Click here to view this media Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was surely confused Monday when she suggested she had the “spirit” of a serial killer. “Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have, too,” she told Fox News prior to the official announcement of her candidacy in Waterloo. Conservative newspaper The Washington Times was first to point out that the presidential hopeful had picked the wrong John Wayne. “Waterloo’s John Wayne was not the beloved movie star, but rather John Wayne Gacy , the serial killer,” Stephen Dinan wrote. John Amato: Is this the worst campaign roll out ever?
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Click here to view this media Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was surely confused Monday when she suggested she had the “spirit” of a serial killer. “Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have, too,” she told Fox News prior to the official announcement of her candidacy in Waterloo. Conservative newspaper The Washington Times was first to point out that the presidential hopeful had picked the wrong John Wayne. “Waterloo’s John Wayne was not the beloved movie star, but rather John Wayne Gacy , the serial killer,” Stephen Dinan wrote. John Amato: Is this the worst campaign roll out ever?
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Click here to view this media Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was surely confused Monday when she suggested she had the “spirit” of a serial killer. “Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have, too,” she told Fox News prior to the official announcement of her candidacy in Waterloo. Conservative newspaper The Washington Times was first to point out that the presidential hopeful had picked the wrong John Wayne. “Waterloo’s John Wayne was not the beloved movie star, but rather John Wayne Gacy , the serial killer,” Stephen Dinan wrote. John Amato: Is this the worst campaign roll out ever?
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Chris Wallace of Fox News had a new fan in CNN's Carol Costello on Monday's American Morning, at least on his question asking presidential candidate and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann if she was a flake. “It was a good question, because many in America think she's a flake,” announced Costello. Rude questions are apparently only par for the course when it comes to Republican candidates. Beyond this, Costello moved on to parroting the standard media tropes regarding Bachmann.”During the 2008 campaign she said that she wanted the press to investigate members of congress for being un-American. She says a lot of extreme things, and that brings up questions exactly how Chris Wallace posed them.” Co-anchor Ali Velshi didn't want to say it was a bad question, but insisted the candidates are remarkably unspecific: “It does speak to whether it's Michele Bachmann or the other candidates, there is a remarkable and very obvious lack of specificity in their positions and in questions that they're getting asked. While that was a good question there are questions we would like to get answers to.” The mainstream media narrative about Bachmann is only beginning to form, but recent coverage has generally fallen into the category of surprise at he success mixed with reminders that she is a right-wing extremist. Costello's view appears little different, as she both reinforces the extremist trope, and defends an inappropriate question on the part of Wallace that appears to have been more revealing in its asking than the answer given it. A transcript of the broadcast, which aried at 8:12 am on Monday's American Morning, follows below. CNN AMERICAN MORNING 06/27/2011 8:12 am EDT CHRISTINE ROMANS: Now that was a blunt question, and that was a really – I think she answered it well. CAROL COSTELLO: It was a good question, because many in America think she's a flake, and it was a good question. ROMANS: How do you think she handled the answer? COSTELLO: I thought she handled it great, but from her past comments, that's why a lot of people think she's a fake because remember during the 2008 campaign she said that she wanted the press to investigate members of congress for being un-American? She says a lot of extreme things, and that brings us up questions exactly how Chris Wallace posed them. ALI VELSHI: It does speak to whether it's Michele Bachmann or the other candidates, there is a remarkable and very obvious lack of specificity in their positions and in questions that they're getting asked. While that was a good question there are questions we would like to get answers to. ROMANS: There are all these pledges. The abortion pledge, the cap balance and cut spending pledge. There's three or four different pledges going around. VELSHI: It has to be forced on the candidates. ROMANS: Right. They'll sign pledges but then you there's this lack of specificity elsewhere. It's interesting, it's very interesting. Jon Huntsman was saying we have hit records. That's what you look at records for. You don't look at pledges but you look at records.
Continue reading …Chris Wallace of Fox News had a new fan in CNN's Carol Costello on Monday's American Morning, at least on his question asking presidential candidate and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann if she was a flake. “It was a good question, because many in America think she's a flake,” announced Costello. Rude questions are apparently only par for the course when it comes to Republican candidates. Beyond this, Costello moved on to parroting the standard media tropes regarding Bachmann.”During the 2008 campaign she said that she wanted the press to investigate members of congress for being un-American. She says a lot of extreme things, and that brings up questions exactly how Chris Wallace posed them.” Co-anchor Ali Velshi didn't want to say it was a bad question, but insisted the candidates are remarkably unspecific: “It does speak to whether it's Michele Bachmann or the other candidates, there is a remarkable and very obvious lack of specificity in their positions and in questions that they're getting asked. While that was a good question there are questions we would like to get answers to.” The mainstream media narrative about Bachmann is only beginning to form, but recent coverage has generally fallen into the category of surprise at he success mixed with reminders that she is a right-wing extremist. Costello's view appears little different, as she both reinforces the extremist trope, and defends an inappropriate question on the part of Wallace that appears to have been more revealing in its asking than the answer given it. A transcript of the broadcast, which aried at 8:12 am on Monday's American Morning, follows below. CNN AMERICAN MORNING 06/27/2011 8:12 am EDT CHRISTINE ROMANS: Now that was a blunt question, and that was a really – I think she answered it well. CAROL COSTELLO: It was a good question, because many in America think she's a flake, and it was a good question. ROMANS: How do you think she handled the answer? COSTELLO: I thought she handled it great, but from her past comments, that's why a lot of people think she's a fake because remember during the 2008 campaign she said that she wanted the press to investigate members of congress for being un-American? She says a lot of extreme things, and that brings us up questions exactly how Chris Wallace posed them. ALI VELSHI: It does speak to whether it's Michele Bachmann or the other candidates, there is a remarkable and very obvious lack of specificity in their positions and in questions that they're getting asked. While that was a good question there are questions we would like to get answers to. ROMANS: There are all these pledges. The abortion pledge, the cap balance and cut spending pledge. There's three or four different pledges going around. VELSHI: It has to be forced on the candidates. ROMANS: Right. They'll sign pledges but then you there's this lack of specificity elsewhere. It's interesting, it's very interesting. Jon Huntsman was saying we have hit records. That's what you look at records for. You don't look at pledges but you look at records.
Continue reading …Philip Morris to sue if Australia puts all cigarettes in plain green wrappers
June 27, 2011 No Comment
Tobacco firm claims Canberra’s ban on logos and other packaging restrictions will lose it billions Marlboro manufacturer Philip Morris International is threatening to sue the Australian government for billions of dollars over its plan to be the first country to introduce plain, brand-free packaging for cigarettes. The row is being closely followed by politicians in Britain, Canada and New Zealand, where similar plans to curtail cigarette branding are being considered. The Australian government has drawn up some of the world’s strictest restrictions for cigarette packaging. From January 2012 it plans to stop manufacturers showing logos, branding, colours and promotional text on tobacco packaging. Cigarette packets will be a drab, olive-green colour that research has shown is unattractive to smokers. The box will also show graphic images depicting the health consequences of smoking on the front and back. Branding will be restricted to the name of the manufacturer and the name of the product displayed in a standard size and type of lettering. British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the largest cigarette firms in Australia, has already said it plans a legal challenge to the proposals, which have yet to be formally released. A spokeswoman said BAT would wait for the legislation to be issued before making any move. Philip Morris Asia is the parent company of the Marlboro firm’s Australian outpost. It claims Canberra’s proposals will violate its intellectual property rights and is taking legal action using Australia’s bilateral investment treaty with Hong Kong. The rules are designed to protect investments made by Asian companies against discriminatory treatment. “If no mutually agreeable solution is found, then it proceeds to us seeking compensation. We estimate the damage will potentially amount to billions of Australian dollars,” a spokeswoman for Philip Morris Asia told Dow Jones Newswires. “Brands are valuable intellectual property and form the basis of consumer goods businesses like ours. If we are banned from using them, our business in Australia will become commoditised and its value will be significantly impacted. “The Australian government does not have an unfettered right to confiscate [our] valuable intellectual property. Moreover, the government has failed to demonstrate that plain packaging will reduce smoking prevalence.” The company has nominated Singapore as a venue for the initial talks. The Australian government pledged to fight any legal action. The prime minister, Julia Gillard, said: “We’re not going to be intimidated by Big Tobacco’s tactics, whether they’re political tactics, whether they’re public affairs kind of tactics out in the community, or whether they’re legal tactics. We’re not taking a backward step. We’ve made the right decision and we’ll see it through.” The Australian health minister, Nicola Roxon, said the government’s legal advice was strong. “We won’t be frightened off by threats of legal action,” she said. “We will fight that action.” The Australian moves come as the UK prepares to tighten its rules on cigarette packets, with plain packaging under consideration. Last week, the US government unveiled its new packaging rules , which force tobacco firms to print harrowing images of the health consequences of smoking on cigarette boxes. Martin Dockrell, director of research and policy at anti-smoking group Ash , said he expected the Australian suit to be the first of many as governments around the world tighten up the rules on cigarette packaging. “Plain packaging would make a tremendous difference and that’s why the tobacco industry is fighting so hard to stop it,” Dockrell said. “Legal action is a standard delaying device for them. They are going to throw huge amounts of money into this.” Last year Uruguay was forced to water down tough rules on cigarette packaging after Philip Morris argued they violated Uruguay’s trade agreements with Switzerland , where Philip Morris International is based. Tobacco industry British American Tobacco Australia Advertising Smoking Health Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
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Source says Christopher Shale who was found dead in a Glastonbury festival toilet had felt ill the day before An aide to David Cameron who was found dead in a Glastonbury festival toilet had been feeling ill before he found out his strident criticism of the Tory party had been leaked to the press, it was claimed on Monday . Christopher Shale, the 56-year-old chairman of the West Oxfordshire Conservative Association, was contacted about the leak by senior officials from the party and Downing Street shortly before he died. But a source close to his widow, Nikki, said on Monday evening “he hadn’t been feeling great” on Saturday before he responded to calls about the potentially damaging story about to appear in the Mail on Sunday. A coroner has ordered toxicology tests after an initial postmortem examination proved inconclusive. The cause of death was “unascertained” pending further histology and toxicology tests, coroner’s officer Ben Batley said in a hearing on Monday at Wells town hall. A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said the results could take seven to 10 days to come back. Batley said there was “no suspicion of foul play” and that it was common for such tests to be ordered even when it was thought death was due to natural causes. Tony Williams, the coroner for East Somerset, said he was confident it was appropriate to release the body to the family, who live near the small village of Over Worton, around six miles from the prime minister’s constituency home. Shale was pronounced dead at 9.17am on Sunday by an ambulance service worker, the inquest heard. He was identified by his wife, who had alerted police to his disappearance on Saturday evening. Shortly after his body was found, the festival organiser, Michael Eavis, told a press conference the death appeared to be suicide, but this was quickly dismissed by police and friends of Shale, who said he appeared to have suffered a heart attack. Glastonbury officials said on Monday that Eavis had not been briefed before he made the statement and the remark may have been informed by the Glastonbury rumour mill and was not supported by evidence. It is understood he apologised to Shale’s family. Details emerged on Monday of Shale’s last hours. At just before midday, Richard Langridge, the deputy chairman of the West Oxfordshire Conservative Association, had left a message on Shale’s mobile phone asking him to call back. At around 12.30pm Shale told his wife he needed to make a call and would be back for lunch. Langridge told Shale that James Forsyth, a political writer on the Mail on Sunday, wanted to talk to him about a story planned for the next day’s paper which was based on a leaked report, written by Shale, which was critical of the Conservatives’ appeal to potential members. It was the first he had heard of the story, Langridge said. Shale appeared “a little bit cross and a little bit disappointed that a confidential paper had been leaked to the national press,” Langridge said, but added “he didn’t seem unduly concerned”. In the following minutes Shale spoke to the prime minister’s political agent in his Witney constituency, Barry Norton, and a Downing Street adviser to ask what he should do about the story. He was advised to contact Conservative Central Office. Gabby Bertin, Cameron’s press secretary also left a message on his mobile phone warning him not to speak to other journalists about it, but it is not known if he received it. After making his calls it is believed Shale went to the toilets where he was found shortly before 9am on Sunday with the door locked and his body slumped forward. “He was a very devoted family man,” said Lord Chadlington, a family friend who lives near Shale. “The most important thing in his life was the family and the three children. They are absolutely devastated to lose him. It is so desperately sad.” The inquest was formally opened and adjourned to a later date. Christopher Shale Conservatives Glastonbury festival Robert Booth Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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UKAR chief presiding over £80bn of bailed-out mortgages says ‘tough love’ would be fairer on those struggling with payments Britain is facing a tsunami of house repossessions as soon as interest rates start to rise, one of the country’s leading bankers has warned. Richard Banks, the chief executive of UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), the body that runs the £80bn of mortgages bailed out by the taxpayer during the banking crisis, also said in an interview with the Guardian that the Labour government’s pleas at the start of the crisis for lenders to keep families in their homes was forcing some homeowners further into debt. In a warning that the industry may have been too lenient with some of its customers, he said he believed a policy of “tough love” would be fairer to people facing long-term difficulty in keeping up payments on loans taken out when house prices were at their peak and personal incomes on the rise. His warning came the day after the international bank regulator said the Bank of England, which has kept rates at 0.5% for more than two years, would have to raise rates shortly to curb inflation. The Bank of International Settlements said the policy of the Bank of England, whose rate-setting committee is split over whether or not to increase borrowing costs, was “unsustainable”. With 750,000 customers, UK Asset Resolution, set up to run the nationalised mortgages of Bradford & Bingley and parts of Northern Rock, is the country’s fifth largest mortgage lender. But 23,000 of those mortgage holders are more than six months behind with payments and Banks admitted the projections for the number of people falling behind on payments could get “scary” if lenders did nothing to prepare for higher rates. “You can see if you don’t do something about it, you can see a tsunami,” he said. “If you don’t get into the hills you could get drowned by this. If you don’t manage this properly it could get very messy.” He regards it is an industry-wide problem, albeit one that might be concentrated at UKAR as its customers include buy-to-let landlords and so-called self-certified borrowers – those without salaried income. UKAR, through three calls centres in Crossflatts, West Yorkshire, Gosforth, Newcastle, and Doxford, Sunderland, has begun cold-calling customers it believes are at risk of falling behind on payments in an attempt to keep their mortgage payments on schedule. The bank is also trying to tackle customers behind with payments for six months or more and at risk of repossession. His concern about a surge in repossessions is partly the result of moves by the industry early in the 2008 crisis to grant so-called forbearance to help customers stay in homes by, for example, reducing monthly interest payments. “We as an industry, as a kneejerk reaction in the emergence of the crisis and because the government asked us to be forbearing to customers in the hope it would all go away, we have been too lenient with some customers. “It’s a tough love approach,” he said. “It’s treating customers fairly, not nicely, because if you can’t afford your mortgage you are only increasing your indebtedness. If we allow you to increase your indebtedness, that’s not really fair to you.” Earlier this month the Council of Mortgage Lenders forecast a rise in repossessions from 40,000 this year to 45,000 next. This figure would still remain well below the 75,500 peak of 1991. The remarks by Banks follow a warning last week from the new regulator set up to spot financial risks in the system – the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) inside the Bank of England – that warned banks may be providing a “misleading picture of their financial health” if they were not making big enough provisions for borrowers in difficulty. Forbearance has been brought into play in up to 12% of mortgages, the FPC said. It also noted that the most “vulnerable” households were concentrated in a few banks. It did not scrutinise UKAR but noted that the two other bailed out banks, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, had the largest exposure to customers whose mortgages were bigger than their value of their homes. Last month, the Financial Services Authority issued a best-practice guide on handling forbearance in which it warned: “Arrears and forbearance support provided with due care by firms has a beneficial impact for both the firm and the customer, in that it can reduce repossessions and lower realised losses. However, where such support is provided without due care or any knowledge or understanding of the impacts, it has potentially adverse implications for the customer, for the firm’s understanding of the risks inherent within its lending book, and in turn for the regulators and the market.” Economics Interest rates Mortgage arrears Property Mortgages Borrowing & debt Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …UKAR chief presiding over £80bn of bailed-out mortgages says ‘tough love’ would be fairer on those struggling with payments Britain is facing a tsunami of house repossessions as soon as interest rates start to rise, one of the country’s leading bankers has warned. Richard Banks, the chief executive of UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), the body that runs the £80bn of mortgages bailed out by the taxpayer during the banking crisis, also said in an interview with the Guardian that the Labour government’s pleas at the start of the crisis for lenders to keep families in their homes was forcing some homeowners further into debt. In a warning that the industry may have been too lenient with some of its customers, he said he believed a policy of “tough love” would be fairer to people facing long-term difficulty in keeping up payments on loans taken out when house prices were at their peak and personal incomes on the rise. His warning came the day after the international bank regulator said the Bank of England, which has kept rates at 0.5% for more than two years, would have to raise rates shortly to curb inflation. The Bank of International Settlements said the policy of the Bank of England, whose rate-setting committee is split over whether or not to increase borrowing costs, was “unsustainable”. With 750,000 customers, UK Asset Resolution, set up to run the nationalised mortgages of Bradford & Bingley and parts of Northern Rock, is the country’s fifth largest mortgage lender. But 23,000 of those mortgage holders are more than six months behind with payments and Banks admitted the projections for the number of people falling behind on payments could get “scary” if lenders did nothing to prepare for higher rates. “You can see if you don’t do something about it, you can see a tsunami,” he said. “If you don’t get into the hills you could get drowned by this. If you don’t manage this properly it could get very messy.” He regards it is an industry-wide problem, albeit one that might be concentrated at UKAR as its customers include buy-to-let landlords and so-called self-certified borrowers – those without salaried income. UKAR, through three calls centres in Crossflatts, West Yorkshire, Gosforth, Newcastle, and Doxford, Sunderland, has begun cold-calling customers it believes are at risk of falling behind on payments in an attempt to keep their mortgage payments on schedule. The bank is also trying to tackle customers behind with payments for six months or more and at risk of repossession. His concern about a surge in repossessions is partly the result of moves by the industry early in the 2008 crisis to grant so-called forbearance to help customers stay in homes by, for example, reducing monthly interest payments. “We as an industry, as a kneejerk reaction in the emergence of the crisis and because the government asked us to be forbearing to customers in the hope it would all go away, we have been too lenient with some customers. “It’s a tough love approach,” he said. “It’s treating customers fairly, not nicely, because if you can’t afford your mortgage you are only increasing your indebtedness. If we allow you to increase your indebtedness, that’s not really fair to you.” Earlier this month the Council of Mortgage Lenders forecast a rise in repossessions from 40,000 this year to 45,000 next. This figure would still remain well below the 75,500 peak of 1991. The remarks by Banks follow a warning last week from the new regulator set up to spot financial risks in the system – the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) inside the Bank of England – that warned banks may be providing a “misleading picture of their financial health” if they were not making big enough provisions for borrowers in difficulty. Forbearance has been brought into play in up to 12% of mortgages, the FPC said. It also noted that the most “vulnerable” households were concentrated in a few banks. It did not scrutinise UKAR but noted that the two other bailed out banks, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, had the largest exposure to customers whose mortgages were bigger than their value of their homes. Last month, the Financial Services Authority issued a best-practice guide on handling forbearance in which it warned: “Arrears and forbearance support provided with due care by firms has a beneficial impact for both the firm and the customer, in that it can reduce repossessions and lower realised losses. However, where such support is provided without due care or any knowledge or understanding of the impacts, it has potentially adverse implications for the customer, for the firm’s understanding of the risks inherent within its lending book, and in turn for the regulators and the market.” Economics Interest rates Mortgage arrears Property Mortgages Borrowing & debt Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Bashing Bachmann: A Review of Liberal Media’s Most Obnoxious Attacks on the GOP Presidential Contender
June 27, 2011 No CommentToday's official announcement by Republican Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann that she is running for the GOP nomination for President could spawn a whole new round of frenzied attacks by the liberal media on the Tea Party favorite. A review of the MRC's archives shows a particular disdain for Bachmann coming from the likes of MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who once accused her of being a “zombie,” even going as far to ask her on live Election Night coverage if she “hypnotized?” Not to be outdone, Matthews' former colleague Keith Olbermann claimed Bachmann's rise to Tea Party prominence was because she was one of the “evolutionary regressives” that appealed to, as actress Janeane Garafolo, put it, “the white power movement” of “tea-baggers” and “9-12ers.” The following is a collection of some of the left-wing media's most obnoxious quotes about the congresswoman: (videos after the break) Chris Matthews: “Congresswoman Bachmann, are you hypnotized tonight? Has someone hypnotized you? Because no matter what I ask you, you give the same answer. Are you hypnotized? Has someone put you under a trance tonight? That you give me the same answer no matter what question I put to you?” Rep. Michele Bachmann: “I think the American people are the ones that are finally speaking tonight. We're coming out of our trance….I think people are thrilled tonight. I imagine that thrill is probably maybe quite not so tingly on your leg anymore.” — From MSNBC's election night coverage, November 2, 2010 MSNBC's Chris Matthews: “Let's listen to Michele Bachmann, your new boss. By the way she may be a zombie answering to somebody out there — Boris Karloff, I don't know who's giving her orders — but here she is on the debt ceiling. Let's listen to her.” Clip of Michele Bachmann: “I am not in favor of raising the debt ceiling. As a matter of fact, I have a petition that I'm urging people to sign at MichelePAC.com to urge their member of Congress not to raise the debt ceiling.” Matthews: “Do you hear that? Who does she get her orders from?” — Matthews to GOP strategist Todd Harris on Hardball, January 4, 2011
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