Sunday, March 29, 2009

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Kos: GOP Senator From North Carolina Looks Like Easy Takedown For Dems Top
In 2004, freshman Republican Sen. Richard Burr won a fairly tight race in what was a huge Republican year [...] North Carolina was among the most politically interesting states last cycle, and that won't change this coming one. Republicans will be hard-pressed to hold on to this seat.
 
Obama: Biden "Can Help Stir The Pot" Top
Mr. Biden has settled into a role of what Mr. Obama compares to a basketball player "who does a bunch of things that don't show up in the stat sheet," the president said in an interview Friday. "He gets that extra rebound, takes the charge, makes that extra pass." [...] "There's, I think, an institutional barrier sometimes to truth-telling in front of the president," Mr. Obama said. "Joe is very good about sometimes articulating what's on other people's minds, or things that they've said in private conversations that people have been less willing to say in public. Joe, in that sense, can help stir the pot." More on Joe Biden
 
Thousands Of Toxic Toads Killed At Australian Celebration Top
SYDNEY — Thousands of poisonous cane toads met their fate Sunday as gleeful Australians gathered for a celebratory mass killing of the hated amphibians, with many of the creatures' corpses being turned into fertilizer for the very farmers they've plagued for years. Hundreds of participants in five communities across northern Queensland snacked on sausages, sipped cold drinks and picked up prizes as the portly pests were weighed, measured and killed in the state's inaugural "Toad Day Out" celebration. "To see the look on the faces of the kids as we were handling and weighing the toads and then euthanizing them was just...," Townsville City Councilman Vern Veitch said, breaking off to let out a contented sigh. "The children really got into the character of the event." The toads _ which can grow up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) in length _ were imported from South America to Queensland in 1935 in a failed attempt to control beetles on sugarcane plantations. Trouble was, the toads couldn't jump high enough to eat the beetles, which live on top of cane stalks. The toads bred rapidly, and their millions-strong population now threatens many local species across Australia. They spread diseases, such as salmonella, and produce highly toxic venom from glands in their skin that can kill would-be predators. The toads are also voracious eaters, chomping up insects, frogs, small reptiles and mammals _ even birds. Cane toads are only harmful to humans if their poison is swallowed. Queensland politician Shane Knuth, a longtime nemesis of the cane toad who came up with the Toad Day Out idea, figured the best way to combat the problem was to gather Australians en masse for a targeted hunt. With each adult female cane toad capable of producing 20,000 eggs, he said, killing even a few thousand toads could ultimately wipe out millions. On Saturday night, participants fanned out under the cloak of darkness to hunt down the toads. On Sunday, the toads _ which the rules stated must be captured alive and unharmed _ were brought to collection points and examined by experts to ensure they were not harmless frogs. The creatures were then killed, either by freezing or by being placed in plastic bags filled with carbon dioxide. Some of the remains will be ground into fertilizer for sugarcane farmers. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has applauded the effort, provided the toads are killed humanely. In Townsville, organizers received around 3,600 toads from about 400 participants, said Andrew Hannay, coordinator of environmental management for Townsville City Council. Most of the toads will be donated to nearby James Cook University, with the biggest ones turned into souvenirs by local taxidermists, he said. The largest toad weighed more than a pound (half a kilogram), Hannay said. The monster toad's captor received several movie passes and a trophy made out of a cane toad. In Cairns, more than 100 people turned up at a collection point with around 1,000 toads, Toad Day Out organizer Lisa Ahrens said. The biggest was 5 inches (13 centimeters) long, weighed half a pound (290 grams) _ and had a fifth leg growing out of its chest. There was a tussle over the creatures' corpses between a waste management plant and a local taxidermist. But in the end, Ahrens said, a compromise was struck _ the taxidermists stripped off the animals' skins, and the rest of the remains went to the plant to be turned into compost for cane farmers. "So everybody's happy!" Ahrens said with a laugh. Knuth, who has been pushing a proposal to offer a 40 Australian cent ($0.28) bounty on the animals since 2007, hopes to eventually turn Toad Day Out into a nationwide effort. "This is an example of how the war against cane toads can be won," he said. More on Australia
 
Obama On Ailing Carmakers: `They're Not There Yet' Top
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and all those with a stake in their survival need to take more hard steps to help the struggling automakers restructure for the future. Obama, in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" broadcast Sunday, said the companies must do more to receive additional financial aid from the government. "They're not there yet," Obama said. The president was set to announce a plan Monday for the government to provide more money in exchange for tough concessions from union workers, bondholders and others. "We think we can have a successful U.S. auto industry. But it's got to be one that's realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge _ at the other end _ much more lean, mean, and competitive than it currently is," Obama said. GM and Chrysler are surviving on $17.4 billion in government loans. They have been hard hit by the economic downturn and the worst decline in auto sales in 27 years. GM is seeking $16.6 billion more; Chrysler wants $5 billion more. Obama said the government would require a "set of sacrifices from all parties involved, management, labor, shareholders, creditors, suppliers, dealers. Everybody's gonna have to come to the table and say it's important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road." Both companies are trying to reduce their debt by two-thirds and persuade the United Auto Workers union to accept several cost-cutting measures. Under the terms of a loan agreement reached during the Bush administration, GM and Chrysler are pushing the UAW to accept shares of stock in exchange for half of the payments into a union-run trust fund for retiree health care. They also want labor costs from the union to be competitive with Japanese automakers with U.S. operations. Neither GM nor Chrysler have deals with the union on the trust funding or concessions from their debtholders and the administration has been trying to accelerate those efforts. GM and Chrysler employ about 140,000 workers in the U.S. Members of the president's auto industry task force have said bankruptcy could be an option for GM and Chrysler if their management, workers, creditors and shareholders failed to make sacrifices. The conditions could be more stringent than the loan terms set by the outgoing Bush administration in December, officials have said. GM and Chrysler face a Tuesday deadline to submit completed restructuring plans, but neither company is expected to finish their work. The administration's plan would be designed to accelerate those efforts. GM owes roughly $28 billion to bondholders. Chrysler owes about $7 billion in first- and second-term debt, mainly to banks. GM owes about $20 billion to its retiree health care trust, while Chrysler owes $10.6 billion. In February, GM said it intended to cut 47,000 jobs around the globe, or nearly 20 percent of its work force, close hundreds of dealerships and focus on four core brands _ Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick. Chrysler issued two scenarios in its February plan: one, as a distinct company, and the second, in an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA. Fiat executives have talked to the task force about a proposal to acquire a 35 percent stake in Chrysler in exchange for small car technology, transmissions and other items that Chrysler has valued at $8 billion to $10 billion. Chrysler said in its February report that it would cut 3,000 workers and eliminate three vehicle models, the Dodge Aspen, Dodge Durango and Chrysler PT Cruiser. More on Barack Obama
 
Glenn Greenwald: The Incredible Courage Of Jim Webb's Prison Bill Top
There are few things rarer than a major politician doing something that is genuinely courageous and principled, but Jim Webb's impassioned commitment to fundamental prison reform is exactly that. Webb's interest in the issue was prompted by his work as a journalist in 1984, when he wrote about an American citizen who was locked away in a Japanese prison for two years under extremely harsh conditions for nothing more than marijuana possession. After decades of mindless "tough-on-crime" hysteria, an increasingly irrational "drug war," and a sprawling, privatized prison state as brutal as it is counter-productive, America has easily surpassed Japan -- and virtually every other country in the world -- to become what Brown University Professor Glenn Loury recently described as a "a nation of jailers" whose "prison system has grown into a leviathan unmatched in human history." More on Jim Webb
 
Fox News' Williams To Co-Panelist Sammon: "Chill Out, Dude" (WATCH) Top
Relatively new to the Fox News Sunday "all-star" panel, Bill Sammon, was told on Sunday to "chill out" by co-panelist Juan Williams after declaring members of the Obama administration to be of the blame-America first crowd. "I think the left reflexively placed a disproportionate share of the blame on America as they do in many cases," said Sammon, Fox News' Washington Managing Editor, when talking about the destructive Mexican drug wars. "When Hillary Clinton comes out and says well, we a co-responsible. That sends the wrong message to some people." Later Sammons went after another member of the Obama cabinet. When you have "Attorney General Eric Holder saying well maybe we should go back to the ban on assault weapons," he said, "that gets the gun control issue riled up and even some Blue Dog Democrats are saying, 'don't go there.'" It was a reflexively partisan interpretation of Clinton and Holder's respective statements and enough to cause Williams to chime in with a bit of humored disbelief. "Chill out dude," he said, "I mean come on. Why is there this nervousness about blame America?" (ht: media matters) More on Video
 
Aldo Civico: Israel and Peace in the Middle East: Shlomo Ben Ami Top
With the formation of a new government in Israel, what are the chances for peace in the Middle East? Last Friday, as director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution, I invited to Columbia University Shlomo Ben Ami , a historian and former foreign minister of Israel, to talk about the chances for peace in the region. The lecture reflected the depth of knowledge, the intellectual honesty, and the wisdom that has marked the academic life as well as the political carrier of Ben Ami. The thoughts he expressed in the lecture echoed the ideas and the analysis he put forward in his book Scars of War, Wounds of Peace . The intractable nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is in the nature of this conflict that the maximum for Israel does not meet the minimum for the Palestinians. We have been incapable of accepting each other's ethos. This is very different from a land dispute. This is not only about Palestinians recognizing the state of Israel, but also about the moral legitimacy of the Jewish State. At the same time, without a reasonable solution on the refugee question, one can see how a mini-state in the West Bank with Gaza has little attraction for the Palestinians. Both people are looking for justice. The two-state solution and the new Israeli government . We are only few minutes away from the end of a two-state solution. The Palestinian have lost hope. They lack the charismatic leadership of a revolutionary figure like Arafat, who was able to impose the two-state solution. On the other hand, the new Israeli government does not even contemplate this solution in its guideline. This government believes that economic peace is sufficient. It is not. This is non-sense. Peace cannot be disjointed from a political solution. The dangers of a one-state solution. The one-state solution will cause Israel's unilateral and hostile disengagement. In a choice between land and identify, that is between land and demography, Israel has always opted for guarding the Jewishness of Israel. Peace, not trust. You cannot build trust between the occupied and the occupier. We need peace before and trust later. First you make peace and then you make love. This is what happened with Egypt. The next generation will make love, but for us today peace in enough. The dysfunctional political system of Israel. You cannot make any important decision - let alone historic decisions - without causing the dissolution of the government. With such a dysfunctional system there is no way to direct a peace process. We need a reform. The one of the 1990s was only a partial reform. Today the electoral system allows for the formation of dysfunctional coalitions. Today with one hand we elect the prime minister and with the other hand, forming the parliament, we vote against him. Sharon, the political architect. As no one else, Sharon proved able to form coalitions around his policies. As a result of his years, today the right accepts with more flexibility measures that for them were anathema in the past. The influence of the Israeli Army. It has a unique role. There has been always a smooth move of generals from the combat field to politics. This explains also the strings that generals have with the cabinet. The Israeli really feel threatened and genuinely believe that the state of Israel might not survive. On one hand Israel defines itself as a superpower, and on the other hand it lives in an existential anguish. This is the schizophrenia of the Israeli mind. Consequently, nobody wants to take the responsibility not to take seriously the advice from the military. The Obama Administration and George Mitchell. Mitchell was one of the best appointments so far made by President Obama. He will not come to the region to commit to small things. I believe he wants to think big. In past peace processes, the parties were able to reduce the ocean to a river, but they remained incapable of crossing the river. The leadership of the United States, together with a broad international coalition, should propose to the parties bridging and binding proposals. If Obama inaugurates an era of new public diplomacy, we have a chance to make peace in the Middle East. More on Israel
 
Ashley Biden Pictures (PHOTOS) Top
Ashley Biden is the only daughter and youngest child of Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden. Born June 8, 1981, her full name is Ashley Blazer Biden. She has campaigned with her father since her preschool days. She has two older brothers, Hunter and Beau, and lives in Delaware. In 2008 Ashley Biden was named a Person to Watch by Delaware Today. She works as a social worker. In 2002 Ashley Biden was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer outside a Chicago bar. PHOTOS: More on Photo Galleries
 
Howie Klein: Bobby Jindal Don't Like No Science And Don't Like No Art-- So That Makes Him A Bona Fide Redneck? Top
Last night a friend and I were trying to grapple with-- if not exactly "understand"-- some conventional wisdom, namely that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is "very educated," a "very intelligent" man and a "policy wonk," or at least what would pass for a Republican version of a policy wonk. His 100% Know Nothing attack on volcano monitoring made him sound like either an ignoramus or a two-bit craven hack pandering to the worst instincts of the purposefully ignorant anti-science crowd that had its day of quasi-respectability when George Bush sat in the White House. Soon after his snide comment about how the federal government (i.e., Barack Obama's new budget) "wastes" money by trying to understand volcano eruptions, Alaska's Mount Redoubt exploded for the first time in decades. It's still exploding nearly a week later. Senator Mark Begich of Alaska sent Jindal an e-mail: "I sleep better knowing the scientists are at work ... keeping track of this activity." I suppose the Louisiana electorate is happy Jindal didn't denigrate hurricane monitoring. No amount of media hype will ever persuade me that a man who gratuitously addresses the nation by demeaning science and scientists-- a man, no less, claiming to be able to cure cancer by performing an exorcism-- is actually "intelligent," other than perhaps in a cunning and purely political, manipulative kind of way. Yesterday Shaun Treat, who got his PhD at Louisiana State University in 2004 and is now an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Communication Studies at the University of North Texas, teamed up with Holley Vaughn, a doctoral candidate in his old department at LSU to warn us about the real life effects of Jindal's politically motivated budget cuts, another manifestation of his exalted status in GOP circles as a "policy wonk," I suppose. Their report: Bobby Jindal is about to enact a shameful budget cut that will devastate Louisiana's economy by slashing the state budget for the Arts and Arts education by 83%. Yes, you read that correctly... 83 percent ! This extremist Republican will virtually eliminate a $10 billion industry supporting 144,000 jobs. The Louisiana House Appropriations Committee will be meeting on April 2nd-- which is next week!-- and they are our last hope to stop Jindal from pressing this insane course of action! We are working to persuade the media to cover this story and give desperately-needed assistance to those Louisianians fighting to keep the Arts and Arts Education alive in our communities and schools! Investing in the arts is economically productive. It is paramount in revitalizing struggling urban centers and dilapidating historic districts. In terms of civics, these programs foster public discourse and debate and critically activate public memory. Moreover, these programs attract tourism, which is a vital part of Louisiana's struggling economy. This shameful attack that shows Jindal's true NeoConservative colors! Now keep in mind that aside from berating scientific pursuits like volcano monitoring, Jindal also gave the finger to funding the National Endowment for the Arts, a perennial Republican Party target. The U.S. Conference of Mayors blasted Jindal after his speech, pointing out that "Louisiana is home to 7,013 arts-related businesses that employ 27,117 people." In Northwest Louisiana (10-parish region around Shreveport), nonprofit arts groups and their audiences generate $89.77 million in economic activity, support 2,367 jobs, and provide nearly $13 million in state and local tax revenue. In addition to the arts contributing tremendously to Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, the state launched the World Cultural Economic Forum this past fall to showcase the link between the arts, economy, and tourism. It will be expanded in 2009. Louisiana's Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism launched the Louisiana Cultural Economy Initiative in 2004; in addition to promoting the arts, the program aims to attract businesses related to the arts to the state. Its 2004 report showed that for every state tax dollar spent, $5.86 is returned to the state treasury and citizens of Louisiana. The National Endowment for the Arts will distribute $50 million of the stimulus funds to arts projects in all 50 states which specifically preserve jobs in the nonprofit arts sector that have been most hurt by the economic downturn. In 2008, Louisiana received 27 grants totaling $1,343,700 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The "cultural economy" in Louisiana is very real and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu's office explains that the $2.5 million grants Jindal is trying to eliminate are a tremendous economic boost to every parish in the state. "The cultural economy is a $10 billion industry supporting 144,000 jobs. It's certainly worth the investment, and the return on the investment has been significant. Our cultural stakeholders have made the industry a significant player in Louisiana's economic health." I think it will surprise most of my friends to know that I'm an honorary officer of the Louisiana Highway Patrol. Even more shocking, the person who appointed me to my position was Governor David Treen, the first Republican governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction! And why would a conservative Republican governor appoint someone like me, who leans slightly to the left and ran a punk rock record label in San Francisco's Mission District, to such an exalted position? Bidness-- arts bidness. I signed a band from Metarie, the Red Rockers, to my label and their music and videos started getting airplay all over America, boosting Lousiana's image as a cultural center. I doubt Gov. Treen ever listened to their songs or grasped what it meant when critics termed them the "American Clash," but he sensed it was something that would bring Louisiana some business. Tony Award-winning actress Jane Alexander, who chaired the National Endowment for the Arts from 1993-1997, remembers when a Republican Congress gleefully slashed the organization's budget back then and disagrees with Jindal's claim that funding the arts are not in any way "Stimulus" for an ailing economy. Alexander: What people forget is that there are over 2 million people in the United States of America who are professional artists. Those are jobs like any other jobs. The artists have families, they have people for whom they're responsible and they give to their communities. We all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The life part would be health and housing. The liberty part would be our civil rights. And the pursuit of happiness, the arts would come under that. And it's as vital a part of well-being in the United States as anything else... [W]hat he [Jindal] doesn't understand is that $50 million goes directly ... as a grant to organizations which employ people. It's quick and it's a system that works beautifully and it's done within a year. There's a great deal that Bobby Jindal doesn't understand-- or makes believe he doesn't understand, which-- my friend reminded me-- is even worse. Like I said, I'm pretty sure Gov. Treen never listened to the Red Rockers and I'll bet Gov. Jindal never has either. I put together a short music clip last year they probably won't want to watch either. You may though: More on Bobby Jindal
 
California Republicans Running From Schwarzenegger Record Top
For years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has treated fellow Republicans with a combination of indifference and thinly veiled contempt. Now, as they vie to succeed him in 2010, the party's two leading candidates for governor are responding in similar fashion.
 
Jamie Malanowski: A Naked Lie from the New York Post Top
This morning The New York Post appears with an unbelievable cover story-literally unbelievable. Headlined (at least online) as "AXED GALS TAKE POLE POSITIONS: Pros Stripping Amid Wall St. $lump", the article by Anka Radakovich (one time sex columnist for Details magazine) reports "`Scores of professional New York women stripped of their six-figure jobs are now working as "gentlemen's club entertainers" at upscale Manhattan jiggle joints. Former Wall Streeters, fashion executives and real-estate agents are pole dancing and stripping for as much as $1,500 a night -- but also because they like the flexible hours." Scores? Scores?!? You mean, like, forty? Forty women who had six-figure incomes earned on Wall Street, the fashion industry and real estate have become strippers in Manhattan? It is, of course, mathematically possible, but I just don't believe it. By google search, there appears to be no more than a dozen strip clubs in Manhattan. I have no idea how many strippers each club might employ-perhaps some reader could educate me. But 50 would seem like a big number. That would mean there's about 600 strippers in Manhattan. Did one in 15 of them formerly earn $100,000 in business? Really? For what it's worth, the article names two, Randi Newton, once of Morgan Stanley, and Katie Haverton who had been a real estate broker, plus a girl named Becky (no last name given) who had been a pastry chef. One of those nubile, twenty-something, six figure-earning pastry chefs that were all over town before the crash, no doubt. I'd very much like to see the Post produce the other 38. I did like that line about the women liking `the flexible hours'-nice touch! No doubt after having been slaves to their Bloomberg terminals for so long, the women appreciate being able to take an afternoon off before a night of pole-dancing.
 
McCain On Backing Palin In 2012: Let's See Who Else Runs Top
WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain isn't committing to supporting his vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, if she runs for president in 2012. McCain _ the GOP's presidential nominee last year _ says he wants to see who the other candidates are and what the situation might be. The Arizona senator elevated Palin to the national stage with his surprise pick. He says he has great affection for Palin and her family. But he also cites three other governors _ Utah's John Huntsman, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty as potential candidates. McCain joked he was going to get himself in trouble for forgetting a name. McCain appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." More on Sarah Palin
 
Jeffrey Sachs: Making Rich Guys Richer Top
In his review of the Geithner-Summers Plan to remove toxic assets from the banks, NY Times columnist Joe Nocera writes (March 28, p. B8), "As for the complaint that it will make rich guys richer, well, you can't win 'em all." If Nocera had looked at alternatives that many of us have been suggesting and if he still concluded that helping rich guys get richer was the only conceivable strategy, his attitude might be acceptable. But he does no such thing. He did not explore alternatives. Nor did he explain to his readers that the taxpayer transfers to make "rich guys richer" could amount to tens, or hundreds, of billions of dollars of the public's money, massive transfers that are avoidable. Geithner and Summers are proposing to use government loans to finance investors to buy toxic assets. This is fine. The question is the terms. If the loans were going to large and well-capitalized investment funds, whose overall capital base would back the repayment of the government loans, the plan would have merit of providing liquidity to the market for toxic assets. Instead, the government loans by design will go to poorly capitalized special investment funds set up specially to buy toxic assets. The approach is tailor-made to leave the FDIC and Fed with massive losses. Since the taxpayer losses will be hidden on the balance sheets of the FDIC and Fed, the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer losses will not be recognized until the program is long forgotten by the public. The cheaper and more equitable way would be to make shareholders and bank bondholders take the hit rather than the taxpayer. The Fed and other bank regulators would insist that bad loans be written down on the books. Bondholders would take haircuts, but these losses are already priced into deeply discounted bond prices. The government could provide new loans to blue-chip investors to buy up the toxic assets at a deep discount, but the government's loans would have to be repaid by the investors whether or not the toxic assets pay off. In the current plan, the investors are allowed to default on the government loans if the toxic assets perform badly. Investors would of course bid less for these assets than under the Geithner-Summers plan, so that the banks and bondholders would get less, but the taxpayer would also be left much less exposed. If the write-downs of the bad assets force the bank into insolvency, the FDIC would pump in public capital to keep the bank operating without interruption. Even in that case, however, the solution would be cheaper than under the current plan, since the taxpayers rather than the existing shareholders would be the claimants on the bank's assets. We all know the end of the story as it's now being written with an overpriced rescue of the banks. When it comes time for health care reform, education funding, infrastructure rebuilding, and (heaven forbid) help for the world's poor and dying people, there will be no fiscal space. Budgets will be tight. Spending that helps make rich guys richer while leaving the poor to die of hunger and disease seems to be par for the course in our Wall-Street-besotted public policy. Last week I stood in a village in Africa where the mines had closed and people had nothing to eat. Pleading eyes looked into mine. Those are the eyes that I still see when I read Nocera's flippant acceptance of shoveling taxpayer funds to the undeserving rich. More on Timothy Geithner
 
Obama Rules Out US Troops In Pakistan Top
WASHINGTON — As he carries out a retooled strategy in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama says he will consult with Pakistan's leaders before pursuing terrorist hideouts in that country. Obama said U.S. ally Pakistan needs to be more accountable, but ruled out deploying U.S. troops there. "Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government," the president told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an interview broadcast Sunday. The president also bemoaned the tenuous security situation in Afghanistan, saying, "Unless we get a handle on it now, we're gonna be in trouble." He made clear that his new strategy for the long war is "not going to be an open-ended commitment of infinite resources" from the United States. In a wide-ranging interview, Obama sought to counter the notion that Afghanistan has become his war. He emphasized that it started on George W. Bush's watch. "I think it's America's war. And it's the same war that we initiated after 9/11 as a consequence of those attacks," Obama said. "The focus over the last seven years, I think, has been lost." Obama taped the interview Friday, the same day he launched the fresh effort to defeat al-Qaida terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan, widening a war that began after terrorists struck the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. He set new benchmarks and ordered 4,000 more troops to the war zone as well as hundreds of civilians and increased aid. The plan does not include an exit timeline. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in an interview on "Fox News Sunday," said the short-term objectives for U.S. forces in Afghanistan have narrowed under Obama's new strategy even as a flourishing democracy in Afghanistan remains a long-term goal. "I think what we need to focus on and focus our efforts is making headway and reversing the Taliban's momentum and strengthening the Afghan army and police, and really going after al-Qaida, as the president said," Gates said. Al-Qaida terrorists are still a serious threat and retain the ability to plan attacks against the United States even though they have been inhibited over the past several years, Gates said. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have praised the new U.S. strategy for dealing with growing violence in the region. But Obama has irked Pakistan since taking office in January by retaining a powerful but controversial weapon left over from the Bush administration's fight against terrorism: unmanned Predator drone missile strikes on Pakistan along its border with Afghanistan. Pakistan has urged Obama to halt the strikes. But Gates has signaled to Congress that the U.S. would continue to go after al-Qaida inside Pakistan, and senior Obama administration officials have called the strikes effective. Without directly referring to the strikes, Obama said: "If we have a high-value target within our sights, after consulting with Pakistan, we're going after them. But our main thrust has to be to help Pakistan defeat these extremists." Asked if he meant he would put U.S. troops on the ground in Pakistan, Obama said: "No." He noted that Pakistan is a sovereign nation and said: "We need to work with them and through them to deal with al-Qaida. But we have to hold them much more accountable." "What we wanna do is say to the Pakistani people: You are our friends, you are our allies. We are going to give you the tools to defeat al-Qaida and to root out these safe havens. But we also expect some accountability. And we expect that you understand the severity and the nature of the threat," Obama added. His strategy is built on an ambitious goal of boosting the Afghan army from 80,000 to 134,000 troops by 2011 _ and greatly increasing training by U.S. troops accompanying them _ so the Afghan military can defeat Taliban insurgents and take control of the war. In the interview, Obama said he won't assume that more troops will result in an improved situation. "There may be a point of diminishing returns in terms of troop levels. We've gotta also make sure that our civilian efforts, our diplomatic efforts and our development efforts, are just as robustly encouraged." Obama agreed that things are worse than ever in Afghanistan, and then sought to clarify his point. "They're not worse than they were when the Taliban was in charge and al-Qaida was operating with impunity," Obama said. But, he added, "We have seen a deterioration over the last several years." "This is gonna be hard," Obama said. "I'm under no illusions. If it was easy, it would have already been completed." He also stressed the need to be flexible. "We will continue to monitor and adjust our strategies to make sure that we're not just going down blind alleys." Richard Holbrooke, U.S. envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, dismissed comparing the war in Afghanistan to U.S. involvement in Vietnam more than a generation ago. "The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese never posed any direct threat to the United States and its homeland," Holbrooke, a Vietnam veteran, said on "State of the Union" on CNN. "The people we are fighting in Afghanistan, and the people they are sheltering in western Pakistan, pose a direct threat. Those are the men of 9/11, the people who killed Benazir Bhutto," Holbrooke said, referring to the slain former Pakistan prime minister. "And you can be sure that, as we sit here today, they are planning further attacks on the United States and our allies." More on Pakistan
 
Is Facebook Growing Too Fast? Top
When Facebook signed up its 100 millionth member last August, its employees spread out in two parks in Palo Alto, Calif., for a huge barbecue. Sometime this week, this five-year-old start-up, born in a dorm room at Harvard, expects to register its 200 millionth user. That staggering growth rate -- doubling in size in just eight months -- suggests Facebook is rapidly becoming the Web's dominant social ecosystem and an essential personal and business networking tool in much of the wired world. More on Facebook
 
Al Norman: Wal-Mart's Optical Lab Shut-Down Strikes Nerve Top
"They shut us down with no warning," says Wal-Mart worker By Al Norman Ohio development officials were blind-sided this week when a job subsidy deal involving a Wal-Mart-owned optical lab went dark. Regulators in the Buckeye state revealed that they had their eye on one of Wal-Mart's 4 optical labs in the country, and were looking to see if the retailer had violated the terms of its subsidy agreement with the state. Wal-Mart has a high visibility optical empire, which includes not just 2,500 Vision Centers inside its stores, but a myriad of lens and eyewear products---even a network of its own house optometrists, which it calls "doctor partners." Wal-Mart lures new eye doctors into a partnership deal in which the retailer covers a large part of a fledgling optometrist's business expenses. "When you partner with us," the retailer explains, "we cover a large part of your start-up costs. That means upon opening, the space, instrumentation, support and staffing resources are all in place at no cost to you. In fact, your overhead might be as minor as prescription pads and office pharmaceuticals." The "doctor partner" either leases or co-leases their office space from Wal-Mart. The company promises new doctors, "we will never pressure you to sell frames. You'll operate your practice on your terms and be able give your patients the care they deserve." To supply these optometrist partners with company products, Wal-Mart has its own optical lab division---and this is what sparked the controversy this week in Ohio. "To maintain quality and reduce costs to our patients," the company tells doctors, "we own and operate four complete optical labs, employing more than 1,900 associates." The optical labs are in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Dallas, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and Crawfordsville, Indiana. But this week, Wal-Mart 'lasiked' roughly one-third of its optical workers---which prompted economic development staffers in Ohio to see if the retailer violated the terms of a 2001 tax agreement with the state. On March 27th, Wal-Mart shut down its Columbus lab and tossed 650 'associates' out of work. The Columbus lab was created with a $1.8 million job-creation tax credit--a form of corporate welfare that helps Wal-Mart reduce its operating costs vis-a-vis its competitors. The lab, which makes the eyewear sold through Wal-Mart vision centers, was closed by the company in an apparent cost-cutting move. A state official told the Associated Press that the Ohio Department of Development is examining its agreement with Wal-Mart to determine if the state can recoup some or all of its taxpayer's money. "We've spoken to the company and expressed our disappointment," a state official said. Wal-Mart would not discuss the terms of its subsidy agreement, but said it would work with officials to resolve the situation---which means to get the story out of the headlines. In 2004, the group Good Jobs First released a study, which found that Wal-Mart had benefited "from more than $1 billion in economic development subsidies from state and local governments across the United States." The Washington, D.C.-based research group released its 65-page report, Shopping for Subsidies , profiling more than 240 cases in which the building of a Wal-Mart store was aided with corporate welfare. For years, states and municipalities have pushed corporate welfare on Wal-Mart, in an attempt to lure the company to their jurisdiction. In many cases, these special tax deals were not necessary at all, and amounted to little more than a corporate subsidy that gave Wal-Mart another financial advantage over its smaller competitors. In the case of eyewear, Wal-Mart is both the manufacturer and the retailer. It even controls the medical personnel that recommend the products---its "doctor partners." Wal-Mart says that any eyewear orders previously sent to the Columbus lab will now be redirected to one of its three other lab locations. "It's a shock," one 7-year Wal-Mart optical lab worker told the Associated Press. Wal-Mart apparently informed workers at the lab just days earlier that rumors about closure and layoffs were only rumors. "They just hired people six weeks ago, and we got raises last month," the employee complained. One lab worker said she had been making $16.50 at the lab, which is significantly higher than the regular, full-time hourly Wal-Mart workers in Ohio, who make $11.28 per hour, according to the company. "I'm very angry because they dogged us out," another lab worker told the media. "They shut us down with no warning, no nothing. They didn't have to do this." To soften the focus on job reductions, Wal-Mart has promised to give these workers pay and benefits for 60 days, and help them relocate to positions at other Wal-Marts or Sam's clubs. But such positions would likely entail a significant reduction in take-home pay. Ohio Department of Development Interim Director Mark Barbash has made no determination about recouping taxpayer's money. Ohio freely offered this welfare to the largest retailer in the world. Ohio should seek to redirect this 'investment' and use it instead to provide financial support to the 650 workers who are now unemployed. That would pencil out to $2,769 per worker, or roughly 4 weeks of extended pay per employee. Net sales at Wal-Mart for the fiscal year were approximately $401.2 billion, an increase of 7.2% over fiscal year 2008. They don't need welfare or a bailout. States or cities that use tax dollars to subsidize Wal-Mart are adding no value to their local economy, and, as the optical lab results from Ohio demonstrate, these investments don't create lasting jobs. Despite its recession-fed success, Wal-Mart has laid off hundreds of workers in Arkansas, Georgia and Ohio in recent weeks. Wal-Mart workers who want to 'live better' and avoid being 'shut down with no warning,' are going to have to assert more control over their workplace. Al Norman is the founder of Sprawl-Busters. His website tracks Wal-Mart and big box battles daily: http://www.sprawl-busters.com. More on The Bailouts
 
Steve Rosenbaum: Obama -the "Always On" President Top
The Twittering White House. So, for those of you who are tuned in to the media whirlwind that is Barack Obama - the last 5 days have been something of a world record. There was Leno on Thursday night. Then, "60 Minutes" on Sunday. There was that ESPN College Football betting pool segment, a national press conference on Tuesday night and then the live web Town Hall this week. Oh, and along the way he had all the largest Bankers by for a closed door love-fest that had them all out on the White House lawn looking like they'd just had the political equivalent of a 'nooner'. And speaking of the White House Lawn, Michelle was no media slouch herself - planting a Kitchen Garden and making sure that her sustainable self was front and center. So, what's this all about? Is Obama overdoing the media thing, or is he just re-tooling the Presidency for the new media reality? Well, let's ask the metaphorical 'kids' in the audience. Kids, how often are you 'online, in public, and engaged in some sort of media'? Kids answer: "always." Righto. Times have sooo changed. Our last President didn't have a computer on his desk. This President has a Secret Service hotwired blackberry - and a Twitter handle. Are you following him? 615,836 American's are - and more every day. @BarackObama We live in an Always On world. A full time, broadband, interactive world. And that means the idea of newscycles, and the 'bubble' that has historically kept Presidents a safe distance away from the electorate has been burst. No more bubble. Instead, a hungry digital maw - looking for engagement, comments, content. The Always On web continues to chatter - whether you're online, or checked out. Barack Obama and his team are smart. They've registered this change is going to either help them drive their agenda, or create a huge noisy distraction that gets in their way. So two weeks ago, they made a change. They decided to dive in, both feet - and expand their presence and make sure that their message (and their guy) was as Always On as the ideas and distractions that could derail their efforts. Done and done. You see, Obama gets how to do this. It's situational. On ESPN he's a fan. On Leno he's a jokester (ok, points off for the 'special olympics' line, but he apologized). On 60 Minutes he's Presidential, yet folksy. And at the national press conference, he is large and in charge. The right tone, the right message, for each medium. But far and away the most interesting thing in this new Always On Presidency was 'Open for Questions" at Whitehouse.gov. 92,937 people submitted 104,005 questions and cast 3,603,648 votes. This is really interesting stuff. Anyone can post a question, and then the White House crowd-sourced the review of questions. The top rated questions (along with video submissions) became the central themes of the "Open" town meeting. This isn't insignificant stuff. This is the first time in history that our representative form of government has given citizens direct, unfiltered, actionable access to the President of the United States. This is evidence of the Always On President embracing the change in communications, and using to to make government more transparent and more accountable. So, just to recap the week of the Always On President: Leno. Everything is Ok. I can still smile and laugh. ESPN. I'm a regular guy. March Madness isn't lost on me. Live Address. I'm large and In Charge. Bankers at the White House: I can rock a photo op, and deliver the quotes. Open for Questions: We're doing things in a new way. Each strategic, each with a message both in what was said and how it was said. And with if you believe Marshall McLuhan's "Medium is the Message" ... then Obama's figured out that new mediums require new messages too. More on Barack Obama
 
Petraeus Rejects Cheney Comments, Says US No Less Safe Under Obama (VIDEO) Top
On CNN Sunday, General David Petraeus countered former Vice President Dick Cheney's recent claim that Obama's administration had made America less safe. "I wouldn't necessarily agree with that," said the general, who has served under both administrations. "I think that there is in fact a good debate going on about the importance of values in everything we do. If one violates the values we hold so dear, we jeopardize [our troops]." Watch: Cheney argued that Obama's new detainee policies, meant to bring U.S. policy more in line with our values, had left the country open to attack .
 
"New York Post"'s Jokes Of The Year (VIDEO) Top
The "New York Post" compiled a pretty random list of the year's best jokes by asking comedians to select their favorites. Most of them picked their own jokes, but some chose ones from other comedians they admire. Here are some highlights: David Letterman: "Why exactly are you here, honest to God?" Gov. Rod Blagojevich: "Well, you know, I've been wanting to be on your show in the worst way, for the longest time." Letterman: "Well, you're on in the worst way, believe me." Eugene Mirman: "I was thinking about truth or dare, and what the first dare was. I bet it was a cave man daring a cave woman to throw a burning stick at a monster. And I bet she was like, 'Fine, truth.' And I bet he was like, 'OK. What's your biggest fantasy?' And I bet she was like, 'Agriculture.' " Wendy Liebman: "My husband suffers from migraines. It sucks for him, but it works for me. I'm like, 'Not tonight, honey -- you have a headache.' " They also did a photo shoot with Sara Benincasa, Judah Friedlander, Richard Belzer and others (photos and the full list of jokes available here. Here's the behind the scenes video: More on New York
 
Steele: "I'm Done" Reaching Out To Obama Top
RNC Chairman Michael Steele said he is "done" reaching out to the president, having apparently been rebuffed in his previous attempts to start a dialogue. In an interview with CNN that aired over the weekend, the Maryland Republican said he could detect no bipartisanship coming from the White House, stating that Barack Obama "has got a little thing about me that I haven't quite figured out." The remarks were a new installment in yet another bizarre interview given by the Republican National Committee chair. As aired earlier, Steele told CNN that he would contemplate a president run if God told him the time was right. He also claimed to have strategically planned his squabble with Rush Limbaugh, in which he called the radio talk show host's work incendiary and ugly. In the clips that aired on CNN this weekend, Steele delved once more into the interpersonal psychoses of politics, quickly dismissing questions over whether he was jealous of Obama's ascension to the White House. "What would I be jealous of?," he said. "I'm chairman of the RNC, so, what's your point? We both have leadership responsibilities and roles. I'm not equating the two. My point is: you are on your track. I'm on my track. You do your thing. I do my thing." HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT: STEELE: Look, I like the president personally, even though I think he has got a little thing about me, that I haven't quite figured out what that is. CNN: You haven't spoken to him? STEELE: No. CNN: You've reach out? STEELE: Several times, and I'm done. CNN: So there is no bipartisanship going on there? STEELE: Not, not that I know of. CNN: Is there any professional jealousy? STEELE: Not on my part. What would I be jealous of? CNN: He's the president of the United States. STEELE: I'm chairman of the RNC, so, what's your point? We both have leadership responsibilities and roles. I'm not equating the two. My point is: you are on your track. I'm on my track. You do your thing. I do my thing. More on Michael Steele
 
Madonna, in Malawi, refuses to talk about adoption Top
LILONGWE, Malawi — Madonna toured an impoverished village Sunday in Malawi, the central African nation where officials said she was expected to begin proceedings this week to adopt a young girl. Madonna, casually dressed with a white fedora, walked through the village of Chinkhota holding the hand of her 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes. Dozens of reporters looked on. The 50-year-old pop star refused to answer questions about reports that she was in Malawi to adopt a four-year-old girl. She said it was "amazing" to be back in the country where she runs a charity organization and from where she adopted her son David last year. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. LILONGWE, Malawi (AP) _ Madonna, the original Material Girl, landed in a decidedly un-material nation Sunday, flying into the capital of Malawi where she was expected to begin proceedings this week to adopt a young girl. Air traffic controllers at the airport in the capital of Lilongwe confirmed that her plane landed Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter with reporters. This would be the second child the 50-year-old pop star has adopted from the impoverished African country. The adoption for her Malawian-born son David, 3, was finalized last year. A Malawian welfare official and another person involved in the adoption proceedings say the girl Madonna is hoping to adopt is about 4 years old and her unmarried mother died soon after she was born. The girl's father is believed to be alive but no other details were available. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is considered sensitive. Madonna and the girl's uncle are expected to appear in court on Monday to sign adoption papers. A U.S. government official confirmed that an adoption bid by Madonna, an American, was under way. The luxury lodge where Madonna normally stays in Malawi has been fully booked and visitors are being turned away. Madonna faced harsh criticism for years over David's adoption. Children's advocacy groups accused her of wielding her wealth and influence to circumvent Malawian law requiring an 18- to 24-month assessment period before adoption. Austin Msowoya, legal researcher with Malawi's Law Commission, played down concerns that a second adoption by Madonna would violate any laws. He said the best interests of the child needed to be taken into account _ whether that was staying in an orphanage in Malawi or getting "an education with Madonna." "When you look at these two options, then perhaps it becomes in the best interests of the child to allow the adoption if the parents and the guardians consent to it," he told Associated Press Television News on Saturday. But Save the Children UK said the recently divorced superstar risked sending the wrong message by going through with the second adoption. "International adoption can actually exacerbate the problem it hopes to solve," spokesman Dominic Nutt said. "The very existence of orphanages encourages poor parents to abandon children in the hope that they will have a better life." Nutt said he was not suggesting that Madonna was doing anything wrong _ but he said the whole process of international adoptions was often flawed and sometimes linked to criminal activity. He said, barring exceptional circumstances, children should be kept in the care of their extended families or within their communities. Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg in New York, who has not commented on the adoption reports, told The Associated Press the star would not respond to comments from Save the Children. In a recent interview in Malawi's leading daily The Nation, the singer said she was considering another adoption but would only do it if she had "the support of the Malawian people and government." If the adoption goes through, Madonna would become a single mother of four. She also has an 8-year-old son, Rocco, with former husband and British film director Guy Ritchie and a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship. She and Ritchie, who were married in 2000, obtained a preliminary divorce decree in November 2008. Madonna first traveled to Malawi in 2006 while doing charity work and filming a documentary on the devastating poverty and AIDS crisis there. She is also establishing a school for girls there. More on Madonna
 

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