The Strokes went sci-fi, Lauryn Hill wrapped up for the winter, and even Danny DeVito was there. Here’s all the action from this year’s Coachella
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April showers interspersed with warm sunshine provide perfect conditions for grass to grow at maximum speed. Listening to the whirr of lawn mowers it is easy to forget that it was grass that made Britain great. Its lush nutritious greenness fed the sheep that made wool our main export; many a village church and manor was built on the profits of wool. Late medieval skills in managing early growth of grass on water meadows were central to this. After lean winter months, cows and sheep got a spring boost before moving on to other pastures. The farmer then gathered the best meadow hay at midsummer for next winter’s fodder. Because grass barely grows at all below 5C, and needs plentiful water, April, May and June are the months to make silage and gather hay for the long winter ahead. After years of more and more industrial methods, farmers are re-evaluating the merits of grass. It is rich in nutrients, grows fast and costs less than other feed. There is one problem: some cows have forgotten that they eat grass. Farmers are being advised: “Cows not used to grazing may stand at the gate for a couple of days and bellow – don’t listen, they will learn to graze, as long as what you put in front of them is quality [grass].” Perhaps the most surprising tip about growing quality grass in 2011 is that fields may need the added nutrient of sulphur, since winter fallout from the burning of sulphurous coal is no longer available. Farming Weather Paul Brown guardian.co.uk
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A winking John Berman on Monday used only a little subtlety as mocked Donald Trump for his “enormous” “size.” The Good Morning America reporter turned financial comments by the businessman into something more suggestive: ” We know he has a big ego, but he swears he has big ideas and also an enormous, well, see for yourself .”
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Radical plan unveiled by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to cope with growing strains of city with 17 million residents Istanbul is renown as the place where east meets west, the only city in the world to straddle Europe and Asia. But it may soon lose this unique status if the Turkish government goes ahead with a plan to divide it in two. The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former Istanbul mayor, has announced what he described as a “wild project” to split the city into European and Asian sides to make it easier to govern. “We will build two new cities in Istanbul due to high population,” Erdogan said, announcing his party’s manifesto for June elections.. “One on the European side and one on the Anatolian side.” Istanbul’s official population is soon expected to reach 17 million, with thousands more unregistered people living in the city. Tahire Erman, an urban planning expert at Ankara’s Bilkent University, said this caused significant problems for authorities: “[Istanbul] is already overgrown, and there are already many problems in the provision of infrastructure and municipal services to the city.” Should the plan go ahead, the two cities would be well connected by transport links promised by the ruling party, including a third bridge over the Bosphorus, the strait that divides the European and Anatolian sides of the city, and two tube tunnels for cars and rail transport under the water. Two bridges and frequent ferries already connect the two sides of the city. Resident Emre Borat, a 25-year-old computer engineer, welcomed the proposal. “Actually their project is not like dividing up into two, but more like creating [new cities] from Istanbul,” he said. “Since our economy is getting better, it seems like a good idea to have a separate city for the finance world, or for foreign investment in general.” Plans have been announced to build a new financial district in Atasehir, a booming district on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, as part of a government pledge to increase Turkey’s global stature by 2023, the centennial anniversary of the Turkish republic. No information has been released on what the proposed new cities would be called. Mustafa Demir, 51, a salesman, said that while the city was currently “ungovernable” any possible division might go badly “if they do it with the wrong intentions”. But the opposition People’s Republican Party vice-president, Gürsel Tekin, said the proposal was not practical. “The prime minister has these sorts of ideas. It does not matter if these projects come alive. They are soundbites.” Ayse Onol, a former journalist from Istanbul who knew Erdogan when he was mayor, said the announcement was not a serious proposal. “People in Turkey just care about headlines, Erdogan knows this. 2023 is far in the distance. People think we will be grander than America; this is a populist policy. It doesn’t matter if Istanbul is divided into two or 12. What matters is how the city is used, not how it is divided.” Turkey Europe guardian.co.uk
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US budget deficit has moved from a surplus at the turn of the millennium to a deficit of 11% by 2009 Shares fell sharply on Wall Street today after the ratings agency S&P issued a warning to the US government about its soaring budget deficit. In a move that surprised and rattled the financial markets, S&P said it was cutting its long-term outlook on America from stable to negative. The ratings agency said it was taking the step because the US had, in comparison to other nations given the coveted AAA rating, “very large budget deficits and rising government indebtedness and the path to addressing these is not clear to us”. The White House said it disagreed with the S&P judgement and insisted that the Obama administration would reach agreement with Congress over a way to reduce the US budget deficit, which has moved from a surplus at the turn of the millennium to a deficit of 11% by 2009. But the ratings agency said the gap between the White House and its Republican opponents remained “wide”, adding that it believed there was at least a one in three chance that “we could lower our long-term rating on the US within two years.” In early trading in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average had lost nearly 250 points – 2% – with the dollar weaker on the foreign exchanges and yields rising on US Treasury bills. The FTSE 100 in London was also down 2% or 126 points at 5869. The S&P warning shot to the US authorities mirrored the outlook change delivered to the UK in May 2009, which demanded that the UK government take action to rein in the budget deficit. Analysts said they would be watching closely to see whether the other ratings agencies – Moody’s and Fitch followed suit. US economy Economics Stock markets US Congress United States US politics Obama administration Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Why you can’t trust conservative deficit warriors: Remembering the George Bush budget of 2001
April 18, 2011 No CommentAs we are witnessing, the Beltway media are pushing the theme of that we need to cut, cut, cut, so that our national debt can be lowered. They call this “shared sacrifice” — though it’s clear that they won’t be sharing in the sacrifice. The rest of us will. This is a common assumption that news pundits are weaving into their narratives every day. The Democrats and President Obama have also embraced this idea and shifted the goal posts to the right of center. Austerity rules, even though it’s proved to be anything but effective. If we look at what’s happening in the UK now, and remember what happened under FDR when the deficit hawks stepped in to curtail the federal government, it’s clear that this nonsensical approach to budget writing just makes economic recovery regress. To many of us watching the wealthy thrive in this economy while the working class struggles is very frustrating. I’m starting to finally hear some pundits question the wisdom of why Republicans refuse tax increases and instead push for more tax breaks for the rich at this time when they are already wealthy. Bob Schieffer asked Paul Ryan that yesterday on FTN. There is one thing certain, though: The Bush budgets, and especially the tax cuts that accompanied them, caused catastrophic harm to our country and to the world. Paul Ryan wants to continue the work that Bush, Cheney and Rove started. Well, here’s a flashback to what George Bush told America in 2001. Via Think Progress: Indeed, the nation’s $14 trillion debt is largely a result of “the cost of two wars, a runaway defense budget, the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, taxes on the richest Americans being the lowest in a generation , and a recession caused by the lack of regulation of Wall Street.” The Bush administration followed wars with huge regressive tax cuts and an unpaid for prescription drug benefit. But in his first major address to Congress, President George W. Bush promised that his “responsible” budget would pay off the national debt in ten years : My budget has funded a responsible increase in our ongoing operations. It has funded our Nation’s important priorities. It has protected Social Security and Medicare. And our surpluses are big enough that there is still money left over. Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our national debt. I listened, and I agree. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren to act now, and I hope you will join me to pay down $2 trillion in debt during the next 10 years. At the end of those 10 years, we will have paid down all the debt that is available to retire. That is more debt repaid more quickly than has ever been repaid by any nation at any time in history. Of course, the opposite occurred , with debt held by the public increasing from $3.5 trillion to nearly $6 trillion and gross federal debt going from $5.6 trillion to nearly $10 trillion. In fact, conservatives argued in 2001 that the very existence of a budget surplus was a valid reason to enact large, regressive tax cuts . But this is precisely what happens when you have an administration that believes “ deficits don’t matter .” So here we are. Nothing that Bush said came true in 2001 — except the opposite. Bush’s name is never mentioned by the MSM because the Beltway thinks it’s not cool to blame him any longer. When you destroy a house and start from scratch you have to know why your house was destroyed in the first place and take precautions to never so it doesn’t happen again. Apparently reminding the American people that conservative policies led us into ruin is not newsworthy anymore.
Continue reading …Why you can’t trust conservative deficit warriors: Remembering the George Bush budget of 2001
April 18, 2011 No CommentAs we are witnessing, the Beltway media are pushing the theme of that we need to cut, cut, cut, so that our national debt can be lowered. They call this “shared sacrifice” — though it’s clear that they won’t be sharing in the sacrifice. The rest of us will. This is a common assumption that news pundits are weaving into their narratives every day. The Democrats and President Obama have also embraced this idea and shifted the goal posts to the right of center. Austerity rules, even though it’s proved to be anything but effective. If we look at what’s happening in the UK now, and remember what happened under FDR when the deficit hawks stepped in to curtail the federal government, it’s clear that this nonsensical approach to budget writing just makes economic recovery regress. To many of us watching the wealthy thrive in this economy while the working class struggles is very frustrating. I’m starting to finally hear some pundits question the wisdom of why Republicans refuse tax increases and instead push for more tax breaks for the rich at this time when they are already wealthy. Bob Schieffer asked Paul Ryan that yesterday on FTN. There is one thing certain, though: The Bush budgets, and especially the tax cuts that accompanied them, caused catastrophic harm to our country and to the world. Paul Ryan wants to continue the work that Bush, Cheney and Rove started. Well, here’s a flashback to what George Bush told America in 2001. Via Think Progress: Indeed, the nation’s $14 trillion debt is largely a result of “the cost of two wars, a runaway defense budget, the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, taxes on the richest Americans being the lowest in a generation , and a recession caused by the lack of regulation of Wall Street.” The Bush administration followed wars with huge regressive tax cuts and an unpaid for prescription drug benefit. But in his first major address to Congress, President George W. Bush promised that his “responsible” budget would pay off the national debt in ten years : My budget has funded a responsible increase in our ongoing operations. It has funded our Nation’s important priorities. It has protected Social Security and Medicare. And our surpluses are big enough that there is still money left over. Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our national debt. I listened, and I agree. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren to act now, and I hope you will join me to pay down $2 trillion in debt during the next 10 years. At the end of those 10 years, we will have paid down all the debt that is available to retire. That is more debt repaid more quickly than has ever been repaid by any nation at any time in history. Of course, the opposite occurred , with debt held by the public increasing from $3.5 trillion to nearly $6 trillion and gross federal debt going from $5.6 trillion to nearly $10 trillion. In fact, conservatives argued in 2001 that the very existence of a budget surplus was a valid reason to enact large, regressive tax cuts . But this is precisely what happens when you have an administration that believes “ deficits don’t matter .” So here we are. Nothing that Bush said came true in 2001 — except the opposite. Bush’s name is never mentioned by the MSM because the Beltway thinks it’s not cool to blame him any longer. When you destroy a house and start from scratch you have to know why your house was destroyed in the first place and take precautions to never so it doesn’t happen again. Apparently reminding the American people that conservative policies led us into ruin is not newsworthy anymore.
Continue reading …
A winking John Berman on Monday used only a little subtlety as mocked Donald Trump for his “enormous” “size.” The Good Morning America reporter turned financial comments by the businessman into something more suggestive: ” We know he has a big ego, but he swears he has big ideas and also an enormous, well, see for yourself .”
Continue reading …
A winking John Berman on Monday used only a little subtlety as mocked Donald Trump for his “enormous” “size.” The Good Morning America reporter turned financial comments by the businessman into something more suggestive: ” We know he has a big ego, but he swears he has big ideas and also an enormous, well, see for yourself .”
Continue reading …
The American Academy of Pediatrics has urged CBS Outdoor to take down the advertisement funded by anti-vaccine groups For 17 days, every hour for 15 seconds, a controversial message is being sold to the American public via a CBS billboard in Times Square, New York. A photograph of a mother cradling her naked baby is accompanied by the words: “Vaccines: Know the risks.” This image is faded out, and replaced by the Statue of Liberty and “Vaccination. Your Health. Your Family. Your Choice.” The advert is paid for and endorsed by the non-profit National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) and Mercola.com (self-proclaimed World’s Number 1 Natural Health Website), and will be shown until 28 April. CBS Outdoor has faced a massive backlash for its choice of clientele: both NVIC and Mercola are viewed by many as anti-vaccine propagandists. In particular, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) , one of the many organisations responsible for testing the safety of vaccinations, is urging the company to remove the ad. It accuses CBS of putting the lives of children at risk by encouraging parents to delay or skip vaccination. Mercola and the NVIC use the ad to endorse their websites, linking the public to what the AAP deems “misinformation” – a barrage of articles blaming common ingredients in vaccines for a number of health problems from breast cancer to infertility. The NVIC publishes a disclaimer on almost every article, assuring readers that it is not anti-vaccination – despite the fact its spokesperson, Playboy model Jenny McCarthy, has publicly described vaccinations as “a product that’s shit” . For Mercola, NVIC and McCarthy, thimerosal – a mercury-containing preservative – is Public Enemy Number One. All three insist there has been a direct connection between vaccines containing thimerosal and the increasing number of children being diagnosed with autism. McCarthy’s own son has the condition, which she blames on the MMR shot he received before his diagnosis. Her bestselling Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism warns parents of the “dangers” involved in vaccinations. NVIC’s website recommends A Shot in the Dark, one of the first books to link vaccines to autism and, in its words, a “classic”. As a precautionary measure thimerosal has been reduced or eliminated from vaccines in the US and Europe, but in 2010 it was proved that the preservative was not linked to autism and the AAP is keen to defend it . On 13 April, Dr Marion Burton, president of the AAP, wrote to Wally Kelly, CBS Outdoor chairman, describing her organisation as having “worked hard to protect children and their families from unfounded and unscientific misinformation regarding vaccine safety”. It seems the 15-second ad is undoing all its hard work. The letter states: “The AAP’s 60,000 member pediatricians urge you to remove these harmful messages … Please do your part to help reassure parents that vaccinating their children … is the best way to protect them from diseases.” The AAP is not alone in demanding that CBS remove the ad. Blogs are urging readers to sign a petition to get it removed, and there are campaigns such as Stop Jenny against McCarthy’s celebrity endorsement. They describe the ad as “misinformed consent” – linking parents to sites that aren’t scientifically accurate. CBS has yet to comment publicly on the negative attention surrounding the campaign. Would an ad campaign like this be allowed to run in the UK? It seems unlikely given the recent discrediting of Andrew Wakefield’s research linking the MMR vaccine to autism. Interestingly, Wakefield continues to work in America, despite being accused of fraud by the BMJ and struck off by the General Medical Council . Having resigned from the NHS for being (in his words) “unpopular”, he set up the Thoughtful House foundation in Texas, which researches autism. Wakefield’s research continues to be recognised by Thoughtful House and the National Autism Association , despite having been discredited by the AAP and the American Medical Association . In America, it seems, Wakefield, Mercola, NVIC and Jenny McCarthy enjoy the freedom to do and say whatever they please, without fear of being hounded by the media. Perhaps that is why CBS has allowed its Times Square billboard to be used by the campaign: the American media just don’t care enough to kick up a fuss. Immunology Medical research Controversies in science Vaccines and immunisation Autism Health Health & wellbeing guardian.co.uk
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