Sunday News Roundup

Good Morning Conflucians!!!

Election fever is upon us. And it’s not pretty out there. We’ve heard what the politicians have to say, we’ve heard what the pundits have to say, and we’ve heard what blogastan has to say.  Only 16 days until we discover what Americans have say. Let’s see what’s in the news.

As is often the case, when economic times get rough, everyone looks for who to blame. Instead of the obvious culprits, assuming it’s not a natural, expected part of some cycle, which is almost always who has power, the people in power help everyone find someone else to blame. Often it’s the foreigners. There is perhaps some of that happening in Germany:

Mrs Merkel told a gathering of younger members of her conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party on Saturday that at “the beginning of the 60s our country called the foreign workers to come to Germany and now they live in our country… We kidded ourselves a while, we said: ‘They won’t stay, sometime they will be gone’, but this isn’t reality.

“And of course, the approach [to build] a multicultural [society] and to live side-by-side and to enjoy each other… has failed, utterly failed.”

In her speech, the chancellor specifically referred to recent comments by German President Christian Wulff who said that Islam was “part of Germany” like Christianity and Judaism.

While acknowledging that this was the case, Mrs Merkel stressed that immigrants living in Germany needed to do more to integrate, including learning to speak German.

“We should not be a country either which gives the impression to the outside world that those who don’t speak German immediately or who were not raised speaking German are not welcome here,” she said. “That would do great damage to our country.”

By speaking now, Mrs Merkel has now joined the increasingly hot debate on multiculturalism, coming down on the side of those who are uneasy about immigration, says the BBC’s correspondent in Berlin, Stephen Evans.

That isn’t to say there aren’t immigration problems there like here, and there aren’t problems with especially large groups and their slow integration. But you might want to have your antennae up during hard economic times especially and make sure such discussions are really only about those issues.

The protests in France over their pension plan reform efforts are intensifying:

The battle over a planned overhaul of France’s pension system has intensified, with hundreds of thousands of people taking part in the latest of a series of protests across the country.

Labour unions said that more than 2.5 million people joined the demonstrations on Saturday as strikes

at shut down oil refineries, sparking fears of a petrol shortage, and temporarily cut supplies to Paris’s airports.

“Both sides seem to be really digging their heels in. [President] Sarkozy wants people to know he’s not giving into pressure from the street,” Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting from the French capital, said.

A broad alliance of unions, left-wing parties and students warned that another nationwide protest will be held on Tuesday in a final attempt to stop the legislation, which would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and see state pensions not awarded until aged 67, ahead of a government vote on Wednesday.

About 300,000 people had marched from Place de la Republique to Place de la Nation in Paris on Saturday, the labour unions said, but the government has claimed that the protests might be losing steam.

The government said it had counted 850,000 marchers at Saturday’s protest, down from 899,000 at a previous demonstration on October 2.

“I think the French people have understood that pension reform is essential and necessary,” Eric Woerth, the labour minister, told French television.

Read on for more details of what’s going on.

Closer to home, the important news of yesterday, was of course Giants beat the Phillies 4 to 3:

Tim Lincecum said he laughed when he heard the whistling in the stands at Citizens Bank Park.

The visiting pitcher was stepping into the batter’s box and the fans wanted to let him know that his long hair made him look like a woman.

“I was thinking I must have a nice butt,” Lincecum said. “I’ve never been whistled at by that many guys. I actually enjoyed it.”

But as the game advanced into the later stages, the atmosphere in the ballpark turned from fun to angry. In the same city where Santa Claus was once booed and pelted with snowballs, fans were resorted to blurting obscenities.

The San Francisco Giants were on their way to a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

The crowd inspired the Giants — “It kind of heightens you a bit,” Lincecum said — but it also confused some of them.

“Whistling at guys, I don’t know what that means,” closer Brian Wilson deadpanned. “I didn’t really understand it.”

We’ll see how the rest of the games turn out. Go Giants!

And speaking of trash talking your opponents, let’s get back to politics. Both sides are raising record amounts of money. Certainly not from us broke-ass “little people” but from the usual sources. Here’s a article on money for GOP governors as an example:

The Republican Governors Association raised more than $30 million in the past three months with the help of sizable donations from Wall Street investors, the oil and gas industry, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and other companies.

Fund-raising reports covering July through September showed that the Republican governors group had one of its best fund-raising periods ever, with donations ranging from $1, from one of its own employees, to nearly $3 million from the Michigan business association. News Corp., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, donated $250,000.

The Republican haul overwhelmed the $10 million raised by its counterpart, the Democratic Governors Association. Both groups plan to spend record amounts on the gubernatorial elections. The Democratic Governors Association says it will spend $50 million this election, while the Republican Governors Association could spend about $65 million.

The stakes are huge in this year’s campaigns for governor. For one, there are more gubernatorial elections this year—37 in all—than ever before. The governors who win next month’s elections will help decide how new congressional districts will be drawn as a result of the recent Census. Both sides say this redistricting process could help swing as many as 30 seats in the U.S. House.

Among the top donors were Paul Singer, the head of hedge fund Elliott Management, and several of his colleagues. Singer donated $1.6 million to the Republican Governors Association during the period and a total of $2 million for the year. Seven of his colleagues kicked in an additional $250,000, records show.

The largest donor was the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which donated $2.8 million in the three-month period and a total of $5.4 million for the year.

Read on for more examples of the rich and powerful exercising free speech. Yea, that’s snark.

Meanwhile the dollar is sinking ever lower because of what the Fed will likely do:

The dollar fell for a fifth week against the euro, matching a losing streak that ended in December 2008, as traders speculated the Federal Reserve will further ease monetary policy, debasing the greenback.

The U.S. currency dropped this week to a 15-year low against the yen and fell to parity with the Australian and Canadian dollars before next week’s Fed report on regional economies. Asian currencies rallied against the dollar as Singapore sought faster currency appreciation, pulling back from efforts to stem gains.

“There’s a bit of push and pull in dollar weakness: the push has been revolving around quantitative easing, and the pull has been the attractiveness of emerging-market currencies,” said Alan Ruskin, global head of Group of 10 foreign-exchange strategy at Deutsche Bank AG in New York.

The dollar fell 0.3 percent to $1.3977 per euro, from $1.3939 on Oct. 8 It slid to $1.4159 yesterday, the weakest level since Jan. 26. The greenback slid 0.6 percent to 81.45 yen, from 81.93 last week. It touched 80.88 yesterday, the weakest level since April 1995, when it reached the post-World War II low of 79.75 yen. The euro dropped 0.3 percent to 113.88 yen, from 114.19.

The U.S. currency’s five weeks of decline against the euro tied a stretch of losses during a period that ended Dec. 26, 2008. The central bank cut its fed funds target that month to a range of zero to 0.25 percent.

So what’s the outcome of Reid’s horrible performance against batshit crazy Angle (or is that an insult to guano?), CBS has a take on it:

On Friday’s Washington Unplugged, Politico Editor-in-Chief John Harris told CBS News’ John Dickerson that, in his opinion, the debate was a draw.

“You had two candidates who seemed determined not to make big mistakes. It made kind of a stilted performance,” Harris said. “I didn’t find any of the candidates that impressive but I am struck that it was a pretty tepid performance by Reid when what he really needs is to figure out a way to put Angle away.”

Harris added: “He clearly didn’t do that with that performance and so a candidate that people said is too extreme to win actually seems in pretty good position.” He said Angle has “even odds” of winning the race.

The notable sound bite from the debate came from Angle when she told Reid he needed to “man up” when it came to Social Security. Harris told Dickerson this phrase has been used throughout this year’s midterm cycle.

“This seems to be the new catch phrase of 2010,” he said. “Robin Carnahan also used that against her opponent Roy Blunt in yesterday in Missouri, telling him to man up.”

Another example he cited was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. “It was a year ago now Governor Christie of New Jersey, I think had first used that. He said when people were questioning his size, he said, “Man up and say I’m fat.”

If you’re a long time Senator and a Speaker of the Senate and you debate someone who is nuts, and the debate looks like a draw, who do you think comes out ahead. Come on CBS, you can do better than that. Reid should have never debated her if that’s the best he could do. Same goes with Delaware. Who’s advising these people?

Meanwhile Obama is on the road campaigning. He was in MA stumping for his echo, Deval Patrick. No wait, that’s right Obama is Patrick’s echo. I can never remember. So many echo’s, so little time. Here’s some coverage of that:

As part of a national effort to help Democratic candidates, Obama arrived in the Back Bay with recent polls showing the gubernatorial race nearly a dead heat between Patrick and Republican challenger Charles D. Baker. The president said Patrick has qualities that make him stand above other candidates who are trying to ride the electorate’s prevailing mood of anger at government into office.

“When too many folks bow to the politics of the moment, he represents the politics of conscience and conviction,’’ Obama said of Patrick, who sat on a stool beside the president. “In an age of too much cynicism, he has matched unbending optimism with unyielding effort to move Massachusetts forward.’’

Obama also repeated a critique of Republican policies he has been deliv ering around the country.

“Between 2001 and 2009, we saw the most sluggish job growth since World War II,’’ Obama told the crowd. “If they win this election, a chair of the Republican Party has already promised that they’d pursue the same agenda. It’s an agenda that turned a record surplus to a record deficit.’’

So he’s saying don’t vote for Republicans because they will deficit spend. Vs. Democrats who will tighten the budget and try to balance it. Hmm, during a bad recession, he’s making it sound like the Republicans have it right. Oops.

There’s been a lot of talk about BPA, a chemical used to create some types of clear plastic. There are a number of safety concerns and some studies. Canada has seen enough and has declared it a toxic substance:

The government of Canada formally declared bisphenol A, a chemical widely used to create clear, hard plastics, as well as food can liners, to be a toxic substance on Wednesday.

The compound, commonly known as BPA, has been shown to disrupt the hormone systems of animals and is under review in the United States and Europe.

Canada’s move, which was strenuously fought by the chemical industry, followed an announcement by the government two years ago that it would eliminate the compound’s use in polycarbonate bottles used by infants and children.

The compound was formally listed as being toxic to both the environment and human health in an official notice published online by the government without fanfare, a noticeable contrast to the earlier baby bottle announcement, which was made by two cabinet ministers.

George M. Enei, the director general of science and risk assessment at Environment Canada, one of two government departments that made the designation, said the move would make it easier to ban the use of BPA in specific products through regulations rather than by amending legislation, a cumbersome and slow process.

In some cool news, these new fangled tablet computers are finding great uses in helping disabled kids:

The rise of mainstream tablet computers is proving to have unforeseen benefits for children with speech and communication problems—and such use has the potential to disrupt a business where specialized devices can cost thousands of dollars.

Before she got an iPad at age two, Caleigh Gray couldn’t respond to yes-or-no questions. Now Caleigh, who has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, uses a $190 software application that speaks the words associated with pictures she touches on Apple Inc.’s device.

“We’re not having to fight to prove to people that she is a smart little girl anymore, because it’s there once they see her using the iPad,” said Caleigh’s mother, Holly Gray, who said her daughter can use the tablet to identify colors or ask to go outside.

The software, called Proloquo2Go by a company called AssistiveWare BV, is one of a growing number of apps aimed at people with speech difficulties developed for Apple’s gadgets. Some of the apps offer images that users can press to make the sound of a word; others lead students through stories to teach them basic speech patterns.

Companies are also planning such apps for upcoming tablets that run Google Inc.’s Android software.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in an interview that he hopes the easy-to-use design of the iPad has helped children with special needs take to the device more quickly, but that its use in therapy wasn’t something Apple engineers could have foreseen.

“We take no credit for this, and that’s not our intention,” Mr. Jobs said, adding that the emails he gets from parents resonate with him. “Our intention is to say something is going on here,” and researchers should “take a look at this.”

Read on for more examples.

That’s just a bit of what’s happening. Chime in with what you’re hearing and reading.

Wednesday News

Good Morning Conflucians!!

Let’s dive right in, so to speak. It looks like the deep water drilling band is lifted:

The U.S. is back in the deep water oil-drilling business. The question now is when work will resume. The Obama administration, under heavy pressure from the oil industry and Gulf states and with elections nearing, lifted the moratorium that it imposed last April in the wake of the disastrous BP oil spill.

The ban had been scheduled to expire Nov. 30, but Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday he was moving up the date because new rules imposed after the spill had reduced the risk of another catastrophic blowout. Industry leaders warily waited for details of those rules, saying the moratorium wouldn’t be truly lifted until then.

“The policy position that we are articulating today is that we are open for business,” Salazar declared.

The reality is more complicated. While the temporary ban on exploratory oil and gas drilling is lifted immediately, drilling is unlikely to resume for several weeks at least as oil and gas companies struggle to meet a host of new safety regulations. For example, the CEO of a company responsible for a well would have to certify it had complied with all regulations. That could make the person at the top liable for any future accidents.

“Operators who play by the rules and clear the higher bar can be allowed to resume,” Salazar said.

And as we heard yesterday, a judge ordered the Pentagon to put a stop to DADT:

US District Judge Virginia A. Phillips in California issued the injunction a month after she ruled that requiring gays in the military to keep their sexual orientation secret is unconstitutional.

The ruling permanently bars the Department of Defense from enforcing the law and goes a step further by compelling Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates to suspend any ongoing investigations or discharge proceedings.

The injunction may be appealed within 60 days. If the Obama administration decides to appeal, it would be in the uncomfortable position of defending a law it has opposed. An appeal, however, might allow the administration and the Pentagon to implement a repeal of the policy in a more orderly manner.

Alternatively, the administration could decide to let Phillips’s ruling become law, acknowledging that the court was able to accomplish what the policy’s opponents in Congress and the administration have yet to do.

The Justice Department said yesterday that it had not yet decided how to respond. “We’re reviewing the ruling,’’ Tracy Schmaler, a department spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

Several legal observers, however, predicted the Obama administration would seek a stay of the judge’s order from the US Court of Appeals, a request they said would probably be approved as that court reviews the case.

So next is a simple test of the Obama administration. They could either stand by their word and campaign promise and let the ruling stand and allow it to become law, or they can go back on their word and do the stay or worse, appeal, so that they can proceed in a “more orderly manner”. You know, most every time we’ve pushed for more equality in our rights, we’ve been told to slow down and do things in a more orderly manner. We will soon see in the most clear way possible what Obama is made of. What kind of character the man has. I will give him praise and be happy if he does the right thing here. We’ll see.

As of this writing, the miners in Chile are being pulled out. Sometime later in the morning they will hopefully be all out. Here’s a write up as it started to happen:

The first of 33 gold and copper miners entombed half a mile below ground for more than two months were hauled into the frigid Chilean desert air early Wednesday morning, emerging from a cramped, life-saving haven and into the embrace of family members once forced to confront the likelihood of their deaths.

Foreman Florencio Avalos, 31, was the first of the miners to ride up the shaft that rescuers hope will serve as the lifeline for all. Wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes from aboveground lights, Avalos squeezed into a specially fitted, bullet-shaped capsule only a shade smaller than the 28-inch diameter of the tunnel and was winched to the surface over 14 agonizing minutes.

As myiq posted last night, the last debate between Brown and Whitman leaves some looking for third party candidates:

One of the most aggressive segments of the hour-long debate began with Brown responding to moderator and former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw’s question about a Brown campaign staffer caught on voice mail calling Whitman a “whore.”

Brown apologized to Whitman for the first time and called the remark “unfortunate,” but also chafed at Brokaw’s suggestion that to women the word is as offensive as the “n-word” is to African Americans.

“Women know exactly what’s going on here,” retorted Whitman, calling the word a “slur.”

That’s right Jerry, as we all know, bigotry towards women doesn’t count as much as bigotry towards most any other group. I mean come on, it’s only women. What a let down. But wait, there’s more:

On the Brown staffer’s use of the word “whore,” Whitman went on the offensive, saying that “slurs and personal attacks are … not what California is about.”

Brown retorted that “we’ve heard no outrage from you” regarding her campaign chairman former Gov. Pete Wilson’s use of the term “whores” to describe public employees unions.

Whitman’s comeback: “You know better than that Jerry, that’s a completely different thing.”

That’s pretty lame from Jerry. Just own up to it and apologize without that crap. What’s sad is Jerry is ahead by a bit, and if he just did something reasonable here, he’d move ahead. But he’s scared and feels the need to go this path. And what’s particularly tough with the path Jerry is on, is he’s opening unhealed wounds of misogyny within the Democratic party. From a state that chose to rise above misogyny in 2008.

But not to worry, he’s bringing out Obama to take care of that. Sigh.

Speaking of complete idiots out of touch, Paladino finally got word that he may have stepped in it, and now apologizes:

Republican candidate for governor Carl Paladino apologized to the gay community Tuesday for what he called his “poorly chosen words” over the weekend as he sought to steer his troubled campaign back to the tax issues that won him the GOP nomination in September.

“I am neither perfect, nor a career politician,” Paladino said in an e-mail distributed by his flagging campaign. “I have made mistakes in this campaign — I have made mistakes all my life — as we all have. I am what I am — a simple man who works hard, trusts others, and loves his family and fears for the future of our state.”

He apologized and said he should have edited more of the phrasing out of a speech he gave to Orthodox Jewish leaders on Sunday. His speech did include opposition to what he said was schools’ “brainwashing” of students into thinking the gay lifestyle is just another choice. He also said being gay is “not the way God created us” and the gay lifestyle is “not the example that we should be showing our children.”

Ah yes, the old poorly chosen words excuse. So was he lying then or is he lying now? You decide. Hey, he’s a horribly hateful bigot, maybe he can write for the Washington Post (see yesterday’s post by BB).

OK, now for a bit of comedy relief. Turns out Obama and Palin and Limbaugh are related. Somehow I’m not surprised:

President Barack Obama is distantly related to two of his most outspoken critics — Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin and talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh — as well as to former President George W. Bush, according to a genealogy website.

Family trees revealed Obama and Palin, the former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, are 10th cousins through common ancestor John Smith, according to Ancestry.com Inc. Smith was Obama’s and Palin’s 12th-great- grandfather. Smith, a Protestant pastor, was an early settler in Massachusetts and was criticized by the ecclesiastical community for supporting Quakers, said Anastasia Tyler, a genealogist for the website.

Obama and Limbaugh are 10th cousins once removed through shared connections to Richmond Terrell, a Virginia settler who came to America in the mid-1600s, Tyler said.

Palin and Obama have ties to Bush, both through links to Samuel Hinckley. Maybe leadership “runs in the family,” the website said, because Hinckley’s son, Thomas, became the governor of Plymouth Colony before it united with Massachusetts.

“Despite political differences, they do have similarities,” Tyler said. “We are all tied together; we are all part of America.”

OK, I’ll admit it. That’s a very nice sentiment at the end. They got me on that one.

WaPo’s trail mix has a round up of a few political goings on:

Nevada GOP Senate candidate Sharron Angle announced Tuesday that she raised $14.3 million in the third quarter of the year – apparently a record amount for a Senate candidate who is not self-funding.

…

With three weeks to go until Election Day, Democrats have canceled all of their ad reservations in at least six districts where their odds of winning appear to be shrinking.

…

Christine O’Donnell turned heads with her “I’m not a witch” ad. But that attention hasn’t translated into votes for Delaware’s Republican Senate nominee: A new Monmouth University poll shows her Democratic opponent, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons, leading 57 percent to 38 percent among likely voters in the race for Vice President Biden’s former Senate seat.

…

As recently as several months ago, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) thought he’d have no trouble winning a fourth term. But recent polls have shown the incumbent facing a surprisingly tough challenge from millionaire businessman Ron Johnson (R). The latest survey, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, shows Johnson now leading among likely voters 51 percent to 44 percent.

Nice run down of a few items. Looks like O’Donnell is going nowhere fast. Good. And sadly Feingold isn’t either. Not good. But neither are surprising.

Now for some more fun news. First, because some folks seem to have an irrational obsession with the Palins, even young Palins, Bristol managed to survive another week on DWTS. Turns out “The Situation” wasn’t so lucky.

And in sports news, the Giants and the Phillies will be playing in the National League Championship Series. It looks to be a great pitcher matchup:

In the year of the pitcher, what else should dominate the National League Championship Series, which begins in Philadelphia on Saturday?

Much of the national chatter has the Phillies with an edge because of their experience, as it should be. They have won the last two NL pennants. Also, in sweeping Cincinnati in their Division Series, Philadelphia’s Big Three starters choked off a Reds lineup that produced the league’s best offensive numbers during the regular season.

However, anyone who predicts another Philly massacre in the NLCS must consider how well the postseason novices on the Giants’ staff pitched against the Braves.

The Giants’ modus operandi in the best-of-seven series will not be a state secret: They must keep the games low-scoring and hope to get one or two good pitches to hit, a mistake here or there, and convert them into the decisive runs.

Hopefully it will be a good one. And of course hopefully the Giants will win. Your mileage may vary of course.

And finally, the Nobel prize for physics went to some scientists that came up with Graphene:

Two Russian-born scientists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, won the 2010 Nobel Physics Prize Tuesday for pioneering work on graphene, touted as the wonder material of the 21st century.

Both laureates began their careers as physicists in Russia but now work at the University of Manchester in Britain. Geim holds Dutch nationality and Novoselov is both a British and Russian national.

The Swedish Academy of Sciences hailed graphene — “the perfect atomic lattice” — for its glittering potential in computers, home gadgets and transport.

It lauded Geim, 51, and Novoselov, 36, for having “shown that carbon in such a flat form has exceptional properties that originate from the remarkable world of quantum physics.”

The prize honors a breakthrough that paved the way to graphene, a form of carbon touted as the next-generation super-material.

Just one atom thick, it is the world’s thinnest and strongest nano-material, almost transparent and able to conduct electricity and heat.

As a result, graphene is described as the candidate material to replace silicon semi-conductors.

It’s a big thing. A really big thing. Though small. It’s nice to know, amongst all the corrupt politics and mega corporate control, some cool things keep going on, and progress can still happen.

That’s a bit of what’s happening. Chime in with what you’re reading.

Superbowl Party!

Hi guys! No cocktail party tonight. That’s way to fussy. No, tonight we are at the BFF’s house in New York and we are drinking beer. Your choices are Sam Adams and Brooklyn Lager.

We have some munchies to go with it. Did I mention the BFF is an excellent cook? Right now, he’s making Bean, Corn and Pepper Salad with Chicken and Rice. (We try to eat healthy). To go with it, we have a low fat Reuben Dip with rye triscuits and a layered dip with blue corn chips.

Both Massachusetts and NY are Hillary states for SuperDuper Tuesday so you can root for whoever you like, but BFF and I have a fondness for the Giants. He’s a Redskins fan and I’m a Steelers addict from childhood. But our grown up team is the Giants and we are definitely pulling for them. As the BFF cheers,

“DisMEMber them, DisMEMber them. MAKE, them reLINquish the BALL!”

And here’s a little something for Hillary and the Giants from the Chairman of the Board: