Airlines in US are not the only idiots

You might be able to use your cell phone on a RyanAir flight but you might have to pay to pee

Ryanair mulls charge for toilets

Irish budget airline Ryanair has said it is considering charging passengers for using the toilet while flying.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary told the BBC that the Dublin-based carrier was looking at maybe installing a "coin slot on the toilet door".

Consumer group Which? said the airline was putting "profit before passengers".

Ryanair's PR chief Steven McNamara later played down the idea, saying: "I don't think it's going to happen in the foreseeable future".

"Will it happen long-term, I'm not really sure," he said.

"It's one of those things that when Michael starts looking at something, you know, it's always up for discussion."

Last week Ryanair confirmed it planned to close all of its airport check-in desks by the end of the year in a bid to reduce the cost of its flights.

Equal Rights in the USA? Someday

I believe this was the first award at the Oscars and in my opinion the best speech of the night. If you didn't see the awards, take a minute and thirty-three seconds to watch this.



The unfortunate thing missing from this clip is the majority of audience reaction is cut short. Hollywood stars were crying and clapping enthusiastically.

Screenplay, Original
Dustin Lance Black
Milk

Clean Coal

Video by the Coen Brothers (thanks Mangfish)

Certainly Rumsfeld

"I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that."

Interview with Steve Croft, Infinity CBS Radio Connect, November 14, 2002

At least we protected the oil

Here is a headline from BBCs "latest" ticker:

Iraq's National Museum re-opens, six years after it was looted following the US-led invasion.

Just another example of why people around the world dislike Americans. Here are some more excerpts from BBC.com:

Iraq's National Museum has reopened nearly six years after it was looted and vandalised in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion.

Thousands of its antiquities were stolen at that time, and only about a quarter have since been retrieved.

Coalition forces had no orders to intervene, and stood by as Iraq's priceless heritage was pillaged.

Many of the nation's treasures were in the museum, and analysts decried its looting as scandalous.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki was at the opening ceremony inside the museum, and described what had happened there as Iraq's "dark age".

"I'd like to offer my sincerest thanks to all the countries which stood by Iraq, whether through their contributions towards rebuilding this museum or returning the smuggled artefacts," he said.

"We want to make our museum a place which will be at the forefront of international museums. There's a long road ahead of us."

It is estimated that about 15,000 artefacts and antiquities were stolen in the chaos that accompanied Saddam Hussein's ousting.

You Are Getting Ripped Off, Big Time! Again!

The Wolves are in the hen house. Will there be change under Obama? This excerpt from Bill Moyers Journal, February 13, 2009.

BILL MOYERS: Geithner has hired as his chief-of-staff, the lobbyist from Goldman Sachs. The new deputy secretary of state was, until last year, a CEO of Citigroup. Another CFO from Citigroup is now assistant to the president, and deputy national security advisor for International Economic Affairs. And one of his deputies also came from Citigroup. One new member of the president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board comes from UBS, which is being investigated for helping rich clients evade taxes.

--- and later ---

BILL MOYERS: There was a moment in the hearings this week, when Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, the independent senator from Vermont, almost lost his cool. Watch this.

SENATOR BERNARD SANDERS: In 2006 and 2007, Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, was the highest paid executive on Wall Street, making over 125 million in total compensation. Due to its risky investments, Goldman Sachs now has over 168 billion in total outstanding debt. It's laid off over 10 percent of its workforce. Late last year, the financial situation at Goldman was so dire that the taxpayers of this country provided Goldman Sachs with a $10 billion bailout.

Very simple question that I think the American people want to know. Yes or no, should Mr. Blankfein be fired from his job and new leadership be brought in?

SECRETARY GEITHNER: Senator, that's a judgment his board of directors have to make.

I want to say one thing which is very important. Everything we do going forward has to be judged against the impact we're going to have on the American people and the prospects for recovery. And every dollar we spend will have to be measured against the benefits we bring in terms of-

SENATOR SANDERS: Mr. Secretary, you're not answering my question. You have a person who made hundreds of millions for himself as he led his institution that helped cause a great financial crisis. We have put, as taxpayers, $10 billion to bail him out and we have no say about whether or not he should stay on the job?

SECRETARY GEITHNER: No, I didn't say that. I think there will be circumstances, as there have been already, where the government intervention will have to come with very tough conditions, including changes in management and leadership of institutions. And where we believe that makes sense, we will do that.

BILL MOYERS: Geithner says that's something "his" board of directors, the board of Goldman Sachs, will have to decide. But aren't we all ipso facto stock holders now?

SIMON JOHNSON: We should certainly have a big say over critical matters like this. Like the CEO. Because, two things. First of all, it's our money that kept these banks in business. Not just the treasury recapitalization money, that's relatively small.

It's the financial support provided by the Federal Reserve. Make no mistake about it, if the Federal Reserve hadn't stepped in late September, in dramatic fashion, to prop up organizations like Goldman Sachs, they would be out of business, okay?

It was our money that did that. The Federal Reserve acting on behalf of the American taxpayer. And secondly, Senator Sanders is exactly right. That a CEO, like Lloyd Blankfein, made mistakes, and led his company into deep trouble.

Now, other companies are in deeper trouble. His company was in deep trouble and had to be rescued at that moment. It's absolutely the right way to pose the question. And the answer to Senator Sanders' question is, in my opinion, yes. We should change the leadership of these major banks.

BILL MOYERS: And, yet, Secretary Geithner's chief-of-staff is the former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs.

And the War on... Something Continues

Within hours of Barack Obama's swearing into the office of the presidency, unmanned American drones like the one above, called Predators, honed in on villages in Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan, striking like silent intruders in the night, against suspected terrorists.

Early accounts of casualties varied from a dozen to more than 20 dead and wounded. One Pakistani security official told THE WASHINGTON POST that perhaps ten insurgents had been killed, maybe even a high value target, a senior member of al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Then the TIMES of London quoted locals who said "... three children lost their lives" when the missiles destroyed several homes. Since last August, 38 suspected U.S. missile strikes have killed at least 132 people in Pakistan.

One of the main problems, for those keeping track, is we are not at war with Pakistan. In fact, for those listening carefully, Pakistan is our ally who we have given over $6 billion dollars to since 2001. According to CNN:

Pakistan is the largest recipient of payments from the Coalition Support Funds, which gives money to 27 partner countries to help combat terrorism.

Still waiting for that change Obama. I know our allies are as well.

Much of this was taken from Bill Moyers Journal, January 30, 2009.

What Happens to Bullies?

The other "kids" take their toys and go home.


From Democracy Now!

Kyrgyz Parliament Votes to Close US Air Base

In Kyrgyzstan, lawmakers have voted to close a key US air base used for the occupation of Afghanistan. Earlier today, the Kyrgyz parliament voted 78-to-1 in favor of shuttering the Manas Air Base. The base is a transit point for 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo each month. But it’s become widely unpopular amidst opposition to US foreign policy and controversy over US refusal to pay a higher fee. The US has also refused to revoke the immunity of a US soldier who fatally shot a Kyrgyz truck driver in late 2006. The move comes one day after President Obama ordered an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. The head of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, praised the decision.

General David McKiernan: “I am very delighted with the President’s decision yesterday to send additional US forces to reinforce our efforts in Afghanistan. I will use most of those forces in the southern part of Afghanistan, an area where we do not have sufficient security presence.”

This from the Associated Press, where the photo comes from:

20 months ago: Activists hold banners reading "Kyrgyzstan is not a beachhead for war" during a rally at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, June 2, 2007. Several dozen activists rallied on Saturday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan to call for the closure of a U.S. military base in the former Soviet republic. The United States maintains the military base at Manas airport outside the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, to support operations in Afghanistan, but Kyrgyz politicians are increasingly calling for its closure, accusing U.S. military personnel of behaving with impunity and saying the base spoils the environment.

(AP Photo/Nina Gorshkova) miting protiv prebivaniya voennoi bazi "Gansi" v Kyrgyzstan. Na photo v centre: vdova Aleksandra Ivanova, ubitogo amerikanskim soldatom. A. Ivanov bil voditelem toplivo-zapravschika. Photo: Nina Gorshkova

The USA "seriously undermined international human rights law"

To those on the right who believe Bush made us safer, the experts disagree... again.

From the BBC.com:

Anti-terror tactics 'weaken law'

The law experts said many anti-terror measures breached human rights

Anti-terror measures worldwide have seriously undermined international human rights law, a report by legal experts says.

After a three-year global study, the International Commission of Jurists said many states used the public's fear of terrorism to introduce measures.

These included detention without trial, illegal disappearance and torture.

It also said that the UK and the US have "actively undermined" international law by their actions.

It concluded that many measures introduced to fight terrorism were illegal and counter-productive.

It called for justice systems to be strengthened and warned that temporary measures should not become permanent.

The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is a non-governmental organisation which promotes the observance of the rule of law and the legal protection of human rights.

The panel of eminent lawyers and judges concluded that the framework of international law that existed before the 9/11 attacks on the US was robust and effective.

But now, it said, it was being actively undermined by many states and liberal democracies like the US and the UK.

What Year Did George W. Take Office?

From the New York Times:

Decade at Bernie’s

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: February 15, 2009

By now everyone knows the sad tale of Bernard Madoff’s duped investors. They looked at their statements and thought they were rich. But then, one day, they discovered to their horror that their supposed wealth was a figment of someone else’s imagination.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Paul Krugman

Unfortunately, that’s a pretty good metaphor for what happened to America as a whole in the first decade of the 21st century.

Last week the Federal Reserve released the results of the latest Survey of Consumer Finances, a triennial report on the assets and liabilities of American households. The bottom line is that there has been basically no wealth creation at all since the turn of the millennium: the net worth of the average American household, adjusted for inflation, is lower now than it was in 2001.

At one level this should come as no surprise. For most of the last decade America was a nation of borrowers and spenders, not savers. The personal savings rate dropped from 9 percent in the 1980s to 5 percent in the 1990s, to just 0.6 percent from 2005 to 2007, and household debt grew much faster than personal income. Why should we have expected our net worth to go up?

Yet until very recently Americans believed they were getting richer, because they received statements saying that their houses and stock portfolios were appreciating in value faster than their debts were increasing. And if the belief of many Americans that they could count on capital gains forever sounds naïve, it’s worth remembering just how many influential voices — notably in right-leaning publications like The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and National Review — promoted that belief, and ridiculed those who worried about low savings and high levels of debt.

Then reality struck, and it turned out that the worriers had been right all along. The surge in asset values had been an illusion — but the surge in debt had been all too real.

So now we’re in trouble — deeper trouble, I think, than most people realize even now. And I’m not just talking about the dwindling band of forecasters who still insist that the economy will snap back any day now.

Now were did those guns go?

Oops! Dear Bush Administration. Your complete incompetence never ceases to astound me. That is nearly a quarter of a million guns! I can have the librarian from my high school come teach you all how to keep track of items.

This from the BBC.com:

US 'lost track of Afghan weapons'

The Pentagon admits that there are failures tracking weaponry

The US military has failed to keep track of thousands of weapons shipped to Afghanistan, leaving them vulnerable to being lost or stolen, a report says.

The report has been compiled by congressional auditors, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

It found that, in the four years up to June 2008, the US military failed to keep complete records on some 222,000 weapons entering the country.

I don't get the GOP

So, Republicans healthily voted for George Bush's stimulus plan which failed terribly. Now, with seemingly all 'pork' removed from Obama's stimulus plan and something called accountability, hardly a Republican can be found in congress to pass it. The GOP says it is not partisan. Then what is it? Not enough tax breaks going to millionaires? Why does this party exist?

The Looting of America

When governmental leaders loot a countries funds, you know, like those evil foreign criminals like Ferdinand Marcos, former President of the Philippines, or Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, it is easy for us Americans to watch them on TV and think, "What evil bad people." But what happens when it is our government and the corporations that prop them up?

I don't have enough time in the day/week/month/year to quote every example I have heard over the last year, and the examples keep coming. When will the people of this country say, "enough?"

This from Democracy Now!

Madoff Whistleblower Faults SEC for Ignoring Warnings

The key whistleblower in the Bernie Madoff fraud case has criticized government regulators for ignoring repeated warnings. Harry Markopolos told lawmakers he began warning Securities and Exchange Commission officials about Madoff in 2000. Markopolos said the SEC didn’t take action in large part because of incompetence and deference to financial interests. He said, “I gift-wrapped and delivered the largest Ponzi scheme to them.” Markopolos also criticized the Wall Street Journal for failing to pick up the story. He said Wall Street Journal editors apparently refused to let a senior reporter follow the story after Markopolos had tipped him off.

The Value of Education to Capitalist America

I have a theory why the United States education system is deteriorating so quickly. Its very simple: We don't value education. We elect a president who we can "have a beer with" but who has trouble completing a sentence (elected him twice) and criticize presidential candidates who attend Ivy League schools as elitist. Teachers in China are considered some of the most valuable members of society (I taught there for three years), yet here in America they can barely afford to buy a house with their income. We have taken one of the best institutions of higher education, the college/university system here in the USA and turned it into a business with prices so high, the majority of our citizens can no longer afford to attend.

This from Democracy Now!:

Senators Seek Stimulus Cuts as Obama Warns of Economic “Catastrophe”

A bipartisan group of senators is seeking to cut at least $80 billion from President Obama’s $900 billion economic stimulus plan. Most of the cuts would come to education spending, including $40 billion for state programs.

Not All of Obama's Nominees are Smart

This from the BBC.com:

CIA nominee decries waterboarding

Mr Panetta also condemned the use of extraordinary rendition

US President Barack Obama's nominee to head the CIA, Leon Panetta, has condemned the interrogation technique "waterboarding" as "torture".

But he made it clear that agents who had carried out waterboarding in the past should not be prosecuted if they believed they were following the law.

The Bush administration approved the practice for at least three terror suspects in 2002 and 2003.

Mr Obama has banned harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding.

Hey Leon, quick question: I'm pretty sure that if I walk into a bank and shoot everyone working their in the head and then walked out with all of the money, I would be following the law. So by your thinking, if by chance I am wrong, I should not be prosecuted? Are you for real?

Is all that "negligence of the law" not being an adequate excuse for committing a crime only 70's cop show fantasy?

The United States prosecuted Japanese soldiers in WWII for waterboarding. US soldiers were prosecuted for waterboarding during our invasion of Vietnam in the 60/70s. Bush was alive for the WWII trials and for Vietnam. This is not ancient history.

Waterboarding was designated as illegal by U.S. generals in the Vietnam War.

All nations that are signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Torture have agreed they are subject to the explicit prohibition on torture under any condition.

This man is going to lead our secret soldiers? This man scares me.

Imprison Bush & Cheney

This from Democrats.com

President Obama's choice for Attorney General, Eric Holder, was confirmed by the Senate yesterday and sworn in today. In another proud historic first, Mr. Holder will be our first African American Attorney General.

During his confirmation hearings, Mr. Holder declared unequivocally, "Waterboarding is torture." This terrified Republicans because it means Holder must prosecute George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, and other top officials who authorized waterboarding and the rest of the "Bush System of Torture," as Keith Olbermann calls it.

Republicans pressured Mr. Holder to promise not to prosecute the torturers, but Mr. Holder refused. He said, "No one is above the law." That's exactly what President Obama said when ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked him our question on January 11.

Of course Mr. Holder must also end eight years of absolute corruption under John Ashcroft, Alberto Gonzales, and Michael Mukasey. He must reverse George Bush's criminal policies on torture, habeas corpus, secret government, and warrantless wiretapping.

Accountability Returns to Washington

What?!?! A president who takes responsibility for a possible mistake and apologizing? I knew this country would fall apart if the liberals took control. Obama, who campaigned against 'business as usual' in Washington, apologized for his support of Tom Daschle after Daschle dropped out as a possibility for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, is in trouble for not paying taxes on a "gift" of a limo and driver. I heard a good Republican joke that went something like this, "Why do Democrats favor raising taxes? Because they don't pay them themselves."

I'm beginning to accept that most who enter politics will eventually get corrupted, but the irony in this case is amusing. So Daschle "forgot" to pay $146,000 in taxes for this limo/driver while not too long ago, ran this ad in South Dakota.






Daschle's withdrawal came just hours after Nancy Killefer, Obama's nominee to be chief performance officer, withdrew her nomination following the revelation that she had a $946.69 lien on her property in 2005 for failure to pay taxes.

Troop Suicides Highest Since Record Keeping Began

Remind me how Republicans "supported our troops" over the last eight years? This from Democracy Now!

Army Suicides at Record High

...suicides amongst US troops have increased to a three-decade high. Pentagon officials say at least 128 soldiers took their own lives last year. The final tally could be higher, as more than a dozen other deaths are still under investigation. It’s the highest total since record keeping began in 1980.