Click here to view this media After Time’s Mark Halperin referred to the President of the United States as a “dick” Thursday, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough made it clear that he helped orchestrate the incident. Scarborough set Halperin up by asking him about yesterday’s press conference where President Barack Obama scolded Republicans for not raising the debt ceiling. “Are we on the seven-second delay?” Halperin asked. “Yeah, sure,” Scarborough said. “Come on. Take a chance.” “I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday,” Halperin announced with smile. Following the commercial break, Scarborough admitted he was complicit in the stunt. “I’m sorry. It was a joke,” he confessed. “We made the joke before the show about the seven-second delay and we were going to try it out.” “Joking aside, this is not a pro forma apology, it’s an absolute apology, heartfelt to the president and the viewers,” Halperin said. “I became part of the joke, but that’s no excuse. I made a mistake and I’m sorry and I shouldn’t have said it. As I said, I apologize to the president and to the viewers who heard me say that.” Washington Monthly ‘s Steve Benen noted that the Morning Joe crew was probably upset that Obama didn’t appear “docile and conciliatory” towards Republicans in Congress. “Halperin’s credibility as an objective observer of political events has long been dubious, at best, but this morning’s little stunt should remove all doubt,” Benen wrote. Update: MSNBC has suspended Halperin indefinitely. “Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable,” MSNBC said in a statement. “We apologize to the president, the White House and all of our views. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.”
Continue reading …Teenagers on gap year were on coach heading for Chiang Mai Three British gap year students travelling through Thailand have been killed in a bus crash. Bruno Melling-Firth, Conrad Quashie and Max Boomgaarden-Cook – all understood to be 19 and from London – were on a coach bound for the northern town of Chiang Mai when it collided head on with another bus in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Foreign Office said two other Britons on board survived. One is now recovering from his injuries in a Bangkok hospital. “We can confirm the death of three British nationals,” a spokesman said. “A further two British nationals were on board the bus. We are in contact with both; one has some injuries and we have visited him in hospital in Bangkok and are providing assistance. “The families of the deceased have been informed and we are helping them through this extremely difficult time.” The accident happened in Khlong Khlung, in the Kamphaeng Phet province, shortly after midnight. Foreign Office representatives are now in contact with local police and the Thai authorities. On Twitter, one social networker wrote: “Im Really Upset … My Friend Just Died In A Bus Crash In Thailand!” Other postings read “RIP BRUNO! :””( I Cant Believe Your Gone,” and “I Cant Stop Crying I Saw Him The Other Day :’( Hes Actually Gone…Gone..:’(.” Thailand guardian.co.uk
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News International chief Rebekah Brooks hopes move will prevent repeat of News of the World hacking affair News International said on Thursday it has asked leading legal firm Olswang to draw up a new code of practice for the company in an effort to prevent a repeat of the phone-hacking affair at the News of the World. In an email to staff the News International chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, said Olswang had been hired “to examine in great detail what can be learnt from the past”. Brooks added that Olswang “will recommend a series of policies, practices and systems to create a more robust governance, compliance and legal structure for our papers that we hope over time can become a standard for the industry”. The move is an attempt by Brooks to show she is taking a proactive approach to the phone-hacking scandal, which has prompted legal action from around 30 public figures who claim their voicemail messages were illegally intercepted by a private investigator working for the News of the World. It also underlines the remarkable U-turn the company has performed since the Guardian first revealed nearly two years ago that it had made secret payments to several victims in exchange for their silence. Brooks reacted at the time, July 2009, by issuing a statement which claimed: “The Guardian coverage, we believe, has substantially and likely deliberately misled the British public.” At the start of this year, however, the company handed over information about Ian Edmondson, the paper’s former assistant editor (news) which led to his arrest by Scotland Yard. The Metropolitan police reopened its investigation into phone hacking at the paper and after a raft of civil actions were brought by victims, News International admitted liability in some cases and apologised. It announced in April it would set up a compensation scheme to make payments to victims who could prove their phones were hacked. Brooks said in her email to staff on Thursday afternoon that the phone-hacking scandal meant “testing times ahead”. She admitted the affair would “continue to challenge us as a company from a reputational and resource perspective”, but added that News International had made “significant progress” on the issue over the last year. “I am determined that NI is led in a way that deals with these matters properly. I want both external and internal acknowledgement that we have done the right thing – by facing up to our responsibilities where things have gone wrong and having done our utmost to correct them,” she said. News International has also formalised the roles of several key executives who have been managing the group’s response to the phone-hacking crisis by setting up a management and standards committee. It will be staffed by general manager Will Lewis, director of corporate affairs Simon Greenberg and Jeff Palker, who is general consul at the European and Asian arm of NI’s parent company News Corp. They will continue to report directly to Brooks. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers News International Rebekah Brooks News of the World James Robinson guardian.co.uk
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It’s an age-old battle between conservative politicians and liberal musicians. Who will win?
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Traces of caesium-134 and 137 isotopes found in urine tests on 10 children in city near stricken nuclear power pant Trace amounts of radioactive substances have been found in urine samples taken from children from Fukushima city, raising concerns that residents have been exposed internally to radiation from the stricken nuclear power plant 37 miles (60km) away. Tests were conducted in May on 10 children, aged between 6 and 16, by a Japanese civic group and Acro, a French body that measures radioactivity. All 10 tested positive for tiny amounts of caesium-134 and caesium-137. The chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, said he was concerned by the findings and the government would thoroughly examine the results. The Fukushima network to save children from radiation said it was certain the readings were due to radiation leaks from the power plant, where workers are still struggling to stabilise reactors that suffered core meltdowns after the 11 March earthquake and tsunami . Acro’s president, David Boilley, said the results suggested a strong likelihood that children living in or near Fukushima city had been exposed to radiation internally. According to the survey, 1.13 becquerels of caesium-134 per litre of urine were found in an eight-year-old girl – the highest reading for that isotope. The highest reading for caesium-137 – 1.30 becquerels – came from a seven-year-old boy, Kyodo news agency said. Richard Wakeford, an expert in radiation exposure at the Dalton Institute in Manchester, said he was not surprised that caesium had been found in Fukushima city residents, given the distance and direction the radiation plume had travelled. “What we’re seeing here is residual caesium that will be around for quite a while,” he said. “But, given the circumstances, the levels quoted in the survey are not particularly alarming.” Wakeford said ingestion could be prevented by avoiding contaminated food and milk, but added that produce contaminated at levels acceptable to the government would inevitably go on sale. The discovery came days after health authorities in Fukushima began checking internal radiation doses among all 2 million of the prefecture’s residents, a 30-year project that will cost an estimated 100bn yen (£777m). In separate tests, radioactive caesium and iodine were found in the urine of 15 residents from two towns located 19 to 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi plant. While none had exceeded the maximum allowable dose of 20 millisieverts a year, experts voiced concern over the presence of caesium-137, a byproduct of nuclear fission with a half-life of 30 years. “This won’t be a problem if they don’t eat vegetables or other contaminated products,” Nanao Kamada, professor emeritus of radiation biology at Hiroshima University, told reporters. “But it will be difficult for people to continue living in these areas.” From September tens of thousands of children living in Fukushima city are to be given dosimeters to measure their exposure to atmospheric radiation. Environmental groups have called for pregnant women and children to be evacuated from the city. Children are thought to be at greatest risk because they have more time to develop thyroid and other cancers. “At least parts of the population that are sensitive need to be evacuated, and the remaining people who decide to stay for various reasons need to be given proper support and information,” said Jan Beranek, head of Greenpeace’s energy campaign. Wakeford said: “I wouldn’t say immediate evacuation is required because this is not a sudden burst of radiation. It’s long-term, protracted exposure. The Japanese government’s biggest problem is deciding on what kind of external levels of exposure are acceptable once the crisis has moved out of the emergency phase.” Japan disaster Japan Nuclear power Energy Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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Narrow vote grants government authority to make cuts and tax rises approved in principle on Wednesday Greece’s chances of avoiding a catastrophic disorderly default appeared to improve on Thursday as the Greek parliament approved the second stage of its €28bn (£25bn) austerity plan , and Germany announced that its banks will support a new bailout package. After heated debate, MPs narrowly voted in favour of an enabling bill that gives Greece’s government the authority to implement the package of deep spending cuts and hefty tax rises that was approved in principle on Wednesday. The legislation was carried by 155 votes to 136. Greece is now expected to receive €12bn in immediate aid from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank. Herman van Rompuy, president of the European Council, swiftly welcomed the result, which also eases the way towards a second bailout package, likely to be worth around €110bn. “This was the second, decisive step Greece needed to take in order to return to a sustainable path. In very difficult circumstances, it was another act of national responsibility,” he said in a joint statement with European Commission president José Manuel Barroso. The measures contained within the €28bn package include a new solidarity tax on income, cuts to public sector wages, reduced benefit payments and cuts to government spending on health and defence. In a further development, Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said that German banks will roll over €3.2bn of Greek debt due to mature in the next three years. This would spare Greece from the burden of repaying the debt, although the precise details of the plan were not available. Schäuble said it built on the plan recently proposed by France, under which banks would roll over 50% of their maturing debt into new long-term bonds. France and Germany together hold a large proportion of total Greek debt. Shares rallied again in London and New York, adding to Wednesday’s gains. The FTSE 100 was up 64 points in afternoon trading, at 5920, and the Dow Jones gained 104 points to 12365. A growing number of economists believe that Greece will have to restructure its debts. The fear is that the process cannot be managed in a way that would avoid a new financial crisis. Ratings agency Fitch has predicted widespread panic if Greece were to lurch into default. “A disorderly Greek default would likely result in severe market volatility, pressures on sovereign and bank funding and a broader re-pricing of eurozone sovereign credit,” Fitch said. “The risk of contagion to other distressed and vulnerable eurozone sovereigns and their banking systems is material. Resolution of the current Greek crisis is therefore essential – though not sufficient – to prevent a systemic threat to the eurozone.” European debt crisis Greece European banks Europe European Union Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Silly me. Here I thought that the rule of law actually mattered, and that when the good guys triumphed (three times — twice in Congress, once in the courts) the battle was over, we could enjoy the moment and brace for the next fight. As I wrote yesterday , “The proposed rule that came out from the Fed a while back was reasonably fair to the retailers, which was a major upset given how kind to Wall Street banks the Fed has historically been.” Silly me for forgetting about the immeasurable political influence of the big banks: The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that banks can only charge retailers 21 cents each time they swipe a debit card. The board raised the cap from its initial proposal of 12 cents per swipe. Banks and big payment processors like Visa and Mastercard convinced the Fed that was too low to cover the cost of handling transactions, maintaining networks and preventing fraud. Banks currently have no limit and charge an average of 44 cents per swipe. It’s uncommon for the Fed, or any other government regulators for that matter, to change their rules dramatically during the comment period, but this change is a big deal. It’s simply offensive that the Board of Governors decided to give another handout to the Too Big to Fail financial institutions in this manner. This ruling also pushed back the implementation deadline to Oct. 1, which is later than expected (And for every month that swipe fee reform is delayed, banks snag an extra $1.35 billion in fees , according to The Nilson Report.) As I wrote yesterday, the Too Big to Fail banks are so big and so powerful that they win almost every battle and undermine almost every regulation — and it has happened again. Today’s craven sellout to the big boys by the Fed is one more reminder of why we need to break these banks apart so they don’t keep running roughshod over our democracy.
Continue reading …MSNBC: Mark Halperin ‘Suspended Indefinitely’ for Calling Obama A ‘[Short for Richard]‘
June 30, 2011 No CommentVia TV Newser , we learn that MSNBC has “suspended indefinitely” its senior political analyst Mark Halperin for stating on Morning Joe that President Obama was “kind of a [male appendage].” This is not exactly what the “No Labels” crowd at Morning Joe were expecting. The official MSNBC statement: Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air.
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Increased use of coal for electricity generation undermines UK effort to fight global warming Britain’s electricity generators have been beefing up their use of coal and turning their back on more carbon-friendly gas, in moves that undermine government efforts to fight global warming . Statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) show power providers used 8% more coal for electricity production in the first quarter of this year and 21% less gas. The “big six” energy companies, which include British Gas parent group Centrica, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and RWE npower, are already under fire for allegedly overcharging customers . The Decc figures also show the total amount of electricity generated by wind and other renewable sources over the 12 months of 2010 was 25,734 gigawatts – only 2.2% up on the year before. Renewable energy accounted for 3.3% of total UK energy consumption, an increase of only 0.3 percentage points over 2009, although its contribution to electricity output rose from 6.7% to 7%. There was also a worrying picture for Britain’s balance of payments, with domestic production of oil and gas from the North Sea falling heavily. Oil output was down 15.5% in the first quarter of 2011 on the same period in 2010, while imports of oil and oil products shot up fourfold, to 4m tonnes. Total indigenous production of natural gas fell in the first three months of 2011 by nearly 18% and while exports were nearly 12.5% lower, imports were down 1.5% too. The power companies have been benefiting from local coal production, however, with the small but active number of British facilities recording a 31% increase in output in the first quarter. Deep-mined coal – as opposed to surface-mined – showed an 80% increase, as coal stocks were depleted due to demand from the utilities. Power companies are meant to be trying to reduce their use of more carbon-intensive fuels but are understood to be switching away from gas because of a surge in prices. Energy industry Gas Energy Coal Gas Fossil fuels Climate change Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk
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With a poll earlier this month showing that an unnamed Republican candidate could beat President Barack Obama by a narrow margin if the election were held today, Obama's advisers are scrambling to find ways to win his reelection in 2012 amid a $14 trillion debt and three wars. Obama's dismal poll numbers are leaving his nostalgic advisers grappling to assemble an astroturf campaign reminiscent of his successful 2008 grassroots campaign. As the National Journal's Josh Kraushaar explains , Obama's administration has made a series of critical moves over the past month that reflect their growing concern for Obama's chances in 2012. Check out Kraushaar's thoughts on Obama's struggling 2012 campaign after the break, and let us know what you think in the comments. According to Kraushaar, a number of signals from the White House this month show a campaign toiling to position itself as coming out ahead on a number of failures, namely the economy and jobs, and attempting to engage voting blocs not typically seen as hotbeds of Obama support. 1. Searching for an economic message. This is a time when the president needs to find his inner Bill Clinton, and feel Americans’ pain. If he wants to be one of the few presidents to win reelection in a stagnant economy, he’ll have to devote less time to defending past policies, like the auto bailout, and more to offering specific solutions to help people get back to work. Think a 21st century version of FDR’s fireside chats. But there are few signs that the president’s economic messaging has changed. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently said Democrats own the economy, but they don’t seem to be adapting their message to the bad economy likely to face them in November 2012. 2. Doubling down on manufacturing. While there has been a small uptick in manufacturing jobs, it’s hardly enough to be felt by the blue-collar electorate, who have been bearing the brunt of the recession and never viewed Obama too favorably in the first place. The president’s emphasis on green jobs doesn’t help. It’s tough for many steelworkers to see themselves producing solar panels. Clean-energy jobs may be the future, but they’re not seen by displaced workers as a panacea. 3. Fresh fundraising concerns. With a strong connection to the grassroots and expertise with social networking, President Obama’s reelection team mastered the art of hitting up small donors in the 2008 campaign. But there are telltale signs that the grassroots army that propelled him is in a much less giving mood. It’s not a huge surprise; the bad economy has hit Obama’s small donors too. When you’re having trouble paying the bills, you’re not exactly pining to pitch in hard-earned money to help a powerful president. 4. Raising the stakes in the upper South. Obama’s strategists are raising the stakes in the two battleground upper South states, North Carolina and Virginia. They’ve never been critical cogs in a presidential strategy. If Team Obama sees them as such in 2012, it suggests the campaign is struggling in states that were comfortably on its side in 2008, particularly those in the Rust Belt. Do you think Obama will be able to reinvigorate his grassroots support of 2008 to bring out the same level of support? Or do you think his young fan base has become jaded and changed their views during his past three years as president?
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