Sunday, February 22, 2009

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Mickey Rourke's Spirit Award Speech: Hilarious & Curse-Laden (VIDEO) Top
Mickey Rourke won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Actor Saturday and gave a long, ranging acceptance speech thanking everything from his dead dog to "Melissa Marissa Tomei" who "can really climb that pole." That came after he asked someone to his friend Eric Roberts a job. He dropped a lot of expletives, so be warned. More news and photos from the event here. WATCH: More on Award Season
 
Ariston Anderson: Christian Siriano on making it in today's tough economy Top
Photo by Christiana Molina Christian Siriano is the future of fashion. There, we said it. Leave it to the 23-year-old designer to create his Fall '09 collection, inspired by a country he's never even visited. He reminds us what is the essential quality of successful fashion: imagination. He presented at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Thursday night in one of the most cohesive collections we've seen all week, with sleek headscarves, fabrics in silk and organza, a palette of camel and turquoise, and metallic makeup, from lips to eyes. And with the world according to Christian, the biggest trend this fall will be bangs once again, but this time they'll be in 24-karat. While most fashion week accessories are left at the runway, we hope the jewelry bangs are one accessory we'll be able to purchase. The audience, already at the edge of their seats drooling over each blouse, dress and coat to come out, burst into applause when it-girl of the moment Sessilee Lopez closed the show in a gilded gown and sky-high Pharaoh headpiece, dropping in like a golden goddess come down from the land of Siriano. This is one designer, currently selling at boutiques like Intermix in New York and Bonnie & Clyde's in Chicago, who wants to be a household name. The most exciting part of the show was the debut of a new line of Christian Siriano bags and shoes he has designed for Payless Shoes. While the recent fusion lines have left us disappointed at best (thanks McQ for donating your table scraps to the Go line) we'll be holding our breath for this amazing collection, featuring turquoise soles, pyramid heels, and chain straps out in stores this fall. And if you're worried about the runway heel height, don't worry, the Payless models will definitely be a bit more street-friendly. We caught up with Christian at his post-show reception held at the W New York, the Tuscany, where he hung with his celeb fans Tori Spelling, Aubrey O'Day, and his Project Runway pals Kevin Christiana and Jack Mackenroth. While he'll never admit it to your face, Christian is sporting some serious business acumen, showing that today's young designers need more than just talent and imagination to carve their own place. The young designer is pulling his way through the fashion recession with a little help from a whole lot of sponsors. Read on to find out all about Christian's desert influences, his fall must-haves, and how he's making it all work in this economy. Huffington Post: So your collection this year was inspired by Egypt. How did that evolve into the final product of your show? Christian Siriano: It wasn't Egypt literally. It was through inspirations of color, and these pyramid-shaped sleeves, and obviously with the styling, and the makeup, and the gold-fringed bangs. It was my fantasy of what I think Egypt and North African culture is like, because I've never been there. It's one place I've always wanted to go, so it's my fantasy. HP: Is your collection ready to wear? CS: Definitely. I think so many of the clothes in this collection were really wearable. I think we style them really cool, but all the coats are really wearable. I think that the pants and the separates are great. And underneath we had great simple blouses, shirt dresses. And I think if people are going to shop, they should buy something interesting right now. I don't think they're buying simple, expensive clothing. I don't think they're buying a $2,000 basic black dress. They're buying a $2,000 amazing black coat. HP: If there is one piece from your collection that every woman should have, what piece is that? CS: I have a really fabulous charmeuse blouse--great sleeves, really chic, and I think everybody should have one. And they retail for under $400. $325. HP: Are we going to see your clothes across America, at a Macy's or a Bloomingdale's? CS: Maybe, maybe this season. I actually chose not to really do department stores because they're a lot of work. They're a lot of work to sell to, so maybe this season. HP: A lot of designers here are saying they cut back because of the recession; they didn't want to go all out this time around. Did you have to cut anything? CS: No. Never. I mean I'm a new designer so I didn't really have anything to lose. I don't have a million employees to lay off, so it works. HP: So what did you think of the designers who incorporated depression era themes in their collections this season? CS: I didn't even see it. And I think it's kind of weird. I think it's important but I think clothes are clothes, and they shouldn't be taken that seriously. HP: Is it tough to be a designer in the recession? CS: Yes and no. I mean of course I think it is, and definitely stores are tough. But I think it's ok. I don't make my money based on just selling clothes. If that were the case I'd be struggling, I'd be over. But luckily there are other things that are involved in the industry now. You can't just be a great clothing designer; you have to be everything else. HP: And what is everything else? CS: Like designing shoes with Payless- that's a licensing thing. And when I promote the LG, and when I do things with Aveda and Victoria Secret, they all sponsor and they all help fund the business. HP: Would you ever design for Target? CS: Of course, yeah. I mean obviously Payless is very similar to that. I only do things that I need, and I needed shoes and I needed bags so they worked. HP: Tell us about the Payless line- what can we expect? CS: Well all the shoes on the runway were Payless. HP: What's the price range on those? CS: Those are going to be from $20 to $50. But all those shoes on the runway are obviously for the show. They'll be commercialized. HP: How will they be commercialized? Because I saw a lot of height out there, a lot of platforms. CS: Lots of black, lots of strappy, a variety. HP: Did your choice to start designing for Payless have anything to do with trying to be more conscious about budget and price? CS: It was an opportunity that came along and it came along at a perfect time.
 
Jeff Cohen: Will TV News Ever Apologize for Condit Hoax? Top
For four months beginning in May 2001, major U.S. media outlets, including all three cable news channels, took the American public for a ride -- perpetrating a hoax that a married congressman was somehow involved in the disappearance of a female intern. As I witnessed the farce from inside cable news, I could see it was all about ratings and had nothing to do with journalism. This week - with these same outlets reporting a "break" in the 8-year-old murder case -- would be a good time for TV news executives to look back and give the public a big, fat apology. TV news served up its spectacular four-month sideshow at a crucial historical moment. During this period in 2001...  Roughly 20 Al Qaeda terrorists--including two on the CIA terrorist watch list -- were deploying across our country, while Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested in Minnesota due to weird behavior at a flight school, and George Bush received a presidential briefing memo titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S."  John Ashcroft's Justice Department was devoting vital resources to surveil prostitutes in New Orleans and medical marijuana clinics in California, while rebuffing (on Sept. 10, 2001) the FBI's request for $58 million in additional counter-terrorism funds for agents, analysts and interpreters.  Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was demanding billions in "Star Wars" funding to defend America from ballistic missiles, while threatening a presidential veto (on Sept. 9, 2001) over a Senate proposal to shift $600 million from space-based weapons systems to counter-terrorism. As they were failing to notice or report deadly serious news during these months, an army of TV "news" personnel engaged in a mindless, feverish, daily pursuit of a previously obscure congressman, Gary Condit. This weekend it became even clearer (it was clear to rational folks back in 2001) that Condit had nothing to do with the disappearance of D.C. intern Chandra Levy. Major media now report that authorities are about to arrest Ingmar Guandique in the Levy murder -- a man who pled guilty in 2001 to two separate assaults on young women in the same part of D.C. There'd never been any evidence against Condit. He was never a police suspect. But he had a sexual relationship with Levy before she disappeared, and that's all television news needed to construct its biggest news-opera since Clinton/Lewinsky. TV news executives would like us to forget this whole bizarre episode. But we shouldn't forget. I can't, since I experienced that loony summer inside Fox News Channel , where I was an on-air contributor. From May to Sept.11, cable news channels covered no story more than Condit/Levy. Not the economic slowdown, not California's energy crisis, not Ashcroft's or Rumsfeld's misguided priorities, and certainly not something or someone named Al Qaeda. Al who? For months until the morning the Twin Towers were hit, it was Condit -- not bin Laden -- who was the most despised man in America. Especially on cable news, where Condit was linked week after week to murder, with no end to speculation about how he'd caused the tragedy. Perhaps Levy died during rough sex with the congressman. Or her death was connected to Condit's ex-con brother. Or Condit's buddies in a motorcycle gang. Or because Levy was pregnant with Condit's baby. "TV's barking heads are drooling," wrote media critic Todd Gitlin. The story seemed propelled far more by salacious interest in Condit's sex life than concern for a missing woman. A cable viewer could hear third-hand claims about his alleged S&M practices, homosexual fantasies, leather fetishism. A few newspapers also fed the frenzy. The Washington Post published a page1 exclusive about an alleged affair Condit had years earlier with a teenage girl. The story was based on the girl's father, a minister, who later admitted he concocted the tale Amid the conjecture that filled hundreds of hours of cable news, Paula Zahn on Fox News interviewed a "world-renowned psychic" from California, who asserted that Chandra Levy's body was in a Washington. D.C. park by "some trees down in a marshy area." PSYCHIC: This girl -- I am sorry to tell you this, but this girl is not alive. ZAHN: How do you know that, Sylvia? Has this been something that you've been spending time thinking about and analyzing? PSYCHIC: No, no, no. Paula, you know, you can either be one place or the other. If you're not here, you've got to be there. ZAHN: And why are you so convinced she's there? PSYCHIC: Because I'm a psychic. I know where she -- I know she's there. She was gone very quickly after she was first missing. Ironically, the psychic's speculation turned out to be more accurate than much of what passed for informed analysis on the story. (A year after Levy's disappearance, her skeletal remains were found in D.C.'s Rock Creek Park where she'd been jogging.) This embarrassing chapter in TV news history also played a role in the cable news ratings war, as Broadcasting & Cable reported in Aug. 2001: "Helped by the Chandra Levy mystery, Fox News Channel is continuing its ratings tear, besting CNN for the sixth consecutive month. Fox News' prime-time ratings have climbed one-tenth of a point each month since the former intern vanished in May." The public humiliation of Gary Condit cost him his political career. But it boosted many TV careers, including mine. My role was peculiar -- I was part of the media frenzy while constantly denouncing it: "In the dictionary, when you look up 'media circus,'" I said on Fox, "you'll see a picture of Condit, and behind him Geraldo and O'Reilly and Larry King." I blasted the recurrent TV segments that asked, Is there too much coverage of the Chandra Levy disappearance? -- which, I complained, was "a way of adding to the overkill, while pretending not to." Near the beginning of the Condit-fixion, I warned that "if it turns out that Chandra is a victim of random street crime, I think some in the media are going to owe a Richard Jewell-type apology to Congressman Condit." (Jewell was the security guard who received payouts from news outlets that had suggested he planted the bomb at the Atlanta Olympics; the actual culprit was an ultra-right terrorist.) Sure enough, writer Dominick Dunne later gave Condit an apology and an undisclosed sum to settle a suit stemming from Dunne's fanciful third-hand fable told on talk radio, CNN and elsewhere that Condit was involved in a Washington sex ring of Arab diplomats, which somehow led to Levy being kidnapped and dropped into the Atlantic Ocean from a private jet. Noting how all the "talking heads from the O.J. Simpson and Lewinksy stories" were returning to TV for the Condit case, I joked on-air that I wouldn't be "satisfied until I hear from Tonya Harding" -- the Olympic ice skater implicated in an assault on her top competitor. I soon got my wish: Larry King actually interviewed Harding about Condit. Hey, Larry, I was just kidding! During my final prime-time appearance about Condit in August 2001, an enraged pundit urged him to resign from Congress and "slither away and never be heard from again." My immediate response: "What's the mainstream media going to cover when he does go away?" I soon got my answer. Eighteen days later, U.S. intelligence picked up chatter from intercepted conversations among Al Qaeda members indicating an imminent attack: "tomorrow is zero hour" and "the match begins tomorrow." That night, cable news was offering its own chatter - the latest gossip on Condit. The next morning, hijacked jets torpedoed the Towers -- wiping Condit's forgettable and banal image off of TV screens for good, replaced by the haunting visage of bin Laden. Never before had a "news" story of such absolute dominance disappeared so abruptly. TV news owes an apology to Condit -- and to the public. I'm not holding my breath waiting. Jeff Cohen is the director of the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College. Much of this critique first appeared in his book, Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media . He founded the media watch group FAIR in 1986.
 
Robert Naiman: Guadeloupe Strikes: A Warning to Obama? Top
On February 12, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told Congress that the global economic crisis was the most serious security challenge facing the United States and that it could topple governments and trigger waves of refugees, the Los Angeles Times reported . A week later, the French government was sending police reinforcements to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after a month of strikes and protests over low pay and high prices followed by clashes between police and protesters. Strikers have been demanding a raise of $250 a month for low-wage workers who now make about $1,130 a month. "Underlying much of the unrest in Guadeloupe and Martinique is anger within the local Afro-Caribbean community...that the vast majority of wealth and land remain in the hands of colonist descendants," noted Al Jazeera . Across much of the world, and much of Latin America in particular, the global economic crisis is going to play out against a legacy of extreme inequality and poverty. The unrest in Guadeloupe may be a preview of what's coming worldwide if there isn't a change in Washington's priorities. If the global economic crisis is the most serious security challenge, how come there is so little discussion of devoting more resources to addressing this challenge directly? Quite the contrary: with the purported goal of reducing the U.S. budget deficit, the Obama Administration is planning to "scale back" its promise to double foreign aid, the New York Times reports . The notion that scaling back Obama's commitment to double foreign aid would be a reasonable way to reduce the nation's fiscal deficit can only be taken seriously as long as people aren't aware of or don't consider the relative magnitude of the numbers involved and the likely consequences of different kinds of spending. The Times article doesn't report how much the deficit might be decreased by the threatened "scaling back." But the campaign promise was to double foreign aid to $50 billion by 2012. If instead of "scaling back" the promised increase, foreign aid weren't increased at all, that would suggest a maximum saving of about $25 billion a year. Representative Barney Frank recently wrote in The Nation : "I would be very happy if there was some way to make it a misdemeanor for people to talk about reducing the budget deficit without including a recommendation that we substantially cut military spending ... Current plans call for us not only to spend hundreds of billions more in Iraq but to continue to spend even more over the next few years producing new weapons that might have been useful against the Soviet Union. Many of these weapons are technological marvels, but they have a central flaw: no conceivable enemy ... In some cases we are developing weapons -- in part because of nothing more than momentum -- that lack not only a current military need but even a plausible use in any foreseeable future ... If, beginning one year from now, we were to cut military spending by 25 percent from its projected levels, we would still be immeasurably stronger than any combination of nations with whom we might be engaged." Frank's proposal would save about $160 billion a year - more than six times the savings from not increasing foreign aid at all. Or, put another way, if instead of Frank's proposal, we only cut military spending by 4%, that would pay for the entire increase in foreign aid that President Obama promised during the campaign. And surely it's the case, that if Representative Frank wants to cut the military budget by 25% in part because so much of the military budget has no relevance to "security" (except perhaps to the "security" of executives at military contractors in their desire to continue to live extravagantly on the public dole) then we can find 4% of cuts in the military budget that have nothing to do with "security," as most Americans would understand it. And if that 4% were reallocated to keeping Obama's promise to double foreign aid, then instead of spending it on corporate welfare for military contractors we'd be using it to address what Director of National Intelligence Blair told Congress was the most serious security challenge facing the United States. President Obama said last summer : "I know development assistance is not the most popular of programs, but as president, I will make the case to the American people that it can be our best investment in increasing the common security of the entire world and increasing our own security," he said. "That's why I will double our foreign assistance to $50 billion by 2012 and use it to support a stable future in failing states and sustainable growth in Africa, to halve global poverty and to roll back disease." We eagerly await you, President Obama. Use your bully pulpit. Make the case. More on Latin America
 
Julian Baird Gewirtz: What Did Chinese Youth Think of Hillary Clinton's Visit? Top
Beijing, CHINA--Living in Beijing this year before starting college, I observed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's China visit alongside Chinese young people. From that vantage point, I saw a trip that succeeded in improving U.S.-China government-to-government engagement. But Secretary Clinton's visit also made clear that if the Obama administration wants to maximize the possibilities for a positive and constructive long-term future for U.S.-China relations, American leaders should make additional efforts to connect to ordinary Chinese people, especially Chinese youth. Before Secretary Clinton's visit, public perception of her in China was vague yet, overall, somewhat negative because of critical remarks she made about China as First Lady and in the recent presidential campaign. But since appointed as Secretary of State, she has struck a decisively conciliatory note concerning China. Her pre-departure speech at the Asia Society in New York introduced a new mantra that the Chinese media immediately picked up on: the U.S. wants a "positive and cooperative" relationship with China. In particular, some Chinese young people whom I interviewed liked Secretary Clinton's use of an ancient Chinese aphorism to propose that China and the United States are "in a common boat," an idea which "must continue to guide us today." Secretary Clinton repeated that proverb in her meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, and she has emphasized positive themes every time that she has spoken while in China. As a result, Ms. Clinton undoubtedly leaves China with a more positive image for herself and the U.S. in Chinese eyes than before her trip. But this does not tell the whole story. The loudest group of Chinese youth is known as fen qing, or "angry youth." Described by Evan Osnos of the New Yorker as "the new generation's neocon nationalists," the rage of these young people finds clear expression on the Internet. Moments after Secretary Clinton's speech at the Asia Society, the "angry youth" were at work, criticizing her statements on blogs and discussion boards. "Let's judge by her deeds, not her words," said one poster, using a traditional saying, and several others agreed in more colorful and less Confucian language. Few mainstream young people here appear ready to let the "angry youth" be the voice of their generation, though, suggesting that the United States could play a considerable role in shaping its own image. Indeed, the views of young Chinese people about the United States are clearly in flux. President Obama's election has been warmly greeted by the Chinese (75% of whom supported him over Senator John McCain, according to a poll conducted by the China Daily and the U.S. embassy) and seems to have strengthened the belief that the United States is a fundamentally noble country, standing for "freedom, opportunity, and choices," in the words of a high school graduate I spoke with who hopes to study in the West. So American leaders should seize this unique opportunity to give a fresh, positive impression of the United States to Chinese young people. This certainly does not mean ignoring differences and tensions that exist between the two countries or failing to stand up for U.S. interests. Instead, it focuses on what Secretary Clinton herself has recognized is the job of American diplomats: "repairing relations, not only with governments but with people," and with an eye to the future. Of course, Secretary Clinton's trip to China was very brief and therefore could include only one non-governmental public event. In deciding to visit a power plant, she chose to emphasize energy efficiency, a policy theme of extraordinary importance to the entire planet. No one can criticize her for that choice--but it was an event for policy experts, not to connect to ordinary Chinese. Thus it isn't surprising that when I talked on Sunday with some Chinese teenagers getting their morning Starbucks, as Secretary Clinton was departing Beijing after going to church, their reactions were mixed. Their positive feelings were coupled with a sense that this was only the first step in a new, still somewhat unclear direction. "It seems like the trip was successful," said one 19 year-old, quoting an idiom, "the journey was not made in vain." But, he reminded me, "It's only her first trip." Future trips, and future diplomatic efforts in China, should focus on broadening direct outreach to ordinary people, especially young people. Doing so is the firmest foundation for building a long-term cooperative relationship between what are clearly going to be the two most important countries on the world stage for my generation. One untraditional but promising way for American leaders to connect to Chinese youth occurred to me during a recent conversation with a young Chinese professional. He reminded me that the lives and concerns of young people in China and the United States are quite similar, despite the profound dissimilarity of the societies in which we have grown up. Chinese youth, he observed, don't save much money, have a hard time finding jobs even after earning a college degree, and, most fundamentally, just want to lead happy, healthy, and interesting lives. That sounds pretty familiar to me. U.S. foreign policy in China would be well served if, alongside our immediate and essential policy objectives, our leaders could connect directly and sympathetically with ordinary Chinese people, whose concerns about the economy, access to adequate health care, better education, secure jobs, and a happy life are, at bottom, also the concerns of ordinary Americans. These are at the core of identifying and furthering the common interests of the two countries. We should be speaking directly to the Chinese people about an America that wants to give Chinese students the opportunity to learn from the United States, not to deny them visas; an America that wants to make its policies understandable, not opaque; an America that wants to continue representing "freedom, opportunity, and choices"; an America whose young people are eager to learn more about and connect with China. We should also be looking for ways to build programmatic bridges between the younger generation in both countries, not simply bridges between government officials and business people in both countries. This is the best way to allow China and the United States to remain in the "common boat" that Secretary Clinton described--not only "today," but also tomorrow. More on Hillary Clinton
 
Trudi Loh: Where in the World is Gov. Tim Kaine? Top
I would like to put out an all points bulletin on Chairman Tim Kaine. We are now more than a month into Barack Obama's presidency and there is little or no evidence that a national Democratic Party structure exists. Gov. Kaine, who was appointed Chairman of the Democratic Party by President Obama on January 8th, has been missing in action. He was nowhere to be seen during the battle to pass the stimulus bill. He was nowhere to be seen during the public relations fiascos that surrounded the withdrawals of several cabinet appointees. He is nowhere to be seen now as the President sets about attempting to move his agenda and convince the American people that we have turned the corner and their lives are going to begin to improve. What's up with that? I know that President Obama has been busy, what with finding the lights switches and passing legislation to save an economy that is in possibly the worst downward spiral in history. I know that President Obama likes to think of himself as post-partisan. I know he wants to engage the American people directly -- much as he did during the campaign. But seriously, Mr. President, this isn't going to work. When public and congressional support for the stimulus package began to falter -- owing largely to the Congressional Republicans having an identity crisis and putting positioning themselves for 2010 before saving the country's economy -- the President appeared to be caught back on heels for at least one full news cycle. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was everywhere on the news complaining loudly about tax increases and out of control spending. And from the Democrats came... silence. It wasn't until the following day that someone finally stepped up to a microphone and said, " hey, wait a minute, wasn't it you guys, who controlled not just the White House and at least one of the Chambers of Congress for the last eight years who drove this economy into the ditch? Wasn't it you guys who dismantled most of the regulatory framework that might have prevented much of the financial industry mess that we now face? " And the person who stepped up was the President himself. And then President Obama jumped into Air Force one and left Washington to make his case to the American people. It worked. This time. However, as you have no doubt noticed, Mr. President, your day job keeps you rather busy. The succession of emails from -- wherever they are coming from -- that denote BarackObama.com as the sender, are an inadequate way to for a President, and leader of his party, to communicate. You can twitter and tweet and facebook and youtube all you want but you also are going to need a party structure and stable of surrogate speakers to move your agenda. In the late 1990's and the 2000 election, Democrats lost the battle of communicating at least in part because the right wing had talk radio and Drudge (putting aside for the moment the mainstream media's rather odd sense of its obligation to report in a "balanced" way). We recovered ground in those areas with the addition of the Huffington Post, the DailyKos and a host of other less well-known blogs and websites, as well as the increased prominence of commentators like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. However, we now are in danger of losing a similar battle if we allow the party structure to atrophy. Just as you can disagree without being disagreeable, you can use the party structure without being partisan. It is up to you, Mr. President, to revitalize and grow your party and not to continue to brand it BarackObama.com. Perhaps that increases your personal connection with the people who supported your campaign and, in some sense, your political capital. However, you need to spend some of that capital now to revitalize the Democratic Party and move your agenda. What are you saving it for -- a run for higher office? More on Barack Obama
 
Michael Shaw: Reading The Pictures: You Are Lost and Gone Forever, Mark Sanford Top
Or, bury us not on the lone prairie? Equally recognized for his theatrics, his blind fiscal conservatism and his presidential ambitions, last week Governor Mark Sanford galloped onto the national stage by threatening to reject $2.8 billion in federal stimulus dollars for S. Carolina even though his state's unemployment rate is third highest in the country. Last February, Jim Morrill at Standard.Net offered this background on the Gov when Sanford was being talked up as McCain's running mate: Many Republican legislators remember with disgust the time in 2004 when Sanford carried two pigs -- "Pork" and "Barrel" -- to the legislature. With pig droppings falling onto his suit and shoes, he criticized lawmakers for passing a budget with too much of what he considered frivolous spending. "Anybody who was here when that happened, they're still incensed about it," said state Rep. Carl Gullick, a York County Republican. "The governor is popular with some members of the legislature. He's very unpopular with others." In 2005, Time magazine called Sanford one of the three worst-performing governors in the country. That same year, he rode a horse and buggy to the General Assembly to complain about its failure to adopt his government restructuring plan. And time and again, he's vetoed legislative budget bills, only to have lawmakers from his own party vote to override them. It is interesting Sanford's point behind this demonstration -- staged in front of the S. Carolina statehouse almost four years ago -- was to symbolize obstructionism . Today, with the economy (especially South Carolina's) deep in the ditch, leaders like Sanford, in his self-serving ideological primitivism and his prairie-style resistance, risk setting the country back a couple of hundred years. For more visual politics, visit BAGnewsNotes.com (and BAGnewsNotes @Twitter ). (image: 3/2/2005 - South Carolina Governor's Office. caption: Governor Sanford brings horse and buggy to SC Statehouse) More on Recession
 
Bank Nationalization: "As American As Apple Pie" Top
Even before the panel discussion commenced, George Stephanopoulos knew that this would not, in actuality, be a debate. The topic was the nationalization of major U.S. banks, which just a few weeks ago was treated as either inconceivable or illogical. But with the credit crisis growing worse and the chorus of political support growing louder, the ABC host opened up a segment with more of a statement than a question. "Over the last several weeks, you have seen something that was radioactive even six months ago, the idea of nationalizing major banks in this country, moving towards something of a consensus," Stephanopoulos said. There wasn't a panelist who disputed the idea -- indeed, naysayers were mocked. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman scoffed at the notion that the White House was one of the few remaining holdouts, picking apart the Obama administration's comment as a sophisticated sidestep. "That Gibbs statement was masterful," Krugman said of the remark by Obama's press secretary that a "privately-held banking system" regulated by the government was optimal. Some interpreted it as White House opposition to nationalization, but Krugman argued otherwise. "It sounded like a reassurance [but he] was actually saying what everybody believes. Nobody wants the government running the banking system for any length of time." Rather, Krugman argues, the government's involvement should be temporary -- just long enough to wipe out shareholders, fire management, clean up the banks, and quickly resell them into the marketplace. He added that it seems likely that there is no other choice. George Will, who at times has been diametrically opposed to Krugman on economic matters, seemed to be acknowledging much the same when he opened the discussion with his usual bit of highbrow wit. "This week, a Democratic administration reproved Alan Greenspan for reckless talk on nationalization," he said. "That's how 'through the looking glass' we are." The debate at which the panelists finally arrived was not over nationalization itself, but how to describe it using a less loaded term. "Pre-privatization," offered Krugman. "What is a leader's job but to put context around it," Suzy Welch remarked to her fellow panelists. Welch, a former editor of the Harvard Business Review , co-writes a column For Business Week with her husband Jack Welch. The argument, the panelists were saying, was now moot. The insolvency of the banking system not only demanded more direct government intervention, but the process was already taking place. There was Nouriel Roubini, the economist known as Dr. Doom for predicting the current downturn, who champions a quick and brief nationalization period as the pill that must be swallowed. "There are some banks that are so insolvent, their assets are well below their liabilities. We have already put a huge amount of money as a government into these banks. This is not any more even a partisan issue, when you have Alan Greenspan, [Sen.] Lindsey Graham and others saying we want a temporary nationalization..." There was the conservative George Will: "With credit now treated essentially as a public utility, the difference between what we have and what nationalization would be is marginal. One number: the market capitalization of Bank of America is $19 billion. Since October they have received $45 billion in public funds. So what's the difference?" And then there was Krugman, who summed it all up by calling nationalization "as American as apple pie." "We have nationalized 14 banks already this year. We don't call it that but there were 14 banks, two a week, that the FDIC seized because they didn't have enough assets to pay their depositors. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation says, 'ok, we are taking over. We are cleaning out the stockholders.' We are going to do exactly, as Nouriel said, we should be doing for some major banks. So actually nationalization as properly understood is probably as American as apple pie."
 
Khan el-Khalili, Cairo Tourist Bazaar, Hit By Bomb Explosion Top
CAIRO — An attacker threw a grenade into a famed bazaar in medieval Cairo, killing a Frenchwoman and wounding at least 17 people _ most of them foreign tourists, officials said. The blast hit the bustling main plaza at the Khan el-Khalili, a 650-year-old bazaar packed with tourists buying souvenirs, jewelry and handicrafts. It was last attacked in April 2005, when a suicide bomber killed two French citizens and an American. Sunday's blast outside a cafe sent a panicked rush of worshippers from the nearby Hussein mosque. Security officials said the attacker escaped, and within an hour, police found a second grenade and detonated it safely. "I was praying and there was a big boom and people started panicking and rushing out of the mosque, then police came and sealed the main door, evacuating us out of the back," said Mohammed Abdel Azim, 56, who was inside the historic mosque. Outside, blood stained the marble paving stones. A frantic woman screamed at police sealing off the area to let her look for her daughter. A medic at the scene said the Frenchwoman died in the intensive care unit of the nearby Hussein hospital. The wounded included three Saudis, 10 French, a German and three Egyptians, said Health Minister Hatem al-Gibali. He told the state news agency that the wounds were largely superficial, though one French victim needed surgery. He said most would be released from the hospital by Monday. The outdoor cafes and restaurants lining the square were packed with crowds, including a large group of Irish tourists at Mohammed Said's Al-Sinousi Cafe. "There was a big loud boom. Everybody ducked," the cafe owner said. "I ran out to figure out what's happening." The blast sent crowds scrambling in all directions, he said. A police colonel said the small explosion outside the cafe kicked up stone and marble fragments, which wounded the passersby. All the officials describing the blasts spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Egypt fought a long war with Islamist militants in the 1990s, which culminated in a massacre of more than 50 tourists in Luxor in 1997. The rebels were largely defeated and there have been few attacks since in the Nile valley. There were, however, a number of attacks in recent years against resorts in the Sinai Peninsula, including one in Sharm el-Sheik in 2005 that killed more than 60 people. Tourism is one Egypt's major sources of foreign income. One of the highest religious officials in the country, Sheik of Al-Azhar Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi condemned the attack calling it "cowardly and criminal." "Those who carried out this criminal act are traitors to their religion and country and are distorting the image of Islam which rejects terrorism by prohibts the killing of innocents," he said. Montasser el-Zayat, a lawyer who has represented Islamic extremists in the past, told the Arabic news channel al-Jazeera that the attack maybe linked to popular anger of the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip last month. "The nature of the explosion looks like an act carried out by young, inexperienced and amateurs whose emotions were inflamed by the events of Gaza," said el-Zayat, who once had links with extremists groups himself. More on Egypt
 
Hillary Clinton's Diplomatic Style: Less Rigid, Less Cautious And More Open Top
Clinton's willingness to speak frankly -- combined with an extensive effort to get beyond ministerial meetings in order to hold town hall meetings and conduct local TV interviews in the countries she visits -- suggests she will put a distinctive personal stamp on the Obama administration's foreign policy. What is emerging is something less rigid, less cautious and more open. More on Hillary Clinton
 
Pakistan To Arm Village Militias To Fight Terror Top
ISLAMABAD — Authorities in a Pakistani border province plan to arm villagers with 30,000 rifles and set up an elite police unit to protect a region increasingly besieged by Taliban and al-Qaida militants, an official said Sunday. Stiffer action in the North West Frontier Province could help offset American concern that a peace deal being negotiated in the Swat valley, a Taliban stronghold in the province, could create a haven for Islamist insurgents only 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the Pakistani capital. Village militias backed by the United States have been credited with reducing violence in Iraq. Washington is paying for a similar initiative in Afghanistan. The United States is already spending millions of dollars to train and equip Pakistani forces in the rugged region near the Afghan border but there was no sign it was involved in the militia plan. A U.S. Embassy spokesman could not be reached for comment. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Saturday he will try to "remove the apprehensions of the world community" about the Swat deal when he meets U.S. officials in Washington next week, state-run media reported. But it was unclear if Sunday's announcement had the backing of national leaders or the powerful army _ or if handing out more guns in an already heavily armed society was wise. Mahmood Shah, a former head of security for Pakistan's tribal regions, said arming civilians could trigger civil war in the northwest, where tribal and political tension is at fever pitch. Shah said authorities should focus on bolstering existing security forces. "This is Pakistan, not Iraq or Afghanistan. There is complete anarchy in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that is not the case here," he said. "It is not going to help." Haider Khan Hoti, chief minister of the provincial government, said authorities would distribute the guns only among "peaceful groups and individuals" so they could help police to guard their villages. Officials would consult with local police chiefs before handing out the arms and would take them back if they were not used against "terrorists and troublemakers," Hoti's office said in a written statement. Hoti said the guns were on hand, having been seized from "terrorists and anti-state elements." He said the province would meet the $40 million bill for the elite provincial police unit of 2,500 officers. "The purpose of setting up this force is to combat terrorism and extremism effectively," he said. The militia plan raises doubts about the coherence of Pakistani efforts to counter Taliban groups who have seized growing pockets of the northwest, forged links with al-Qaida and carried out a blur of suicide bombings. Pakistani officials have encouraged residents to establish militias in the semiautonomous tribal areas sandwiched between North West Frontier Province and the Afghan border. The pro-Western central government says it will come down hard on groups who refuse to renounce violence and stop supporting cross-border terrorism in return for reconciliation. Federal officials insisted they have not handed out any weapons in the tribal areas, and appeared to be caught off guard by Sunday's announcement. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said it had not been consulted about giving weapons to village militias. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry, supposedly in charge of national law and order issues, also was unaware of the plan. The provincial government did not say when the weapons would be handed out, or if villagers would be armed in the Swat valley, where security forces and Taliban militants are observing a week-old cease-fire while seeking a peace accord. Earlier Sunday, Taliban gunmen abducted a senior government official and six of his security guards in Swat, demonstrating their unbroken hold in the valley, where they have defied an army offensive, beheaded political opponents and torched some 200 girls' schools. A Taliban spokesman said the official, Khushal Khan, would be freed "soon," but that his abduction was a warning to the provincial authorities, who he alleged had arrested two Taliban members in violation of the cease-fire. "We wanted to show the government that we can also taken action against it," spokesman Muslim Khan said. He declined to comment on the village militia plan. The provincial government has sent a hard-line cleric to try to persuade the Swat Taliban to renounce violence in return for the introduction of elements of Islamic law. Officials say the legal concessions meet long-standing demands for speedy justice in Swat and fall far short of the harsh version of Islamic law favored by Taliban militants. ___ Associated Press writer Sherin Zada in Mingora contributed to this report. More on Pakistan
 
Vassilis Paleokostas And Alket Rizai: Greece's Most Wanted Men Stage Helicopter Prison Escape -- Again Top
ATHENS, Greece — For the second time in their lives, two robbers escaped from a high-security Greek prison on Sunday by scaling a rope ladder to a hovering helicopter, authorities said. The escape came amid a gunbattle with guards. Vassilis Paleokostas, 42, and Alket Rizaj, 34, were picked up by a helicopter that flew over the courtyard of Athens' Korydallos prison on Sunday afternoon. The inmates climbed a ladder thrown to them by a woman passenger, the Ministry of Justice said. Guards on the ground opened fire and the woman fired back with an automatic rifle, authorities said. No injuries were reported. Paleokostas and Rizaj escaped from the same prison in the same manner only three years ago. Later Sunday, an elderly couple found the helicopter abandoned near a highway north of Athens, police said. The pilot was bound, gagged and had a hood over his head. He told police the helicopter was chartered by a couple who said they wanted to go from the town of Itea in central Greece to Athens. The couple had chartered the helicopter a number of times in the previous weeks. Residents gave conflicting reports about the number of vehicles that sped away from the helicopter's landing site, police said. Police helicopters were scouring the vicinity for any sign of the escaped convicts. Authorities had at first feared that up to four people might have escaped, but a second count of the prison's inmates confirmed that only two were missing. Paleokostas and Rizaj were to appear before a magistrate Monday in connection with their previous escape by helicopter on June 4, 2006. That operation had been masterminded by Paleokostas' elder brother Nikos, himself a convicted criminal who escaped from the same prison in 1990 during a mass breakout. The elder Paleokostas was recaptured by authorities in September 2006 and is still in jail. He has been convicted of 16 bank robberies. Rizaj, an Albanian immigrant, was also recaptured in September 2006, while Vassilis Paleokostas was apprehended in August 2008. Both men are considered criminals rather than those who commit violence to support political motives. While on the run, Paleokostas is suspected of masterminding the June 2008 kidnapping of a prominent Greek industrialist, Giorgos Mylonas, who was held for 13 days until his family paid a ransom. Police are investigating whether Rizaj, during his three-month spell outside prison after his previous escape, was involved in contract killings. More on Europe
 
EU leaders back sweeping financial regulations Top
BERLIN — European leaders mounted a united front against the global financial crisis Sunday, proposing sweeping new market regulations, but it remained unclear whether economic giants like the United States and China would go along. Heads of government and finance ministers from Europe's largest economies joined German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to lay the groundwork for a common European position on economic reforms before an April 2 summit of the Group of 20 nations in London. "Europe will own up to its responsibility in the world," Merkel told reporters following the talks. Leaders from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic agreed to press for sanctions on tax havens, caps for managers' bonus payments and a stronger role and increased funding for the International Monetary Fund. While the plans were based on an agenda adopted by the G-20 in November, the measures announced Sunday were more far-reaching and concrete, particularly on long-disputed issues such as hedge fund regulation. However, analysts say other G-20 members, including the U.S., China, Japan and developing nations like India and Brazil, might not share Europe's zeal for blanket global regulations. During Germany's turn at the presidency of the Group of Eight two years ago, Merkel pushed hard for more transparency on global financial markets and, especially, hedge fund regulation. But her efforts ran into against stiff resistance from Washington and London. Even the global crisis and a change of administration may not be enough to convince the U.S. to hand over its autonomy. "I see the U.S. as wary of giving away powers of oversight and regulation," said Robert Brusca of New York-based Fact And Opinion Economics. Financial industry leaders, on the other hand, may have lost too much credibility in the current crisis to fight off heavy restrictions on their practices. "What the industry thinks is irrelevant," Brusca said." It has squandered any good will it had by being given a leash of self regulation _ then running amok." French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that "Europe wants the system to be refounded," and stressed the importance of the April meeting. "We all want London to be a success and we are all aware that it's (our) last chance," Sarkozy said. "We cannot afford a failure in London." European leaders also backed Merkel's call for a "charter of sustainable economic activity" that would subject all financial market activities around the globe to regulation, including credit rating agencies. Merkel's proposal envisions giving increased powers to the IMF, which the leaders agreed needed to receive double its current funding in order to help members respond "swiftly and flexibly" to a crisis. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a "global New Deal" to be adopted to help right the world economy, saying international financial institutions need some $500 billion to do the job. That could prove complicated unless the U.S. agrees to cede the needed authority to the IMF to make it effective, analysts say. "The IMF is a policeman without a whistle, let alone a gun," Brusca said. "I see more international cooperation as essential but still difficult." Other key points agreed to Sunday included adopting a "sanctions mechanism" to penalize tax havens and urging banks to keep larger reserves of capital. "A new system of regulation without sanctions would not have any meaning," said Sarkozy. He said European countries should jointly draw up a list of tax havens, as well as sanctions they might face for continuing reckless financial activity. Merkel also warned the United States to avoid protectionism in its automobile market. "When I look at the restructuring plans of some American companies, there are a lot of state funds flowing into them," Merkel said, swiftly adding that "this is not an accusation." She said the European Commission would be asked to examine whether the U.S. was violating global trade laws. Officials said a final copy of the summit agreement would not be circulated Sunday, in order to allow European Union members not present to view it first. All 27 EU members are to debate the document next week, and it is to be taken up by the European Council on March 19-20, then presented to the G-20. That summit will be President Barack Obama's first and a test of just how much regulation the U.S., and other world leaders, is willing to accept in an effort to prevent another meltdown. ___ Associated Press Writers Melissa Eddy and Michael Fischer contributed to this report. More on European Union
 
NY Post Chimp Cartoon Leads WaPo To Apologize In Advance Top
Politico reports that the Washington Post is apologizing in advance for a column, before any offense can be taken: "The headline, illustration, and text of 'Below the Beltway,' a column in The Washington Post Magazine today, may cause offense to readers. The magazine was printed before a widely publicized incident last week in which a chimpanzee attacked a badly mauled a woman in Stamford, Conn. In addition, the image and text inadvertently may conjure racial stereotypes that The Post does not countenance. We regret the lapse." Last week, the New York Post came under fire for a cartoon that appeared to link President Obama to the dead chimpanzee. The paper offered a half-apology , saying they were sorry if anyone was offended but saying that vocal critics of the cartoon were "opportunists" to whom "no apology is due." The Washington Post column , called "Monkey Business," riffs on a study suggesting women are attracted to apes. More on Wash Post
 

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