Open Thread – 2/27/2010

Yesterday I did manage to get caught up replying to comments.  I spent the rest of the day working on website design for my nonprofit.  Today, I’ll just have to see what the day brings.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

It took me 4:06.  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

Here's an idea. Democrats should agree to not to use reconciliation in return for Republicans agreeing not to use the filibuster. Since both are political tactics occasioned by arcane Senate rules, it's a fair trade.?  Fat chance, huh?

Gov. David A. Paterson ended his campaign for election on Friday amid crumbling support from his party and an uproar over his administration’s intervention in a domestic violence case involving a close aide.  While I cannot comment on his guilt or innocence, I consider his resignation a plus.

The average income reported by the 400 highest-earning U.S. households grew to almost $345 million in 2007, up 31 percent from a year earlier, Internal Revenue Service statistics show.  That shows that in 2007, the GOP’s only successful program, No Millionaire Left Behind, was working just as they intended.

Plus Humor:

The boys from Red State Update weigh in on the health care summit.

 

Cartoon:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Daryl Cagle - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

What’s up for your weekend?

FAIR Action Alert: USA Today's Social Security Scaremongering

Here’s some extreme media bias.

Under the headline "Social Security Races to 'Negative': Rash of Retirements Push Fund to Brink," USA Today's February 8 front page presented an alarmist view on a story that is regularly misreported in the corporate media (Extra!, 7-8/95, 1-2/05; FAIR Action Alert, 10/19/07).

 

Reporter Richard Wolf leads with this warning: "Social Security's annual surplus nearly evaporated in 2009 for the first time in 25 years." But several paragraphs later, readers are told that the program has been "accumulating a $2.5 trillion trust fund"--which certainly sounds less ominous than the headline's warning about being on a "brink." And by a "nearly evaporated" surplus, USA Today means that Social Security "took in only $3 billion more in taxes last year than it paid out in benefits."

 

The story tries to justify the alarm nonetheless by pointing out that "because the government uses the trust fund to pay for other programs, tax increases, spending cuts or new borrowing will be required to make up the difference between taxes collected and benefits owed." Two "experts" are quoted to endorse that view, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget's Maya MacGuineas, a former adviser to the McCain campaign.

 

Actually, the fact that Social Security would begin paying out more in benefits is neither alarming nor particularly surprising. In the 1980s, Social Security taxes were raised and benefits cut in the name of covering the retirement of the Baby Boomers--and, not incidentally, so that the system could loan its surplus to the Treasury Department to cover for Reagan's income tax slashing (Extra!, 1-2/88; Nation, 3/2/09). That money was to be paid back with interest, just like the U.S. Treasury's debts to China, Japan, private U.S. citizens and everyone else who owns Treasury bonds. If Social Security fails to collect the money that is owed to it by the Treasury, that would amount to a massive fraud and transfer of wealth, as trillions of dollars specifically collected to pay for workers' retirement benefits would never be used for that purpose, and instead would merely transfer the general cost of government from progressive income taxes to the regressive payroll tax (Center for Economic and Policy Research, 1/27/05).

 

The money borrowed from Social Security is currently scheduled to be paid back by 2037, at which point the program will have an actual deficit. But many experts have argued for years that this projected future shortfall is not a short-term crisis, and can be addressed with minor changes like eliminating the cap on taxable income, so that the wealthy would pay the same percentage of their income as middle-income and poor workers (Social Security: The Phony Crisis, 1999).

 

A story that presents Social Security as on the "brink," then, is giving readers a decidely skewed perspective on an important matter of public policy. As economist Dean Baker noted recently on his Beat the Press blog (2/8/10): "If nothing is ever done to change the program, the projections still show that it will be able to pay close to 80 percent of scheduled benefits. This will still provide future retirees with a benefit that is considerably larger than what current retirees receive."

 

If USA Today were to present these less-alarming facts, the headline might read, "Social Security Continues to Pay Benefits as Expected." That would be much less alarmist--and more accurate.

 

ACTION: Ask USA Today why it presented such a one-sided report on Social Security. Encourage the paper to include experts who would disagree with the notion that Social Security is in some sort of crisis.

 

CONTACT:

USA Today

Brent Jones, Standards Editor

Phone: 1-800-872-7073

accuracy@usatoday.com

Inserted from <FAIR>

I removed USA today from my source feeds list a long time ago for two reasons.  First, they offer so much infotainment and so little hard news that getting at the minuscule real content is not worth the effort of digging through all the fluff.  Second, they tend to spin their coverage so far to the right that they have compromised their journalistic integrity.  This story was particularly unethical, because it raised a bogus alarm at a time when the GOP wants to eliminate Social Security.  I hope you will call or email.  I did.

News IQ Results

Here is the original article for the quiz you took yesterday:

The public has consistently expressed strong interest in the health care debate, but relatively few Americans can correctly answer two key questions related to the Senate’s consideration of health care legislation.

In the latest installment of the Pew Research Center’s News IQ Quiz, just 32% know that the Senate passed its version of the legislation without a single Republican vote. And, in what proved to be the most difficult question on the quiz, only about a quarter (26%) knows that it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster  in the Senate and force a vote on a bill. The survey was conducted before Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown won a special election to the Senate on Jan. 19; Brown’s election means Senate Democrats can no longer count on a 60-vote majority once he takes office.

About six-in-ten (59%) correctly identify China as the foreign country holding the most U.S. government debt. Nearly as many (57%) know that the United States imports two-thirds of the oil it consumes. As was the case in previous knowledge surveys, a majority (55%) knows the current unemployment rate is about 10%. However, far fewer (36%) correctly estimate the current level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average at about 10,000 points.

The news quiz, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press Jan. 14-17 among 1,003 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, asked 12 multiple choice questions on subjects ranging from economics and foreign affairs to prominent people in the news. Americans answered an average of 5.3 questions correctly.  

The survey finds that while the public struggled with most of the political questions on the survey, most Americans (56%) know that there currently is more than one woman serving on the Supreme Court. Notably, this is the only question on the quiz where as many women as men answer correctly; men scored significantly better on other questions. 

In response to questions about terrorism and national security, half (50%) correctly identify Yemen as the country where intelligence officials believe the suspect in an attempted Christmas Day airline bombing received training and bomb materials. A slightly smaller percentage (43%) knows that during all of 2009 there were more American military fatalities in Afghanistan than in Iraq; 32% said more U.S. troops were killed in Iraq. This question proved difficult for many, even though interest in developments in Afghanistan – and media coverage – picked up in late 2009 as President Obama announced his war strategy [See "Top Stories of 2009: Economy, Obama and Health Care," released Dec. 29, 2009].

Questions about people in the news round out the quiz update.  About four-in-ten (39%) know that Nevada Democrat Harry Reid is the majority leader of the U.S. Senate. About a third (32%) correctly pick Michael Steele as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Interestingly, nearly half of Republicans (48%) are able to identify Reid as Senate majority leader compared with just a third (33%) of Democrats. More Republicans can identify Reid as majority leader than can identify Steel as chairman of the RNC (37%).

About four-in-ten (41%) correctly say that Stephen Colbert is a comedian and television talk show host. This is the only question on the quiz that more people younger than 30 than older people answer correctly (49% vs. 39%).

Asked how many GOP senators voted for the chamber’s health care bill on Dec. 24, only 32% know that the measure received no support from Republican members. About as many answer incorrectly, saying that five (13%), 10 (8%), or 20 (8%) GOP Senators voted for the bill. About four-in-ten (39%) do not know or decline to answer.

A smaller percentage (26%) knows that 60 votes are needed to break a filibuster in the Senate. About as many (25%) mistakenly say that a simple majority of 51 votes can break a filibuster.As with most other questions on the news quiz, well-educated people, older Americans and men are more likely to correctly answer the questions about the Senate vote on health care and the filibuster.

Less than a third of Republicans or Democrats can correctly identify the number of votes needed to end a filibuster (30% among Republicans, 25% among Democrats). College graduates fared better than other demographic groups on this question, but fewer than half of college graduates (45%) know that it takes 60 Senate votes to overcome a filibuster...

Inserted from <Pew Research>

Nine of us took the quiz and earned an average score of  9.77.  As a group we are more knowledgeable than 84% of the public.  If nothing else, this should highlight the responsibility we have to teach those with whom we interact.

What’s Your News IQ?

Pew Research has produced a fascinating quiz, and I’d like to see how well our readers do.  It’s easy to do, just 12 multiple choice questions with 3 more for demographics.  I got all 12, but don’t be disappointed if you do not.  I spend several hours a day researching.  Please Comment with your results.  Tomorrow, I’ll post an article on the quiz and compare our results to t6he country as a whole.

To take the quiz, Click Here.

Carla Bruni – L'Amoureuse

At Crooks and Liars, I found this video of French President, Nicholas Sarcozy’s wife:
 
I found it refreshing and provocative.  I think it’s great that she can continue her career.  However, can you imagine the howls of rage and distain that would flood the halls of the House and Senate, not to mention the airwaves from the GOP Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, had Michelle Obama made this video?

Big Quake in Haiti

This story is dominating the MSM:

A major earthquake hit impoverished Haiti on Tuesday, toppling buildings in the capital Port-au-Prince, burying residents in rubble and causing many deaths and injuries, witnesses in the city said.

The magnitude 7.0 quake, whose epicenter was inland and only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince, sent panic-stricken people screaming into the streets as a cloud of dust and smoke from falling buildings rose into the sky.

As darkness fell amid scenes of chaos and anguished cries from victims, residents desperately tried to dig out survivors or searched for missing relatives in debris-strewn streets.

The presidential palace was among buildings damaged, Haiti's ambassador to Washington, Raymond Alcide Joseph, told CNN. "My country is facing a major catastrophe," he said.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and has a history of destructive natural disasters. Some 9,000 U.N. police and troops are stationed there to maintain order.

The quake, followed by aftershocks, prompted a tsunami watch for parts the Caribbean but this was later canceled.

"Everything started shaking, people were screaming, houses started collapsing ... it's total chaos," Reuters reporter Joseph Guyler Delva said in Port-au-Prince.

"I saw people under the rubble, and people killed," he added, saying he had witnessed dozens of casualties.

U.S. President Barack Obama said his "thoughts and prayers" were with the people of Haiti and pledged immediate aid.

The United States would provide both military and civilian disaster assistance to the Caribbean country, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the start of a speech on Asian relations in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Her husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who is the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, also pledged assistance. The Inter-American Development Bank said it would provide $200,000 in immediate emergency aid.

PALL OF DUST AND SMOKE

A local employee for the charity Food for the Poor reported seeing a five-story building collapse in Port-au-Prince, spokeswoman Kathy Skipper told Reuters.

Another Food for the Poor employee said there were more houses destroyed than standing in Delmas Road, a major thoroughfare in the city.

"Within a minute of the quake ... soil, dust and smoke rose up over the city, a blanket that completely covered the city and obscured it for about 12 minutes until the atmospheric conditions dissipated the dust," Mike Godfrey, who works for USAID, told CNN.

"The international airport appears to be functioning," he added, saying he saw an airliner take off after the quake.

Experts said the quake's epicenter was very shallow at a depth of only 6.2 miles, which was likely to have magnified the destruction.

Dale Grant, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist in Golden, Colorado, told Reuters there had been no quakes this large in Haiti for more than 200 years.

"There were two major quakes there in 1751 and 1770 but, since then, there has not been a quake of this magnitude," Grant said...

Inserted from <Common Dreams>

Listening to the news I get the impression that the Obama administration is responding to this disaster far more quickly and efficiently than Bush and the GOP responded to Katrina.  Please keep these people in your prayers/thoughts/wishes, and if you can help, beware scam charities and religious right charities.

Bye Bye Bill

Soon we shall have to say goodbye to a journalist I have come to respect greatly over the years.

Veteran PBS journalist Bill Moyers has announced that he will be ending his Friday night public affairs show “Bill Moyers Journal” as well as “Now on PBS” on April 30, 2010:

Mr. Moyers said he had been planning for some time to retire the program on Dec. 25, but was asked by PBS to raise the funds to continue through April, which he did.

“I am 75 years old,” he said of the decision to end the series, which began in April 2007. The program has recently been having a “good run of it,” he added in a telephone interview on Friday, “so I feel it’s time.” He said he was not quitting television work, although he has no new projects planned... [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

I shall miss his rational, unbiased approach, and I wish him well.

Water On The Moon

NASA’s LACROSS Mission was a complete success.

Is there water on the Moon?  The NASA LCROSS mission has determined the answer to be a resounding YES! GeekDad has covered the LCROSS mission with an article prior to the LCROSS launch by Lonnie Morgan, a pair of articles on viewing what was hoped to be a visible plume from the impact by Dana Bostic and myself, and finally a follow-up to the impact about the process of data analysis and waiting for results.  If you have missed all the coverage, the LCROSS mission impacted a spent Centaur booster into the Moon and captured data from the impact plume with the goal of finding deposits of frozen water.  Today, the LCROSS team released their preliminary findings:

The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water.

Secrets the moon has been holding, for perhaps billions of years, are now being revealed to the delight of scientists and space enthusiasts alike.

NASA today opened a new chapter in our understanding of the moon. Preliminary data from the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus c[r]ater near the moon’s south pole...

Inserted from <Wired>

The presence of water on the moon, and by extension, the likelihood that water is available in places previously thought unlikely, raises the question of whether or not there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.

Given that God favors intelligent life, it is likely to be elsewhere, because she created so little of it on this planet.

Those Credit Report Scams

Every time I turn on the TV it seems that there’s another ad shilling a so-called “free” credit report offer.  They are just as free as the GOP is compassionate.  However, you can get an annual credit report from all three agencies for free.

Ben Stein was axed by the New York Times last year for ethics violations when he appeared in a commercial for a bait and switch credit report scam. The ad claimed that consumers could get a free credit report, but in reality, they had to pay to see the real numbers.

Well, the FTC is now getting into the act and going after similar companies with some catchy commercials intended to emulate those of a popular advertising campaign by a similar bait and switch scam:

AnnualCreditReport.com is the ONLY authorized source to get your free annual credit report under federal law. The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees you access to a free credit report from each of the three nationwide reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — every twelve months. The Federal Trade Commission has received complaints from consumers who thought they were ordering their free annual credit report, but instead paid hidden fees or agreed to unwanted services. Don’t be fooled by TV ads, email offers, or online search results. Go to the authorized source when you request your free report. Read on...

Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>

It can be very difficult to find the real one lost in the sea of scams, so if you didn’t already know where to go, now you do.

World Series Fan? This Big a Fan?

Hey, I like baseball as much as the next guy, but the behavior of more extreme fans never ceases to amaze me.

Let’s say that you’re a woman, and you’re a die hard fan of the home team. And let’s further stipulate that you’re not a season ticket holder, and you don’t have hundreds of dollars to buy a pair of tickets for yourself and your spouse, even for the cheap seats at the local stadium. What to do, what to do? How about placing an advertisement on Craig’s List, and hope that a sympathetic person who has a couple of spare tickets will help you out?

So, you’re writing the ad. After all, you’re the assistant director of communications at a local medical facility, and like any good ad copy writer, you know one thing for sure: “sexy” sells, and gets attention (particularly on Craig’s List). You settle on the following, and hit the submit button:

DESPERATE BLONDE NEEDS WS TIX!

Diehard Phillies fan - gorgeous tall buxom blonde - in desperate need of two World Series Tickets. Price negotiable. I’m the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!

Flirtatious? Perhaps. Solicitation? Hardly. But that’s what a vice cop in Bensalem, Pa. apparently thought when he read Susan Finkelstein’s advertisement in the ticket section of Philadelphia Craig’s List.

The cop responded to the ad, and set up a meeting with Finkelstein at a local bar. And busted her for prostitution.

Allegedly, Finkelstein crossed some type of arbitrary line, and offered (or implied) that she’d be willing to perform sex acts on the cop and his brother in exchange for two tickets. She was cuffed, booked, and her mug shot is now popping up all over the web…

Inserted from <Alternet>

The Phillies and Yankees are favorite teams of mine.  We got our first TV when I was ten and the Phillies were the team I saw.  Robin Roberts was my hero.  Later on, I learned that I could buy a round trip ticket from Atlantic City to Yankee Stadium, buy a decent ticket, and have a couple hot dogs and cokes for under $10.  I was in the stadium (it took three trips) when Roger Maris hit #61.  So this series is rich in memories for me, but seriously?!!?  Not even for Bronco’s tickets to the Super Bowl!

On the other hand, didn’t that cop have anything better to do, and what does he have against the Phillies?

Life is often funnier that anything I could invent.