June 2, 2010 archive

Exceptional!

U.S. Falls From Internet Elite, Aims to Catch Iceland, Hungary

By Todd Shields and Matthew Campbell, Bloomberg Businessweek

June 02, 2010, 12:30 AM EDT

June 2 (Bloomberg) — Laurent Bernard, an intern at HSBC Holdings Plc in Paris, recalls his U.S. Internet experience in 2008, the year he moved to New York City as a student.

“I noticed right away that the Internet was slower,” Bernard, 24, said in an e-mail. “The most annoying thing was the time it took for each Web page to load on the screen. In France, it’s pretty much instantaneous.”

After ranking third in the world a decade ago, the U.S. has dropped to 15th in the proportion of citizens receiving fast Web service, or broadband, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. South Korea, Iceland and Germany are among the countries that ranked higher in 2009, the Paris-based group says. Connections were both faster and cheaper in 12 countries, including Hungary and Denmark.

Poodle

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigns

By Blaine Harden, The Washington Post

Wednesday, June 2, 2010; 5:03 AM

“It is unfortunate that people have come gradually to not listen [to my government] and I realize that I am to blame,” Hatoyama said, in announcing his resignation at a meeting of party leaders.

“I hope you understand my pained grief that we must sustain trust between Japan and the United States,” he said, noting that the March sinking of a South Korean warship, apparently by North Korea, shows that “security has not been secured in Northeast Asia.”

At some point in the distant future, Hatoyama said, Japan will not need the security umbrella provided by the United States, nor will it have to accommodate the “burden” of hosting tens of thousands of Americans troops. But he said that “is not possible in my era” to secure regional peace without Japan’s partnership with the United States.

I for one welcome our new corporate overlords

Foxconn Workers in China Say ‘Meaningless’ Life Sparks Suicides

Bloomberg Businessweek

June 02, 2010, 6:04 AM EDT

June 2 (Bloomberg) — Ah Wei has an explanation for Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou why some of his workers are committing suicide at the company’s factory near the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

“Life is meaningless,” said Ah Wei, his fingernails stained black with the dust from the hundreds of mobile phones he has burnished over the course of a 12-hour overnight shift. “Everyday, I repeat the same thing I did yesterday. We get yelled at all the time. It’s very tough around here.”

Conversation on the production line is forbidden, bathroom breaks are kept to 10 minutes every two hours and constant noise from the factory washes past his ear plugs, damaging his hearing, Ah Wei said. The company has rejected three requests for a transfer and his monthly salary of 900 yuan ($132) is too meager to send money home to his family, said the 21-year-old, who asked that his real name not be used because he is afraid of his managers.

You think?

Al-Qaeda is likely to replace No. 3 leader with ease

By Craig Whitlock and Greg Miller, Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The death of al-Qaeda’s third-ranking leader in a drone strike was portrayed by U.S. officials Tuesday as a severe setback to the terrorist organization. But if history is any guide, the network will have no problem replacing him.

On at least 10 occasions in the past decade, al-Qaeda has sustained the loss of a senior operative described at some point as the No. 3 figure in its hierarchy. Each time, the group has moved quickly to appoint a successor, demonstrating a resilience that has enabled it to survive a dozen years of open warfare with the United States and defy repeated predictions of its demise.

Al-Qaeda, it seems, has gotten used to filling the No. 3 spot, an especially high-risk job that involves overseeing terrorism plots, recruiting, raising money and providing internal security.

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning


Pattern

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Redo…

Hats off for George Washington

Anyone who cares knows: Blogger George Washington is taking a well-deserved break, for himself and his family.

Blessings to GW.  No, not that GW.  Rather, the GW who has brought such critical insight and aggregation and many, many great links, references, and all in a timely fashion, on so many issues, in a non-partisan fashion.  

I hope he comes back.

Hats off to George Washington!

Late Night Karaoke

OPEN THREAD

Deck furniture and other kinds of weaponry.

Israel murdered at least nine people who, although on the high seas, were still in Turkish territory.  Whether it should be construed as simple murder or a war crime apparently depends on who decided to commit these crimes, but the fact that crimes were committed is indisputable.

Obama’s condemnation of the assault on Israeli commandos by violently beleaguered humanitarians was simply a professional courtesy between fellow criminals.  How dare humanitarians deploy deck furniture and other kinds of weaponry against armed storm-troopers dropping from helicopters on high seas (and Turkish territory) in the dead of night?  

Similarly, Obama would condemn the baby eaten by Dick Cheney by proposing a more comprehensive condemnation of infanticidal cannibalism that would include the “criminally” and lip-smackingly delicious flavor of the baby’s fatty, tar-tar thighs, as the tasty adipocytes assaulted the vivacious and passionate taste-buds of Dick Cheney’s voracious maw.  

Defending such abhorrent behavior, in a nutshell, is Obama’s raison d’etre.

BP’ s Defectively Designed Riser

I have been a tort lawyer for 32 years, the last 28 of which I represented injured people.  Ironically, my first two years I worked in the Exxon litigation department in Houston during the 1979 Ixtoc spill.  Fortunately, I left Exxon before the Exxon Valdez spill.

Over the years I have handled or been involved in many product liability cases.  To have a product liability case you must show that the product was defectively or dangerously  designed and the best cases are those where cheap alternative designs or parts would have either prevented the accident or greatly reduced its effect.

When I was in college, for several summers, I worked in the water department of a small city and got a real appreciation for how to do plumbing and piping.

The Relief Well. Savior or Destroyer? 20100601

I have been keeping up with some interest with the situation in the Gulf.  All attempts to staunch the flow of oil from the damaged riser from the well have failed, and as we speak, another attempt is being tried, cutting off the riser to find unbent metal and essentially pushing a straw with a cork on it into the interior of the riser.

That might work, but I suspect that the pressure from the methane dissolved in the oil will make it difficult.  Perhaps if a pair of flanges could be welded onto the riser and the pipe, and then bolted down to secure them, it might work.

Anthony Weiner needs a Reality Pill

Today Anthony Weiner D-NY had the unmitigated gall as to defend Israels actions in international waters.

This was about instigating an altercation and they succeeded,” Weiner, one of Israel’s leading allies in Congress, told me. He insisted that the activists piloting the flotilla were offered other alternatives by Israel, such as docking the ship and transporting the supplies to Gaza by land.

“If you want to instigate a conflict with the Israeli navy it isn’t hard to do,” Weiner continued. “They were offered alternatives. Instead they chose to sail into the teeth of an internationally recognized blockade.”

Pushed on whether the Israeli response, which killed at least nine, was disproportionate, Weiner wouldn’t acknowledge it. “It’s always easy to criticize the response to a hostile act, but for a week at least the Israelis were trying to prevent this altercation,” Weiner said, adding that the Israelis had been “set upon.”

There are so many things wrong with his depiction of events where do I begin?

This was about instigating an altercation and they succeeded.

No, Mr. Weiner, this was about bringing aid to Gaza citizens who are currently being starved to death by Israel in what some call the New Warsaw Ghetto.  In case you missed it Mr. Weiner, there is an extreme humanitarian crisis in the Gaza strip.  The economy has collapsed.  They are experiencing 45% unemployment.  Places that were destroyed by Israeli bombs over a year ago are still sitting in ruins.  Electricity is sporadic.  The people of Gaza are being subjected to a slow starvation that amounts to genocide.

If you weren’t so emotionally invested in Israel, perhaps you could see this.

He insisted that the activists piloting the flotilla were offered other alternatives by Israel, such as docking the ship and transporting the supplies to Gaza by land.

Which was unacceptable Mr. Weiner because Israel refuses to allow parts to replace broken down farming equipment into the strip.  It seems not allowing the people of Gaza to farm is part of the planned genocide by slow starvation planned for the New Warsaw Ghetto.  Back up generators have failed because Israel won’t allow those things to pass through by land either.  Hundreds ofsick people have died because of this travesty alone.  It seems that is also part of the planned genocide for the New Warsaw Ghetto.

“If you want to instigate a conflict with the Israeli navy it isn’t hard to do,” Weiner continued.  

So you’re argument is that a shipload of people armed with sticks and stones, trying to help end Israels New Warsaw Ghetto are “instigating a conflict” and so they deserved what they got?  Really Mr.Weiner?  Are you wearing such rose-colored glasses when you look at Israel that you believe this crock?

Oh, but you’re not done are you Mr. Weiner?

“They were offered alternatives. Instead they chose to sail into the teeth of an internationally recognized blockade.”

Excuse me, Mr. Weiner, but in case you missed it, this act of international terrorism happened in international waters.  You aren’t proposing that Israel has a right to commit acts in violation of international law in order to proceed with its plans to commit genocide in the New Warsaw Ghetto are you?  Are you really so blinded by loyalty to Israel that you think it is acceptable for Israel to attack ships sailing under foreign flags in international waters?

Yes, Mr. Weiner, I think you are and I think that’s a shame Mr. Weiner because most of the time you’re a pretty decent Democrat.

“It’s always easy to criticize the response to a hostile act, but for a week at least the Israelis were trying to prevent this altercation,” Weiner said, adding that the Israelis had been “set upon.”

 Mr. Weiner, you need to remember your own people’s history, your own people’s Warsaw Ghetto.  Perhaps then, you’d realize that trying to relieve the siege of Gaza is anythign except a hostile act.  As for being “set upon”, it was the activists trying to put an end to Israels genocide that were set upon, Mr. Wiener.

All Israel had to do to avoid conflict was not raid the flotilla.

We don’t need anymore congressmen who believe black is white, war is peace, good is evil Mr. Weiner.  We had enough of that with the neocons who, by the way, were working hand in hand with Mr. Netenyahu throughout the 90’s and into this century.  You really need to step back from this Mr. Weiner, it’s obvious you’ve got too much emotional investment in the state of Israel to see clearly what that state has become under the far right wing Likud and Mr. Netenyahu.  It’s obvious that when it comes to Israel, you can’t see that the neocons have taken over and you can’t see that they’re no better than the Nazi’s.

It’s really a shame, Mr. Weiner.  I thought you were better than that.

Mr. Weiner, what do you call THIS other than the New Warsaw Ghetto:

Medical ethics violated

The contribution made by medical personnel in making decisions in respect to the Palestinian diet in Gaza is grave and violates medical ethics. It is reminiscent of a situation whereby doctors monitor torture, believing that examining the tortured individual before and during the interrogation protects him from irreversible damages. The principles of medical ethics require medical teams to act on behalf of patients, as Gaza had not been struck by drought. Malnutrition there had not been forced by nature. We are dealing with a case of deliberate starvation (or “minimal diet”) that can be stopped at any given moment.

Word games making pretense of not crossing red lines are invalid in a reality whereby pregnant women, babies, and children suffer from anemia, whose damage to their development is known. And did anyone look into the development of a child who grows up within this food pyramid? Will these security experts be kind enough to reveal to us the intimate connection between Israel’s security and an anemic Palestinian child?

Or THIS:

Around 46 per cent of Gaza and West Bank households are “food insecure” or in danger of becoming so, according to a UN report on the impact of conflict and the global boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

The UN report says 34 per cent of households – with income below $1.68 per day and/or showing decreasing food expenditures – are “food insecure”. The WFP officially defines “food security” as “the ability of a household to produce and/or access at all times the minimum food needed for a healthy and active life”. It goes on to say that 12 per cent of households are “vulnerable” to food insecurity.

And does this remind anyone of how the Nazi’s stripped the Jews of all their wealth?

the report points out that some action taken by families to continue to feed themselves – including the sale of land, jewellery and other assets” – will have an “irreversible impact on livelihoods”.

What is the purpose of this:

The UN report comes against a background in which a 2004 survey of Palestinian households showed a “slow but steady” growth in actual malnutrition – as measured by reduced growth, vitamin deficiencies, anaemia and other indicators – among a minority of the population. The 2004 survey found “stunting” rates of abnormal height-to-body ratio at just under 10 per cent.

except an attempt by right wing extremists in control of the Israeli government to commit atrocities against the Palestinian peoples by slowly starving an entire peoples to death?  How is this not slow and deliberate genocide?  How is this NOT the New Warsaw Ghetto, just made more palatable by the slow, subtle nature of its inevitable “Solution” to the Palestinian problem?

Tues: They’re Cutting the Pipe

BP and Your Federal Government, welcome you to the Gulf of Mexico’s Dia de los Cortadores de Pipa celebration for the first day of Hurricane Season.  

BP Oil Spill,bp Tony of Deepwotter SpinMeister,LMRP CAP,Top Cap #3,Climate,Nature,Tragedy,Gulf of Mexico,Oil Spill,Gulf of Mexico Satellite Picture

His Tools Are Bigger Than Your Tools

And the sooner he can get this done:

BP Oil Spill 2010,bp buzz saw,pipe cut,climate  nature,tragedy

ROV moving under the BOP with headlights as pincer arm prepares to grasp pipe for the saw to cut

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Pipe Cut,BP pipe saw,Climate,Nature,Tragedy,BP Oil Spill

June 1, 2010. Tues afternoon.   BP Starts Cutting the Pipes coming out of the BOP of the Deepwater Horizon.  Oil spill of the Deepwater Horizon, day 41.

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The Sooner he can go on to getting his life back.



Poor Baby.  BP CEO Tony Hayward laments the distraction that 2 million gallons of oil a day can cause when it hits our nation’s biggest marine nursery for subtropical fish, mammals, and birds.

video transcript:

BP CEO Tony Hayward:  “We’re sorry.

We’re sorry for the massive disruption this caused to their lives.  I…. we’re….  there’s no on who wants this thing over more than I do.  I want my life back .”

narrator:   Life here may never be the same. The water and all that lives in and around (shows oiled pelican) could be harmed for years.  So on this holiday weekend some people in New Orleans protested.

bullhorn:  we’re trying to clean up this mess

woman with umbrella:   I’m  filled with anxiety every night and I hope that BP executives feel the same way, unfortunately I doubt that they do.

Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Mary Landry, lately famous for shepherding the Lost, er, BP’s hapless spokesperson Doug Suttles, thru the official press conferences,  has been put back on duty with the Coast Guard to prepare for Hurricane Season.    http://www.deepwaterhorizonres…

Just as Attorney General Eric Holder announces a criminal investigation into what BP was doing, and the President issues another sternly worded statement.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

“We will closely examine the actions of those involved in the spill. If we find evidence of illegal behavior, we will be extremely forceful in our response.” Holder said in New Orleans.    


The president said that if laws are insufficient, they’ll be changed. He said that if government oversight wasn’t tough enough, that will change, too.

Laws, schmaws.  What about policy. Who opened more coastal offshore areas to bidding leases?  And enforcement of existing safety checks. Who’s MMS signed off on the well design ?

This from the same guy who couldn’t find anybody doing anything criminally wrong with Jack Abramoff’s old unindicted co conspirators, nor from the mercenary and CIA rendition & torture crews since his boss has been in office.  Did I mention that Abramoff was a long time lobbyist for foreign energy interests ?

It’s all good !

Pass the candles.   Prepare the offerings.

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edit update 5:30 pm PDT:

  Per the Alabama Dept of Health pdf link in the first comment, oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill has now officially reached the coastline of Alabama, near Dauphin Island,  closing the offshore oyster beds, and fishing grounds of that state.  You can beach, but don’t get in the water or swim, and seek medical advice if you have trouble breathing.   They didn’t say what legal advice to seek if you have trouble earning a living.

Warning. Not. Snark. BP has hired the former press secretary for ex VP Dick Cheney to be their new spokesperson for US media relations.  Anne Womack Kolton, formerly of the Brunswick Group , also defended Dick Cheney’s secret Energy Task Force,   http://emptywheel.firedoglake….   and ran public affairs in the Dept of Energy under George W Bush.

from Brunswick


http://www.prnewswire.com/news…

Before joining the Department of Energy, Ms. Kolton was Director of

Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury,
where she was the

primary spokesperson on issues and policy related to financial markets,

financial institutions and financial education. She has extensive

on-the-record experience with the media, particularly those covering energy

and finance. Ms. Kolton also served as an advisor to  Securities and

Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson, as a White House

spokesperson and on major state and national political campaigns.

Cheney, The Treasury, and the SEC.   Perfect.  If Darth Cheney didn’t have his sticky little fingers in it directly before, he does now.

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