A new use for old Coliseums

post from AMERICAblog News on 06 August 2010 05:00:57 AM. © AMERICAblog News

This is somewhat tongue in cheek, but don't be surprised if your next trip to Rome finds you in front of the Staples Roman Coliseum, brought to you by Coke, the soft drink that loves you, and GladRags, for soaking up all that gladiatorial goo.

Chris Hayes and Kent Jones on The Rachel Maddow Show:

What do you call it when everything's for sale? Mission accomplished, of course.

GP

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Hiroshima: then and now

post from Occasional Planet on 06 August 2010 05:00:13 AM. © Occasional Planet

The city of Hiroshima may have suffered the greatest blow any city ever took on Aug. 6, 1945. The scars are still there, but the city is renewed.Related posts:

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Recovery signs push JPY down, NFP on tap

post from Jutia Group on 06 August 2010 04:31:18 AM. © Jutia Group

G10 Advancers and Decliners vs USD EUR -0.07 GBP -0.11 CHF -0.26 JPY -0.30The JPY weakened against most of its major counterparts as gains in Asian stocks and as the German industrial production probably rose 0.5% (prev. 2.6%) while UK?s manufacturing output climbed 0.4% (prev. 0.3%). Economies in Europe are expected to do really well and with risk appetite improving the trend for the JPY would be on the downside. The EURJPY climbed to 113.47, heading for a 0.5% gain…

Today in failed Metaphors

post from Firedoglake on 06 August 2010 04:30:09 AM. © Firedoglake

Hooray, another pointless thing to fear and spend trillions on![...]

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I'm sorry I misspoke, says Cameron after accusing
Iran of having nuclear weapon.

post from The Osterley Times on 06 August 2010 04:01:15 AM. © The Osterley Times

David Cameron really is becoming a walking gaffe zone these days. First he accuses Pakistan of "looking the other way" to aid the Taliban, which results in effigies of him being burned all over Pakistan. Then he announces that council house tenants will no longer be offered tenancies for life, whilst forgetting to mention that he might do this to his Liberal Democrat coalition partners. And then he enraged many in the UK by describing the UK as the junior partner to the US during WWII, even though the US had not even entered the war by the date he mentioned.

Now, he has "misspoke" again when answering a question as to why he favoured Turkey being allowed into the European Union and replying that Turkish membership could help to address problems "like the Middle East peace process, like the fact that Iran has got a nuclear weapon".

Now, many people are concerned about Iran's nuclear programme but even the most hawkish hawk has not gone as far as to claim that Iran actually has such a weapon, merely that they think she might be pursuing one.

The gaffe about Pakistan can be written off as someone who simply isn't yet fully up to speed with how diplomacy works and marked as an area to be worked on. Likewise, the council house gaffe could simply mean that he has not yet fully adjusted to the reality of being in a coalition. But the gaffes about WWII and Iran are both fundamental mistakes with the facts. On both occasions he reveals that he simply doesn't know what he is talking about.

But Chris Bryant, the shadow Europe minister, said: "Considering [that] Iran's nuclear ambitions constitute one of the most important foreign policy challenges facing us all, it is not just downright embarrassing that the Prime Minister has made this basic mistake, it's dangerous."

He came under similar fire from David Miliband when he made the "junior partner" comment:

"1940 was our finest hour. Millions of Britons stood up and gave their lives to defeat fascism.

"We were not a junior partner. We stood alone against the Nazis. How can a British prime minister who bangs on about British history get that so wrong? It is a slight, not a slip."

None of us are perfect and we can all make mistakes, but Cameron really does seem to be making an awful lot of them recently. And it is odd that he is getting simple facts wrong.

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Tags: Cameron, Pakistan, Iran, gaffes

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Tennessee Results

post from MyDD on 06 August 2010 03:43:36 AM. © MyDD

In an election marred by a computer glitch that prevented several thousand in the Volunteer State from voting, Tennesseans voted in a closely watched GOP gubernatorial primary to see who would earn the right to face Democratic nominee businessman Mike[...]

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HEADS THEY WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE....

post from The Osterley Times on 06 August 2010 03:00:59 AM. © The Osterley Times

After Obama was elected, the Republicans started a new mantra, exclaiming to all who would listen that "the US is a centre right country". This struck me as an odd thing for the losers of an election to claim, almost as if they were saying that, even though the voters had just rejected them, the Democrats really should govern as if the Republicans had just won.

And, for a while, Obama spoke of bipartisanship and tried to get the Republicans to engage with his administration and find a common way forward. But the party of No did what they always do and tried to block Obama every inch of the way.

However, all that is set to change as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has laid out his new vision of how a bipartisan compromise could be reached:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Thursday that he hopes that President Obama becomes a born-again moderate after the midterm elections and that a new, more balanced Congress brings with it some bipartisan comity.

But the Kentucky Republican made it very clear that any future bipartisanship needs to be defined by his ideological terms.

"What I hope we are going to have after November is more balance, more balance, which would give us the opportunity to do things together that simply were missing when you have this kind of disparity," McConnell said. "But, I'm not going to be very interested in doing things left of center. It is going to have to be center right. I think the president is a flexible man. I'm hoping he will become a born-again moderate."

Moderation, as far as McConnell is concerned is centre right as opposed to extreme right. And the party that lost the election imagines it is being perfectly reasonable by insisting that it's policies, which the public rejected, should be the only ones pursued by the Obama administration. That's what they mean when they talk of bipartisanship.

So when Republicans win we should see extreme right wing policies; and when they lose they will settle for centre right wing policies. But leftist policies are simply a no-no.

That's a very good example of why it is simply impossible to deal with the Republicans. Even when they lose they insist that everyone behave as if they won.

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Tags: Republicans, Democrats, bipartisanship

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The Jocks Guide to Getting Arrested

post from AMERICAblog News on 06 August 2010 03:00:17 AM. © AMERICAblog News

Consider this your laugh for the night. Matt Taibbi, who writes hard stuff for Rolling Stone, also writes jock stuff for Men's Journal. He's just published his article "The Jock?s Guide to Getting Arrested." From the intro:

For most American men, this time of year means the kickoff of NFL training camp ? the start of the New Year on the couch-potato sports calendar. But for me it?s a sad time. It?s the end of Arrest Season.

In terms of jock crime sprees, no other stretch rivals late June and July. . . . this is the only time of the year when rookies and veterans from three of America?s four major professional sports leagues are free to really relax and enjoy life ? the last chance they?re going to have to get double-Tasered in fights with nightclub security guards or buy alcohol for pairs of under-17 girls in the sleazy hotels of Covington, Kentucky, or ride around on a three-wheeled motorcycle with a pistol in a pant leg and a shotgun in a guitar case.

Taibbi offers six "rules" to getting arrested the "right" way. Here's the first one: Make sure you don't suck.

Before you go out and start committing crimes, it?s important to first make sure you?re at least slightly better than the 30 or 40 guys the team?s assistant GM could instantly pull off some practice squad to replace you. Otherwise you will become fodder for the team?s zero-tolerance discipline policy. . . . Take defensive back Willie Andrews, a seventh-round Patriots pick who barely played and sucked when he did. Two days after the disastrous 2008 Super Bowl loss to the Giants that he did absolutely nothing to prevent, he was caught driving around in an unregistered Crown Vic with a half-pound of weed. Four months after that, right smack in the middle of Arrest Season, he got pinched for allegedly waving a gun at his girlfriend?s head. Unamused, Bill Belichick sent a strong zero-tolerance message by cutting Andrews the very next day. Meanwhile, ultra-awesome Pats cornerback Ty Law was arrested twice ? once for muling some E across the Canadian border (he skated on that) and once for a bizarre 2004 traffic incident in Miami that culminated in the ultimate arrest-related shame for an NFL skill-position player: getting caught in a foot chase by a policeman. Despite all this, Law was kept on the roster for another year ? perhaps because he was the only guy on the team who could cover Marvin Harrison.

For fans of jock adventures, the piece is a hoot on skates. All six rules are fun, but be sure to catch Rule 2: Don't commit weird crimes.

Nice reading for a warm summer night.

GP

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Late Night Karaoke

[...]

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Dollar Slumps Prior to Non Farms Report

Source: ForexYard

Dollar Slumps Prior to Non Farms Report

Weekly U.S. unemployment numbers sent the dollar lower during U.S. trading hours today as applications for unemployment insurance rose to a three month high. The negative employment data comes prior to today's release of the all important non-farm payrolls.

Economic News

USD – Weak Data Hurts Dollar

The dollar fell following the release of disappointing U.S. weekly employment numbers, only a day before the release of the high impact non-farm payrolls report. The weak economic data serves as a reminder of the recent trend of disappointing economic reports stemming from the U.S. economy. Speculation of further easing in monetary policy by the Federal Reserve is also fueling weakness in…

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