TRAVEL DAY.

I have an inconveniently scheduled plane flight bisecting my day, so I'll be popping in and out as wifi allows. In the meantime, Dylan Matthews will be by to keep you all entertained.[...]

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http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=03&year=2009&base_name
=travel_day

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Cramer Responds to Stewart w/ Help from
Scarborough.

video details and more



There's something really odd about the unhinged Jim Cramer's reaction to this piece by Jon Stewart. The man is simply unbalanced.

And it's hysterical to listen to Scarborough bemoan the fact that, when Bush was in office, Stewart used to "speak truth to power" and now that Obama is in power there's "nothing funny about attacking the president".

I feel like saying, "Physician, heal thyself."

The truth is that Stewart mocks people and Obama, at this moment in time, simply does not lend himself to mockery as easily as Bush did or, indeed, as the financial wizards who assured us that all was well before the financial collapse do.

But the notion that Stewart is "an ideologue" and that the people at Fox News and other cable stations have not changed their tune towards the president - now that a Democrat is in office - is simply ludicrous. O'Reilly and others, who demanded that one must offer total support to the president "at a time of war" have now performed a 180 degree turn and now view "holding the administration to account" as their most patriotic duty.

So, Scarborough is accusing Jon Stewart of a crime of which he, himself, is equally guilty.

But, one thing is very clear; Stewart has really, really got under their skin.

Tags: Jon Stewart, Joe Scarborough, Jim Cramer

Read The Full Article:
http://the-osterley-times.blogspot.com/2009/03/cramer-responds-to-stewart-w-help-
from.html

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Late Night Karaoke

[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Docudharma/~3/vLC2JqnA0pc/showDiary.do

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The Israeli Lobby's Veto

The official announcement reads: "Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed. Director Blair[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mydd/~3/Acyk3fpsn5c/1925

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Obama Intelligence Nominee Withdraws - The Daily
Beast

Obama Intelligence Nominee Withdraws - The Daily Beast: "When the December 2007 NIE found that ?in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear-weapons program,? and that Iran was ?less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005,?[...]

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http://cat008.blogspot.com/2009/03/obama-intelligence-nominee-withdraws.html

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Science Strikes Again: Fish Really is Brain Food

HOW TO UP YOUR KID'S BRAIN POWER
Thomas Riggins

The following article from Science Daily is highly recommended, especially to progressive parents. It seems a fish a week [better two] can up your teenage boy's brain power giving him a Darwinian selective advantage. Progressive youth groups, who are innately more intelligent than their conservative counter parts, can widened their advantages in out smarting their foes by a simple diet change (assuming they are not already ichthyophagi). The good results may not accrue with the eating of the McFish Sandwich or to frat boys swallowing goldfish.

Teenage Boys Who Eat Fish At Least Once A Week Achieve Higher Intelligence Scores

New research has found that 15-year-old males who ate fish at least once a week displayed higher cognitive skills at the age of 18 than those who it ate it less frequently. (Credit: iStockphoto)
ScienceDaily (Mar. 10, 2009) ? Fifteen-year-old males who ate fish at least once a week displayed higher cognitive skills at the age of 18 than those who it ate it less frequently, according to a study of nearly 4,000 teenagers published in the March issue of Acta Paediatrica.

Eating fish once a week was enough to increase combined, verbal and visuospatial intelligence scores by an average of six per cent, while eating fish more than once a week increased them by just under 11 per cent.
Swedish researchers compared the responses of 3,972 males who took part in the survey with the cognitive scores recorded in their Swedish Military Conscription records three years later.
"We found a clear link between frequent fish consumption and higher scores when the teenagers ate fish at least once a week" says Professor Kjell Torén from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, one of the senior scientists involved in the study. "When they ate fish more than once a week the improvement almost doubled.
"These findings are significant because the study was carried out between the ages of 15 and 18 when educational achievements can help to shape the rest of a young man's life."
The research team found that:
? 58 per cent of the boys who took part in the study ate fish at least once a week and a further 20 per cent ate fish more than once a week.
? When male teenagers ate fish more than once a week their combined intelligence scores were on average 12 per cent higher than those who ate fish less than once a week. Teenagers who ate fish once a week scored seven per cent higher.
? The verbal intelligence scores for teenagers who ate fish more than once a week were on average nine per cent higher than those who ate fish less than once a week. Those who ate fish once a week scored four per cent higher.
? The same pattern was seen in the visuospatial intelligence scores, with teenagers who ate fish more than once a week scoring on average 11 per cent higher than those who ate fish less than once a week. Those who ate fish once a week scored seven per cent higher.
"A number of studies have already shown that fish can help neurodevelopment in infants, reduce the risk of impaired cognitive function from middle age onwards and benefit babies born to women who ate fish during pregnancy" says Professor Torén.
"However we believe that this is the first large-scale study to explore the effect on adolescents."
The exact mechanism that links fish consumption to improved cognitive performance is still not clear.
"The most widely held theory is that it is the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish that have positive effects on cognitive performance" explains Professor Torén.
"Fish contains both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids which are known to accumulate in the brain when the foetus is developing. Other theories have been put forward that highlight their vascular and anti-inflammatory properties and their role in suppressing cytokines, chemicals that can affect the immune system."
In order to isolate the effect of fish consumption on the study subjects, the research team looked at a wide range of variables, including ethnicity, where they lived, their parents' educational level, the teenagers' well-being, how frequently they exercised and their weight.
"Having looked very carefully at the wide range of variables explored by this study it was very clear that there was a significant association between regular fish consumption at 15 and improved cognitive performance at 18" concludes lead author Dr Maria Aberg from the Centre for Brain Repair and Rehabilitation at the University of Gothenburg.
"We also found the same association between fish and intelligence in the teenagers regardless of their parents' level of education."
The researchers are now keen to carry out further research to see if the kind of fish consumed - for example lean fish in fish fingers or fatty fish such as salmon - makes any difference to the results."But for the time being it appears that including fish in a diet can make a valuable contribution to cognitive performance in male teenagers" says Dr Aberg.
     http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/
     090309092957.htm

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http://leninlives.blogspot.com/2009/03/science-strikes-again-fish-really-is.html

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I'm with Roubini on this one

An 18 or 24 month recession would be great (now that we're in it) but it's too optimistic. We still have not seen any stabilization out there and the second half of the year is likely to produce new "surprises" by some of major economies who have so far, avoided massive banking problems. (And by avoided, I mean avoided by looking the other way.) That will have an impact on an already delicate US economy that is looking for direction. The US banks also are not showing any signs of recovery and as long as the US government strings them along, they won't bounce back.

The man who predicted the current financial crisis said the US recession could drag on for years without drastic action.

Among his solutions: fix the housing market by breaking "every mortgage contract."

"We are in the 15th month of a recession," said Nouriel Roubini, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, told CNBC in a live interview. "Growth is going to be close to zero and unemployment rate well above 10 percent into next year."

Echoing a speech he made earlier in the day, Roubini said he sees "no hope for the recession ending in 2009 and will more than likely last into 2010."

Roubini, who is also known as "Dr. Doom," told CNBC that the risk of a total meltdown has been reversed for now but that the economy is going through "a death by a thousand cuts." He also said that "most of the U.S. financial institutions are entirely insolvent."

"The market friendly view for the banks is nationalization," said Roubini. "Temporarily take over the banks, clean them up and get them working again."

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Americablog/~3/hze5PCgj_DY/im-with-roubini-on-this
-one.html

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A Quick Comment:

This was the title and short description of an article on the New York Times:Some Banks, Citing Strings, Want to Return AidBy STEPHEN LABATONCritics of the White House conditions on bailout funds say the measures border on social engineering.Hm... Maybe[...]

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http://librocrat.blogspot.com/2009/03/quick-comment.html

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Ireland unites against the killers.

Northern Ireland is uniting in condemnation of the recent killings carried out by the Real and Continuity IRA.

An unprecedented denunciation of dissident republican terrorists is expected to unfold across Ireland today with thousands of protesters expected in rallies in the north while politicians in the south unite to condemn the Real and Continuity IRA for the murders of two soldiers and a police officer.

The rallies have been organised at short notice in Belfast, Derry and other cities, and will coincide with Ireland's taoiseach, Brian Cowen, proposing a motion in the Dáil condemning the groups which have claimed responsibility for the shootings.

It really restores one's faith in human beings to see the way the people of Northern Ireland have reacted to this recent outbreak of violence. They are simply not having it. First, Adams and McGuinness made it very clear that they were willing to publicly condemn actions which they might have previously supported, then the people of Northern Ireland themselves appear to be standing up and shouting, "Enough!"

Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, yesterday nudged mainstream republicans further towards full co-operation with the security forces. McGuinness said that if he had had any firsthand knowledge of who was behind the murder of PC Carroll he would personally pass it on to the police.

In the strongest language yet used by a leading figure in Sinn Féin, he condemned the killers as "traitors to the entire island of Ireland. They [the dissidents] have betrayed the political desires, hopes and aspirations of all of the people who live on this island. They don't deserve to be supported by anyone".

This would all have been unthinkable a few short years ago.

On the eve of the rallies, which have been organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Peter Bunting, the organisation's assistant general secretary, said the Real and Continuity IRA did not deserve to be called dissidents.

"This show of strength from civil society will send a clear message to the killers who do not deserve the monopoly of the word 'dissident'. The word is too good for them. They are delinquents. A clear message will also go to the outside world which makes clear the decency and humanity of the people of Northern Ireland."

The call for ordinary people to come out and show their disgust about the upsurge in violence came after PC Carroll was shot in the back of the head on Monday night - two days after the murders of two British soldiers outside their military barracks at Massereene, Antrim.

It does indeed make clear "the decency and humanity" of the people of Northern Ireland. A people who suffered years and years of hatred and terrible violence are saying that they are not willing to go back to all that and they wish the political process to continue.

And, at a time when the government might have been tempted to overplay it's hand to show how strong it is, the Northern Ireland Assembly are showing admirable restraint.

The chief constable of the PSNI, Sir Hugh Orde, insisted he would not be putting soldiers back on to the streets. He briefed Peter Robinson, the first minister, and McGuinness, his deputy, on the police response to the crisis and the three stood outside Stormont and urged everyone to back the police in helping to track down the killers.

It's all so very different from the way other people have reacted to terrorism. But I think the Northern Ireland Assembly are going about this the right way. There is no need to employ the army as Northern Ireland is not being attacked by an army, they are being targeted by criminals with a political cause, so this becomes a job for the police rather than the armed forces.

And, from the outpourings of condemnation directed towards the terrorists from the ordinary people of Northern Ireland, it would appear as if they think so too.

When the news came through at the weekend that two soldiers had been shot, it seemed an anachronism, something from a past age. When it became clear that the republican dissidents were using murder to try to restart the war, people felt sick.

Yesterday Frances McCandless, who helps co-ordinate community activism, summed up the reaction across community groups: "It's not a measured response ? it's visceral, absolutely gut-wrenching; people are personally shocked. It's an absolutely unanimous message of revulsion."

Click title for full article.

Tags: Northern Ireland

Read The Full Article:
http://the-osterley-times.blogspot.com/2009/03/ireland-unites-against-killers.htm
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US Papers Wed: Blast Kills Dozens in Market

Just about all the papers have a single story about the recent spike in violence, particularly some high-casualty bombings which call to mind events of past years in Iraq.

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http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/7319

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