Friday, February 6, 2009

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Ban Ki-Moon Visits Iraq, Praises Progress Top
BAGHDAD — The U.N. secretary-general said Friday that provincial elections were an important step toward full democracy but told Iraqis they still have work to do before they can enjoy "genuine freedom and security and prosperity." Ban Ki-moon made his second visit to Iraq as United Nations chief a day after official preliminary results showed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's allies swept to victory in the vote for powerful local councils, an endorsement of his crackdown on extremism and violence. "I believe that you have come such a long way, but still you have to go a far way to say that you will fully be able to enjoy genuine freedom and security and prosperity," he said during a meeting in Baghdad with President Jalal Talabani. He also met with al-Maliki. U.N. representatives worked closely with the Iraqis in preparing for the balloting, in which voters chose provincial officials in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces. Ban said the U.N. would continue to provide technical or political assistance as needed. "I'm very much encouraged by what you have achieved," he said. Ban also stopped in Afghanistan on Thursday and urged U.S. and NATO-led forces to prevent civilian casualties in their operations. Last Saturday's elections in Iraq were the first nationwide balloting since December 2005 and went off relatively peacefully. Al-Maliki's impressive showing in Baghdad and eight other provinces, which must be certified by international and Iraqi observers, places the prime minister in a strong position before parliamentary elections late this year and could bolster U.S. confidence that it can begin withdrawing more of its 140,000 troops. Ban's meeting with al-Maliki come under completely different circumstances than their last meeting in March 2007 when a nearby rocket attack forced him to duck behind a podium during a joint news conference in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Violence is down sharply since last year after a U.S.-Iraqi offensive broke the power of Shiite militias and after many Sunni gunmen abandoned the insurgency. U.S. military death tolls have fallen to a fraction of levels seen at the height of the war. The relatively violence-free elections won praise from Ban, President Barack Obama and others, though tensions have been running high in the former insurgent-stronghold of Anbar where a leading sheik, Ahmed Abu Risha, accused his rivals of rigging the election. A Shiite cleric loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also told worshippers Friday that "fraud took place during the elections," railing against those who spent millions of dollars on their campaigns. "Let the people in Sadr City hear about this huge amount of money spent on publicity while they live without water or electricity," Sheik Muhannad al-Moussawi said during a sermon in Baghdad's main Shiite district. Worshippers burned American and Israeli flags in the streets after the prayer service. Other Shiite and Sunni preachers called for unity and urged the new provincial councils to work to provide much-needed basic services. "This country has suffered so much from wrong policies and from those who have made religion a cover for their acts," Sheik Ahmed Hassan al-Taha said during prayer services at Baghdad's main Sunni mosque. Ahmed al-Safi, an aide to the country's pre-eminent Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, warned those who won their elections not to make people regret voting for them. "If we are to serve the citizens, these relations must be good," he said. Meanwhile, Iraq's state minister of women's affairs, Nawal al-Samarraie, said Friday she submitted her resignation this week over what she calls a lack of support for the widows and other women facing great hardship in the wartorn country. She said she waiting for a response from the prime minister's office. Tens of thousands of women have been left widows by Iraq's violence. They have virtually no safety net and few job opportunities and usually depend on extended families. More on United Nations
 
Bob Burnett: Obama's Foreign Policy Top
During his first 100 days in office, the deteriorating economy will occupy most of President Obama's attention. Nonetheless, he will have to attend to a host of international problems. By May 1st, his foreign policy should be apparent. The most pressing issue is Iraq . As Obama favors assigning heavyweight representatives to each major international hotspot, his main Iraq representative is likely to be Vice President Joe Biden. While Obama remains committed to a US troop withdrawal within sixteen months, his near-term focus will be on strengthening the Iraqi government. Look for Biden to work directly with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki to resolve thorny issues like equitable distribution of oil revenues and governance of Kirkuk. The thrust of Obama policy is likely to favor partitioning Iraq into three semi-independent states, one for the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis. Next, Obama will focus on Afghanistan-Pakistan , specifically the area lying between Kabul and Peshawar, where Al Qaeda and the Taliban have reconstituted their forces. Obama's representative to the region is the seasoned Richard Holbrooke. He'll negotiate directly with the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, encouraging them to pursue terrorists with more vigor. It's a daunting task, as the sphere of influence of Afghani President Karzai is restricted to Kabul; warlords run most of the country, their power fueled by the lucrative opium trade. Meanwhile, the Taliban is resurgent in the northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan and the central government of Prime Minister Gillani seems powerless to do anything about the situation. As our troops leave Iraq, many will be redeployed o Afghanistan. Look for the US military to be more aggressive carrying the fight to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Peace in Central Asia won't be possible without a new relationship with Iran . Obama's representative is likely to be Middle East expert Dennis Ross. Look for Obama to push for high-level negotiations with whoever the new Iranian President will be - their elections will be held on June 12th. A recent article in The New York Review of Books proposed a sensible basis for a multilateral diplomatic initiative that includes Iran's nuclear ambitions, connections with Iraq and Afghanistan, and relationship with Hamas and Israel. All these problems contribute to the continuing Israel-Palestine conflict. President Obama's representative in the Middle East is the experienced George Mitchell. He's already on the ground conferring with Israelis and Palestinians, as well as leaders in Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. On his first day in office, Obama struck a different tone by asking Israel to open up the border between Gaza and Egypt. He needs to follow up by forcing concessions from both the Israelis and Palestinians. From Syria to Pakistan, Obama will attempt to cut off support for terrorism . Notably, his first full-length interview was with an Arab television network, Al-Arabiya. Our new President avoided the phrases "war on terror" or "Islamic fascism." Instead of utilizing pat Bush-era terms, Obama referred to Al Qaeda and the Taliban as extremists, "that will use faith as a justification for violence;" making a distinction between them and Muslims in general. This signals not only a change in tone but also recognition that, because Al Qaeda and the Taliban represent a tiny minority of the Arab world, a carefully constructed diplomatic initiative can align US interests with those of the Middle East and Central Asia. Obama plans an early visit to Canada, but his first overseas junket is likely to include Iraq and Afghanistan. Look for our new President to attend a highly visible meeting with Arab leaders to bolster the image of the United States and promote Obama-style diplomacy in the region. While US attention was focused on Iraq and Afghanistan, our relationship with Russia deteriorated. This is reflected in the Russian invasion of Georgia and the Bush Administration decision to deploy the anti-missile defense system in Poland. Look for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to lead Obama's initiative to smooth out relations with the former USSR. If the US expects Russia to help resolve issues with Iran, security issues such as the deployment of missiles along the Russian border will have to receive high-priority attention. Of course, Obama cannot afford to neglect China and Secretary Clinton's first overseas junket is likely to include a stop in Beijing to discuss a range of thorny issues including global climate change, valuation of the Yuan, Tibet, and relations with Iran. Obama's foreign policy team also includes Susan Rice, his Ambassador to the United Nations - a position Obama has elevated to cabinet-level status. Dr. Rice was an important foreign policy advisor to the Obama campaign and a former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Look for her to strengthen our reputation at the UN and propose Administration policy for Africa . Obama has assembled an impressive foreign policy team, which is reassuring given the scope of challenges he's facing. While the economy will be his primary challenge, all of these international issues will need his attention. We're fortunate America elected a President who can multi-task. More on Foreign Policy
 
Becoming A Dominatrix To Supplement Income Top
As the economy takes a spanking, many women are turning to freelance fetish work to supplement their incomes. "I've seen it before," says Linda, "during the tech bust in 2002. Women who thought they would always make a decent living in the tech sector lost their jobs." They came looking to Linda's industry for freelance work, and now it's happening again: professional women whose cubicle-bound careers have been downsized are entering Linda's corner of the "gig economy"--a corner that involves whips, ropes, and occasionally, nipple clamps. More on Economy
 
Sea Shepherd's, Whalers' Boat Collide In Antarctic Top
SYDNEY — Japanese whalers and radical anti-whaling activists trying to stop the hunters from pulling one of their kills out of the Antarctic Ocean collided Friday in an incident Tokyo condemned as "appalling and unforgivable." No one was injured. Activist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said his boat was chasing the Japanese ship dragging a whale on board when another Japanese boat shot in front of his vessel, causing a collision. "The situation down here is getting very, very chaotic and very aggressive," Watson told The Associated Press by satellite phone from his boat, named after the late Australian conservationist and TV personality, Steve Irwin. Earlier in the day, Watson said, the Japanese hurled pieces of blubber and whale meat at his ship. "We can see the blood pouring out by the barrel," he said as he watched the Japanese haul another whale onto their vessel. In a statement, the Institute of Cetacean Research _ the Japanese government-affiliated organization that oversees the hunt _ condemned the protesters' actions, characterizing the collision as a "deliberate ramming" that occurred while the Japanese were trying to load a whale on board one of their ships. Shigeki Takaya, a Fisheries Agency spokesman for whaling in Japan, called the incident "appalling and unforgivable." "We will ask concerning countries, including Australia, to immediately stop them from carrying out such horrendous acts," Takaya said. Japan plans to harvest up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales this season. Under International Whaling Commission rules, the mammals may be killed for research but not for commercial purposes. Opponents say the Japanese research expeditions are simply a cover for commercial whaling, which was banned in 1986. Chiharu Tsuruoka, a Foreign Ministry official in Japan, called Friday's incident between Japan's whalers and the Dutch-registered Steve Irwin "extremely unforgivable." "We have repeatedly asked the Dutch government to stop them from harassing us, but so far it's been so unsuccessful," Tsuruoka said. The protesters set off from Australia in early December for the remote and icy Antarctic Ocean, chasing the whaling fleet for about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) before stopping two weeks ago in Tasmania to refuel. The group found the whalers again on Sunday and resumed their pursuit. Watson, who regularly vows to do anything short of deliberately hurting people to stop whalers, said Friday that he and his crew have no plans to turn back _ and will continue to chase the whalers until their fuel supplies run out. ___ Associated Press writer Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report. ___ On the Net: Sea Shepherd: http://www.seashepherd.org/ More on Animals
 
Ford's Woes Deepen As Pension Plan Falls $4 Billion Short Top
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co. may have to contribute $4 billion to its pension plan after a 2008 shortfall, a cash drain that risks dragging the second-largest U.S. automaker closer to a federal bailout. The collapsing stock market left the fund with a $4.1 billion deficit for its projected obligations, after 2007's $3 billion surplus, Ford said in its fourth-quarter financial results. That may force an infusion of money starting next year, according to the viability plan filed with Congress in December. More on Economy
 
Manhattan Madam's Tell-All: Spitzer Got "Rough And Too Aggressive" Top
Kristen Davis, a madam who ran "Wicked Models," reportedly booked prostitutes for Eliot Spitzer and was busted last March, has written a tell-all book called "The Manhattan Madam" that is for sale online. Davis spent four months in prison for her work in 2008, and claims in the book that the former New York governor called about once a week from 2004 to 2006, when she had to cut him off: Spitzer meant "thousands of dollars of steady income for me and my ladies," wrote Davis, "that is, until the complaints began coming in hot and heavy" about the client who gave the phony name "James." "James was getting rough and too aggressive with the girls - repeatedly pressuring them to do things they didn't want to do." She also said Spitzer tended to obsess about a girl, would want to see her every day and was pushy and whiny with her." But his biggest problem, she said, was that he didn't want to use a condom, and "he'd be a real weasel about it, too." The ban was eventually lifted, however. See Kristin Davis's website , where the book is available for sale both as a hard copy and a PDF. Other than Spitzer she doesn't really name names, however. She describes the book in part as including: Just a few of her 10,000 clients: - An internationally best-selling author who closed Kristin's business for a night so he could have all the girls to himself - An Oscar-winning actor who engaged in hot tub hijinks - Wall Street titans who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on hookers From sex to drugs to corporate espionage, this riveting book has all the elements of a classic page-turner. More on Eliot Spitzer
 
NYC Madam: Wall Street Johns Paid For Sex With Corporate Cards Top
Wall street lawyers, investment bankers, CEOs and media executives often used corporate credit cards to pay for $2,000 an hour prostitutes, according to the madam who ran one of New York's biggest and most expensive escort services until it was busted last year. But prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's office chose not to pursue any of the corporate titans, says Kristin Davis, who pleaded guilty last year to charges of running a prostitution business that used more than a hundred women... "Some of these guys, I was invoicing on corporate credit cards," she said. "I was writing up monthly bills for computer consulting, construction expenses, all of these things, I was invoicing them monthly so they could get it by their accountants," Davis said. More on Sex
 
GOP Opposes Pay Limits On Bailed-Out Bankers Top
Wall Street bankers, with their $18 billion in bonuses, private jets and gaudy conferences, are causing headaches for the GOP. President Obama has proposed capping compensation for executives at banks that take taxpayer bailout money at $500,000. Republicans hate the idea, which puts them uncomfortably on the side of people currently about as popular as child-porn producers and subprime mortgage brokers. Senate Minority Leader Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) blamed the "tone deaf" bankers for creating the political environment that allows Obama's call for a cap. "Because of their excesses, very bad things begin to happen, like the United States government telling a company what it can pay its employees. That's not a good thing in America," Kyl told the Huffington Post. "What executives have done is troubling, but it's equally troubling to have government telling shareholders how much they can pay the executives," said Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). Sen. James Ihofe said that he is "one of the chief defenders of Obama on the Republican side" for the president's efforts to reach across the aisle. But, said Inhofe, "as I was listening to him make those statements I thought, is this still America? Do we really tell people how to run [a business], and who to pay and how much to pay?" Democrats argue that banks that take government money must accept what rules the government decides to send with that money. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) are both working on legislation that would complement Obama's attempt to get a handle on executive compensation. It's not a novel concept, and it's one the GOP supports -- when applied to welfare recipients, at least. "We demand that welfare recipients do an honest day's work for their checks. And now, since President Obama laid down the law Wednesday, we demand that the guys who ran our banking system into the ground abide by our pay scales in return for our bailing them out," writes Harold Meyerson in a column Friday. "After all, what's the moral distinction between welfare recipients and the wizards of Wall Street, other than that the welfare recipients aren't the ones responsible for tanking the global economy?" Welfare reform that passed in the 1990s created the program called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The government intervenes intimately into the lives of TANF recipients, requiring drug testing, certain amounts of time be spent doing government approved activities and requiring near-constant documentation of continuing compliance. The intervention is justified by citing the payments being made. "If they don't need it, don't want it, fine. Don't take it," said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). One House Democratic aide quipped that bankers should be required to jump through some of the same hoops that welfare recipients are beyond a simple salary cap. He suggested making bankers fulfill a strict work requirement and submit a time sheet, signed by a supervisor - perhaps the Board of Directors - in 15-minute intervals, proving that they worked 40 hours each week. Only certain activities would count, as is the case with TANF recipients. "That three hour jet ride to get to the meeting in Chicago doesn't count. Reading the Wall Street Journal is also not a countable activity. If they fail to do this once, you cut them off of TARP funds. If they fudge the time sheet, you charge them with TARP fraud and make them pay back any government money they've received," the aide joked. "I'm sensing a legislative opportunity." Brownback, though, said the underlying reasoning has merit. What applies to welfare recipients ought to also apply to corporate welfare recipients, he said. "I think it does apply to that," he said. "People are livid about these big bonuses and if the groups want to take government money it seems they should be able to have some limits on these bonuses." Other Republicans disagreed. "It's still government running business," Inhofe said. "It's a leap, because the executive at the bank is a free agent who can leave the bank and go to work someplace else," said Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah. of the welfare comparison. "You run the risk of having a brain drain at the bank of their top talent." Bennett said, "Some of the things some of these bank executives have been doing demonstrates they have a tin ear. At the same time, I'm generally troubled by wage and price control, no matter how logical it may appear." The objection to the government intervention in salaries is rooted in the Republican belief that government is inherently ineffective. "If Congress can run a financial institution, it belies everything I've seen in this body. Government does not do a good job running private institutions," said Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) agreed: "If we do such a good job of running the federal government, what business do we have telling them how to run the banks?" The GOP is also concerned that setting compensation limits could put the country on the road to serfdom. "This is just a symptom of what happens when the government intervenes and we start controlling all aspects of the economy. This is just the first piece," said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). "If you accept the fact that the government should be setting pay scales in America, then it's hard not to go after these exorbitant salaries. But I think it's a sad day in America when the government starts setting pay, no matter how outlandish they are." "What are we going to do next?" wondered Martinez. "Tell a company if they get TARP money where there offices should be? They should be renting maybe from an abandoned federal building?" Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) may have had the savviest responses to the tricky political question. McConnell didn't acknowledge that he'd been asked the query and walked on to the Senate floor instead of answering. McCain declined to comment. Opposition isn't uniform. Beyond Brownback, other Republican senators spoken to for this article, including Sens. Coburn, Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), expressed some level of support for some effort by the government to control the salaries of executives of banks that take bailout money. (McConnell has previously said he's "appalled" by the big paychecks but added, "On the other hand, I really don't want the government to take over these businesses and start telling them everything about what they can do. Then you truly have nationalized the business." At least one Republican has thought about the plan and come around to it. "In theory I don't like it. I just don't like the government telling private industry how to run their businesses," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) when first asked about it. About 15 minutes later, Thune spotted this reporter in the hall outside the Senate. "You know what? I think I'm for that," he said of Obama's plan. "I don't disagree with what he's doing."
 
Lisa Derrick: Ted Haggard: Say Hello To My Little Friend "Ted Two" Top
Grant Haas-- the New Life Church volunteer who recently came forward with new sex and meth claims about Ted Haggard and how his relationship with Haggard drove him to drugs, alcoholism and a suicide attempt --revealed a few NSFW details about Pastor and Mrs. Haggard. According to Grant Haas's radio interview with Michelangelo Signorile the pastor told Haas--who was struggling with his own homosexual feelings-- that Gayle Haggard was a "freak" who shared the some of his sexual interests. The couple had a very open and erotic relationship, visiting sex shops together and buying bedtime toys. Haas adds this scintillating detail: While on vacation, the couple had a dildo molded in the shape of Ted's tumescent member and would use it on each other, nicknaming it "Ted Two." Now it becomes clearer what the Haggards meant when they assured Oprah and America they had a great sex life. In the HBO documentary The Trials of Ted Haggard , the former pastor happily states: You know all the surveys say that evangelicals have the best sex life of any other group. Just Google "Christian bondage" and you'll see that not all evangelicals are uptight, repressed, anti-sex meanies. They just think all the fun--from vanilla to rough trade--needs to be kept in the context of marriage. Now if only the definition of "marriage" would be expanded to include same sex couples.... So what if the Mr and Mrs H got a little kinky and adventurous? What's really wrong about Haggard's behavior is his hypocrisy and hurtful actions. Haggard was sharing personal details about Ted Two and his wife's taste in lingerie with other people, violating a deep bond of trust. Haggard also deeply violated Grant Haas' trust in him as pastor and friend by taking advantage of him and basically using him. Haggard's belief system stresses the importance of fidelity in marriage and he couldn't stick to that. The gender of those with whom he had affairs shouldn't matter, except that Haggard was also hypocritically preaching against homosexuality while practicing it. You can watch the video interview with Haas here, with additional links for more of the interview and additional details. Lisa Derrick is La Figa on Firedoglake.com
 
A. Siegel: Thinking CAP? Curse Jar? Let X decide ... Top
The other day, the Environmental Defense Action Fund opened voting for 'the people's choice' as to the best 30-second video to explain how a Cap & Trade program to control carbon dioxide would help cut the nation's dependence on oil. Putting aside questions as to Environmental Defense's devotion to a CAP uber all, the best video seemed clear : The Thinking Cap . This choice seemed clear, evidently, to many as this video was the runaway victor for EDAF's $1000 "People's Choice" award . (The Climate Activists' Choice Award .) But the experts, the experts had a different perspective. They went with the foul-language oriented Cursing Cap . My logic stream : in just 30 seconds, Thinking Cap provided a very cogent explanation of the concept behind a CAP and the benefits to accrue, with interesting interplay between images and words to enhance that quick-look understanding. While Thinking Cap made the top five, it wasn't "the best" for the experts. According to Keith Gaby, the Communications Director of EDF's National Climate Campaign, there's a difference between being clear to climate activists who are concentrating on videos they've chosen to watch on their computer, and a spot that's effective with Americans far less familiar with the topic. For them, it will be one of many commercials flying by on TV, only a handful of which will really capture their attention. In other words, we think Thinking Cap might work best for those who are already paying attention and care about this issue. An interesting issue: are the voters too expert? "Are the voters wrong?" The video we chose, Cursing Cap , had two qualities that really stood out to us. First, it immediately captures the attention of even the most casual viewer because it begins with a close-up of a man cursing (bleeped out, of course). Second, it employs an ingenious analogy to explain the carbon cap: the character in the ad says he made himself pay a dollar every time he cursed, in an effort to cut down. And that caused him to think up new, cleaner ways to express his frustrations -- like "Walrus breath!" We think an analogy like that is a vivid and memorable way to explain a cap and might even get it stuck the minds of those we need to reach. This is one of those classic challenges in framing and discussion: how to get the message across in a meaningful and convincing manner. And, in a way that doesn't descend into deceptive truthiness ... Rewatching the videos, I continue to disagree with the "expert opinion". However, unlike the differentiation between a award-winning film grossing next-to-nothing and pablum topping ticket sales, perhaps I'll take comfort that "the experts" tell me that I and 100s of others are wrong because we're "too expert", too knowledgeable. From 'video' and PR to substance? While the contest videos are quite inventive, there are fundamental questions to ask and consider. Linking to oil : This video contest began in 'better days', with $140 barrel oil and before the utter collapse of trust in the financial system. For 'framing' issues, the contest focused on "oil". Just how much, however, will a "CAP" drive down oil use, directly affecting our oil imports? Americans burn most oil in our cars (SUVs, trucks, airplanes, etc ...). In the past few years, we've seen gasoline prices gyrate from $1.50 or so to over $4 back down to the $1.60 range (now a little higher). Miles driven and gasoline consumption dropped, even meaningfully (about a million barrels / day). But, how much would a CAP add to the price of oil? A few cents? Tens of cents? This price would have an impact on gasoline purchase, but how much? Even a few percent? Hard to see, at least in the near-term, that a Cap system would have a tangible impact on oil use due to its pricing mechanism. (Note: I do not think that some form of carbon pricing is irrelevant to oil use and wouldn't help change course on oil use, but do not think that this is the primary impact zone nor that the reduced demand for oil based on a CAP would have a significant impact on US carbon emissions.) One of the items that I like in Thinking Cap is when, at the end of the video, the "light bulb" on top of the cap is switched out from an incandescent to a compact fluorescent. Nice, easy to hold to image of the reality and, often, ease of energy efficiency and other changes that can start the process of driving down our carbon emissions. To be clear, changing a lightbulb won't stop climate change, we shouldn't fool ourselves, but the imagery works (for me, at least, if not "the experts"). The problem: oil represents less than two percent of the generation of US electricity and that use is only a trivial element in overall US oil use. Eliminate the use of fossil fuels (especially coal) for electricity (via energy efficiency and introduction of renewable energy) and that will have a major impact on US carbon emissions. It will not, however, have any meaningful impact on oil imports . Thus, the focus on oil seems misleading and sending the wrong message. Is a Cap where we should focus our energy? Environmental Defense is one of the strongest environmental organization voices in favor of a Cap and Trade system (to the extent that some of us see this a 'in favor of a Cap and Trade of any level, at any cost). They showed, with their strong support for the Lieberman-Warner Coal Subsidy Act , that the priority on getting a Cap in place could lead to one that is too weak to have a serious impact. They have, to paraphrase, a fundamental belief that (a) a carbon cap is the most important tool, (b) that it can be gradually improved once put into place, and (c) thus any Cap (no matter its weaknesses, no matter its loopholes, no matter its subsidies to polluting industries, no matter its economic inequalities) is better than none. If it isn't clear, this 'cap uber all', at any price, is one that I find misguided, fundamentally flawed, and a path to ensuring that we do not take the necessary actions to mitigate global warming. This does not, however, mean that a "Carbon Cap" is necessarily an evil thing. If we're to price carbon, a step that seems inevitable (eventually) to help drive necessary economic and societal shifts, there are two routes, each with their strengths and weaknesses. Very simply, the shorthand: A Cap (or Cap Auction Trade (CAT)) provides certainty (of some sort) as to the level of emissions (the maximum) and no certainty as to revenue streams. A Carbon Tax (or Fee ) provides some certainty as to financing, but not necessarily assurance as to reduced levels. To be clear, both can be gamed and manipulated (anyone want to suggest that tax law works without problems or that financiers haven't figured out many methods to confuse 'trading' regimes/controls). The serious challenge in the near term is the difficulty of imaging the political momentum to drive a meaningful CAP/CAT or high-enough tax/fee to have a meaningful impact, especially since there will be leakage and cheating on no matter what path legislation might take. Thus, for the moment, a Trojan Horse strategy seems a much more valuable place for attention and effort. let us get as much "green" infrastructure, science, reforestration, and other elements that will have a real impact on reducing our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as possible into this (and the next ... and the next) stimulus package. ( Stimulate US green !) Let us (US) make real progress at reversing our emissions through energy efficiency, electrification of rail, introduction of clean energy, etc ... And, as we do so at a net positive for the economy, more people (including (especially) in Congress) will see the real benefits in how the United States can make some serious green by going Green. Progress in cutting emissions and strengthening (firming up) the economy via energy efficiency, better agricultural practices, and renewable energy will help foster an environment that might enable a meaningful CAP or tangible fee that would help hasten the path toward a prosperous, climate-friendly society . NOTE: From that earlier discussion re the video contest , the two 'winners': Cursing Cap Male: BLEEP! I used to curse all the time. It was pretty foul. So, I capped it. And if I cursed, I paid. Till I got smart... Thought up alternatives: WALRUS BREATH! Tap the imagination. This jar ain't a bad system! Let's say we cap carbon emissions dumped into the environment... Companies will have to pay for all the carbon they emit. They'll get smart too, think up alternatives like wind and solar power. It's the way to kick America's oil habit. Cap it, and you'll tap it. Thinking Cap Male Voice: Every year we send billions overseas for oil to satisfy our energy dependence. So how do we solve our addiction? A carbon cap obligates companies to pay for the carbon they emit. When they pollute less, they save money. A carbon cap is really... a thinking cap: It provides financial incentive for companies to think of innovations and invest in clean energy. It breaks the cycle of dependence, boosts our economy, and helps protect the environment. A carbon cap... It's really a thinking cap... For the 21st Century. More on Global Warming
 
Toyota Trouble: Posts Largest Loss Since 1950 Top
Toyota , which just last year posted record profit and dethroned General Motors as the world's largest automaker, said it was headed for its first annual net loss since 1950. Toyota's loss of 350 billion yen, or $3.85 billion, was largely due to plunging auto sales and a strong yen that made exporting costlier, its executives said. Toyota is not the only Japanese company reeling from the global slowdown and the strong yen. While Honda Motor Co ., Japan's second-biggest car company, is managing to stay in the black, its profits have sunk 87%. The third biggest Japanese car company, Nissan Motor Co., is reporting earnings today. Other Japanese companies that are spiraling downward include electronics makers Sony Corp . and Panasonic Corp .
 
Patricia Zohn: Culture Zohn: Turkish Delights and Debacles Top
A last-minute chance to explore Istanbul, a city I have longed to visit, came just on the heels of the Erdogan-Peres contretemps at Davos, and I leapt at it, if leaping can be measured in six thousand miles. Courtesy of the Pera Museum, Istanbul A friend, a well known screenwriter, who had been there five or six years ago, sent an email stating, "Don't let me discourage you [but] I assure you I would never go back unless I absolutely had to for work or something, and even then..." She and her two daughters were harassed at every turn and she finished her justifiable rant against the men, the disrespect for women, the defacement of the architecture with, "not my country, not my city". I had lots of other girlfriends who had been and adored it, but this stuck in my head, so when a female museum art director pointed me towards a luxury hotel, I was therefore unusually mindful. Normally a girl who prefers roughing it a bit, I was concerned. I needn't have been. Courtesy of the Pera Museum, Istanbul The calls in the street as I passed on the cobblestones were almost proforma... they were as insistent for any "tourist" that passed by, a culture that has sprung up in a society where so many are out of work and dependent on tourism. (Hundreds of fisherman line the bridge on a weekday morning.) And the off-season in Istanbul for Western tourists is on-season for tourists from other Middle Eastern countries. Many Islamic women hold hands and kanoodle with their boyfriends in the street, which makes the headscarves a festive window dressing on love. Women from neighboring countries in full burkhas are side by side with women in modified dress and even girls and women who are totally non-observant. Courtesy of the Pera Museum, Istanbul But the East-West divide, now that I am literally straddling the cradle of the Orient Express, is not nothing. The way of identifying the two sides as Asian and European reminds one constantly of the uneasy traditions that rub up against each other culturally and politically, and which still raise backs in the city. Yet, the mash-up of cultures is just magical. To stay in a Four Seasons and overlook the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque would be as if you could stay at the Catacombs or overlook the Vatican, or Notre Dame on the Seine, something no longer possible in Rome or Paris But we are concerned that we are practically the only ones in the hotels -- and like at all luxury hotels, I'm hyper-aware of the disparities of life -- the vast fountains, heated pool, endlessly helpful staff, are they all there for the two of us? It's not possible that there is already Western backlash against perceived antisemitism and realignment towards the Islamic fundamental bloc, we think, just the usual fall off after the world economy collapses. Courtesy of the Pera Museum, Istanbul It feels both slumdog and millionaire at the same time. What one gets in the winter is the strait unvarnished by large yachts and dotted only with ferries, the call to the mosque clear and piquant, the Galata Tower courtyard (at the tower itself, a determined cleaning crew literally threw buckets of water at our feet), a sunny holding space for morning coffee or a stroll, the streets of Beyoglu quiet with stores for mandolins, guitars and violins and fish, the only evidence of the famous whirling dervishes, their deserted mansion (now in restoration) surrounded by a charming courtyard and cemetery filled with dead Pashas, sheiks and one French count who became a pasha in the end, and a guardian who was eager to test his rudimentary Italian on an equally challenged tourist. Immense highlights are the passageways, especially the Cicek, that are an excuse for tiny shops and arcade fish restaurants, conjoined by giant chandeliers filled with fake flowers. After a huff and a puff or I'll blow your house down exit from Davos, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan returned home to Turkey a hero; the nation which has the carrot of EU status constantly dangled in front of its nose by France and Germany rallied to support the anti-Israel sentiments of its feisty leader. Suddenly he was the new focal point of the Islamic right, having been Israel's closest ally in the region. Courtesy of the Pera Museum, Istanbul And the tentacles of the resurgence in fundamentalism reach everywhere . Ozalp Birol, the intensely cosmopolitan director of the Pera Museum , a private museum funded mostly by the branches of the Kirac family, offers up his "postponed" Chagall exhibition as evidence that he is protecting against possible antisemitic demonstrations down the road. A giant project they initiated to build a Frank Gehry-designed cultural center just across the street is held up by the government. Because he is Jewish? Because he is American? Because they ran out of money? Because of scuffling between the federal and municipal government? Because they can? Nobody knows. There is ample evidence of the deep fault lines (earthquakes too!) of the multiculti society that is held together here by spit and polish. The Pera archives next door at their foundation , a repository of Istanbul-ian wealth: photographs, rare books, dioramas, as well as the collections on exhibit at the museum itself are ample evidence that Istanbul has always been a center for art and culture. Courtesy of the Pera Museum, Istanbul One of the two Four Seasons finds itself at the crossroads of it all. Adjacent to the Hagia Sofia, a few steps away from the Blue Mosque and the Topkapi Palace, looking over an excavation of Roman ruins meant to be finished in December. The cavernous Blue Mosque with its tiny section for women, still calling adherents to prayers and the faded simple splendor of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts across the way (each room of the former palace with a fireplace and coffered ceiling) mark the many faces of Turkey -- the intensely talented tribes with their bejeweled garments and complicated rugs amidst elegantly constructed yurts and the eventually Western-facing Istanbulian wealthy of the 19th century, looking much like their counterparts in Europe. At the Hagia Sofia, finally, one finds the more aggressive overlay of religions and history: massive Islamic medallions slapped on the church walls while elegant tracery and tile recall both byzantine and ottoman forebearers. I, along with the mostly middle eastern tourists clamber up the worn stone ramps. At the Alhambra, one feels the weight of pure Islamic tradition. At the Hagia Sofia, with its wrought iron candelabra and its wooden raised platforms for prayer, one feels only dismay that we are still doing so poorly at assimilating each other's culture. Erdogan and Peres would do well to make a joint visit to this magnificently faded splendid structure and remind themselves that the collision of the culture of their countries, marks some pretty serious co-habitation. Now, they just have to stop living together and finally get hitched. The local English language newspaper, Hurriyet, is filled with column after column of dissection of Erdogan's actions at Davos, now presumed to have been highly orchestrated in advance and negotiated with the Israeli's, why else the dust up having been so quickly patched over by both sides. Here in Istanbul, a man leaving for the airport as local supporters of the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party came to greet Erdogan was stuck for so long that fearing he would miss his flight got out of the car and walked two kilometers. There are those that think Erdogan is playing straight into the hands of his base (sound familiar?) and those that he is keeping the Israeli balance of payments, now favoring Turkey, well in hand. U.S.-Jewish support groups are rallying against Turkey, yet know that it is their only hope of support in a region increasingly pitted against Israel. The sultans seem to have had it all figured out: beautiful and intelligent girls from the provinces were brought to the palace as concubines. If you became a favorite, and pregnant, you could rise to the level of a consort, an instrument of the perpetuation of the dynasty. Eunuchs guarded your every move behind the elaborate tiled and filigreed existence in the harem where you existed with other women in a highly structured society of refinement and relative luxury. Yet, in the end, your entire life passing behind a screen seemed as harsh an alternative as poverty elsewhere. Western artists came to Istanbul with their fascination for all things "oriental" and painted their fevered, opulent visions of behind the harem walls -- but now having seen one of the finest at the Topkapi Palace, I think they are almost understated -- the real thing a fabulous fantasy land prison. Having been the cradle of the East and West's fascination for each other, Turkey is a complicated spot, at once showing how worlds can collide magnificently and the collision course itself: let's hope Israel and Turkey can get their mojo working towards detente instead of cant. More on Davos
 
Labor To Open Fire Over Solis Confirmation Top
The country's largest labor and Hispanic groups are ratcheting up the confirmation fight over Labor Secretary nominee Hilda Solis, preparing a full-out political and media blitz to get the California Democrat approved and into the Obama cabinet. "Enough is enough, the gloves are coming off on Friday," said one official with the AFL-CIO, outraged over the delays. "Labor, women's groups, Hispanic groups are opening fire. We worked with Republicans in good faith. Hilda Solis has answered all their questions but they continue to oppose her for partisan ideological reasons." With Solis's nomination stalled again on Thursday after revelations that her husband had just settled $6,400 in tax leins against his business, unions are no longer willing to hold their breath for the sake of fewer dramatics. "Our full efforts are being mobilized to fight back," the union official said. "Earned media and field campaign to generate calls, letters, and emails coming tomorrow. Depending on how things move paid media will be added on top of these efforts." Implicit in the new tone -- as well as the coordinated effort -- is the notion that the White House, too, is fed up with the feet-dragging and has signaled to its supporters that when it comes to Solis' nomination it is time to fully engage. Sen. Mike Enzi, the ranking Republican on the Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, insisted on Thursday that committee members needed more time to "review the documentation submitted in support of Representative Solis's nomination." But those complaints, labor leaders insist, are part of a broader agenda to derail or damage the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Previous to her husband's tax gaffe, Solis withstood criticism from Republicans who insisted that her work at American Rights at Work, a union ally, was tantamount to being a lobbyist for EFCA. That this would be grounds for slowing her nomination seemed overtly partisan. But such is the politics that Employee Free Choice engenders. Now, however, it seems things are going to grow even more heated.
 

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