French finance minister, who succeeds Dominique Strauss-Kahn, becomes first woman to hold top IMF job French finance minister Christine Lagarde has become the new head of the IMF after the fund’s board confirmed her appointment following a meeting in Washington. Lagarde, who takes over from Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is the first woman to hold the post. She will begin her five-year term on 5 July. After the board’s announcement, Lagarde tweeted : “The results are in: I am honored & delighted that the Board has entrusted me with the position of MD of the IMF!” Official confirmation came after the US hadformally endorsed Lagarde’s candidacy. Treasury secretary Tim Geithner said: “Minister Lagarde’s exceptional talent and broad experience will provide invaluable leadership for this indispensable institution at a critical time for the global economy. We are encouraged by the broad support she has secured among the fund’s membership, including from the emerging economies.” French president Nicolas Sarkozy was quick to show his support for his compatriot. He said in a statement: “The French presidency rejoices that a woman is taking on this important international role.” Chancellor George Osborne hailed Lagarde’s appointment as “good news for the global economy and for Britain.” He said: “She is the best person for the job, which is why Britain was one of the first countries to propose her. She has been a strong advocate for countries tackling high budget deficits and living within their means.” Lagarde has the support of most European countries, and is seen as an ideal candidate to handle the IMF’s ongoing bailout of weak eurozone countries. Many observers felt the time had come for a non-European to take the post, but despite initial coolness towards her candidacy China and Russia backed Lagarde’s appointment. Along with the US, she has the explicit support of nations including Indonesia and Egypt, representing more than half the IMF’s 24 voting board members. The executive board represents the 187 members of the IMF. Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin told the ITAR-TASS news agency: “I think that she has all the necessary qualities and we will support her candidacy. She will be able to make this key international organisation more dynamic, and ensure its future reform.” Her closest competitor, Mexican central banker Agustín Carstens, won endorsements from Mexico, Canada and Australia, which together represent 12% of IMF board seats. Geithner commended Carstens “on his strong and very credible candidacy.” Lagarde’s appointment caps a tumultuous period for the IMF, currently led by Strauss-Kahn’s deputy John Lipsky, who was planning to retire before Strauss-Kahn’s arrest. “I am well aware that recent events have left open wounds,” Lagarde said in a statement to the IMF. “I know that John [Lipsky's] departure, coming as it does at the very worst of times, will leave a big hole. The incoming MD must take pains to show the outside world that this great institution is not only leading in terms of expertise, but also in terms of integrity and work ethics.” Emerging market countries initially fought hard to have one of their own claim the top IMF job. The IMF has been headed by a European since is creation at the end of second world war. But with Europe in crisis the French minister emerged as the clear favourite. Lagarde, 55, led the Chicago-based law firm Baker & McKenzie before entering French politics in 2005. She is the first woman to head the IMF. Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF official and now chief executive of Pimco, one of the world’s largest bond investors, said: “[Lagarde's] major priority is to restore legitimacy to an institution demoralised by the arrest of Strauss-Kahn, seen to be excessively influenced by political directives, and lacking global legitimacy, especially among emerging economies. El-Erian added: “She needs to follow up on her promises to emerging economies, including removing nationality-based approaches to key appointments. “She can start with the soon-to-be-vacant first deputy post which, traditionally, has been a US Treasury decision rather than one based on merit. “She needs to make the IMF more representative of today’s global realities, restore technical rigor to its interactions with member countries, and prepare the balance sheet for the potential of some financial impairment on account of recent lending.” Christine Lagarde IMF Economics France Global economy Europe Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …It was with gladness in our hearts that all of us at Blue America celebrated the state of New York legalizing gay marriage this past week-end. It was a welcome reminder that even in this era of Tea Parties and economic malaise, human progress cannot be stopped. Imagine if we had a national government with enough fighters for working families to make progress on all fronts, from civil rights to economic justice to ending our useless expensive wars. Imagine if we had more leaders like Raul Grijalva, Keith Ellison and Donna Edwards to press for that agenda. Yesterday, longtime progressive congresswoman Lynn Woolsey announced her retirement from the Congress after a long and illustrious career. And Blue America endorsee and longtime political activist and author Norman Solomon stands ready and able to carry on the progressive tradition of that district and join the above list of progressive leaders. “We’re gaining the kind of traction that a grassroots campaign needs in order to win,” Solomon says, “the groundswell of support is very encouraging.” Indeed it is. We need congressional representatives who understand that we are no longer able to afford open ended military adventures and corrupt political boondoggles and Norman has been fighting to end them his entire life.These issues are no longer matters of abstract ideology– they are necessary and pragmatic approaches to the problems of our time. We need people like Norman Solomon in congress to lead the way. And please help Norman with a donation if you can. The good news is that it looks as though we aren’t the only progressives who are enthusiastic about him– the campaign has managed to collect $100,000 already from small donors. But he is not a corporate funded Democrat and will need our help to compete. Howie writes today (all the way from Asia!): Yesterday Norman penned a guest Op-E d for the Marin Independent Journal that presents a lot of insight into what kind of congressman he’d be– and into why Blue America is so committed to his candidacy. I bet this is what you wish YOUR congressmember and senator– not to mention our president– was saying about the dangers of nuclear energy… and what to do about it. But they’re not. It’s why it’s so crucial that we need real leaders like Norman Solomon, not just someone who will probably vote well in the House. Several decades ago, three expert nuclear engineers told a congressional panel why they decided to quit: “We could no longer justify devoting our life energies to the continued development and expansion of nuclear fission power– a system we believe to be so dangerous that it now threatens the very existence of life on this planet.” The Joint Committee on Atomic Energy heard that testimony in 1977, when the conventional wisdom was still hailing “the peaceful atom” as a flawless marvel. During the same year, solid information convinced me to move from concern to action against nuclear power. By the time the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant came close to rendering much of central Pennsylvania uninhabitable, I was nearly two years into full-time anti-nuclear work that included public education, civic activism and nonviolent direct action. Given what was at stake, I didn’t mind spending a month in jail for civil disobedience. More than 30 years later, the ongoing disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant underscores the grim realities of nuclear power, ranging from catastrophic reactor accidents to highly radioactive waste that will remain deadly for many thousands of years. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Department have been avidly promoting nuclear power for decades. Periodic calls for more “studies” have kicked the radioactive can down the road. I reject the notion that we should wait for such nuclear-enthralled agencies to tell us whether nuclear power is an acceptable risk for Californians. As the director of the National Citizens Hearings for Radiation Victims in 1980, I learned a lot about patterns of official enabling of the nuclear industry– with awful results for human health and the environment. Similar patterns persist in this country. In contrast, the government of Germany has seen the light. At the end of last month, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a reversal of policy– moving to shut down nuclear power instead of trying to expand it. The decision to immediately close eight German nuclear power plants and shut the rest by 2022 came in a country that had been getting 23 percent of its electricity from nukes. Here in California, we’re less reliant on this Faustian technology, getting just 15 percent of our electricity from nuclear power. The state has a lot of excess generating capacity from other sources, but far better choices for the environment are within our grasp. Don’t you think that’s a point of view that deserves to have representation in the congress? Is it too much to ask that we have at least a few liberal voices willing to speak out on issues like nuclear power and endless wars in the US Congress? We don’t think so. Please consider helping Norman bring this kind of thinking to Washington by contribution to his campaign through ActBlue . Norman summed his platform up in one powerful sentence today saying is he’s elected to Congress, he “will insist that we need to bring our troops and tax dollars home– that we need healthcare not warfare– that we must resist corporate power– that caving in to Wall Street and polluters and enemies of civil liberties is unacceptable.” Please welcome Norman Solomon back to Blue America.
Continue reading …
Simon Kelner says his paper had not received any complaints about columnist in 10 years of Johann Hari’s tenure Simon Kelner, the editor-in-chief of the Independent, said on Twitter on Tuesday that his newspaper had not previously received any complaints about interviewer and columnist Johann Hari. Hari was caught up in an online plagiarism row after he said he inserted quotes into interviews that were taken from the subject’s writings and not from the interview itself. Kelner tweeted at about 4.30pm on Tuesday that Hari had “worked at @theIndynews for 10 years” and said that “in that time, we have not had a single complaint about his misrepresenting anyone”. But he did not respond to questions from other Twitter users or the Guardian as to whether he would face any disciplinary action or whether the disputed articles would be reviewed. It is understood that Hari is preparing an article for publication in tomorrow’s Independent in which he intends to respond to the allegations made online. On Monday night Hari, responding with a personal blog post to bloggers who had accused him of plagiarism , said he inserted quotes from their other published work when “I’ve interviewed a writer” and they’ve expressed “an idea or sentiment” more “clearly in writing than in speech”. Kelner’s statement prompted several questions from Twitter users, with @nikkibayley – whose profile describes her as a journalist and copywriter – asking: “But @Simon_Kelner – he’s misrepresenting himself, to US the readers. People did NOT say those things to him & he wrote it as though they did.” Meanwhile @louisebolotin, whose profile describes her as a freelance journalist and author, responded: “@Simon_Kelner well, you have now. Lots of them. Hari has blackened the names of all journalists by making it up on the hoof”. The organisers of the Orwell Prize, a political journalism prize that Hari won in 2008 , said they were consulting with that year’s committee of judges to make them aware of the allegations – and to decide what action, if any, they wished to take. The winner of the Orwell Prize receives £3,000. • 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 The Independent Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Independent Print Blogging Digital media Twitter Internet Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …AP’s Fouhy: Cuomo Same-sex Marriage Victory ‘Sparks’ 2016 Presidential Talk; Cites One Dem Media Strategist
June 28, 2011 No Comment“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's successful push to legalize gay marriage in his state has made him a national hero to liberal voters and has sparked talk of a potential presidential bid for Cuomo in 2016,” Associated Press reporter Beth Fouhy insisted in a story filed today. “But Cuomo paired his quest for same-sex marriage with efforts to slash state spending and curb the power of public employee unions, suggesting a blend of fiscal prudence and progressivism on social issues could be a new Democratic model in tough economic times,” she added. Fouhy waited until the 12th paragraph of her 19-paragraph story to cite one Democrat who's talking up the freshman New York governor: Democratic strategist Peter Daou said Cuomo's success on gay marriage had persuaded many skeptical liberal activists to give him another look.
Continue reading …
Socialist party leader vies to become France’s first woman president by trying to broaden appeal to centre and right The Socialist party leader, Martine Aubry, has launched her campaign to be France’s first woman president by trying to soften her hard-left image and appeal to centrists disillusioned with Nicolas Sarkozy. The 60-year-old former labour minister, best known for creating France’s 35-hour week, in a speech in her fiefdom of Lille focused on her “dream” to make France a more equal place, not the polarised and gloomy society she said had been left by Sarkozy. Aubry entered the race after the dramatic exit from political life of former Socialist favourite Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is facing attempted rape charges in the US. She tried to appear more determined to lead the nation, after detractors suggested she lacked “fire in the belly” and had been reticent to run. The French left is favourite in the polls to win the presidential election in spring 2012, and Aubry’s bid marked the start of the Socialists’ first ever US-style primary race to select a candidate. With Sarkozy’s low poll ratings beginning to modestly rise again, the Socialists must be able to broaden their appeal to the centre and right. The favourite to win the primary vote in October is François Hollande, a former party leader and centrist who has appealed to the middle class. But Aubry, traditionally placed more to the left, is catching up with him. Aubry pointedly launched her presidential bid in Lille, where she is mayor and presents herself as close to the people. She chose a local cultural centre, a dig at Sarkozy’s famed dismissal of culture and intellectuals during the previous presidential campaign. Aubry, a fan of classical music and a culture expert, will be relying on the backing of key figures in film and the arts. Crucially, Aubry’s stage set – a blue backdrop similar to those used by Sarkozy, French and European flags, with Socialist party logos or Socialist bigwigs – was designed to show she was above party politics and not confined by the creaking Socialist party apparatus. She took a swipe at Sarkozy’s rushed and omnipresent style and his divisive policies that have pitted workers against the unemployed and the French against foreigners. “Behind what looks today like energy, but could be seen as restlessness, the reality is unfair policies that solely benefit the most privileged. It is time that changed,” she said. “I want to give back France its strength, serenity and unity.” The northern setting highlighted the Socialists’ biggest challenge for 2012. The party has lost the support of the working-class and the old industrial heartlands have recently seen staunchly leftwing areas switch to the far-right Front National. Aubry also gave a nod to her personal political dynasty – she is the daughter of Jacques Delors, the former Socialist finance minister and president of the European Commission – saying she had learned inclusiveness from her family. Also expected to stand in the three-month primary race are Ségolène Royal, the defeated Socialist candidate in 2007, and several outsider candidates, including the young MPs Arnaud Montebourg and Manuel Valls. Leader comment, page 32 France Europe Nicolas Sarkozy Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
EHRC argues in court that instructions given to MI5 and MI6 officers leaves them susceptible to ‘criminal liability’ A battle over the legality of instructions issued to British intelligence officers attempting to obtain information from prisoners held by countries with poor human rights records has opened in the high court. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is arguing that the instructions – which were redrafted and published last year on the orders of David Cameron – fail to meet the UK’s obligations in both international and domestic law. Government lawyers say the instructions ensure that British intelligence officers can maintain their relationships with their counterparts in such countries without falling foul of the law. Both MI5 and MI6 insist that those relations are vital in the post 9/11 world if they are to fulfil their responsibility to protect UK interests and British citizens. But the EHRC told the court: “The guidance … is unlawful. It exposes detainees to a risk of torture for which the UK is legally responsible and which might have been prevented had domestic and international law been properly applied.” Ben Emmerson QC, for the EHRC, said the instructions were drafted in such a way that British intelligence officers would be “exposed to criminal liability” if they were to follow them. Under the terms of the instructions, intelligence officers and military personnel are prohibited from proceeding with an interrogation or intelligence-sharing operation only when they “know or believe” it will lead to torture. In most other circumstances they can proceed after they have sought assurances from the overseas agency, or after receiving permission from a superior officer. The instructions also set out circumstances in which government ministers will be consulted and can give the go-ahead to an operation, despite the risk that this will result in an individual or group of people being tortured. The EHRC says the instructions should prohibit any action where there is a “real risk” of torture, and that the words “know or believe” set the threshold too high. Furthermore, the commission argues that requesting that an individual be detained by an overseas intelligence agency known to use torture could lead to complicity in torture. “If UK personnel solicit the detention of an individual by a foreign state knowing there is a real risk of torture, and as a direct result of that solicitation that individual is then tortured by foreign state agents, we say that involves the UK in a breach of its international obligations … and involves the commission of a domestic law crime of aiding and abetting an act of torture,” Emmerson said. The court heard that the instructions are issued by the prime minister, the home secretary, the foreign secretary and the defence secretary. Later in the three-day hearing, the government’s lawyers will urge the court not to give its opinion on the current state of international law “in the abstract” without detailed consideration of the facts of an individual case. When the existence of the instructions first became public knowledge in 2009, it was apparent that they had evolved over the years, having first been issued in January 2002. At that point they were clearly intended to enable to MI5 and MI6 officers to continue questioning al-Qaida and Taliban suspects whom they knew were being physically mistreated by the US military in Afghanistan. Subsequent versions of the instructions were kept secret. As details of British involvement in the torture of terrorism suspects in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt and elsewhere began to emerge, ministers of the last government became deeply reluctant to discuss their contents. David Miliband, while foreign secretary, indicated that their publication would “offer succour to our enemies” . Tony Blair evaded questions about the role he played in authorising the instructions and has refused to say whether he knew they had resulted in people being tortured; David Blunkett, the former home secretary, once maintained that it was potentially libellous even to ask him questions about the matter. Two intelligence officers, one from MI5 and one from MI6, have been the subjects of an investigation by Scotland Yard. That inquiry is continuing, with detectives examining whether there is any criminal liability for involvement in interrogation of terror suspects who have been tortured. Following last year’s election the instructions were rewritten, and Cameron said they were being published because the coalition was “determined to resolve the problems of the past” and wished to give “greater clarity about what is and what is not acceptable in the future”. A number of human rights groups immediately pointed to what they said were serious loopholes, however, and the EHRC began judicial review hearings. The court is also hearing a linked case brought by a man who was detained by British forces in Iraq in 2006 and hooded. His lawyers argue that the rewritten instructions are unlawful because they allow for hooding to be used if “necessary for security reasons during arrest or transit”. The court may not issue its judgment on the new instructions until after the long-running inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa reports in September. The legality of hooding is expected to be addressed in the Mousa report. The hearing continues. Torture MI5 MI6 European court of human rights Human rights Foreign policy Ian Cobain guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
enlarge Bob Somerby has been running an excellent series over the last week examining how the “greed is good” mentality has taken over American values over the past 40 or so years. Toward the end of his piece last Friday, he made pertinent point : As income inequality has grown, one side’s heralds have worked very hard to pimp a load of supporting ideology. The other side’s heralds have largely slumbered, dozed, burbled and snored. We haven’t developed the language and the ideation with which we can approach those voters who are currently found outside our own tribe. Nor have we developed the forums in which we can approach such people with some hope of success. We prefer to spend our time insulting those who aren’t in our own tribe. This is lazy, self-indulgent behavior. Beyond that, it just isn’t smart. What’s wrong with the societal pattern described in Whoriskey’s piece? If athletes and singers can haul in big swag, why can’t CEOs and “financial professionals?” The career liberal world has made little effort to fight back against that forty-year trend—a trend which has indeed driven along by “one half-baked study after another.” I think there’s definitely something to this. Liberals often assume that most of the public sees surging economic inequality as a profound and unqualified negative, but the reality is the public often has no idea just how unequal America has become. And what’s more, the public has been fed the idea we should celebrate when the rich get richer because it means they’ll just trickle more wealth down on the rest of us unworthy serfs. So in response to Bob’s challenge, I’d like to make the case for why greed is bad that could transcend the standard left-right divide and appeal to people who might disagree with me on a host of other issues. Let’s give this a go, shall we? Before delving too far into this, I’d like to give my general take on money. To me, money is a lot like sex and cupcakes. Meaning that while they’re all things that everyone wants to have in one form or another, it’s entirely possible to overindulge in all three. The key difference is, we don’t stigmatize greedy people the same way we stigmatize people who are cads (i.e., Tiger Woods and Anthony Weiner) or people who are overweight (i.e., Michael Moore). In fact, when we read about somebody who makes an obscene amount of money we normally think, “Well good for them, I hope I can make it like that some day too!” The most classic example was the Wall Street Journal’s interview with one of the homeowners whose foreclosure made hedge fund manager John Paulson into a gazaillinaire. Y’see, even though Paulson was literally profiting from the poor shlub’s misery, he just couldn’t find it in his heart to be upset : In 2006, Mr. Booket got hit by a car while riding a motorcycle from a late-night party, was unable to find much work and couldn’t pay the bank. In October 2008, he lost the house to foreclosure and plans to move out by next week. He says he bears no grudge against Mr. Paulson and Goldman. “The man came up with a scheme to get rich, and he did it,” says Mr. Booket, who had refinanced his mortgage just months before the accident. “So more power to him.” Mr. Booket is presumably a good guy. But he’s also clearly bought into the idea that anything rich people do to make money is good for the rest of us too. Here, then, is my concise breakdown of the two biggest reasons why greed and inequality are bad: First: When people at the top are greedy, workers don’t get their just rewards . For a long time in this country, there was a very close relationship between productivity growth and wage growth. Increased productivity is a good thing because it means we’ve come up with new ways to make more stuff with less effort. Now take a look at this chart: enlarge As you can see, productivity started rising more rapidly than wages in the 1970s and has only accelerated since . This means, roughly speaking, that workers are now producing more but getting paid less. How in God’s name is this possible? Well, technology and globalization are definitely part of the answer. But I think there’s also something to be said for the fact that we’ve developed a real Randian ” Cult of the Rock Star CEO ” culture that values the output of the person at the top of the chain as key to creating wealth for everyone else (and if this sounds like economic fascism to you, well, you’ve got a point). And look: Steve Jobs is a brilliant businessman, but he’s not the one engineering the Mac Book Air, he’s not the one refining the next-generation iPhone operating system and he’s certainly not the one in the Chinese manufacturing plant putting all of these “magical” devices together. In other words, Steve Jobs is good at what he does but he has a whole lot of help that shouldn’t be overlooked or underpaid. Note that I’m not saying Jobs doesn’t deserve to be well-off for the work he puts into Apple. What I am saying is that as Jobs’ wealth increases, so should the wealth of everyone else who works at the company. For the past 40 years in America, that just hasn’t been happening. Second: Greed can turn you into a dumbass. There’s this weird myth out there that the more money a Rock Star CEO has, the more money he’ll invest into his business, thus creating more jobs for everyone. While this is certainly true in some cases, I don’t think it’s at all true across the board. And what’s more, I think having too much money can give you a feeling of invincibility that can lead you to do stupid things. I know I make fun of Charlie Sheen a lot but I think he’s a really good example of the dumb crap people can get themselves into when they have too much damn money. Let’s recall what Charlie said earlier this year when asked why he spent so much money on prostitutes: Asked why he’s “paid for sex” in the past, Sheen responded, “Because I had millions to blow. I ran out of things to buy.” “I had millions to blow. I ran out of things to buy.” That, in essence, was one of the problems we had in the lead-up to the housing bubble. Toward the end of that debauched period, lenders simply weren’t producing enough mortgages to satisfy the Wall Street Securitization Machine that had spent the past decade piling more and more leverage onto banks’ balance books. The solution, it turns out, was to create “synthetic” mortgage securities that were little more than bets on other mortgages that the banks didn’t even own. Because a combination of low interest rates, tax loopholes and financial chicanery had given banks a whole ass-ton of money to play with, they had at that point literally run out of crappy mortgages to buy. So instead of, say, doing something more useful with it they decided to double down and create more crappy mortgages out of thin air . The brighter libertarians out there will concede that, yes, having too much money can make you stupid but eventually the market will make you pay for your mistakes and you’ll never get hired again. Capitalism works! Well, sure, if you ignore all the misery and poverty that financial collapses cause, I guess the system is great. And let’s not mention that being thoroughly incompetent at your job is no obstacle to future employment if you’ve got good connections — for Christ’s sake, the World Bank has just appointed former Lehman Brothers chief risk officer Madelyn Antoncic as its damn treasurer ! This is like baseball hiring Barry Bonds to be in charge of overseeing its drug-testing operation! So that’s my best crack at detailing in a (hopefully) amusing fashion why greed is really not a good thing that should be encouraged. Gordon Gekko wouldn’t approve, but what does his fictional ass know that I don’t?
Continue reading …‘Page One’ Doc Provides Unbalanced Look at the Struggles of the New York Times
June 28, 2011 No Comment“Page One,” a new documentary about a year in the life of the New York Times directed by Andrew Rossi, is showing at the sleek new Lincoln Center theatre on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for a mere $13. While not openly partisan or even political (there were no Obama stickers spotted on desks, no rants about the paper’s myriad conservative critics), “Page One,” which captures in semi-compellingif scatter-shot fashion a year or so in the life of the Times’s media desk, fits snugly in to the Upper West Side mentality of entitled liberalism.
Continue reading …
• Click refresh or F5 for the latest updates • At work? Click here for our pop-up scoreboard • Email your thoughts to rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk • Mike Selvey on why there are doubts over captain Cook 16th over of 32: England 109-2 (Kieswetter 52, Pietersen 26) Five singles from Jayasuriya’s second over. 15th over of 32: England 104-2 (Kieswetter 50, Pietersen 23) It’ll be spin from both ends, with the offspinner Suraj Randiv coming into the attack. Pietersen tucks into him immediately, spanking the second ball down the ground for four. Then Kieswetter brings up his fifty in the grand manner, charging Randiv and driving a mighty six down the ground. Brilliant stuff. He scored 13 from 23 balls before the break, and since then he has 37 from 22. Fifteen from the over. 14th over of 32: England 89-2 (Kieswetter 43, Pietersen 15) A special treat for Kevin Pietersen; Sanath Jayasuriya is coming on. He is such a streetwise one-day bowler, with 322 wickets to his name in ODIs, so England will be very pleased with ten from his first over: four singles, a two, and a dragged sweep round the corner for four by Kieswetter. Since the restart he has scored 30 from 20 balls with controlled aggression. “Russell Jack sounds like a reliable sort,” says Andy Blarney, “but I don’t think I’d put a lot of faith in French Bruce behind the stumps.” French Bruce sounds like an hilarious (sic) character in Minder, Arthur’s continental nemesis. 13th over of 32: England 79-2 (Kieswetter 35, Pietersen 13) The last over of the Powerplay, from Malinga, is chockfull of variations of line, length and pace. England took four singles from the first foiur balls and then Pietersen clouts a slower ball over mid on for a one-bounce four. “The problem with wanting Darren Sammy to lead the West Indies back to where they belong is that if they do get there, Darren Sammy won’t be worth a place in the side,” says Gary Naylor. “Re: Chris gayle, sure he’s an awkward type, but the role of management in any field is to get the most from one’s resources, not ignore those who don’t fit the template.” 12th over of 32: England 71-2 (Kieswetter 33, Pietersen 7) Pietersen survives the closest of run-out referrals. He played Red Bull Routlette to Dilshan at mid off, who threw the stumps down superbly and wheeled away like a goalscorer, one hand in the air. It was monstrously tight, tighter than any Spandex that has ever been worn, even in Studio 54. In fact it was one of those incidents where you suspect Pietersen probably was out, but the replays were not conclusive enough for the third umpire Rob Bailey to give him out with a clear conscience. After a long delay, at least 90 seconds, Pietersen got the good news. Five from a boundaryless over. 11th over of 32: England 66-2 (Kieswetter 30, Pietersen 5) This is interesting. England have taken their batting Powerplay (just three overs in this truncated match), so Sri Lanka turn to Lasith Malinga. That’s a disappointment for Jimmy Anderson, who was probably looking forward to his usual batting Powerplay. Anyway, Malinga’s first over goes for just four, with Pietersen doing well to dig out a brutal yorker off the fourth ball. Superb bowling. “How can it be fair to the side batting first who are seven overs into their match to suddenly change the goalposts & reduce the game to 32 overs?” asks Gaz Durrant. “The side batting second get seven additional overs in ‘slog-mode’ whilst the side batting first were playing their normal game and watching the ball sail past off-stump for five overs playing themselves in. England would probably not have won anyway with Cook & Trott in a one-day team but they have absolutely no chance now. Can they refuse to reduce the game to 32 overs or do the side batting second get additional penalties or restrictions?” They adjust the target accordingly, so Sri Lanka’s target will be greater than England’s total. 10th over of 32: England 62-2 (Kieswetter 27, Pietersen 4) Kieswetter showed admirable patience earlier, but it’s a different game now and he flicks Kulasekera’s first ball behind square on the leg side for four. Pietersen gets off the mark by flicking four more past short fine leg. England did pretty well in that mini bowling Powerplay, with 27 runs from three overs. “Any idea if there’s any chance of getting tickets on the door at the Oval after work?” says Lauren Dowey. “When I used to work by Trent Bridge, it was always a tenner to get in after five but I’m not sure the Oval is so accommodating…” No idea I’m afraid. I assume so, unless it’s a sell out. Anyone know for sure? 9th over of 32: England 53-2 (Kieswetter 22, Pietersen 0) “If it walks like a Test bowler, talks like a Test bowler, and has an average under 30… Well, it is a Test bowler,” says Scott W. “It’s great to hear good things going Sammy’s way, I think he has the hardest gig in cricket right now, and I so desperately want to see the Windies back up where they belong. For that to happen any time soon, Sammy and Gibson must be vindicated and the younger players must all be on board and paying no mind to the imprecations of that trendy, dashing, Fonzie-esque character Chris Gayle. The Potsie-esque Chanderpaul will come round if he sees success.” WICKET! England 53-2 (Trott LBW b Lakmal 23) A brilliant comeback from Lakmal. He was smashed for 11 from four balls – including a storming six over long on from Kieswetter – and responsed with two consecutive yorkers, the second of which pinned Trott on the boot in front of middle stump. Trott actually didn’t know whether the DRS was an option and asked Kieswetter; it isn’t, but even if it had been he would have gone. That was plumb. 8th over of 32: England 42-1 (Kieswetter 15, Trott 19) The players are back on the field, and have Sri Lanka have taken the batting Powerplay. The first over, bowled by Kulasekera, costs seven, with Trott working a boundary to the left of the man at short fine leg. “Keepers,” says Andrew Perks. “But Knott Alan.” 4.50pm “What about that great wicket-keeper/batsman,” says Will Barter, “Stewart Alex.” Or indeed Stewart Alec, said the smart alec. But yeah, you can do it with loads of England’s finest keepers: Russell Jack, Andrew Keith, Taylor Bob, Ames Les. 4.46pm Some good news. Play will resume at 5pm, and it’ll be 32 overs per side . 4.24pm The umpires are having a chat with the groundstaff. Pulitzer! 4.21pm “Darren Sammy,” says Mike Selvey. “I imagine Lord Ted would have him down as Sammy Darren. How about a team of Ted reversals?” Actually, didn’t Malcolm Devon almost make his Test debut alongside Thomas Greg? I think he was in the squad. Who else. Lloyd David? Pushpakumara Ravindra? 4.13pm Oh, the cut-off time for a restart is around 6.40pm. Alastair Cook might be England’s Twenty20 captain for one night only. 4.12pm The covers are still on, although the super soppers are drying the outfield. Still no news of a planned inspection, never mind a restart. I’m off to get a late lunch. In the rain. In flip-flops. 4.07pm Crikey, look at the scoreline in Barbados: India are 13 for two after 14 overs . Darren Sammy has taken another wicket, bringing his Test average to 26.75. Lies, damn lies and he is a better Test bowler than Jeff Thomson, Richie Benaud and Gus Fraser. 3.51pm “No Mardy Fish at Glasto,” says Eamonn Maloney, “but I can testify to a fine performance from Biffy Clyro at Glasto, who surely took their name from some portly lower-order hitter for Glamorgan in the early 1970s.” 3.50pm Apparently the sun is out – well done to those who wore flip-flops today – but there is no suggestion yet that play is imminent. 3.41pm “I’ve just seen that Nadal is fit to play Mardy Fish,” says Mike Selvey. “Were Mardy Fish not performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glasto over the weekend?” I thought it was The Angelo Mathews? 3.40pm It seems Vaughan actually is on Countdown. Great stuff. No matter what combination of nine letters come out, he probably just sees ‘VAUGHAN B STEYN’. 3.22pm What’s going on here? “If you’re bored,” says James Walsh, “you could always liveblog Michael Vaughan’s appearance on Countdown.” He’s not, surely. 3pm It’s raining again. Bah. Enjoy some more Viv porn, all 189 runs of it . 2.53pm Apologies. Being, y’know, pretty thick, I failed to realise that Selve had attached a picture to his email about Viv being cuddly. Feel free to insert your own that’s-Gary-Naylor-on-the-left joke here. 2.50pm It’s getting quite dark again. Sky are showing highlights of the India/England tie at the World Cup. That seems a weirdly long time again now. 2.47pm “Having said all that,” adds Mike Selvey, “he is quite cuddly really.” But is he referring to Gary Naylor or Viv Richards? 2.36pm “Jeffery Lebowski’s cricketing was a bit one-dimensional though,” says Paul Billington, and you know exactly where this is going, don’t you. “He was only any good at bowling. Arf.” That might be the most apologetic ‘arf’ I’ve ever seen. 2.35pm “Have you any idea, any idea at all, what IVA Richards would have managed as a T20 player today, with modern trampo bats, against some of the bowling I’ve seen in the IPL,” says Mike Selvey. “Frankly it just wouldn’t be fair.” If you are a complete masochist and want to get an idea of what it was like to bowl to Viv, read this, Lord Selvey’s wonderful Cricinfo profile of Viv . You knew when he was coming. The outgoing batsman would already have disappeared into the pavilion, and the expectation of what was to follow filled the air. Viv kept you waiting… time to ponder. Then he appeared, sauntering, swaggering, arms windmilling slowly. He would take guard, and then, head tilted back slightly and cudding his gum, he would walk a few paces down the pitch to tap it while looking the bowler in the eye. It was calculated menace and magnificent theatre from arguably the most devastating batsman of all time. How to bowl to him? Get him to the other end, perhaps. Hold your nerve, do not take what might follow as personal. Occasionally he was vulnerable early on if his desire to dominate overwhelmed him. But he had no weakness until his eyesight infinitesimally but inevitably started to let him down and those eye shots became harder. His strengths were on the front foot. So far forward could he get that he was able to plant that left foot outside the line of off stump, at once eliminating lbw and creating his own leg stump line from where he would flick bowlers relentlessly through midwicket. Or he might send a similar ball skimming through extra cover. Straighten the ball down the line of the stumps and the bowler stood a chance, but he rarely missed and they ran a terrible risk. His power was awesome, he hooked devastatingly and never wore a helmet, rocking back from his front-foot base to take the ball from his eyeline in front of square. Occasionally, for no apparent reason, he would block an over in immaculate fashion, seemingly in defensive position before the ball had left the bowler’s hand. Then, refreshed, off he would go again. 2.27pm “The reason Steven Finn has a better strike rate than Malcolm Marshall is that he’s a better bowler,” says Andrew Jobson. “It’s easy to take wickets consistently when you can swing and seam the ball at 90+mph, but it’s very difficult to take wickets bowling short and wide. Ergo, Finn > Marshall.” 2.26pm “Could name about a million reasons why it was easier for batsmen in Gilchrist’s era than Sir Viv’s,” says Rory Taylor. “And ask anybody around at the time, if Viv had been remotely bothered by stats he’d have smashed the lot. Not to denigrate Gilchrist, great player and unusually decent bloke for an Aussie, but there’s no comparison. And let’s be honest, Viv remains the coolest cricketer ever to have walked the earth.” Coolest cricketer ? No need to stop there. The coolest sportsman, and maybe the coolest human. It’s a choice of three: Viv, Jeffrey Lebowski or that bloke from Street Hawk. Just look at this clip . 2.22pm More from the Guardian’s nose-picking correspondent, Robin Hazlehurst. “Your picture of Cook and Saj does seem to show Cook’s forefinger homing in on Saj’s nose in a very scary way. Could it be that he is about to rip a great sticky lump out of a key bowler’s nose to improve his balance during his run-up? Now that is truly great captaincy and self-sacrifice for the team. And slightly disturbing. And this email will look really really good if you later change the picture.” 2.20pm It’s much brighter now, although it’s still raining heavily. I don’t think this will last too long; the trouble will be the damage to the outfield. 2.18pm “King Viv was an all-time great – obviously – but Gilchrist was a beast at the crease,” says Gary Naylor. “Gilly hit 13 Test centuries at a strike rate of more than 90 to King Viv’s four. The Aussie keeper didn’t have Viv’s imperial walk to the wicket, but he was, and it’s all I claim, a step-change up in terms of sheer intimidation.” You can’t compare strike rates from different eras, surely? Batting in 1980 was totally different to batting in 2000. You have to do it on a pound-for-pound basis, or better still a qualitative basis. If Gilchrist still comes out on top, fine (though I’d have Viv), but you can’t do it on strike rates. After all, Steven Finn has a better Test strike rate than Malcolm Marshall. So does Jermaine Lawson. 2.12pm “Dear Future Pulitzer-Prize Winner,” says Martin Sinclair. “Looking at the photo, remember when Saj Mahmood and Liam Plunkett were England regulars? Shows how far England have come, although the results in ODIs are depressingly familiar. They are both decent bowlers but any attack containing those two is not going to frighten a top-class batting line up.” It’d frighten the England batting line-up, knowing how many they’d have to chase. Joking aside – because sometimes the laughter has to stop – I think we should be a bit more generous to those two. They bowled some snorters, and were part of the joyous CB Series win in 2006-07. It’s easy to see why Duncan Fletcher got excited about them, particularly Saj. They just didn’t have the control needed at international level. 2.11pm So, which idiots wore flip-flops and shorts to work today? Oh, me . 2.10pm Thunder, lightning, all the trimmings. It’s apocalyptic. RAIN STOPS PLAY A storm is coming, Frank says. It could be a while before we see any more cricket. The sky is incredibly dark. It reminds of that storm on the evening of Friday 24 June 1994, which was so extreme (in Kent anyway) that I genuinely thought the world was going to end. 7th over: England 35-1 (Kieswetter 13, Trott 14) A quiet over form Lakmal; just one from it. Both sides know they will be going off any minute now, which is a tricky mental challenge, especially for the batsmen. In a Test you would just protect your wicket, but you can’t afford to waste even 12 balls in an ODI. “How dare Naylor try and denigrate IVA Richards,” says Phil Rhodes. “The first day I ever went to see test cricket was at Edgbaston in 1984 (I was nine) England vs West Indies day two and I watched IVA and Larry Gomes both hit centuries. It was fantastic introduction. The other abiding memory though is of the abuse Derek Pringle got from the crowd for basically not being Ian Botham. That summer IVA also played perhaps the most remarkable ODI innings ever when he scored 189* out of a total of 272 including a last wicket stand of 106 with Michael Holding who made precisely 12. Naylor has gone too far, far too far.” The first time I saw IVA live, since you asked, was his last professional game, and that memorable duel with Duncan Spencer . It makes me sad that Duncan Spencer didn’t take 117 Test wickets at 34.14 with a maverick strike rate in the mid-40s. 6th over: England 34-1 (Kieswetter 12, Trott 14) Kieswetter gets his first boundary from his 20th delivery with a very pleasant stroke, a timed push through extra cover off the bowling of Kulasekera. It’s very, very dark at the Oval – “it’s pitch black,” says Bumble. “What time is it?!” – and we must be due for a break soon. It could be a long one. “I know you don’t want to go on a blind date with him, but is the prize a blind date with you?” says Eamonn Maloney. “If so, expect an avalanche of Spartacus-style ” I am Ben Akrigg” emails.” Arf. A couple of OBOs ago we said we’d draw lots from whoever donated to this and give them a signed copy of this . The response was so overwhelming that I couldn’t be bothered to draw lots and picked the first surname alphabetically Ben Akrigg was the only person to donate. 5th over: England 29-1 (Kieswetter 7, Trott 14) Malinga comes off after a couple of overs, which is often the case. His replacement is Suranga Lakmal, who has had a pretty decent tour but starts this spell with a wide. His fourth ball is also a wide. Kieswetter works a couple to long leg and then two more through midwicket. He has played with encouraging discretion thus far. He will learn more from this innings than he would from five or ten played in glorious sunshine. “Now that Cook has 47 overs to further clean his beak, he may be interested to know that there are certain tribes in Africa where the man grows his little finger nail purely for the purposes of digging out hard to reach crows,” says Stuart Wilson. “Having said that, it may actually be to drop poison in their enemies drinks, can’t remember which. Anyway, more wikipediaesque insight for the OBO.” Why does nose-picking have such a bad reputation? It’s utterly rancid, of course, but it’s hardly alone in that among human traits. I reckon it deserves a bit of sympathy. I might pitch On Second Thoughts: zesty nose-picking to the main site. 4th over: England 22-1 (Kieswetter 2, Trott 14) Kieswetter takes a very tight single into the covers, and I think Trott would have been gone with a direct hit. He survives, however, and works another boundary through midwicket with the minimum of fuss. He has skipped to 14 from 12 balls. 3rd over: England 15-1 (Kieswetter 1, Trott 8) Malinga bowls a front-foot no-ball to Trott. That means a free hit, and Trott stretches to ping it through the covers for four. Two balls later he picks Malinga’s slower ball and times it through midwicket for another boundary. Good stuff from Trott. In other news, if Ben Akrigg is reading, could you please send in an email? It’s okay, I don’t want to go on a blind date with you. You’ve won a dubious prize and I need your address. WICKET! England 6-1 (Cook c Sangakkara b Malinga 5) What a way for Alastair Cook to go, strangled down the leg side. He tried to glance a poor delivery from Malinga down the leg side, but his touch was too fine and it went to the right of Sangakkara, who took an excellent low catch one-handed. That’s dumb luck for Cook, and he goes for five from three balls. At least he had a strike rate of 166.66, eh? 2nd over: England 6-0 (Cook 5, Kieswetter 1) It’s the unsung Nuwan Kulasekera at the other end. His first ball is a striking off-cutter to Kieswetter; he was able to leave it because it pitched so far outside off stump, but it came back a long way. The fourth ball brings a leading edge that goes on the bounce to mid off. This isn’t a great time to bat, never mind pinch hit, and that’s a maiden. “King Viv was an extraordinary presence at the crease, but he’s now at that distance (twenty years or so) when reputations become sepia-tinted, enhanced by nostalgia,” says Gary Naylor. “Incredibly, despite me seeing a lot of Viv live and on telly, when Adam Gilchrist turned up, he seemed to lift intimidation of bowlers a notch higher. In ten years time, we’ll wonder how anyone hit a ball so hard, so often as the man Flintoff sorted out in 2005, but nobody else could contain.” I kind of agree – when you watch Viv’s highlights you wonder how he didn’t average about 90 – but could you not also argue that players become enhanced in the present? I wrote a similar thing about Gilchrist but, now that the dust has settled on him and Viv, I know who I’d least like to bowl to. And it’s not the bloke who patented the phrase “Baarrrrrrling Shaaaaaane”. There will surely never be another like Viv. 1st over: England 6-0 (Cook 5, Kieswetter 1) Lasith Malinga runs in to bowl the first ball of the innings to Alastair Cook… and our Sky feed goes down. Glorious timing. Cook took a single from that first ball, although I’ve no idea how. Craig Kieswetter gets off the mark later in the over with a quick single to mid off, and then Cook pings a half volley crisply through midwicket for four. A nice start for him. “Pretty exciting about Cook’s nose pick there,” says Robin Hazlehurst. “I wouldn’t have expected him to use a left on right combination, I had him down as much more orthodox than that. And using the thumb rather than the forefinger is effectively switch-hitting, again confounding those who had him down as a little-pinkie prodder. If he captains like that, the series is in the bag.” Play will begin at 1.25pm No sign of the Staines massive thunderstorm, but this won’t be an easy time to bat. As David Gower says on Sky, Alastair Cook might end up playing an orthodox innings with the ball nibbling around. Such conditions always evoke this immense century from Mike Atherton in an ODI series decider against the West Indies in 1995. He took 27 balls to get off the mark, with the ball seaming square, but he hammered his last 77 runs from only 64 balls. That’s worth about 77 off 50 in today’s currency. 1.16pm “Picking his nose,” says Paul Billington, “is still better than picking Bopara instead of Bell.” Honk! Greetings-that-will-ensure-your-email-gets-published department “Good afternoon Mr. Award-Winning Writer,” says Lee Johnson. “Not really that bothered about the Shane Warne clip, as this compilation of Viv’s many sixes is thunderously more fun… and depressingly, a single Viv shot is infinitely better than my entire batting career – and I even opened, and scored fifties, for Wiltshire Under 13s/15s and 17s…” You can go in my never-to-be-written-never-mind-published book on cricket’s lost talents. But, yes, there is some incredible Viv porn in that amazing YouTube archive . The utter contempt of most of those sixes – especially the first one – is hilarious. If I had a DeLorean, the first thing I would do is go back and do everything differently, absolutely everything, no way could I make such a sorry mess of it again and watch Viv bat. 1.10pm The camera cuts to the England balcony, where Alastair Cook is picking his nose. THIS IS A DISGRACE. SACK HIM NOW. THERE ARE KIDS WATCHING. It was a pretty languid, unhurried exploration of his right nostril with his left thumb. He’ll surely have to be much more aggressive and proactive if he is to succeed at 50-over level. 1.06pm “Well done for pointing out Strauss’s great ODI form,” says Steve Dickens. “Can I point out his Test performances for the last year were inconsistent at best and venture that he’s given up the wrong format. Why is nobody else suggesting this?” He is far too good for anyone to consider his Test future yet, surely. If World Cups were every two years rather than four I reckon he might have played on, but with a four-year cycle it made sense for England to start again, again. With Test cricket there is no real end to the cycle, not yet anyway, so there’s no need to think about the succession at this stage. 1.02pm I was wrong. It is raining. If that’s not award-winning writing, then I don’t know what it is. 1.00pm We should be starting now. We haven’t started. I don’t know why. If that’s not award-winning writing, then I don’t know what is. But yes, the covers are on, although I don’t think it’s raining. I assume it’s in anticipation of the great-grandmother of all thunderstorms that’s coming straight outta Staines. Don’t-fancy-yours-much department “Don’t like your chances of seeing any cricket today,” says Matt Healey. “The mother of all thunderstorms is drenching Staines as I speak, and has been doing so for about 20 minutes. Should reach the Oval in the next 30 minutes, I’m guessing.” Seriously? Bah! This is my reaction to that news . When I woke up in a pool of sweat this morning, I was looking forward to 300 playing 300 on an Oval belter in temperatures of 30 degrees plus. Richard Woods sent this email a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t get chance to publish it then, as I was drooling over Eoin Morgan, but if you’re feeling generous, you know what to do. “I don’t know if this is appropriate, but as part of the charity commitment of the OBO could you give a shout out to this ? My school has been supporting this cause, which aims to get a cardiac hospital into Nigeria, and to acknowledge our support, today the man himself came for a visit. He just left, having made 1000 Nigerian children and a large number of Nigerian adults very happy, particularly the females. A great gesture on his part.” If you have even more spare change, feel free to lob it in the direction of my colleague Steph Fincham’s bike ride around Sri Lanka in support of the Mines Advisory Group . Random YouTube clip du jour The spell that changed Shane Warne’s life , including that legendary flipper to to Richie Richardson. Sri Lanka have won the toss and will bowl first. There’s a tinge of green, and Sri Lanka have not exactly been uncomfortable chasing against England in the last two limited-overs games. Alastair Cook says he would have bowled as well. He looks a little nervous chatting to Michael Holding after the toss, but that’s to be expected. Imagine being a full-time captain of your country. I wouldn’t be able to remember my own name! Jade Dernbach makes his ODI debut for England, Tillakaratne Dilshan is fit again, and Sanath Jayasuriya will play his last international until his next comeback. England Cook (c), Kieswetter (wk), Trott, Pietersen, Morgan, Bell, Bresnan, Broad, Swann, Dernbach, Anderson. Sri Lanka Dilshan (c), Jayasuriya, M Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Kandamby, Mathews, J Mendis, Kulasekera, Malinga, Randiv, Lakmal. Preamble Hello. England are going through captains like a naval groupie, and today Alastair Cook will become their third in nine days. It’s all part of the plan – unlike in 1988, when just about everybody apart from Dr Clive Gibbons captained England – and it’s certainly a fascinating experiment from the two Andys (and Alastair, and Stuart). Cook’s promotion is striking for two reasons: 1) the one-day captaincy, though ostensibly isolated, has had a domino effect on the Test captaincy in the past – or rather a Jenga effect, with Alec Stewart and Nasser Hussain tumbling from the top job as a result; and 2) Cook was not deemed good enough to play 50-over cricket during the World Cup. He does have what those who deal in bee ess business speak might call ‘strike-rate issues’: his is 71.38 from 26 ODIs, and realistically he needs to get that up above 80. Yet he’s such a resourceful and granite-willed young fella that you would not be at all surprised if he expanded his limited-overs game just as Andrew Strauss did (Strauss retired with a strike-rate of 80.94, and it was over 90 in the last 18 months of his career). Nor would you be surprised if, in the age of 300+ scores, the step up proved fractionally beyond even Cook. How’s that for off-the-fence analysis? Cook’s main concern today will not be his own batting, but how on earth England are going to beat Sri Lanka. In the last limited-overs game between the sides, on Saturday, Sri Lanka won by nine wickets; in the last 50-over match between the sides, Sri Lanka won by ten wickets; in the last 50-over series between the sides in this country, Sri Lanka annihilated England 5-0 . You would not expect a similar scoreline this time, but England will do bloody well to win this series. Sri Lanka in England 2011 Over by over reports Cricket England cricket team Sri Lanka Rob Smyth Rob Bagchi guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …NBC’s Lauer Asks if Bachmann Will Be ‘Palinized,’ She Predicts ‘Media Onslaught of Attack’
June 28, 2011 No Comment
In an interview with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann on Tuesday's Today, co-host Matt Lauer highlighted concerns about the Minnesota Republican's chances in the presidential race: “Amy Kremer, who's a leader of the Tea Party movement, said.. .that you will be – and this is her word, not mine – quote, 'Palinized' in this campaign. Do you understand the verb, and what would your definition of it be?”
Continue reading …