15 million. Ford acquired the acrylic and silkscreen ink work in 1998 from the estate of the artist, according to Sotheby's.

Forex reserves up $1.28 billion

The country's forex reserves went up by $1.28 billion to $279.71 billion in the week ended March 12, RBI said in its weekly statistical supplement released on Friday.

Column : Why deficit doesnt seem to hurt

Standard & Poor's has stated the obvious by bumping up the Indian outlook to stable from negative. After the financial contagion subsided, leaving few economies standing in the global ruin, even the most cussed investor would need to do little more than just glance around her to confirm that.

Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda & UKs Legal in JV for life insurance

Public sector lenders Bank of Baroda and Andhra Bank on Friday floated a life insurance company in joint venture with UK-based risk, wealth and investment firm Legal & General.

Hinduja Power eyes West Asia gas

Hinduja Power, owned by the $15-billion Hinduja Group, is in talks with three West Asian companies, including a Qatar-based gas firm, to purchase gas for its power plants in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

FE Editorial : A better rating

Standard & Poor's upgrading of the outlook on India's sovereign credit rating from negative to stable reflects the fact that the country's fiscal position is recovering and the economy is on a strong growth path.

Delhi HC orders Paramount Air to ground half its fleet

Paramount Airways has been asked to ground half of its fleet strength of six aircraft by the Delhi High Court on Friday. In a major setback for the Chennai-based airline, the court declined its plea to maintain a status quo on the three Embraer planes till the next hearing schedueld for Monday.

Teva drags Famy Care to US court over patent infringement

Mumbai-based oral & injectable contraceptive maker Famy Care was sued in a US court,along with partner Mylan Labs, by the largest generic company Teva last week for alleged infringement of Teva's patent for oral contraceptive pills Seasonique and LoSeasonique.

DA for central govt staff up 8%; to cost Rs 6.97 cr

The government on Friday decided to compensate the central government employees for the increase in prices since January and raised the dearness allowance by 8%. The hike will cost the exchequer an additional Rs 6,970 crore from January 2010 to February 2011.

Quick View

E-greeting service provider Intrasoft Technologies plans to raise Rs 53.8 crore through an initial public offering to fund its branding promotion in US and open new corporate offices, a top company official said on Friday.

ONGC consortia awarded 17 blocks; RIL, Essar stay away

Consortia led by state-owned ONGC on Friday won the exploration and production rights for 17 of the 33 blocks awarded under the 8 th round of new exploration and licensing policy, marking the culmination of a bidding process that attracted tepid response from domestic and foreign oil companies.

Viacom, YouTube fight over illegal video uploads

Viacom Inc accused Google Inc of turning a blind eye to illegal video clips on its YouTube site in a bid to attract viewers, according to court documents released on Thursday.

MTNL to get Rs 1,380-crore as tax refund

State-run telcom operator MTNL is set to get a tax refund of Rs 1,380 crore for four assessment years, a positive cash-flow development for the PSU which is facing challenging times in terms of profitability and competition.

DoT recalls nominee from BSNL board for opposing GSM tender

As a government nominee on the state-run telcos' board, Deepak had opposed the controversial 93-million-line tender costing Rs 36,000 crore for its inflated size and cost. He along with another government nominee PK Mittal had submitted a dissent note last December, as first reported by FE.

Canon India looking at Rs 450 cr turnover from cameras in 2010

Canon India is looking at a turnover of Rs 450 crore this year from the camera segment, almost 45% of its overall turnover target of Rs 1,100 crore for 2010. The company, which has slipped to the number three slot in the 20 lakh unit digital compact camera market, is betting big on increased penetration in tierII towns and cities.

Bharti to sell iPhone 3GS

India's top mobile phone company, Bharti Airtel, said on Friday that it has reached a deal with Apple Inc to sell the iPhone 3GS in India. The company in a statement said the pact would allow it to bring the latest iPhone to India "in the coming months".

Headley pleads guilty to all charges; India to mount pressure on Pak

With Pakistani-American Lashkar operative David Coleman Headley pleading guilty to all 12 charges, including his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, India is now planning to step up pressure on Pakistan to act against those involved in the Mumbai attacks.

WiMAX steals a march over 3G on last day

Broadband wireless access, commonly known as WiMAX services, has emerged a clear winner over 3G in terms of the number of applications received by the government on Friday, the last day for companies to put in their applications.

Key education reform Bills get nod

Close on the heels of its decision to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in the country, the government on Friday cleared a proposal to set up a national accreditation agency for higher educational institutions and set up multi-layered education tribunals.

SC orders telcos to pay antidumping duty on SDHT equipment

Telecom service companies like Tata Teleservices and others are bound to feel the heat following the Supreme Court's order on Friday asking the companies importing Synchronous Digital Hierarchy transmission equipment...

Leno engineers rerun for the futuristic turbine car

Jay Leno says he is old enough to remember when Detroit was a symbol of America's prestige and manufacturing might, unlike its image today as a symbol of industrial decay and economic failure.

Haryana plans Rs 1,300-cr power boost

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam proposes to invest Rs 1,305 crore to strengthen power transmission and distribution system during the next fiscal.

Mani Shankar Aiyar, Akhtar nominated to RS

Noted lyricist Javed Akhtar and Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar were on Friday nominated to Rajya Sabha along with three others.

Column : Interest in equity

After a spurt of redemptions from the equity schemes of mutual funds during August to December last year, investors are once again opting for these schemes. In February, the equity category saw inflows of Rs 1,514 crore added to Rs 980 crore in January.

Cloak of invisibility takes a German step forward

German scientists have created a three-dimensional 'invisibility cloak' that can hide objects by bending light waves.

Pyramid liquidity crisis deepens

The liquidity problems continue to haunt the promoters of Pyramid Saimira Theatre Limited. While one of the core promoter has seen his stake of 3.62% in the company completely eroded as the banks completely sold in the open market to manage the margin money...

Google may finally logout of China in Apr

Google Inc may pull out of China on April 10, China Business News reported on Friday, citing an unidentified Chinese sales agent for the company.

Afghanistan still battle to keep women off TV

Eight years after the fall of the Taliban, who banned television and barred women from appearing in public without an all-enveloping burqa, the Afghan government is fighting a losing battle to keep female flesh off TV.

Rolls-Royce wins GAIL gas turbine contract

Global power systems manufacturer Rolls-Royce has won GAIL India's $90 million-contract to supply four gas turbine packages for the latter's 500 km-long Vijaipur-Dadri- Bawana pipeline project.

Nod likely for duty-free raw sugar imports

The government plans to allow food processing companies like soft drink and ice cream manufacturers to import raw sugar at zero duty in its efforts to keep the prices of the sweetener at a reasonable level.

RBI likes variety

Moving beyond the immediate concerns of the global financial crisis, on a more structural basis, an interesting fact on capital flows to emerging Asia is often overlooked.

Quick View

Hospital chain Fortis Healthcare on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of 23.9% stake in Singapore-based healthcare firm Parkway Holdings for about $685.3 million.

Bharti board could take up Zain deal today

Bharti Airtel's board is understood to be meeting on Saturday to take stock of its negotiations with the Kuwaiti telecom firm Zain to buy its African assets for $9 billion.

Wagah border out of bounds, India-Afghan trade sees little progress

With Pakistan refusing Afghanistan permission to import goods from India through the Wagah border under the Pakistan-Afghan transit trade agreement, bilateral trade between India and Afghanistan has not grown much, according to officials.

ONGC to invest $2 bn in Venezuela oilfield

The government on Friday allowed state-owned ONGC and partners to invest $2.181 billion in a Venezuela oilfield that will give India 3.6 million tonne a year of crude oil.

Contract workers strike hits Tata Chem Haldia unit unitunit

Tata Chemicals' operation in Haldia has been badly affected since February 18 when the contract workers went on an indefinite strike. The company has called the strike illegal and said it would severely impact the future of the factory.

Report card

Clean Development Mechanism is the only formal way developed countries can access mitigation opportunities in developing countries to meet their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

GM set to launch E-Spark by year end

Automobile major General Motors On Friday said it would launch the electric version of its small car Spark in the Indian market by the end of this year. "We are set to launch our electric car, E-Spark, by the end of this year in India," marketing director Gaurav Gupta said here.

Told Rana every detail of 26/11 plan: Headley

Pakistani-American David Headley, who has pleaded guilty to charges of plotting the Mumbai terror attack, has claimed that co-accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana too was involved in the conspiracy.

Daimler set to induct multiple partners for Chennai plant

German commercial vehicles major Daimler is open to equity partners for its forthcoming Rs 4,400-crore Chennai manufacturing project.

Rs 9,000-cr capital infusion for PSU banks by Apr-May

The government plans to pump in around Rs 9,000 crore into select state-run banks by April-May, in the first phase of its capital infusion programme announced in the Budget 2010-2011, a top finance ministry official said on Friday.

Punjab farm growth dips to 3.51%

Agriculture sector growth in Punjab has slowed down to a dismal 3.51% in 2008-09 due to stagnating crop productivity and dwindling water and soil resources, says estimates of the state's economic survey 2009-10.

Less motor, more grip, and it all makes sense

Audi has downsized the cylinder count, lifted fuel economy and cut the price of the S4. This is not exactly austerity, as the new car is much faster.

FE Editorial : Time for the IMF

If there is one trouble spot that continues to threaten to spoil an imminent global recovery, it is Greece. At current market rates, where the government of Greece has to pay interest on borrowed money at a rate 3 percentage points higher than Germany, a default will arrive sooner rather than later.

Mukul Roy steps in to sort out KoPT- Haldia revenue row

Union minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy on Thursday said Haldia operations of the Kolkata Port Trust will not transfer any funds to the Kolkata unit unless the ministry chalks out a revenue-sharing model among the two.

Tougher criteria for highway project bids to weed out non-serious players

In a significant development for the road sector, the National Highways Authority of India on Friday tightened the networth criteria for bidders of national highway projects to ensure that only serious players come forward with bids.

World Bank okays $1.05-bn loan to improve education

The World Bank on Friday approved two projects worth $1.05 billion for India to expand the reach of primary schools and the quality of engineering education in the country.

Agriculture ministry asks states to be prepared to tackle poor rainfall

Though initial indication of southwest monsoon is showing a positive trend, the agriculture ministry has asked states to be prepared to face any eventuality to avoid a scenario similar to 2009 when kharif production suffered because of poor rains.

Quick View

After being stung by complaints, Taiwanese officials have traced the mysterious yellow gunk that has splattered cars and laundry for weeks to a seasonal influx of bees, and their droppings.

Letters to the editor

Pointing out how 'Minority shareholders of oil marketing companies short changed over the years', your editorial 'Brute majority' has impressed the need for convincing the retail investors in PSUs about the benefits.

RBI hikes repo, reverse repo rates by 25 bps

Clearly, anxious to check soaring inflation, the Reserve Bank of India on Friday increased key interest rates, including the reverse repo rate as well as the repo rate by 25 basis points. The move signals an end to cheap money that had begun with the stimulus packages in December 2008 as the economy had battled a global credit squeeze. While an increase in interest rates had been widely anticipated, the timing took the market by surprise. "Anchoring inflation expectations and containing overall inflation have become imperative, the central bank observed in its statement.

Mayya follows Capoor, quits BSE committee

The takeover battle for the Central Depository Services Ltd has taken a new twist with the resignation of MR Mayya, who on Friday stepped down as chairman of the listing committee of the BSE. Mayya will, however, remain an independent director on the CDSL board.

Column : BJP has new look, but agenda?

Nitin Gadkari's announcement of the team of office-bearers that will assist him in his term as BJP president has been greeted with a somewhat uncharitable cynicism.

Our customers are not affected by price rise

New emission norms: a turning point for the Indian automotive sector

The recent global economic downturn has had far-reaching effects on numerous industrial sectors, with the automotive industry suffering from some of the biggest jolts.

Withdrawal could be permanent: ex-executive

The public manner in which Google announced its intention to pull out of the country means they may have "burnt bridges and they've burnt the Google brand in China," Peter Lui, formerly the company's financial controller for the Asia Pacific region, said in an interview on Thursday.

Abandoned Church remains in the Russia

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:00:04 -0400

The pictures here have illustrate some examples of some of the ruins and remains of such churches.

Chad Hurley Made $334 Million From Sale Of YouTube

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:00:02 -0400

You can learn all sorts of interesting tidbits from legal documents. For instance, in one of the legal briefs unsealed today in the YouTube-Viacom dispute, such as the amount of money YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley made from the $1.65 billion sale of the company to Google in 2006.

Top 10 Movie Wimps

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:54:26 -0400

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a movie based on a best-selling book series, is out this weekend. Here are the top 10 cinematic scaredy-cats.

Most Super Mario Ever [Pic]

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:50:02 -0400

Ever wanted to get a Mario with 4.25ct worth of diamonds, 10k gold lining? It may just become possible.

Doctors, AARP support new health overhaul bill (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:37:05 -0400

AP - The nation's largest association of doctors and the AARP senior citizens' lobby are endorsing President Barack Obama's revised health overhaul legislation.

GOP To Kill Health Bill For Nonexistent Abortion Coverage, But Provide Abortion Coverage To GOP Staff

Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA)

Republican lawmakers, as well as Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), have falsely claimed that the health reform bill allows taxpayer funded abortions. At a press conference yesterday, GOP members of Congress convened to again hammer the lie home that health reform will provide taxpayer funds for abortion.

Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA), a member of the GOP leadership team at the press event yesterday, blasted Democrats for trying to pass a health reform bill with supposed funds for abortion coverage. ThinkProgress spoke to McMorris-Rodgers after the event. According to disclosure reports, McMorris-Rodgers’ state Republican Party provides health insurance through AWB Health Choice — a consortium of benefit packages including Lifewise Health Plans of Washington, which covers abortions. McMorris-Rodgers assailed the nonexistent abortion coverage in the health reform bill, while brushing aside her own campaign dollars going towards plans which cover abortion. Eventually, the congresswoman relented and admitted that her campaign dollars funding abortion coverage is “not” okay:

TP: But at the same time, Lifewise Health Plans, which is what the Washington State GOP uses to provide health insurance to their employees, they cover abortion. So when you fundraise for the Washington State GOP, aren’t you providing dollars to abortion?
MCMORRIS-RODGERS: Uh, we’re talking about federal taxpayer dollars.
TP: Yeah, but isn’t this kind of like, you know, “do as I say, but not what I do?”
MCMORRIS-RODGERS: Um, I think the issue at hand is whether or not federal taxpayer dollars should be used to fund abortion –
TP: But your fundraiser dollars are used for abortions. … But campaign dollars are okay, Republican campaign dollars that you raise?
MCMORRIS-RODGERS: No, that’s not.

Listen here:

McMorris-Rodger’s initial indifference to her own state party funding abortion coverage reveals the partisanship of her ploy to lie about the health bill and claim that it covers abortions. Like McMorris-Rodgers, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Newt Gingrich have health insurance plans for their campaign employees which provide abortion coverage. And until recently, even the staunchly anti-choice Republican National Committee provided abortion coverage to its employees.

The Catholic Health Association and a group of 59,000 Catholic nuns recently endorsed health reform, noting that the bill in Congress does not provide taxpayer funded abortions. Additionally, T.R. Reid, writing in the Washington Post this week, explained why anti-abortion activists should support health reform. “Increasing health-care coverage is one of the most powerful tools for reducing the number of abortions — a fact proved by years of experience in other industrialized nations. Regardless, partisan hypocrites like McMorris-Rodgers are plowing ahead, hoping to exploit a polarizing issue to kill reform.

The Woes of Munich's Linux Migration

mikrorechner writes "The H Online has a writeup of the problems encountered by LiMux (Wikipedia entry), one of the most prominent Linux migration projects in the world, trying to introduce free software into the highly heterogenous IT infrastructure of the City of Munich. Quoting: 'Florian Schiessl, deputy head of Munich's LiMux project for migrating the city's public administration to Linux, has, for the first time, explained why migrating the city's computing landscape to open source software has taken longer than originally planned.'" Here is Shiessl's blog, in which he details some of the transition problems.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Free Software To Save Us From Social Networks

Glyn Moody writes "Here's a problem for free software: most social networks are built using it, yet through their constant monitoring of users they do little to promote freedom. Eben Moglen, General Counsel of the Free Software Foundation for 13 years, and the legal brains behind several versions of the GNU GPL, thinks that the free software world needs to fix this with a major new hardware+software project. 'The most attractive hardware is the ultra-small, ARM-based, plug it into the wall, wall-wart server. [Such] an object can be sold to people at a very low one-time price, and brought home and plugged into an electrical outlet and plugged into a wall jack for the Ethernet, and you're done. It comes up, it gets configured through your Web browser on whatever machine you want to have in the apartment with it, and it goes and fetches all your social networking data from all the social networking applications, closing all your accounts. It backs itself up in an encrypted way to your friends' plugs, so that everybody is secure in the way that would be best for them, by having their friends holding the secure version of their data.' Could such a plan work, or is it simply too late to get people to give up their Facebook accounts for something that gives them more freedom?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Seven years of war in Iraq.

Seven years ago today, President Bush launched the Iraq war. In a televised address to the nation, Bush told the American people “at this hour American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.” Over the last several years, ThinkProgress has been keeping a Timeline of the Iraq War, marking the key events in the U.S. invasion, occupation, and now ongoing withdrawal from the country. Among the most significant events of the last year were:

JUNE 30, 2009: Jubilation as U.S. Combat Troops Withdraw From Cities. Six years and three months after the March 2003 invasion, the United States has withdrawn its remaining combat troops from Iraqs cities and is turning over security to Iraqi police and soldiers. While more than 130,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, patrols by heavily armed soldiers in hulking vehicles have largely disappeared from Baghdad, Mosul and Iraqs other urban centers. Iraqis danced in the streets and set off fireworks overnight in impromptu celebrations of a pivotal moment in their nations troubled history. The government staged a military parade to mark the new national holiday of National Sovereignty Day, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki made a triumphant, nationally televised address. [Washington Post, 6/30/09]
AUGUST 11, 2009: Massive Bombings In Northern Iraq and Baghdad. Two truck bombings in northern Iraq and attacks targeting day laborers in western Baghdad killed at least 51 people and wounded scores early Monday, Iraqi authorities said. The attacks underscored the Sunni insurgencys continued ability to inflict mass casualties as the countrys Shiite-led government tries to demonstrate it can handle security with minimal assistance from the U.S. military. [Washington Post, 8/11/09]
JANUARY 7, 2010: Iraq bars 15 political parties with Baathist ties from upcoming elections. At least 15 parties will be banned from upcoming parliamentary elections because they have been linked to Saddam Husseins Baath Party or have promoted Baathist ideals, Iraqi officials said Thursday. The decision by the Justice and Accountability Commission, in charge of cleansing high-level Baathists from the ranks of the government and security forces, seemed to be an attempt to purge candidates with links to the old political order, many of whom are popular among secular nationalist voters. The move is a blow to hopes of bringing opposition figures who turned to violent resistance over the past seven years into the political fold, part of the U.S. strategy to bolster the government. [Washington Post, 1/8/10]

On March 7, Iraqis braved terrorist attacks to go to the polls in Iraq’s second parliamentary election since the U.S. invasion. Latest returns show that incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Maliki “has strengthened his lead over main rival Iyad Allawi in Iraq’s parliamentary elections, with partial results now in from all 18 provinces.”

Memory Cards of 3,000 Phones Infected By Malware

itwbennett sends us a few links from IT World tracing a story about infected microSD cards in Vodaphone-supplied mobile phones. "The original report came on March 8 after an employee of Panda Security plugged a newly ordered HTC Magic phone from Vodafone into a Windows computer, where it triggered an alert from the antivirus software. Further inspection of the phone found the device's 8GB microSD memory card was infected with a client for the now-defunct Mariposa botnet, the Conficker worm, and a password stealer for the Lineage game. At that point it was at thought to be an issue with a specific refurbished phone. On Wednesday another phone surfaced with traces of the Mariposa botnet. And now Vodafone is saying that as many as 3,000 HTC Magic phones may be affected."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Neil Young documentary captures raw energy of live show (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:14:36 -0400

Reuters - Following up on 2006's "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" with the second film in an anticipated concert trilogy, Jonathan Demme returns with "Neil Young Trunk Show: Scenes from a Concert," an appreciably more visceral and spontaneous documentary.

Final book in 'Fablehaven' series due out Tuesday (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:07:36 -0400

AP - As he toiled away in the basement of his home, Brandon Mull quickly ditched the mundane for a world teeming with zombies, trolls, imps and centaurs.

Ellen presents $30K to Miss. lesbian in prom flap (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:03:00 -0400

AP - A lesbian high school student embroiled in a legal flap over her school's prom policy has received a $30,000 scholarship on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

ThinkFast: March 19, 2010

Yesterday, two House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November, Rep. Betsy Markey (D-CO) and Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), announced that they will vote yes on the new package. Additionally, previous “yes” votes who were wavering, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Rep. Mark Schauer (D-MI), announced that they will vote for the bill. Rep. Steven Lynch (D-MA), who supported the bill in November, says he will vote no.

“Republican lawyers” are already gearing up for a legal challenge against health care reform,” conducting research and drafting arguments for lawsuits that could be filed within days or weeks, particularly if House leaders decide to go forward with a ‘deem & pass’ rule.’”

“The White House is nearing a deal with a bipartisan group of senators to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and pave the way for more detainees to be tried before military commissions,” the Wall Street Journal reports. The deal is being worked out with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Richard Durbin (D-IL). “Senate Democratic aides say Mr. Graham believes two other Republicans are willing to join the compromise.”

A federal grand jury yesterday subpoenaed documents from the National Republican Senatorial Committee as part of its investigation into what actions Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) undertook to cover up his affair. The issuance of subpoenas by the U.S. Department of Justice in addition to the Senate Ethics Committee indicates a new phase in the investigations, casting further doubt on the political future of Ensign, who a year ago was a rising GOP star.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said, I dont see a set of sanctions coming along that would be so detrimental to the Iranians that they are going to stop that program. He added, So ultimately, the solution has to be a negotiated one.

The Mideast Quartet — which consists of the United States, Russia, European Union, and United Nations — condemned Israel’s announcement that it would be building 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem. The Quartet also called for the creation of a Palestinian state within two years.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) has agreed with House Democratic leaders to eliminate a provision in the reconciliation bill that would’ve given his home state bank, the Bank of North Dakota, an exemption from new federal student loan rules. The provision would’ve allowed the bank to continue lending to students even though the legislation was designed to eliminate lending middlemen.

Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “announced the building blocks” of “a new push in Congress to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws” in a Washington Post op-ed, published online yesterday. President Obama quickly gave it his support and urged Congress “to act at the earliest possible opportunity.”

In the cover article for The Nation, The Wonk Rooms Matt Duss writes about the activities of Dick and Liz Cheney. Their larger goal, then, is to resuscitate the neocons’ post-September 11 vision of a world in which the United States, unbound by rules or reality, imposes its will on friend and enemy alike, Duss writes.

And finally: Jon Stewart parodies Glenn Beck again. The Comedy Central host opened his show with a 15-minute mockery of Beck, taking aim at Becks conspiratorial rantings about progressivism. Watch it here.

Follow ThinkProgress on Twitter.

New Study Estimates Mass Deportation Of Undocumented Immigrants Would Cost $285 Billion

This weekend, several thousands of people are expected to gather on the National Mall to demand action on immigration reform. The immigration restrictionist group NumbersUSA is meanwhile responding with a four-day campaign to “stop amnesty” which starts today.

However, a study released this afternoon by the Center for American Progress shows that the enforcement-only approach that restrictionist groups incessantly advocate for isn’t sustainable in the long-term. CAP estimates that a strategy aimed at deporting the nation’s population of undocumented immigrants would total approximately $285 billion over five years. According to the report, a deportation-only policy would amount to $922 in new taxes for “every man, woman, and child in this country”:

The undeniable conclusion from these findings is that the federal price tag to deport all undocumented immigrants currently in the United States is prohibitive. The operational feasibility of such a massive effort is dubious at best. It would require an unprecedented deployment of resources, and the problems currently plaguing our detention system and immigration courts would be exacerbated in the extreme and would likely precipitate widespread human rights and due process violations. Moreover, a mass deportation strategy would have a crippling impact on economic growth. The exorbitant direct costs of such a strategy detailed in this report should be the final nail in the coffin of a moribund idea.

Groups that support an enforcement-only approach to immigration insist that they do not advocate a policy of mass deportation, but rather support an “attrition through enforcement” strategy — a harsh strategy used to wear down the will of undocumented immigrants through increased deportations, detentions, and anti-immigrant ordinances. According to these groups, many immigrants will choose to deport themselves at minimal cost to the U.S. taxpayer. However, research has shown that ramped up enforcement doesn’t drive most immigrants back to their home countries, rather it only pushes them deeper into the shadows.

Even if the U.S. didn’t aim to deport every single undocumented immigrant, the costs associated with any large-scale deportation program like the anti-immigration groups propose are significant. CAP estimates that it costs $23,148 for each person to be apprehended, detained, legally processed, and finally transported
out of the country. ICE deported 349,041 immigrants during the 2008 fiscal year ending September 30. Using CAP’s estimates, that means that the government spent approximately $8,079,601,068 last year alone.

Ultimately, anti-immigration groups couldn’t even wish undocumented immigrants away for free. In a paper released in January, UCLA professor Ral Hinojosa-Ojeda published research which found that if undocumented immigrants were removed from the economy, it would reduce U.S. GDP by $2.6 trillion over ten years. Hinojosa-Ojeda also affirmed that if undocumented immigrants were put on an earned path to legalization as part of a comprehensive immigration reform package, it would result in at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years.

More at Wonk Room.

LHC Hits an Energy of 3.5TeV

Inovaovao writes "As announced on Twitter by the CMS experiment, the LHC has finally accelerated both beams to 3.5 TeV for the first time. It thus broke the previous energy record of 1.18 TeV it had set last fall, about a month since operations started again this year. It'll be a while yet before we see stable beams and collisions at 3.5 TeV. You won't get much of a clue to the timetable by reading the General Manager's pompous announcements. If you want to follow what's going on, look at the Status Ops."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Court orders Fed to release bailout documents (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:25:55 -0400

Reuters - In a significant victory for news media, a federal appeals court said the Federal Reserve must disclose records on emergency lending programs to banks bailed out by the government in the financial crisis.

Gays Are More Dangerous Than Guns In Florida

Yesterday, the Florida legislature passed legislation — backed by the National Rifle Association — that would bar adoption agencies from asking whether prospective parents have guns or ammunition in their homes. The bill “rocketed” out of the legislature and now just needs the signature of Gov. Charlie Crist (R), who supports the measure. The AP explains what prompted the bill:

The issue of adoptions by gun owners came to light after a few prospective parents complained last year that the Children’s Home Society of Florida, the state’s largest provider of services to children and families, was asking applicants to disclose information about weapons or ammunition they keep at home. Florida law bans state agencies or their agents from maintaining a registry of firearm owners.

Florida officials said that the gun measure — which passed unanimously in the House and with the support of everyone except two Democrats in the Senate — “fixes a problem that wasn’t widespread and was the result of a mix-up at the Children’s Home Society.” State Democratic lawmaker Evan Jenne argued that the bill was relatively “innocuous,” and Democratic Rep. Scott Randolph said it was “pandering” to the NRA. Rep. Mike Horner (R) decided to sponsor the bill after an adoption agency asked whether he owned a gun when he and his wife were looking to adopt.

Basically, what Florida is saying is that it’s totally fine to own guns if you want to adopt children — just as long as you’re not gay. While state legislators rushed to pass the NRA-backed measure that fixes a relatively small problem, they still haven’t addressed the major issue that gay families are banned from adopting children. A couple of state lawmakers tried to introduce amendments to the gun bill that would have also barred “adoption agencies from inquiring about a persons sexual orientation as a requisite for adoption,” but they eventually had to withdraw them.

Florida is the only state to explicitly outlaw gay and lesbian adoptions. The state implemented its ban in 1977 — two years before the first reported case of an adoption by an openly gay person anywhere in the country. Until this week, there hadn’t been a serious debate on the Florida gay adoption ban in the law’s 33-year history.

A recent Quinnipiac poll found that a majority of Floridians now oppose the ban and three recent court decisions have ruled that the ban violates Floridas constitution. Currently, the issue is now before Floridas Third District Court of Appeals and is headed most likely to the state Supreme Court.

Oprah, schoolgirls to testify at defamation trial (AP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:58 -0400

AP - Oprah Winfrey and several schoolgirls allegedly abused at her academy in South Africa are expected to testify in a trial over a defamation lawsuit brought by the school's former headmistress, whose performance Winfrey criticized.

Google Reported Ready To Leave China April 10

A number of readers including tsj5j and bruleriestdenis wrote to alert us to this CNET story: "Google is expected to announce on Monday that it will withdraw from China on April 10, according to a report in a Beijing-based newspaper that cited an unidentified sales associate who works with the company. 'I have received information saying that Google will leave China on April 10, but this information has not at present been confirmed by Google,' the China Business News quoted the agent as saying. The report also said Google would reveal its plans for its China-based staff that day."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

$99 Moby Tablet As Textbook Alternative

Taco Cowboy writes "Marvell's Moby tablet will be an always-on, high performance multimedia tablet capable of full Flash support and 1080p HD playback and supporting WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS and both Android and Windows Mobile platforms for maximum flexibility. It could eliminate the need for students to buy and carry bound textbooks and an array of other tools. The tablet is expected to hold a full year's worth of books but weigh less than half of one typical textbook." The tablet is a bit vaporous at this point, but if the final device comes anywhere near these specs and price point, it could be attractive.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

GOP Congressmen Say That ‘Everyone’ In Congress ‘Would Agree That Iraq Was A Mistake’

Yesterday, the libertarian Cato Institute hosted a panel discussion on conservatism and the war in Afghanistan with Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Rep. John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN). When the conversation shifted to the war in Iraq, Rohrabacher said that “once President Bush decided to go into Iraq, I thought it was a mistake because we hadn’t finished the job in Afghanistan,” but that once Bush “decided to go in,” he “felt compelled” to “back him up.” He then added that “the decision to go in, in retrospect, almost all of us think that was a horrible mistake.”

Moderator Grover Norquist then asked Rohrabacher to provide a “guesstimate percentage of Republicans in Congress who would share that view — not that they opposed the President at the time, but today looking back.” Rohrabacher replied that “everybody I know thinks it was a mistake to go in now”:

ROHRABACHER: Well, now that we know that it cost a trillion dollars and all of these years and all of these lives and all of this blood, uh, I don’t know many…
NORQUIST: Looking for a number. Two-thirds? One-third?
ROHRABACHER: I, I can’t. All I can say is the people, everybody I know thinks it was a mistake to go in now.
NORQUIST: That’s 100 percent.

Norquist then turned to McClintock, asking “what percentage”:

NORQUIST: Of Republicans in Congress, who would agree with the general analysis here that it was a mistake and/or we should go in.
MCCLINTOCK: I think everyone would agree Iraq was a mistake.
NORQUIST: Two hundred percents. Ok, we’re going to average these.
MCCLINTOCK: And, you know, again, I think virtually everyone would agree going into Afghanistan the way we did was a mistake. How many share my, my cynicism over this idea of a resolution of force, which I can’t find anywhere in the Constitution. And how many believe that in those rare cases where we go in, we put all of our resources behind our soldiers, I would say certainly more than half of the Republican caucus probably believe that.

Asked for a number by Norquist, Duncan refused to say, but shared an anecdote of how unpopular the war is politically in his conservative military district. Watch it:

McClintock wasn’t in Congress when the Iraq war was authorized. Duncan voted against the authorization of military force while Rohrabacher voted for it.

Poll: Majority of Israelis find Obama ‘fair’ or ‘friendly.’

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reports that, according to a new poll examining Israeli attitudes toward President Obama, “a sweeping majority of Israelis think his treatment of this country [Israel] is friendly and fair.” The poll found that 51 percent of Israelis say Obama is “fair”, and 18 percent say he’s “friendly.” Another 21 percent find him hostile. By comparison, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party is losing ground:

The paper linked the shift against Likud to frayed relations between Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama over Israel’s continuing settlement expansion in the West Bank, but did not present findings on the Israeli leader’s personal popularity.
It said a majority of 64 percent felt that the Netanyahu coalition’s policies “do not represent” their wishes.

The poll is the latest evidence rebutting conservative claims that Obama is unpopular in Israel. In December, a poll (pdf) commissioned by the New American Foundation found that 52 percent of Israelis “believe that Obama’s election is good for addressing the worlds problems,” and that Obama had an overall 41 percent favorable/37 percent unfavorable rating, which was stronger than Israeli opinions toward the Israeli Defense and Foreign Ministers.

Invisibility Cloak Created In 3D

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists have created the first device to render an object invisible in three dimensions. The 'cloak,' described in the journal Science (abstract; full text requires login), hid an object from detection using light of wavelengths close to those that are visible to humans. Previous devices have been able to hide objects from light travelling in only one direction; viewed from any other angle, the object would remain visible. This is a very early but significant step towards a true invisibility cloak." The "object" hidden in this work was a bump one micrometer high. The light used was just longer than the wavelengths our eyes detect. To get a visible-light cloak, the features of the cloaking metamaterial would need to be reduced in size from 300 nm to 10 nm.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Microsoft Lifts XP Mode Hardware Requirement

An anonymous reader writes "This week, Microsoft published a patch that allows Windows XP Mode to run on PCs without hardware-assisted virtualization. Which begs the question: Why the bizarro requirement in the first place? Was it an honest attempt to deliver an 'optimal' user experience? Or simply a concession to the company's jilted lover, Intel Corporation — 'a kind of apology for royally screwing up with the whole Windows Vista “too fat to fit” debacle,' as the blog post puts it."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Rep. Paul Broun: The ramifications of health reform will be like ‘the Great War of Yankee Aggression.’

As the vote on health care approaches, Republican lawmakers are attacking the legislation with increasingly bizarre and hateful comments. Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), a far right lawmaker who has led much of the opposition to health reform, took to the floor of the House of Representatives last night to deliver a diatribe against health reform. Previously, Broun had compared President Obama to a dictator who would impose martial law. But last night, Broun out-performed his reactionary colleagues and even his own track record of absurdity. Bellowing into the microphone, Broun said that “if ObamaCare passes,” a “free insurance card” (which is not in the bill) will be “as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the “Great War of Yankee Aggression“:

BROUN: If ObamaCare passes, that free insurance card that’s in people’s pockets is gonna be as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the War Between The States — the Great War of Yankee Aggression.

Watch it:

Rather than simply distort the legislation by lying about how much it costs or how it will affect people, the right has tried to build opposition to health reform using racial, militant rhetoric. As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) compared health reform to a Japanese suicide bombing attack. And Glenn Beck has continuously referred to health reform as “reparations” for slavery. But Broun’s analogy between health reform and a “Great War of Yankee Aggression” might take the cake for its coded racism, historical revisionism, and outright level of detachment from reality. (HT: Media Matters Action Network)

US Military Shuts Down CIA's Terrorist Honey Pot

Hugh Pickens sends in a Washington Post story about how US military cyber-warriors attacked and shut down a CIA-backed intelligence gathering site. "US military computer specialists, over the objections of the CIA, mounted a cyberattack that dismantled an online 'honey pot' monitored by US and Saudi intelligence agencies to identify extremists before they could strike, after military commanders said that the site was putting Americans at risk. The CIA argued that dismantling the site would lead to a significant loss of intelligence, while the military (in the form of the NSA) countered that taking it down was a legitimate operation in defense of US troops. 'The CIA didn't endorse the idea of crippling Web sites,' said one US counterterrorism official. The agency 'understood that intelligence would be lost, and it was; that relationships with cooperating intelligence services would be damaged, and they were; and that the terrorists would migrate to other sites, and they did.' Four former senior US officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the creation and shutting down of the site illustrates the need for clearer policies governing cyberwar."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Peeps on Parade

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:22:36 -0400

The family-friendly Peep Show, held in York, Neb., is a celebration of the chewy marshmellow treat. This year, seven official judges determined winners in six categories, and nearly 300 spectators filled out ballots to pick the Peeple's Choice award among the 75 entries.

Sport - United States - Baseball - Rogers Centre - FieldTurf

Ben Stiller Turns Down the Volume at the "Greenberg" Premiere (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:09:00 -0400

Fashion Wire Daily - You might not even recognize Ben Stiller at the moment, for the usually bulked-up, over-the-top comedic actor has transformed himself into a low-key guy for his latest film, the dry comedy "Greenberg."

Skirting One City's Open Container Laws

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:57:52 -0400

Thousands of beer-loving partiers are expected to descend on a quiet San Diego bay this weekend for massive gathering -- Floatopia -- that takes advantage of, even celebrates, a loophole the city's liquor laws.

San Diego - United States - California - Counties - Business and Economy

Dutch officials call Sheehan’s theory blaming gay soldiers for the Srebrenica massacre ‘complete nonsense.’

Yesterday, ret. Gen. John J. Sheehan, the former Supreme Allied Commander for NATO, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) could harm the competency of the U.S. military. To back up his claim, he argued that Netherlands’ allowance of gay men and women to serve openly played a role in the devastating Srebrenica genocide in 1995. From his exchange with committee chairman Carl Levin (D-MI):

SHEEHAN: The case in point that Im referring to was when the Dutch were required to defend Sbrenecia against the Serbs, the battalion was understrength, poorly led. And the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone polls, marched the Muslims off and executed them. That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II.
LEVIN: And did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?
SHEEHAN: It was a combination
LEVIN: Did they tell you that?
SHEEHAN: Yes.

Dutch officials, however, are forcefully rejecting Sheehan’s outrageous claim. “It is astonishing that a man of his stature can utter such complete nonsense,” said the Dutch defense ministry spokesman, pointing out that international investigations of the Srebrenica massacre found no evidence “that the sexual orientation of soldiers played a role.” The Dutch ambassador to the United States said she “couldn’t disagree more” with Sheehan’s statement, and Dutch caretaker Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop called the claim “‘damaging’ and not worthy of a soldier. ‘I don’t want to waste any more words on it,’ he said.” Gen. Henk van den Breemen, Dutch Chief of Staff at the time of the Srebrenica genocide, added that Sheehan was spouting “total nonsense.”

Sandra a Total Mess Over Jesse's Infidelities?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:28:53 -0400

Sandra a Total Mess Over Jesse's Infidelities?

PHOTOS: Nebraska's 'Peep Show'

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:20:04 -0400

Nearly 300 spectators filed through the city auditorium in the small town of York, Neb., on March 13 for the third annual Peep Show. It was a celebration of all things Peeps, with the main attraction being the 75 entries in the Peep-themed art show. The event drew several hundred spectators to the city auditorium in the town of 8,000 people.

Nebraska - Peeps - York - United States - Organizations

China orders crackdown on cooking oil over cancer link (AFP)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:17:06 -0400

AFP - China's food safety watchdog has ordered inspections of cooking oil nationwide as reports Friday said up to one-tenth of Chinese supplies were illegally made and contained cancer-causing agents.

VIDEO: Bret Baier Interviewing Obama Vs. Bret Baier Interviewing Bush

Yesterday, Fox News anchor Bret Baier aired his 19-minute exclusive interview with President Obama, where he frequently interjected and interrupted the President. (Raw Story counted 16 such instances.) The right wing gave Baier kudos for the interview, saying he “showed us how a genuine professional TV journalist works.”

Baier’s tenacity, however, seems reserved only for Democratic presidents. His interviews with President Bush were far friendlier, with questions like, “What are you reading now?” and “Do you believe that there hasn’t been a terrorist attack on U.S. soil in more than seven years because of the policies your administration has implemented?”

Today on Fox News, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace defended Baier’s technique, saying that he needed to get in more questions and prevent Obama from “giving talking points.” But Baier had no problem with allowing Bush to give talking points in interviews. ThinkProgress has compiled some moments of Baier’s final interview with Bush versus his recent interview with Obama. Watch it:

This compilation doesn’t even include Baier’s infamous January 2008 documentary “George W. Bush: Fighting to the Finish,” on which he remarked:

We talked a lot about President Lincoln. And theres going to be a lot of people out there who watch this hour and say, is he trying to equate himself with Lincoln?
I tell you what he thinks about Lincoln and the tough times that he had during the Civil War. 600,000 dead. The country essentially hated him when he was leaving office.
And the President reflects on that. This is a President who is really reflecting on his place in history.

Note that despite Baier’s attempts to back up Bush’s delusional comparison, Lincoln wasnt hated when he left office; he was assassinated just after being re-elected by an overwhelming margin.

Holder-in-Chief Coburn issues far-fetched threat against Democrats who switch votes in favor of health reform.

During a GOP press conference today, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) issued a far-fetched threat against those Democrats who are considering switching their votes to support health reform. If you voted no and you vote yes and you lose your election and you think any nomination to a federal position isnt going to be held in the Senate, Ive got news for you, its going to be held, Coburn said. Calling Coburn the holder-in-chief, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) said, I look forward to those holds. Watch it:

To be clear, Coburn — who has placed holds on everything from veterans benefits bills to sanctions against a mass-murdering African militia — is targeting the small number of Democrats who switch their votes, and then are subsequently defeated, and later nominated by President Obama for a Senate-confirmed federal appointment. In other words, Coburns threat pertains to a highly improbable event. There is no limit to what the other side will do to protect the insurance companies, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Quartet hopes package will unlock Middle East talks (Reuters)

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:42:32 -0400

Reuters - Two members of the international quartet of Middle East mediators suggested on Friday that stalled indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians may be unblocked in coming days.

Coughing Horses at Spanish Riding School

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:50:09 -0400

Coughing horses cause cancellations at Austria's renowned Spanish Riding School.

Horse - Spanish Riding School - Equestrian - Sports - Riding Stables

Top 12 Budget Honeymoons in the USA

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:44:51 -0400

From Cape Cod to Palm Springs, these destinations are perfect for newlyweds.

United States - Palm Springs California - Palm Springs - Counties - Travel and Tourism

WATCH: Does This Restaurant Serve Up Ghosts?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:17:28 -0400

The owner of a North Carolina eatery says her business has a ghost.

North Carolina - United States - Business - Business and Economy - Health

Sen. Lindsey Graham and Glenn Beck Agree: Health Reform Is Like A Japanese Bombing Attack

Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA)

Throughout the health reform debate, GOP lawmakers have tried desperately to smear health reform with increasingly bizarre and extreme remarks. In an interview on Monday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) added to the hyperbole, comparing the House Democrats’ efforts to pass healthcare reform legislation to a Japanese kamikaze mission. “Nancy Pelosi, I think, has got them all liquored up on sake and you know, they’re making a suicide run here,” Graham said.

Picking up on Graham’s theme, Glenn Beck today similarly smeared health reform as the attack on Pearl Harbor. On his radio show, Beck intoned that reform “is like Pearl Harbor” because “people will wake up” to the “battle”:

BECK: The second thing is to prepare yourself. This is a battle. Health care is a battle. It’s a battle — it’s not the war. It’s a battle. Believe me, if you are a group that has values and principles, and you are peaceful, your power is about to go through the roof, not through the floor. Because people are — this event is like Pearl Harbor. It will wake people up and they’ll go, “wait, wait, wait. What did they just do?”

Listen here:

Blasting Graham’s remarks, Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) — a Japanese American who was interned in a prison camp during World War II because of his heritage — said he was “disheartened” that the South Carolina senator “chose racially tinged rhetoric to express his opposition to health care reform.” He added, “there is a way to engage in healthy debate without alienating Asian Americans, who are an important part of this democracy and healthcare reform.”

Disregarding Honda’s plea for a substantive and nonracial health reform debate, Graham explained that his “comments really reflect the fanaticism of the Democratic leadership. I don’t know whether it’s sake or moonshine but no sober person would do this.” “For the senator to add ‘moonshiners’ to an already unsavory sake and suicide statement does a disservice to the underlying issue,” Honda replied in a statement. “I question who has, in fact — to use the senator’s words — lost their political mind.”

Bachmann: ‘I don’t mean any disrespect’ when I accuse the media of ‘treason.’

As ThinkProgress noted yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) accused the media of “treason” on Sean Hannity’s radio show on Monday, claiming that they are not telling this story that Speaker Nancy Pelosi would even consider having us pass a bill that no one votes on. When Bill Bennett suggested on his radio show today that the media has shown “disgust” over the parliamentary procedures, Bachmann agreed, adding that she doesn’t “mean any disrespect” when she refers to the press as the “treason media”:

BENNETT: Are you kind of surprised with even the media’s disgust with the procedures?
BACHMANN: Well, I’m amazed that they actually were willing to be shocked. Because for most of the time they have been, and you know, I don’t mean any disrespect, but they’ve been treason media. They haven’t been telling the whole story. Unlike the shows like yours. You’re doing that.

Listen here:

Bachmann’s contempt for the media is somewhat ironic considering she courts them so habitually. In August, Smart Politics calculated that Bachmann appears on national cable news every 9 days — though the majority of those appearances were on Fox News and Fox Business.

Michael Steele Delivers Joe Wilson-Like Policy Analysis Of CBO Report: Thats A Lie

Earlier today, the Congressional Budget Office released a preliminary analysis of the health care reform reconciliation package, concluding that it would cost $940 billion over 10 years, reduce the deficit by $138 billion over 10 years and by $1.2 trillion over 20 years. Republicans, however, are either dismissing the numbers or asserting that the report shows that health care reform is not “gonna save the taxpayers’ money.”

On CNN today, RNC Chairman Michael Steele — who has previously said he doesnt do policy — took a page out of Rep. Joe Wilsons (R-SC) book and directly accused the CBO of lying:

STEELE: Can you just give me an honest number, Rick? How much do you really, legitimately think, adding, using the president’s number, 30 million people to a health care system that you just said doesn’t work is going to cost the American taxpayer? How much you think it’s really gonna? $940 billion dollars over ten years. So, you telling me an additional $940 billion dollars a year is going to make all of our problems go away?
SANCHEZ: According to the calculations that we did and according to the calculations the Democrats are announcing today, it’s going to save in the deficit for the United States citizens $1.2 trillion. Do you believe that’s not true?
STEELE: Ok, can I, I got two words for you — three words, three words.
SANCHEZ: Go, go.
STEELE: That’s a lie.

When Sanchez pointed out that Steele is “arguing with the CBO,” Steele responded by saying, “let me tell you about the CBO.” “Since they’ve been taken down to the woodshed at the White House last year, you can’t believe the numbers,” said Steele. “CBO is only as good as what you put into it.” “You’re saying the president of the United States is corrupted the CBO with a personal phone call or visit?” asked Sanchez. Steele then backtracked a bit, claiming that he was “just saying that, look, this whole process has not worked on behalf of the American people.” Watch it:

This isn’t the first time Steele has accused President Obama of intimidating the CBO into changing its numbers. In December, cited a July 2009 meeting at the White House with CBO head Douglas Elmendorf and other economists — which he said was the Obama taking Elemendorf “to the woodshed” — to dismiss a positive CBO score for health care legislation. “All of a sudden they’re getting these numbers that fall right within the framework of what they’re trying to do,” said Steele. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called Steele’s claim “delusional.”

Additionally, it’s odd that Steele says “you can’t believe the numbers” ever since that July 2009 meeting because Steele and the RNC have cited CBO numbers since then to support their arguments. In fact, as recently as March 5, the RNC invoked the CBO to criticize Obama’s proposed bank fee.

DADT Repeal Opponent Blames Srebrenica Genocide On Gay Servicemembers In The Dutch Military

Ret. General John J. Sheehan, former Supreme Allied Commander for NATO, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee today on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT), arguing against repeal. Sheehan argued that repeal should not occur unless the review of the policy shows that a change would improve the U.S. military with no net-negative consequences.

Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) asked Sheehan whether he had heard any complaints about unit cohesion or morale in his experience with NATO allies who have integrated forces. Sheehan not only said that he did, but he said that having openly gay men and women serve could affect combat cohesion. Singling out the Dutch military’s response to the Srebrenica genocide by the Serbs in 1995, Sheehan said that the Netherlands’ allowance of gay men and women to serve openly actually played a role in the massacre:

SHEEHAN: The case in point that I’m referring to was when the Dutch were required to defend Sbrenecia against the Serbs, the battalion was understrength, poorly led. And the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone polls, marched the Muslims off and executed them. That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II.
LEVIN: And did the Dutch leaders tell you it was because there were gay soldiers there?
SHEEHAN: It was a combination –
LEVIN: Did they tell you that?
SHEEHAN: Yes.
LEVIN: That’s my question.
SHEEHAN: They included that as part of the problem.
LEVIN: That there were gay soldiers among the Dutch force.
SHEEHAN: The combination was the liberalization of the military, the net effect of basically social engineering.

Later in the hearing, former Air Force Major Michael Almy — who had been discharged because of DADT — cited his experience with the Dutch army, describing their integration of openly gay soldiers as a “non-issue.” Levin also disputed Sheehan’s charge that gay men and women were not great fighters and contributed to the genocide:

LEVIN: I think we all remember Srebrenica. But I think that any effort to connect the failure on the part of Dutch to the fact that they have homosexuals or did allow homosexuals I think is totally off target. And I’ve seen no suggestion of that, I’ve seen the failures that you talk about general, that their training being peacekeeping and not being trained to do the combat work that needed to be done is accurate. In terms of any attribution to the fact that they have allowed gays in the military is no more on point than the fact that they may have allowed Dutch Africans or women, if there were women. [...]
They were trained to be peacekeepers, not peace enforcers. I totally agree with that. But to slip over, slide over from that into a suggestion that it had something to do with the fact that homosexuals were allowed in the Dutch army suggests that somehow or other homosexuals are not great fighters. And I think that’s totally wrong.

Watch it:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) also disputed Sheehan’s argument that integrated foreign militaries were somehow less combat ready, citing the British force, which has served alongside U.S. servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Srebrenica genocide was the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II. In July 1995, over 7,000 Bosnian Muslims by the Bosnian Serb Army. A force of 450 Dutch soldiers, serving as U.N. peacekeepers, were unable to prevent the massacre, but that had nothing to do with the fact that their force was integrated.

– Nick McClellan

Summers Takes On Boehner: Punk Staffers Arent The Problem, Bank Lobbyists Are

Yesterday, speaking at the American Bankers Association governmental relations summit, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) told the gathered bankers to fight Congressional financial reform efforts. “Dont let those little punk staffers take advantage of you and stand up for yourselves, Boehner said.

Today, White House National Economic Council Director Larry Summers fired back at Boehner, saying that bankers certainly do not need any help in their effort to blunt regulatory reform:

“I do not think that those who want to address these issues are ‘little punk staffers’ who need to be stood up to,” Summers said in a speech at the National Press Club…At a moment when there are four lobbyists per member of the House and Senate working on this issue, we in the Administration do not believe that the prominent issue is allowing bankers to stand up for themselves.”

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) also wrote a letter to Boehner, saying, “I am appalled that a Leader of the House, who must know what good work is done by our staffs, would take such an inaccurate cheap-shot at these people, for the purpose of ingratiating himself with bankers.” Frank called on Boehner to apologize for the remark.

Boehner’s remarks are simply part of a long-running effort by Republicans to ingratiate themselves with the financial industry. Boehner has met with JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to troll for campaign contributions, while Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he visited New York about twice a month to try to tap into Wall Streets buyers remorse with Democrats. Back in December, House Republicans huddled with more than 100 financial services lobbyists to come up with a strategy for killing financial reform. And just today, as Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) told the ABA summit that “if there were 59 Senate Republicans, ‘you wouldn’t have to worry about a new consumer agency.”

But as Summers noted, it’s not as if the financial services industry and its allies need any help. The Chamber of Commerce has already pledged to spend $3 million fighting financial reform, and that’s chump change compared to what the banks themselves spend. All told, the financial services industry spent $500 million on lobbying in 2009. In their respective careers, Boehner has received $3.4 million from the financial services industry, while Shelby has received $5.2 million, which is $2.2 million more than he’s received from any other industry.

Cross-posted on The Wonk Room.

ADL asserts Gen. Petraeus ‘erred’ in his recent congressional testimony.

In his recent testimony (pdf) before the Senate Armed Services Committee, CENTCOM chief Gen. David Petraeus stated that “insufficient progress toward a comprehensive Middle East peace” is among the “issues that serve as major drivers of instability, inter-state tensions, and conflict. Today, the Anti-Defamation League released a statement accusing Gen. Petraeus of error:

The assumptions Gen. Petraeus presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee wrongly attribute “insufficient progress” in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and “a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel” as significantly impeding the U.S. military mission in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and in dealing with the Iranian influences in the region. It is that much more of a concern to hear this coming from such a great American patriot and hero.
The General’s assertions lead to the illusory conclusion that if only there was a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the U.S. could successfully complete its mission in the region.
Gen. Petraeus has simply erred in linking the challenges faced by the U.S. and coalition forces in the region to a solution of the Israeli-Arab conflict, and blaming extremist activities on the absence of peace and the perceived U.S. favoritism for Israel. This linkage is dangerous and counterproductive.
Whenever the Israeli-Arab conflict is made a focal point, Israel comes to be seen as the problem. If only Israel would stop settlements, if only Israel would talk with Hamas, if only Israel would make concessions on refugees, if only it would share Jerusalem, everything in the region would then fall into line.

This is a clear misrepresentation of what Gen. Petraeus said. Petraeus offered his professional military opinion — shared by many others, including the 2006 Iraq Study Group — that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a key driver of instability in the Middle East, and that working toward a resolution to the conflict is an essential U.S. national security interest. The ADL offered no facts to dispute this conclusion.

Rep. Steve King and Glenn Beck agree: Voting for health reform on Sunday is an affront to God.

With this morning’s release of the Congressional Budget Office’s reconciliation package score, the House appears ready to vote on health care reform this Sunday. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) — speaking with Fox News host Glenn Beck on his radio show this morning — said the timing of the vote is unholy. He warned that Democrats intend to “take away the liberty that we have right from God” on “the Sabbath, during Lent.” Beck agreed, calling the Sunday vote an “affront to God,” and something “our founders would have never” done “[o]ut of respect for God”:

KING: They intend to vote on the Sabbath, during Lent, to take away the liberty that we have right from God. [...]
BECK: You couldn’t have said it better. Here is a group of people that have so perverted our faith and our hope and our charity, that is a — this is an affront to God. And I honestly, I don’t think anybody is like, “yes, and now what we’ll do is we’ll vote on the Sabbath.” But I think it’s absolutely appropriate that these people are trying to put the nail in the coffin on our country on a Sunday — something our founders would have never, ever, ever done. Out of respect for God.

On Palm Sunday in 2005, the Republican-controlled Senate passed a controversial bill to allow a federal court to intervene in the case of Terri Schiavo. The House passed the same bill shortly after midnight on Monday morning.

Health Tip: Check Your Skin for Signs of Cancer (HealthDay)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:49:22 -0400

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Regular self-exams of the skin can help you spot the beginning signs of skin cancer, allowing you to start treatment while the cancer is in its early stage.

More Kids Now Extremely Obese (HealthDay)

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:49:06 -0400

HealthDay - THURSDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- The obesity epidemic is hitting children harder than ever, with 7.3 percent of boys and 5.5 percent of girls classified as extremely obese in a California study, researchers from Kaiser Permanente report.

LeAnn and Eddie Enjoy Family Getaway

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:28:53 -0400

LeAnn and Eddie Enjoy Family Getaway

Britney Steps Out With Agent-Beau

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:28:53 -0400

Britney Steps Out With Agent-Beau

Kim Kardashian