Mark Morford: In the Cloud, No One Can Hear You Scream

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-morford/cloud-future_b_951483.html

George Bush George W. Bush

Renting Your Loo

Social networking nukes the fridge: Sam Biddle gives the project a thumbs down: Unless I need spare dollars to feed the worst heroin addiction mankind has ever known, or am conducting a social experiment to see how many times I...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/K05DmczlJ_c/rent-a-loo.html

Alvin Green John Mccain

What the polls say about free trade

Treasury Secretary Geithner negotiates trade deal with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak 11/11/10 (Jim Young/Reuters)

Both parties are free trade parties. The uniformity about the cost and benefits of free trade are heavily tilted towards the idea that free trade is a "net benefit" to the economy and America generally. Economists of both liberal and conservative bent have praised America's free trade regime, although global trade Nobel laureate Paul Krugman notably says free trade is mostly a wash. Politically, however, the policy of free trade has become increasingly unpopular. Support for free trade policies decline during economic downturns, but that fact makes them no less politically sensitive.

The polls on the matter indicate recent slippage in support for free trade. From an NBC poll conducted last November:

"In general, do you think that free trade between the United States and foreign countries has helped the United States, has hurt the United States, or has not made much of a difference either way?"

Helped - 23%

Hurt - 47%

Not much difference - 23%

Unsure - 7%

A robust plurality believe that free trade has hurt the country, while a paltry 23% agree with the reigning consensus in both parties.

Here is another poll from CNN, conducted around the same time:

"What do you think foreign trade means for America? Do you see foreign trade more as an opportunity for economic growth through increased U.S. exports or a threat to the economy from foreign imports?"

Opportunity- 41%

Threat- 50%

Both- 3%

Neither- 3%

Unsure- 3%

Here's an NBC poll conducted last September that illustrated the public's perception of free trade's effect on jobs:

"From what you know, do you think that free trade agreements between the United States and other countries help to create more jobs in the U.S., or do you think they cost the U.S. jobs?"

Create more jobs- 18%

Cost jobs- 69%

Depends- 2%

Unsure- 11%

Both parties appear to be on the wrong side of the public. There is a large block of the population that feels that free trade hurts the country and an even strong majority that feels it costs jobs. With the small number of Americans who are actually supportive of free trade being so small, it is rather interesting mystery as to how both parties have seem to come to a consensus in favor of it.

It is a funny thing too because both parties also frequently talk out of their faces about how much they cannot stand to "see our jobs shipped overseas." For Democrats, the argument is generally framed as a matter of tax policy. They say that we should give tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas and I agree. However, there is little evidence that ending those breaks will end the offshoring of jobs. Republicans say place the blame on unions and regulations. They say that union wages and the regulatory regime place too many onerous burdens on business, forcing them to seek refuge offshore. But this argument also seems hollow since unionization in America has declined sharply over the last 10 years. Furthermore, years of lax regulation under the Bush Administration did nothing to stop jobs from moving overseas, and neither policy had any effect on reducing America's substantial trade deficit.

It is extremely difficult to find a single policy that both parties agree support, the American public thinks is bad, and that politicians of both parties decry the effects of. Free trade is, when considered against other policies of the government, bizarre.

Perhaps this is just another issue where the influence of multinational corporate executives hold more sway over our politicians than we do. But if Democrats could begin to speak out in ways that draw a contrast with Republicans on the matter of free trade, it is quite possible Democrats could reap political benefits. It is difficult to find an issue so ripe with opportunity to get on the right side of public opinion.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/70iMQBI3W2k/-What-the-polls-say-about-free-trade

Michelle Obama Sarah Palin

Whither Michele Bachmann?

In today?s newspaper, we dedicated our column to examining why Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has struggled to build momentum off of her victory in last month?s Ames Straw Poll.

We write:

Read full article >>

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=b89b7e9fceb77018c24f14399f8272ad

Hillary Clinton Roosevelts

Regulators Seeking To Block AT&T's T-Mobile USA Purchase

AT&T's deal to buy T-Mobile USA isn't dead, antitrust experts say, despite the Obama administration's surprise move Wednesday to block the acquisition because of anti-competitive concerns. The Department of Justice sued to block AT&T's (T) $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom, saying the acquisition would "remove a significant competitive force" from the U.S. wireless market. In mounting a court challenge, AT&T will

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetTechnologyRss/~3/EhTKY1vocBU/Article.aspx

George W. Bush Rush Limbaugh

Australian PM would face electoral wipeout: survey

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/05/australian-pm-would-face-_n_949579.html

Alvin Green John Mccain

Midday open thread

I hope you are all enjoying this extended Labor Day weekend! Say, you did know that the only reason we have weekends at all is because of the labor movement? Not that I'll be doing any labor this weekend because this thread is about to board a plane to Hawai'i. To the links!

• Not good news:

  A longtime Democratic campaign treasurer who has worked for dozens of state, federal and local politicians in California has been arrested on suspicion of mail fraud, officials said Saturday.

  Kinde Durkee, who heads Durkee & Associates in Burbank, was arrested Friday afternoon by the FBI on a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento, said U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek. No further details were available.

  Durkee isn't just any treasurer. In addition to doing campaign treasury services for Senator Feinstein and other federal officials. Durkee's firm handles the accounts for a boatload of Democratic County Committees and clubs across California. How much disruption this could cause is open to question.

• Everyone should remember that Rick Perry has worked very hard to ensure that Texas executes innocent people.
• Kevin Drum writing at Mother Jones makes an excellent point:

  Here's what gets me. Perry's views are getting denounced by all the usual lefty suspects but not much by anyone else. And the reason for this is something very odd: In modern America, conservatives are largely given a pass for saying crazy things. They're just not taken seriously, in a boys-will-be-boys kind of way. It's almost like everyone accepts this kind of stuff as a kind of religious liturgy, repeated regularly with no real meaning behind it. They're just the words you use to prove to the base that you're really one of them.

  Why is this? I'm not quite sure what the left-wing equivalent of this would be, but it would be something along the lines of Hillary Clinton writing a book that proposed repealing the 2nd Amendment and adding one that banned hate speech; limiting defense spending to 2 percent of GDP; raising the top marginal tax rate back to 90 percent on millionaires and 100 percent on anything above, say, $10 million; instituting British-style national health care; and spending half a trillion dollars on new programs for universal preschool, two-year paid leaves for new parents, and an increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour. But in real life, Dennis Kucinich wouldn't support a platform like this, let alone a front-runner for the presidential nomination. And if one did, he or she would be instantly tarred as an insane nutball and would never see the business end of a TV camera again.

  But when Republicans say the mirror image of stuff like this, it just gets a shrug. Sure, Perry apparently wants to roll things back to about 1900 or so. But hey?it's just a way of firing up the troops. Nothing to be taken seriously.

  But why not?

• Thinking about law school? You'd better be dedicated:

  Post-graduate employment rates are at their lowest levels in 15 years. The typical student leaves school nearly $100,000 in debt. And after several years of recession-driven enrollment gains, applications to law schools nationwide are down nearly 10 percent this year.

  The sobering statistics have prompted plenty of soul-searching in the legal academy, with calls for schools to provide more accurate job-placement data as well as efforts by some law schools to admit fewer students to avoid dumping a glut of newly minted J.D.s onto an unforgiving job market.

• The Rebuild the Dream movement generated over 400 protests during the month of August. Not that you'd know, because unless it's ten people at a rally labeled "tea party" then media won't cover it.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/JeVQTCJCS24/-Midday-open-thread

John Mccain Barrack Obama

Links for 2010-06-11 [del.icio.us]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/oscarrob/a_plague_on_both_your_hou/~3/tn3RF8DbC3E/oscarrob

John Mccain Barrack Obama

The Ghosts Of The South

by Zack Beauchamp Margaret Eby reviews the collected works of Kathryn Tucker Windham, a Southern writer of ghost stories who recently passed away: Windham?s voice was unforgettable. In high school, I would listen to All Things Considered every couple of...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/OXdgfO8AYB4/the-ghosts-of-the-south-1.html

Obama Michelle Obama

South Carolina Gov. Haley calls for Republican NLRB member to resign

After National Labor Relations Board member Craig Becker's term expires in December and with Republicans planning to block any new NLRB nominees, the NLRB will be paralyzed, as I've noted, unable to decide cases with just the two members who will be left. Now, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley wants to hasten that day. Haley is calling for the NLRB's Republican member, Brian Hayes, to resign. His resignation, like the end of Becker's term, would put the Board below the three members needed for a quorum.

According to Haley,

[...] the board is an "absolutely un-American ... rogue agency" with a "bully mentality."

Haley has been a vocal critic of the NLRB in the wake of the board's decision to sue Boeing over its decision to open a new plant in South Carolina, a right-to-work state.

The hilarious thing, though, is that not only does Haley not realize that the NLRB is supposed to protect the right of workers to engage in legally protected activities including strikes, but the lack of a quorum wouldn't actually make a difference to the Boeing case that's probably the only reason she even knows what "NLRB" stands for. That's because the case against Boeing wasn't brought by the Board members. It was brought by the agency's general counsel, who is allowed to continue doing his work in the absence of a quorum.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/AwcpvsqdS3U/-South-Carolina-Gov-Haley-calls-for-Republican-NLRB-member-to-resign

Rush Limbaugh Obama

Paul hits the bike trail

Lake Massabesic, New Hampshire (CNN) – Politicians often seek to portray youthful vigor, but at age 76 Congressman Ron Paul...

Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/02/paul-hits-the-bike-trail/

George Bush George W. Bush

Late afternoon/early evening open thread

What's coming up on Sunday Kos?.

• In "The Case For Partisanship: The Debate Impacts Policy," Armando will argue that political debates over policy are the principal opportunity for shaping public attitudes over policy. He will explore how political debate has pushed policy outcomes over the history of the country and how it can do so today.
• Mark E Andersen will look at the human cost of Scott Walker's attack on public workers and will ask, "What would you do if your pay was cut by $500 a month?"
• brooklynbadboy will examine the polls on free trade, which indicate a political opportunity for Democrats who challenge the bipartisan orthodoxy in favor of it.
• Mark Sumner will note that while it's tough to find any connection between tax rates and economic growth, there do seem to be some things that are connected.
• Dick Cheney is back in the news and Laurence Lewis once again will review his accomplishments.
• Continuing her series, Latinos in the U.S., Denise Oliver Velez will discuss the assault on Chicana/o ethnic studies.
• Dante Atkins will hope that President Obama's acquiescence to John Boehner on the timing of his speech on jobs will not mirror the substance.
• Hunter will take a line-by-line look at what may be the worst single Hurricane Irene-related editorial yet published.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/T_2_ouyfpUw/-Late-afternoon-early-evening-open-thread

Alvin Green John Mccain

Open thread for night owls

A warm summer night;
crickets chirp like lobbyists.
Talk amongst yourselves.

Today's Top Comments are here.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/m3heoVSGCZw/-Open-thread-for-night-owls

Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton

Al Qaeda is a Loser in the Recent Middle East Uprisings - Foreign Policy

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/oscarrob/a_plague_on_both_your_hou/~3/lqce9EAB_w8/al-qaeda-is-a-loser-in-the-recent-middle-east-uprisings-foreign-policy.html

Barrack Obama Bill Clinton

Judge Throws Out Oracle's $1.3 Bil Award Vs. SAP

A federal judge on Thursday overturned the $1.3 billion copyright verdict Oracle (ORCL) won in November against SAP (SAP), saying it was "grossly excessive." The maximum damages that were actually proved total $272 million, said U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, Calif. If Oracle doesn't take that amount, the companies must go to trial again. Shares of database and server giant Oracle were down nearly 1% as of 3:10 p.m. ET, and

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetTechnologyRss/~3/i5EUD49tNQk/Article.aspx

Obama Michelle Obama

U.S. wasting $12 million a day on war contracts

The company formerly known as Blackwater,
still on the public dole.

The message that $30 billion has been wasted in military contracting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars hasn't gotten through to the people who need to hear it, apparently. So the Commission on Wartime Contracting is putting the figure in more urgent terms.

A nonpartisan panel reporting to Congress says the United States is wasting $12 million a day among contracts issued in support of American efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.[...]

Commissioner Katherine Schinasi told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that the numbers don't seem to have an impact on people concerned about spending.

To make it easier to grasp the magnitude of the problem, Schinasi said, "we've broken it down to $12 million a day."

"We are wasting $12 million a day," she said, "maybe that will make a difference."

The "people concerned about spending" would be pretty much everybody in Washington, D.C. who have spent months yammering about deficits, but not talking about the ongoing costs of these wars. Maybe when it's put in such stark terms?$12 million a day, just on military contracts, wasted?it'll get the attention it deserves.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/kUx1YpSvn2w/-US-wasting-$12-million-a-day-on-war-contracts

Roosevelts George Bush

Links for 2010-06-11 [del.icio.us]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/oscarrob/a_plague_on_both_your_hou/~3/tn3RF8DbC3E/oscarrob

Roosevelts George Bush

In Defense Of Civil War Reenactments, Ctd

by Chris Bodenner A nuanced account from a Confederacy reenactor: The Dish moves so fast, I hope it's not too late to respond to your post from two days ago. Mine is just a single perspective, but man, do I...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/_FJnsqj2QIc/in-defense-of-civil-war-reenactments-ctd.html

Roosevelts George Bush

Taking Business Personally

by Maisie Allison Virginia Postrel returns to 1980s culture to show how Steve Jobs transformed business into something more like sports or fashion, a "realm of passion and personality": [Jobs's] inspiring philosophy offers the promise of greatness and self-fulfillment, but...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/btLbie6uguU/taking-business-personally.html

Sarah Palin Alvin Green