Kevin McKenna finds happy faces – and even a few union flags – as he joins the crowds to see Edinburgh’s own royal wedding The bride, as ever, looked radiant in a beautiful little off-the-shoulder number and the groom looked simply delighted. Then a white stretch limo pulled up and disgorged the ushers and a gaggle of bridesmaids, all pink and giggly. A lone piper greeted them at the door of the MacDonald Hotel then guests who had been sipping beers and Bacardis at the cafes on Holyrood Road followed them. It was the wedding day of local couple Paul and Sharon, and they didn’t seem in the least fazed by the thousands heading in the other direction for the union of a royal and a rugby star in the Canongate. The Edinburgh Evening News had predicted a crowd of only 2,000, but there looked to be at least double that gathered 10-deep in the Edinburgh sunshine and stretching most of the way up the Royal Mile. Earlier, I had sought to secure one of the little commemorative union flags that most people in the crowd seemed to be sporting. For this was Edinburgh’s Old Town – perhaps the only place in Scotland where you can wave the red, white and blue without making an exhibition of yourself. In the days before the wedding of the Princess Royal’s daughter, some had tried to induce outrage at the cost of the event to the public purse. They had chosen the wrong target, though. Anne is Scotland’s favourite royal and seems cast in our image and likeness. She doesn’t seem to brook any nonsense and you can imagine her helping the servants bring the coal in of a winter night. Besides, she’s patron of the Scottish Rugby Union and attends all Scotland’s matches in a tartan skirt. Zara herself seems a fresh and sonsie young woman who has emulated her mother as a world-ranking equestrian. The occasion had a down-to-earth feel – even, dare I say it, couthie. Two of Mike Tindall’s ushers were family members while three came from his rugby background. One was Peter Phillips, Zara’s brother. The groom’s brother, Ian, was also among their number. And there was also a little human touch becoming of Anne: as she watched the couple set off for Holyroodhouse she firmly linked arms with Tindall’s elderly father, Phil. The choice of the Canongate Kirk as the venue for the nuptials struck some as unusual and iconoclastic, but it wasn’t really. This 17th-century chapel, one of the most handsome in the city and commissioned by James VII, is the parish church of the Palace of Holyroodhouse and of the Scottish parliament. Indeed, did the Queen not worship there just the other week? She was also welcomed to this church 59 years ago, not long before her coronation. In the Canongate kirkyard, perhaps one of the most beautiful urban resting places in Scotland, lie the remains of David Rizzio who loved a queen once then paid for it with his life. There, too, are the bones of Robert Fergusson, a great Scottish poet who inspired Robert Burns, and the philosopher Adam Smith is interred just ahead of him. One of the best views in Edinburgh lies just beyond. The spirit of another, whose remains do not lie in the Canongate, nevertheless haunts the Royal Mile. Before his life of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell wrote his Edinburgh Journals based on his nocturnal adventures in this most historic of streets. This was 18th-century Scotland’s Sunset Strip and housed many of the capital’s shebeens and whorehouses. Boswell, it seemed, visited every one. He would have chuckled at the procession of Daimlers ferrying the entire top tier of Britain’s aristocracy to a church he once sashayed past while royally inebriated. I digress. Across the road, Caroline and Lesley from Kirkcaldy were enjoying their day in the sunshine. Like many others in the throng, they would not regard themselves as great supporters of the royal family, but when the Queen whisked by with a wave, there were tears. “She’s a lovely woman, I hope she enjoys her granddaughter’s wedding,” said one. Thomas was there with three young children, his bronzed features belonging to someone who works outside for a living. Did he not resent the reputed £500,000 cost of the occasion? “Not a bit of it,” he said. “This is the Queen’s parish and she does a lot for this country. I wouldnae begrudge her a penny.” It had just gone four o’clock when Zara and her new husband emerged from their nuptials. Everyone cheered. Soon she would arrive back at Holyroodhouse and be serenaded by the Royal Scots Association pipe band. As a sidenote, though, she will not take her husband’s name and become Mrs Tindall. Zara Phillips it was, and still is. “Who do you think made the dress?” asked Lesley. I told her it looked suspiciously to me like a Stewart Parvin number, having seen the couturier’s triumphant 2010 show at London’s White Gallery. She regarded me with renewed suspicion. “Are you havin’ a laugh?” Royal wedding Monarchy Weddings Scotland Mike Tindall The Queen Prince William The Duchess of Cambridge Kevin McKenna guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I spent an hour on the phone yesterday in a conference call with James Marple , senior economist with TD Bank. Here are my notes. They’re rough… I haven’t polished them up, but it gives you a pretty decent overview of what he views with regard to deficits, debt, and the current debate. Bullets: Overall: GDP revised downward from Q108 today, showing recession far deeper than they knew. Revisions resolve mystery between job loss and GDP numbers. Housing market still a drag on the economy, but is mostly a legacy indicator at this time. Best deficit reduction scenarios would include tax and entitlement reforms to raise revenues with spending cuts in the future to avoid a double-dip or slower growth. Debt ceiling: No historical precedent for what is happening now, which means predictions are not concrete. 4 possible scenarios, best to worst: Congress comes together, agrees on bill for long-term deficit reduction. Would cause rally in markets, undo pessimism priced into them right now. Congress does a deal but doesn’t agree to enough deficit reduction to satisfy ratings agencies. If one ratings agency downgrades (e.g. S&P) probably not long term effect, but would pressure policymakers to come back to the table for further reductions 8/2 no deal, interest payments met but the rest of spending cut in half. If only a few days, expect interest rates to rise by at least 25 basis points. Risk of downgrade would be priced in, would cause a 1-2% drag on GDP in Q3 2011. Longer it drags on, the higher the risk of second recession, but slow growth inevitable. Would force all non-interest spending to drop by 50% which is what would cause economic drag. US treasury misses interest payment due to revenues not there or an error in estimates of revenues coming in could trigger nightmare scenario with immediate downgrade, 2008 repeated. In response to caller questions: 14th amendment scenario: Does not alleviate uncertainty, exacerbates it because even though there is no default and possibility of being tied up in court/partisan battles instead of dealing with deficit reduction Clean bill with agreed-upon framework but not actual bill reducing deficit: Best case: reduces uncertainty in markets, reduces political risk, but doesn’t cure issue of deficit reduction. Not a terrible outcome but not desired either. The broader question in all of this necessitates clear gesture to fiscal consolidation — tax reform and entitlement reform with latter in out-years, revenue increases sooner. With housing market uncertainty already looming, slow job growth looming, essential to factor out as much uncertainty as possible. Markets need policymakers to make good-faith effort to address both in immediate fashion. What happens to precious metals/oil futures if no deal? Gold will be safe haven until a deal is struck, then it will drop precipitously. Oil, other commodities will depend on dollar reaction. How to calm people down? Biggest fear is uncertainty driving people to make run on the markets, banks which could trigger a depression-like scenario. Important to repeat that default is a highly unlikely event and will not happen even if 8/2 deadline passes. Even if there were a default, it would be viewed as a technical default due to political dysfunction rather than systemic. Interest payments will be made, and as long as that happens, no panic is necessary. Policymakers will not allow brinksmanship to that degree, and should remember that any rise in interest rates increases the deficit. Aren’t issues larger than the deficit and debt ceiling? Yes, clearly there are larger issues but the debt ceiling is now driving the debate. Biggest issues: growth isn’t large enough to drive down unemployment rate, but challenges are temporary and related to political risk. Housing market is legacy issue. Savings rate is up, worst of deleveraging cycle is behind us measures of consumer credit quality not deteriorating, delinquency rates decreasing. All positive factors. Best case scenario: spending cuts not front-loaded and tax code changes more immediate. This is a “senseless, self-imposed crisis.” With progress toward mitigating deficit, economy accelerates because there is stimulative policy in place if we can overcome political dysfunction. On stimulative economic policy , he says revenue as share of GDP fell to 14%, stimulus prevented far worse outcome but is now running out. Deficit top layer of other issues: revenues must increase, entitlements should be pre-funded to avoid a crisis out in the future. Where is the safe harbor? Nowhere is 100% safe right now but treasuries are the safest assets out there still. Moving money to other countries’ bonds builds currency risk in. There is no riskless asset, but there is reason to believe this crisis will pass and be resolved. There were two big takeaways from this call for me. One, there is no question that this economist, at least, views revenues as a key piece of the package. In fact, he was pretty clear that immediate cuts with out revenue increases were necessary not only to stabilize the markets and our credit rating, but to push the economy back into a growth phase. Two, the markets aren’t freaking out because there’s recognition that this is a “senseless, self-inflicted crisis” which could be resolved if Congress puts on their big boy pants and starts acting responsibly. If they do not do that, or if John Boehner continues to kowtow to the Tea Party (assuming the Senate can reach some sort of compromise internally), that self-inflicted wound could turn into a near-death blow. Finally, one other theme emerged out of this call. When Ron Paul calls for the Treasury to forgive interest on internal debt and the very real possibility looms that interest rates could increase on Treasury bonds as a result of either a default or a failure to come to a reasonable agreement on deficit reduction, it is clear the target for both of these is Social Security, since the bulk of our internal debt is on Social Security trust funds. To be clear, if that interest were forgiven, $1.6 trillion — TRILLION — is immediately stripped from the trust fund. And if interest rates increase, the deficit will increase simply because interest will also be paid at a higher rate on those same trust funds, along with other debt, which will erode its solvency sooner than 2037. Imagine Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in a box. Surrounding the box are progressives, Democrats, and yes, even the President, locked in a protective stance. Surrounding those people are a bunch of wild-eyed lunatics with stones and weapons, looking for every possible way to break that lock and loot the box. That’s where we are right now.
Continue reading …
Launch of Google+ sees the online giants in a fight for the highly lucrative hearts and minds of internet users It is one month since the launch of Google+, a belated attempt at a social networking tool that invites users to follow friends’ activities in their news feed and share favourite content by marking it “+1″. If this sounds familiar, it shows the extent to which Google is playing catchup with Facebook, which is brewing a public offering next year that could value the firm at $100bn and, critically, has positioned itself as the gateway to the web for many of its 750 million users. Much of this pressure is down to the abrasive ambition of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Even Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has conceded that Google has been late to the social networking space, with identity and personalisation now critical to the social experience for consumers, and the lucrative commercial opportunities that advertisers expect. But with Google’s proven commercial success nudging its market value towards $200bn, and data vaults that hold the browsing histories of most of the online population, is Google really on a downward trajectory, and is the era of search really ending? Ben Gomes has worked on every aspect of Google’s core search product and is leading exploration into the social navigation of search. Despite Google’s forays into everything from video communities to mobile operating systems, he insists that at its heart Google is still a search company. It was search, he said, that fuelled the explosion of web content and, unsurprisingly, Gomes doesn’t see social data as a replacement for search but as a layer that accesses the information in a different way. “We saw a symbiotic evolution of the web and search because people could find what they wanted more easily,” said Gomes, who joined Google in 1999. “We see social as a layer in search that provides you with more relevant information in certain situations, so if you were looking at product reviews, those of your friends would be marked in the results. But the most important thing in search is still the search term, and how your computer understands that.” Though Google+ is an intelligent attempt at a social networking tool, it seems a typical Google product in that it is brilliantly, heavily engineered but lacks the human focus required for a social network – the fuel that has propelled Facebook to 750 million users. With data from so many consumers informing so many Google products, why isn’t there more personalisation? “In most cases ‘personalisation’ just means giving you what you wanted in the first place,” said Gomes. “If two friends search ‘malt’ but one likes beer and one whisky, they will see different results. And if that kind of personalisation didn’t work, you’d just think search was broken.” The issue of personalised search results based on our browsing history has become contentious. With news, for example, how can users be presented with an objective view of a story from multiple sources if Google serves up sites or perspectives that the user is known to like? “Diversity of results is something deeply baked into the algorithm tools we use, so that we hopefully give a broad perspective,” said Gomes. “But if you are interested in a topic you’d tend to do a very specific query anyway, and our first goal is to give you the information you want.” Facebook rigidly maintains that social context is historically and socially relevant. “Anthropologically, we have been informed and influenced throughout time by the people around us, and that’s equally true on Facebook as it is offline,” said Facebook’s advertising chief, David Fischer. “Now we look at the networks people communicate in … “There are important opportunities for marketers in getting their messages out through those friends and family connections. The social graph contains not just people, but brands, universities [and] institutions that people chose to connect to.” This network of social, professional and commercial relationships may have always existed, but it is their accessibility as expressed online that is unprecedented. One of Facebook’s biggest successes – and a strategy Google has strictly enforced on Google+ – has been encouraging real names on to the site , making its network and data far more valuable. This is creating a living record, said Fischer, and building it in a meaningful way. “There’s no decision that a person takes in their lives that is not a better decision when it is informed by the people around them that they trust.” Several hundred research scientists at Google are studying how web users access, interact with and share information. How will Google refine its mission of organising the world’s information? “We often see the future already exists in the present in some form, so the things just getting interesting now will be very important,” said Gomes. He describes a relationship where users expect Google to synthesise answers from different sources to provide an expert response and expects the most noticeable changes to be made to the mobile homepage, which can take advantage of multiple sensors such as location to provide “richer interaction models”. That might include speech recognition – already vastly improved from even two years ago – and localised artificial intelligence that improves suggestions as it learns about the user. Gomes claimed that instant access to information through Google has made conversations smarter, citing the time he went to see Kafka’s Metamorphosis and read up about the production. “My experience of the play was richer and I took away more because the combination of me plus the internet made me seem like someone who, in the past, would have been regarded as an expert. I became the kind of person I would previously have looked up to.” Yet though Google and Facebook are both keen to burnish their scientific credentials, ultimately the real battle is over cold, hard cash. Google made 97% of its revenues, or $32.3bn, in the past 12 months from advertising. eMarketer, meanwhile estimates that Facebook’s largely ad-generated revenues will grow from $0.74bn in 2009 to $5.74bn in 2012 – yet the site has hardly begun rolling out truly personalised, targeted advertising. If there is any of Google’s lunch to be eaten, it is here. Social networking Google Facebook Mark Zuckerberg Eric Schmidt Internet Search engines Jemima Kiss guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …David Cameron warned over ‘inflaming far-right sentiment’ by Nobel chairman
July 30, 2011 No Comment
Thorbjørn Jagland says Europe’s leaders are ‘playing with fire’ if they use right-wing rhetoric when discussing multiculturalism Europe’s leaders, including David Cameron, have been warned to adopt a more “cautious” approach when discussing multiculturalism. The Norwegian chairman of the Nobel peace prize committee has told them they risk inflaming far-right and anti-Muslim sentiment. Thorbjørn Jagland, a former prime minister of his country, said leaders such as the British premier would be “playing with fire” if they continued to use rhetoric that could be exploited by extremists. Four months ago in Munich, Cameron declared that state multiculturalism had failed in Britain, a view immediately praised by Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, as “a further huge leap for our ideas into the political mainstream”. Marine Le Pen, vice-president of the far-right National Front party in France, also endorsed Cameron’s view of multiculturalism, claiming that it corroborated her own party’s line. Jagland’s comments come in the wake of the Oslo bomb and the massacre on Utøya Island that left 77 people dead. The killer, Anders Behring Breivik, said he was inspired by the right-wing English Defence League. Breivik sent his manifesto, published online hours before the attacks, to about 250 British members of the BNP, the EDL and the Stop Islamisation of Europe group. Jagland, who is also secretary general of the Council of Europe, told the Observer : “We have to be very careful how we are discussing these issues, what words are used. “Political leaders have got to defend the fact that society has become more diverse. We have to defend the reality, otherwise we are going to get into a mess. I think political leaders have to send a clear message to embrace it and benefit from it. “We should be very cautious now, we should not play with fire. Therefore I think the words we are using are very important because it can lead to much more.” Jagland has also urged leading politicians to change their terminology. He said the word “diversity” was better than multiculturalism because the latter had become defined in different ways by different groups. “We also need to stop using ‘Islamic terrorism’, which indicates that terrorism is about Islam. We should be saying that terrorism is terrorism and not linked to religion,” said Jagland. Over the years before his attacks, Breivik developed an ultra-radical stance that initially incorporated the forced repatriation of Muslims from Europe, but ultimately targeted Norway’s centre-left government, which had encouraged multiculturalism. During his court appearance on terrorism charges, the 32-year-old said he had acted to prevent the “Muslim takeover” of Europe. It hasemerged that during a 10-hour interrogation, Breivik told police that he also considered attacking other government and Labour party targets in Norway. Police attorney Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby revealed that Breivik had again asked interrogators how many people he had killed and “showed no emotion” when they told him. As Norway struggles to come to terms with the killings, with the first of the dead being buried on Friday, the process of establishing whether Breivik is insane, as his lawyer has asserted, is due to begin. Psychiatrists said the process would involve months of observation, interviews and analysis, insisting that it is hard to fake mental illness. It has also emerged that more than 250 people were picked up by boats from the waters off Utøya Island as Breivik conducted his 90-minute shooting rampage. About 650 people were on the island, of whom at least 68 were killed, most of them teenagers. During Cameron’s Munich speech, which combined a passage on terrorism with one on integration, the prime minister talked extensively about “Islamist extremism” as being the source of terrorism. Breivik saw David Miliband, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair as worthy of assassination because, according to his 1,500-page manifesto, they had a “friendly attitude” to immigrants. Jagland says he has sympathy with Cameron’s attempt to robustly promote a shared set of British values as an alternative to multiculturalism, if not with his delivery. “We are not searching for a society where we have only different cultures. We also need to have something that holds us together, to respect common values,” he said. Jagland, who last year gave the Nobel peace prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was represented by an empty chair at the ceremony in Oslo, added that the immigration debate also needed to be less negative. David Cameron The far right Anders Behring Breivik Norway Nobel peace prize Mark Townsend guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
General Abdel Fattah Younis shot dead by Islamist-linked militia within the anti-Gaddafi forces, says senior opposition minister Efforts by insurgents to topple Muammar Gaddafi are in disarray after a senior Libyan opposition figure admitted that rebel soldiers were responsible for the murder of their most senior army commander. The transitional government’s oil minister said that General Abdel Fatah Younis had been shot dead by Islamist-linked militia within the anti-Gaddafi forces, provoking fears of future unrest and instability among those fighting the old regime. The revelation will raise doubts over the wisdom of the British government’s decision last week officially to recognise the rebel transitional government, declaring that it had proved its democratic credentials. Only a day later, the bullet-riddled and burnt bodies of Younis and two of his aides were found dumped on the outskirts of Benghazi, the rebel capital. Labour’s former defence secretary Bob Ainsworth said that the murder and the identities of the killers were evidence that the government had not thought through its policy in Libya. “One of the biggest risk factors in this was our lack of understanding of the people we were working with and I think that lack of understanding still stands,” he said. Bob Stewart, the Tory MP and former British United Nations Commander in Bosnia, said he feared the Libyan conflict would end with “a government we don’t like and us getting the blame”. Labour MP John McDonnell called for a peace conference between Gaddafi and the rebels to be enforced. “The government are treading on a path that is extremely uncertain,” he said. “They are dealing with people of whom they have very little knowledge and this is just an example of the potential there is for disunity.” In Tripoli, Gaddafi’s spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, mocked British support for the rebels, declaring: “It is a nice slap [in] the face [for] the British that the [rebel] council that they recognised could not protect its own commander of the army.” He alleged that al-Qaida elements were behind the killing, stating that “by this act, al-Qaida wanted to mark out its presence and its influence in this region”. Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown urged the government not to change its policy. “We are obviously not in the best place we could be, but this is what you have got to expect,” he said. “If you want to do this according to international law, this is what it looks like. This is messy, this is unpleasant and inelegant to watch, but it is no worse than doing it ourselves.” Younis was killed in mysterious circumstances on Thursday. Initially, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, president of the National Transitional Council, the rebel’s government, claimed the murder had been carried out by Gaddafi-linked forces That was starkly contradicted by oil minister Ali Tarhouni who confirmed Younis had been killed by members of the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade, a group linked to the rebels. Tarhouni told reporters Younis was being brought back to Benghazi when he was shot. A militia leader who had gone to fetch him from the front line had been arrested and confessed that his subordinates had carried out the killing. “It was not him. His lieutenants did it,” Tarhouni said, adding that the killers were still at large. the Foreign Office was seeking confirmation from Jalil over the claim. The authorities have yet to say where Younis was killed, or when, or how it was that his body vanished for 24 hours. Neither is it clear why he was being brought back to Benghazi. Reports in rebel-controlled Libya also contradict the official version, with radio stations reporting that Younis was killed not on the road but after being kidnapped in a hotel room in the rebel capital and that the general had been under arrest that morning, accused of holding secret talks with Gaddafi regime officials. Adding to the sense of crisis engulfing the rebels , Gaddafi launched his heaviest assault yet on the besieged city of Misrata using tanks, infantry and artillery against rebel front lines. The commander of the frontline Hatin Brigade, Sedek Sheltad, saidseven fighters were dead and more than 50 wounded. “There is a big war now between the Gaddafi soldiers and the revolutionaries,” he said. “The field hospital is full, there is no more space.” Nato has employed tactical bombing in all but name, but despite dozens of airstrikes around the oil town of Brega, and successive rebel assaults, government forces remain in control. The onset of Ramadan on Monday and its requirement to fast in daylight hours is likely to bring battlefield movement to a halt. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Muammar Gaddafi Chris Stephen Daniel Boffey guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …HBO’s Bill Maher had a message of hope Friday for closeted lovers of big government: “It gets better.” “Yes, there are millions of people in the world just like you in nice places lie Switzerland and Sweden,” he said. “They enjoy high standards of living and freedom and they’re socialists. Studies show they’re happier than we are and that’s not surprising because the only difference between American socialism and European socialism is European socialism works.” “Where as our tax dollars go towards military bases in Germany, subsidies to oil companies, building bridges to nowhere, wars and putting half of Cheech and Chong in prison, they get universal health care,” Maher explained.
Continue reading …Media, Democrats, and the President Have Been in Lockstep with the Tea Party as Terrorists Message
July 30, 2011 No CommentThroughout his tenure, there have been several facets in which President Obama has been demonstrably weak on leadership, with the debt debate coming to the forefront in recent months.
Continue reading …‘Special Report’ ‘straight news’ segment features groundless gun story concocted by militiaman
July 30, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media We talk a lot here at C&L about how right-wing mainstream media act as ” transmitters” for right-wing extremism, legitimizing radical ideas from the most violent and racist elements of the Right by repackaging them for general consumption. The inevitable outcome of this kind of transmission is what Anders Breivik, the Norwegian right-wing terrorist, represented in many ways — but it’s something that occurs far more often in the USA, and most frequently in recent years on Fox News. David Holthouse at Media Matters has the most recent example : Fox’s recent coverage of an ATF sting operation called “Operation Castaway,” which Fox has been trying to depict as yet another rogue gun operation gone awry — except that it’s not: Nothing in the more than 500 pages of Operation Castaway court documents, which are public records, indicate anything other than a textbook operation culminating in the interdiction of a large shipment of firearms bound for Honduras. Eight traffickers including Crumpler were convicted and sentenced to between two and a half and seven years in federal prison. Despite this winning outcome, Operation Castaway is under attack from right-wing bloggers and Fox. These critics are disregarding basic standards of fact checking in their rush to link the Tampa investigation to Operation Fast and Furious, the failed ATF initiative in which agents knowingly allowed firearms to be trafficked across the border into Mexico. In one typical example, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs branded Operation Castaway “a second version of the botched operation Fast and Furious” during his July 11 broadcast. And who was their source for this information? Why, the far-right wingnutosphere’s nastiest and nuttiest elements, of course — a militiaman straight out of a 1990s caricature: There is no evidence in the court files to support Dobbs’ claims and he offered no original reporting to back them up. Instead, he relied on references to “new reports” and “allegations” without revealing their dubious origin–anonymously sourced blog items on conspiratorial websites. The first of these posts appeared July 6. It was headlined “Breaking News: Source claims ATF’s Tampa SAC walked guns to HONDURAS! Part of Operation Castaway?” [SAC is an acronym for Special Agent in Charge.] Citing “private correspondence from a proven credible source,” the blog item reported that Tampa ATF deliberately facilitated the smuggling of firearms to Honduras “using the techniques and tactics identical to Fast and Furious.” The July 6 blog item was republished with no additional reporting by dozens of pro-militia and other right-wing websites. It jumped to Fox News in the July 8 broadcast of Special Report with Bret Baier, which featured an interview with “online journalist” Mike Vanderboegh, one of the bloggers who posted the original item. Vanderboegh was a leading figure in the 1990s militia movement who more recently led the Alabama Minuteman Support Team, a border vigilante group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Vanderboegh was also one of the first to report on the failed Fast and Furious investigation. “Mike Vanderboegh communicates with a host of ATF agents daily on his web site,” said Fox News reporter William La Jeunesse. “Agents told him Wednesday Operation Castaway out of the Tampa office, also knowingly sold guns to criminals, in this case, 1,000 to buyers for the violent drug gang, MS-13. Those guns to Honduras.” La Jeunesse gave no indication that he’d made any attempt to confirm Vanderboegh’s story. He simply gave the blogger a national platform. Some of you may remember Vanderboegh from the health-care debate: he’s the fellow who urged his readers to throw bricks through Democrats’ windows, and they in fact did so. One of his victims was Gabrielle Giffords, who had a brick thrown through an office window — well before she was shot. (Wonder if they’ve checked that brick for Jared Loughner’s DNA.) And of course, being the sensitive and thoughtful fellow he is, Vanderboegh escalated the rhetoric when he was called on it: May I tell you my personal motive for doing this? I’m trying to save the lives of Nancy Pelosi, and every one of these people who do not understand the unintended consequences of their actions. Because they are not paying attention to the million of people across this deepening divide that politics no longer avails them. We refuse to participate in the system, and we refuse to pay the fines, and we refuse arrest. Now where do you suppose that’s going but a thousand little Waco’s. This is almost identical to the phony rationale that Vanderboegh has trotted out for publicly fantasizing about my violent death: he’s just trying to wake me up to the consequences of my work, you see. As you can imagine, I’m deeply touched. Here’s Vanderboegh leading one of those open-carry “Second Amendment” rallies in the Washington area last year : Click here to view this media I guess it should no longer be a surprise that Fox News would treat this kind of character as a credible information source. But that’s because being a right-wing propaganda channel means you don’t have to actually tend to the truth, fact, or reality.
Continue reading …That’s the 4 trillion-dollar question. Because if there are, then this whole debt ceiling debate will play out much differently than it has so far. But if there aren’t — if they’ve all gone over to the dark side — then we’re in for some bumpy roads. Kevin Drum is now saying what I said back in mid-July. The only way to get anything done will be for Republicans to divide, peel off the Tea Party, and join with Democrats. If Boehner can’t get the tea partiers in the House to support his proposal, and if Harry Reid can’t find 60 votes in the Senate for his, then pretty shortly they’ll figure out that there’s only one way to pass something: forge a compromise that can get substantial support from both Democrats and non-tea-party Republicans. Such a compromise is almost certainly available, and all it takes to get there is for Boehner to be willing to admit the obvious: the tea partiers just aren’t willing to deal, period. They want to burn the house down so they can build something better from the ashes. They’re insane. So walk away from the tea partiers. Instead, strike a deal that a hundred non-insane House Republicans and 20 or 30 non-insane Senate Republicans can support. Add that to a majority of the Democratic caucus and you’re done. You’ve saved the country. Steve Benen: I strongly agree with all of this. By most estimates, there’s a group of House Republicans — I call it the “Suicide Squad” — that just don’t want to raise the debt ceiling and would gladly pursue default. They’ll vote for right-wing measures such as CC&B, or something close to it, but anything else is simply out of the question. Exactly how big is this contingent? That’s unclear. There are 240 House Republicans, though, and it’ll take 217 votes to prevent a total disaster. Does the Suicide Squad include more than 23 members? Almost certainly, yes. This, again, makes it necessary for Boehner to embrace a plan that can garner some Democratic support. For me, the most pressing question, which I don’t know the answer to, is, how big is the Republicans’ sane contingent? Kevin envisions 100 or so non-insane House Republicans joining a similar number of House Democrats to save the country. Sounds good. But are there 100 sane House Republicans? I honestly have no idea. Is there a reliable count of such things? I would even ask it a little differently. The real question is: how many patriotic Republicans are there? How many are there in that Congress, who if asked to look in the mirror, could manage to do that after they screwed the entire country and forced us into slow economic death? And along those lines, this question: When do we start holding these Republicans to their oath to uphold the Constitution? That 14th amendment solution works two ways, as I see it. As sworn elected officials, their duty is first and foremost to uphold and protect the Constitution, which clearly states that the validity of public debt shall not be questioned. Shall not be questioned. Shall not. Since this is debt already authorized by Congressional appropriations, there would seem to be a Constitutional duty for these Republicans to honor their obligations as delineated in the 14th amendment. I am not a lawyer, nor do I claim to be any kind of Constitutional expert. But as an observer, it seems to me the 14th amendment cuts both ways and carries consequences to those who fail to honor it and who are primarily responsible for the debt; that is, the United States Congress. So that leaves us with not one, but two questions. First, are there any sane Republicans? And second, what consequences are there for those who are members of the “Suicide Squad?” In my opinion, those under the deepest obligation to honor the 14th amendment are members of Congress first, not the President, and I would like to see a loud, public discussion of what happens to un-American, Constitution-violating members of Congress if they continue down the path they’re on.
Continue reading …
Marriage to England rugby player Mike Tindall reignites some of the fervour of Kate and William’s big day • Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall: their wedding in pictures For the second time this year the royal family dusted off their gladrags to watch one of their own marry a commoner. All eyes were on the Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips when she arrived at Canongate Kirk on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile for her marriage to the England rugby player Mike Tindall. Thousands lined the narrow city street hoping to catch a glimpse of Zara, once considered a royal rebel due to her low-cut tops, daring miniskirts and tongue piercing. But as she stepped from the car outside the church she revealed an ivory silk faille and silk duchess satin gown by British and Edinburgh-trained designer Stewart Parvin. The Queen also wore a Parvin outfit in apricot with matching straw hat by Rachel Trevor Morgan. As the moment of the wedding drew near, royals began arriving from the nearby Palace of Holyroodhouse. As they stepped from their chauffeur-driven limousines they were welcomed by the Queen’s pipe major, Derek Potter, who played a simple tune on the bagpipes. Among the first to arrive were Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, followed by Prince Andrew and his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. They were all cheered by the waiting crowds as they emerged from their cars, but the loudest roar was reserved for Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, as well as Prince Harry. As William and the former Kate Middleton walked into the church they acknowledged the crowd with a brief wave. The last of the senior royals to arrive were Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who again were cheered loudly by the thousands camped behind crash barriers. The couple were soon followed by the Queen and Prince Philip, who received an enormous roar from the well-wishers, which was acknowledged by both of them with a short wave before they were greeted, like all members of the royal family attending the service, by the Rev Neil Gardner, presiding over the service. The mother of the bride, Princess Anne, and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence arrived just before this group to take their places in the church. All the royal men were dressed in morning suits, while the women wore stylish gowns. Some of the most famous names from English rugby were also in attendance, reflecting Mike Tindall’s standing in the game as a former captain. Current national coach Martin Johnson stepped off one of the many buses taking guests to the ceremony. Johnson strolled into the grounds of the church, pausing to shake the hands of friends and colleagues he spotted just outside the building’s entrance. His predecessor Sir Clive Woodward was also on the guest list, along with Zara’s godfather, former Formula One racing champion Sir Jackie Stewart. A touch of pop glamour was added when Una Healy – a member of girl group The Saturdays – walked into the church. The spectacle had a party atmosphere as the crowd waiting opposite the church cheered and clapped whenever a face they recognised walked into the 17th century church. And when their view of the guests arriving was obscured by the coaches they jokingly shouted at the drivers to back up. Like most modern brides Zara is expected to say she will “honour” her groom rather than “obey” during the exchange of vows. Tindall proposed to Zara in December at their £800,000 regency townhouse in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, after they had been together for the previous seven years. The England rugby star staged his stag do in Miami while Zara – one of Britain’s leading equestrian competitors – held her hen party at a spa in Portugal. The wedding reception will be held in the grounds of the palace – the official Scottish home of the Queen – a few hundred metres from the kirk. Monarchy Royal wedding Mark Smith guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …