Republican Party Spokeswoman Rep. Michele Bachmann came out against the idea of helping the victims of the Gulf Coast oil disaster - one of the biggest environmental disasters in American history. Instead, she took the side of BP, defending the company and encouraging it not to be chumps...basically encouraging BP to fight the claims from victims. She frames the compensation of victims as an attempt to fleece the company.
She was basically calling the aid an unjustified welfare program for the lazy, rather than necessary compensation for hard working fishermen & business owners who are trying to save their livelihoods. She describes the $20 billion aid fund as a redistribution of wealth... a government cash grab (despite the fact that the money will come from BP...a private entity, and the funds will be administered by a 3rd party).
Bachmann is one of the few spokespersons for the Republican Party. What she says usually represents at least the leanings of the Republican leadership, if not official policy.
Another Republican, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, claims that the $20 Billion compensation fund was an unjust "shakedown" of BP, and he even went as far as apologizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward because his company has to pay for the damages caused by the oil leak. Crazy enough for you?
But none of this matters unfortunately. The sad thing is.... Republicans are still going to win coast to coast in November's elections. The voting public in this Country, as a whole, is plain ignorant. As I have stated before... I have no faith in the American voting public. It is ultimately why this nation won't be able to effectively deal with the monumental problems it will face over the next 50 years. It is the reason why the U.S. is basically screwed.
Showing posts with label offshore oil drilling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label offshore oil drilling. Show all posts
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Eugene Robinson's Commentary on Obama's Oil Spill Response Hit the Mark
Obama's address to the nation on June 15th, and his follow-up the next day with concrete results were some of the first real indications that at least someone was at the wheel regarding the Gulf crisis. The speech didn't wow me... I think it fell a little short. Dailykos poster and fellow blogger Icebergslim shares some of my views. But at least he's trying. The $20 billion committment that he was able to get from BP is a start.
What happens now will depend on good policy and follow-up. I remain perturbed by the fact that BP still has control over so much of the process... that makes me a little skeptical. But I am willing to give the Obama Administration some time to get back on track (at least on this issue). As I mentioned in my comments under the speech post, the problem with waiting 4, 5, 6 weeks is that it allowed Republicans/Conservatives/Tea Party nuts to grab control of the narrative and poison public opinion. The lack of good advisers and strong PR has plagued Obama for a couple of years now...and I have been screaming about this problem online, via the blog and @ sites like the Dailykos (only to be criticized for not showing blind allegiance to Obama). The PR and media problems are issues for Democrats in general...but especially for Obama. And now it has been laid bare for all to see. The problem has always been there... but this disaster exposed it in a way that other situations had not been able to in the past.
BP and Its Dubious Safety Practices
Investigative reporter Abrahm Lustgarten has uncovered a track record of corner cutting at BP. The company basically developed a culture where safety was trumped by profits. More of the same unchecked free-market capitalism that has been shoved down our throats by Conservatives/Republicans who support laissez-faire philosophy.
Hear detailed interview from NPR.
Hear detailed interview from NPR.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
BP Dodging Responsibility for Oil Spill - Victims Facing Wall of Red Tape
Why Wasn't This Predicted? It Was Certainly Predictable To Me
This is why FEMA or some other Federal agency should be running the claims process. The government should pay the victims and make them whole, then go to BP andask ...take the money to reimburse the taxpayers. This should have been the plan from the beginning. I never understood the logic behind allowing BP to handle every part of this, from controlling their own crime scene (outrageous), all the way to handling the financial claims for the victims (when the company has a clear incentive and motive not to pay). It makes absolutely no sense. I thought it was idiotic from the start...and that this would be the likely outcome.
It appears that BP intends to create so much red tape that the people simply give up in frustration and go away. THIS is the kind of madness that I want Obama to do something about. He shouldn't just get angry. Anger with no action to back it up is just acting to me. He has to couple his anger with deeds. He has to demonstrate both.
From MSNBC report on BP's mishandling of claims:
Hear an NPR discussion on the failures surrounding the BP disaster.
This is why FEMA or some other Federal agency should be running the claims process. The government should pay the victims and make them whole, then go to BP and
It appears that BP intends to create so much red tape that the people simply give up in frustration and go away. THIS is the kind of madness that I want Obama to do something about. He shouldn't just get angry. Anger with no action to back it up is just acting to me. He has to couple his anger with deeds. He has to demonstrate both.
From MSNBC report on BP's mishandling of claims:
GRAND ISLE, La. - Gulf Coast fishermen, businesses and property owners who have filed damage claims with BP over the oil spill are angrily complaining of delays, excessive paperwork and skimpy payments that have put them on the verge of going under as the financial and environmental toll of the disaster grows by the day.
Out in the Gulf of Mexico, meanwhile, the oil company Wednesday captured an ever larger-share of the crude gushing from the bottom of the sea and began bringing in more heavy equipment to handle it.
The containment effort played out as BP stock plunged to its lowest level in 14 years amid fears that the company might be forced to suspend dividends and find itself overwhelmed by the cleanup costs, penalties, damage claims and lawsuits generated by the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
Shrimpers, oystermen, seafood businesses, out-of-work drilling crews and the tourism industry all are lining up to get paid back the billions of dollars washed away by the disaster, and tempers have flared as locals direct outrage at BP over what they see as a tangle of red tape.
"Every day we call the adjuster eight or 10 times. There's no answer, no answering machine," said Regina Shipp, who has filed $33,000 in claims for lost business at her restaurant in Alabama. "If BP doesn't pay us within two months, we'll be out of business. We've got two kids."
An Alabama property owner who has lost vast sums of rental income angrily confronted a BP executive at a town meeting. The owner of a Mississippi seafood restaurant said she is desperately waiting for a check to come through because fewer customers come by for shrimp po-boys and oyster sandwiches.
Some locals see dark parallels to what happened after Hurricane Katrina, when they had to wait years to get reimbursed for losses.
Continue to full report
Hear an NPR discussion on the failures surrounding the BP disaster.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Deepwater Horizon Workers Blowing the Whistle on BP & Affiliates
Excellent 60 Minutes Segment
Part I
Part II
From nola.com: Workers Describe Failures on Rig Before Explosion
Yet another example of unchecked free market capitalism. There is a clear pattern here (and it gets to the core of why I despise the private sector, corporate culture... corporate greed, don't trust corporations, etc). All of this bad behavior by corporations shares a common theme regardless of industry -- greed and the lack of adequate regulation. The right wing anti-regulation message is crushed over and over, yet Republicans are allowed to control the narrative. The debate about regulation should be over. Each one of these incidents should provide a clear contrast between those who support a strong role for government, particularly in terms of regulation, and those who support unchecked free market capitalism, where corporations are allowed to run wild, lie, commit fraud, etc. The choice should be an easy one. Yet the Republicans and their PR machine, act as if facts and the moral arguments are on their side. Unbelievable! And the media goes right along with the charade... acting as if this is a debate where both sides have equally strong and logical points (when this is so obviously not the case, lol).
Part I
Part II
From nola.com: Workers Describe Failures on Rig Before Explosion
Yet another example of unchecked free market capitalism. There is a clear pattern here (and it gets to the core of why I despise the private sector, corporate culture... corporate greed, don't trust corporations, etc). All of this bad behavior by corporations shares a common theme regardless of industry -- greed and the lack of adequate regulation. The right wing anti-regulation message is crushed over and over, yet Republicans are allowed to control the narrative. The debate about regulation should be over. Each one of these incidents should provide a clear contrast between those who support a strong role for government, particularly in terms of regulation, and those who support unchecked free market capitalism, where corporations are allowed to run wild, lie, commit fraud, etc. The choice should be an easy one. Yet the Republicans and their PR machine, act as if facts and the moral arguments are on their side. Unbelievable! And the media goes right along with the charade... acting as if this is a debate where both sides have equally strong and logical points (when this is so obviously not the case, lol).
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Whistleblower Says BP Had History of Cheating on Blowout Preventer Tests
BP apparently had a history of falsifying safety tests, particularly on their blowout preventers, which are designed to prevent gas pressure from rushing up the well and causing explosions. To save money, BP and some of its subcontractors, cut corners.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
The President's Political Gamble on Offshore Drilling is a bust
When the President announced his support for limited offshore oil drilling, I was disappointed. I felt this was a political calculation, not one of any sudden change in beliefs, considering that he had been against it during the campaign.
This disaster off the coast of Louisiana is the nightmare that those of us who are against offshore drilling feared would come to pass.
They are already comparing this to the Exxon Valdez.
I can't speak for everyone else who is against offshore oil drilling, but I can only bring my own reasons - the possibility of disasters like this. No, I don't trust the oil companies as far as I could spit. Combine that with the local industries that will be destroyed as a consequence- in this case, the fishing and tourism industries, and it's just not worth it.
But, the main reason why the oil companies can't be trusted, is because their is no monitoring apparatus in place by government to keep a control over the oil companies. I don't think folks truly understand how much Bush, The Evil One and their buddies absolutely GUTTED those in the government who would protect the environment. Not just the political appointees, but they proceeded with a systematic gutting of the 'permanent government' employees - those employees that keep the structure of the departments going, despite who is the President of the United States. They took flunkies from the oil industry, those who could care less about protecting the coasts, and only see them as a place to rape, pillage, plunder and make money, no matter what the costs to the peoples who would be effected if something would go wrong. AND, because of the way they cut corners, something WOULD ALWAYS GO WRONG.
MORE INSIDE
From The Ed Show, explaining the link of Bush/The Evil One to this oil spill:
From the NYTimes
But, I thought the Government was bad...oh, so bad. Yet, when these companies don't do what they are supposed to do, then suddenly, they go running to the Government to CLEAN UP THEIR MESSES. They need to be sent the bill-AND BE FORCED TO PAY IT. The SILENCE from the 'Drill, Baby, Drill', contingent has been DEAFENING. I hope the President uses this disaster threefold:
1. to admit that he was wrong.
2. use this as the excuse to PUSH for the Climate Change Bill
3. use this as calling card for the push for alternative energy NOW. the Wind Farm off Massachusetts needs to be just the beginning.
Use opportunities that come your way, Mr. President. Slap the 'Drill' chorus back into oblivion.
This disaster off the coast of Louisiana is the nightmare that those of us who are against offshore drilling feared would come to pass.
They are already comparing this to the Exxon Valdez.
VENICE, La. -- An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control with a faint sheen washing ashore along the Gulf Coast Thursday night as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.
Hours before the spill started washing ashore in Louisiana late Thursday, members of Congress issued new calls for Obama to abandon his plans for expanded offshore drilling, and White House officials conceded that the spreading oil slick could cause the president to rethink his position. "We need to figure out what happened," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "Would a finding of something possibly affect that? Of course."
The outlook in the Gulf of Mexico remained bleak in the wake of the April 20 explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and killed 11 workers. A change in the weather and choppy waters prevented a second burn of oil at sea and slowed efforts by a flotilla of ships to skim the oily mixture from the surface of the gulf, federal officials said. Continuing efforts to use remote-controlled robotic submarines to activate a malfunctioning blowout preventer lying on the sea floor in 5,000 feet of water failed.
I can't speak for everyone else who is against offshore oil drilling, but I can only bring my own reasons - the possibility of disasters like this. No, I don't trust the oil companies as far as I could spit. Combine that with the local industries that will be destroyed as a consequence- in this case, the fishing and tourism industries, and it's just not worth it.
But, the main reason why the oil companies can't be trusted, is because their is no monitoring apparatus in place by government to keep a control over the oil companies. I don't think folks truly understand how much Bush, The Evil One and their buddies absolutely GUTTED those in the government who would protect the environment. Not just the political appointees, but they proceeded with a systematic gutting of the 'permanent government' employees - those employees that keep the structure of the departments going, despite who is the President of the United States. They took flunkies from the oil industry, those who could care less about protecting the coasts, and only see them as a place to rape, pillage, plunder and make money, no matter what the costs to the peoples who would be effected if something would go wrong. AND, because of the way they cut corners, something WOULD ALWAYS GO WRONG.
MORE INSIDE
From The Ed Show, explaining the link of Bush/The Evil One to this oil spill:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
From the NYTimes
NEW ORLEANS — The response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico intensified abruptly on Thursday, with the federal government intervening more aggressively as the rapidly growing slick drifted ever closer to the fragile coastline of Louisiana.
Resources from the United States Navy were marshaled to supplement an operation that already consisted of more than 1,000 people and scores of vessels and aircraft.
Calling it “a spill of national significance” which could threaten coastline in several states, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the creation of a second command post in Mobile, Ala., in addition to the one in Louisiana, to manage potential coastal impact ihttp://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/blog/wp-admin/post-new.phpn Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered an immediate review of the 30 offshore drilling rigs and 47 production platforms operating in the deepwater Gulf, and is sending teams to conduct on-site inspections.
The oil slick was only three miles offshore on Thursday afternoon and was expected to hit coastal Louisiana as early as Thursday night, prompting Gov. Bobby Jindal to declare a state of emergency and to request the participation of the National Guard in response efforts. About 40,000 feet of boom had been placed around Pass-a-Loutre, the area of the Mississippi River Delta where the oil was expected to touch first, a spokesman for Mr. Jindal said.
The Navy provided 50 contractors, 7 skimming systems and 66,000 feet of inflatable containment boom, a spokesman said. About 210,000 feet of boom had been laid down to protect the shoreline in several places along the Gulf Coast, though experts said that marshlands presented a far more daunting cleaning challenge than sandy beaches.
But, I thought the Government was bad...oh, so bad. Yet, when these companies don't do what they are supposed to do, then suddenly, they go running to the Government to CLEAN UP THEIR MESSES. They need to be sent the bill-AND BE FORCED TO PAY IT. The SILENCE from the 'Drill, Baby, Drill', contingent has been DEAFENING. I hope the President uses this disaster threefold:
1. to admit that he was wrong.
2. use this as the excuse to PUSH for the Climate Change Bill
3. use this as calling card for the push for alternative energy NOW. the Wind Farm off Massachusetts needs to be just the beginning.
Use opportunities that come your way, Mr. President. Slap the 'Drill' chorus back into oblivion.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
American Oil Drilling, Besieged Pope, Studying Laughter, Birds DNA Give Clues to Our Speech - News Headlines 31 Mar 2010
1963 Letter Suggests Pope Knew of Abuse: (CBS) Head of Order that Oversaw Treatment of Pedophile Priests Recommended Removing them from Active Ministry. The head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in the treatment of pedophile priests visited with the then-pope nearly 50 years ago and followed up with a letter recommending the removal of pedophile priests from ministry, according to a copy of the letter released Wednesday.
In the Aug. 27, 1963 letter, the head of the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete tells the pope he recommends removing pedophile priests from active ministry and strongly urges defrocking repeat offenders.
The letter, written by the Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald, appears to have been drafted at the request of the pope and summarizes Fitzgerald's thoughts on problem priests after his Vatican visit.
A message left with the Paraclete order at one of their two existing facilities in Missouri was not returned. A number for the second facility was disconnected.
Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, defended the church and said it was unlikely Paul VI ever saw the letter.
"The fact of the matter is, the prevailing ideas at the time about how to deal with abusive behavior were not adequate," Tamberg said. "Clearly, society and the church have evolved new understandings of what causes sexually abusive behavior and how to deal with it."
Fitzgerald opens the five-page letter by thanking the pope for an audience the day before and says he is summarizing his thoughts at the pope's request on the "problem of the problem priest" after 20 years working in to treat them.
He tells Paul VI that treatment for priests who have succumbed to "abnormal, homosexual tendencies" should include psychiatric, as well as spiritual, counseling - but goes on to warn about the dangers of leaving those individuals in ministry.
"Personally, I am not sanguine of the return of priests to active duty who have been addicted to abnormal practices, especially sins with the young," Fitzgerald wrote.
"Where there is indication of incorrigibility, because of the tremendous scandal given, I would most earnestly recommend total laicization," he wrote. "I say 'total' ... because when these men are taken before civil authority, the non-Catholic world definitely blames the discipline of celibacy for the perversion of these men."
The letter proves that Vatican officials knew about clergy abuse decades ago and should have done more to protect children, said Tony DeMarco, an attorney for clergy abuse victims in Los Angeles....
Obama Sees Value in "Drill, Baby, Drill": (CBS) It may be hard to remember now, but one of the defining disputes of the 2008 presidential campaign -- at least until the economy collapsed -- was offshore drilling.
Republicans, looking to capitalize on Americans' concerns about high gas prices (as well, perhaps, as lingering resentments in their base toward the environmental movement) turned "drill, baby, drill" into a mantra that was lustily chanted by delegates at the party's national convention.
Today, President Obama essentially answered that call with: "You got it."
While his decision to open up the southern Atlantic coastline and some other areas to offshore drilling may not have entirely appeased Republicans -- House Republican Leader John Boehner complained that it did not go far enough -- it nonetheless played like a repudiation of some of the beliefs of some of the most passionate members of his base...
The president acknowledged such criticism in his comments today, saying that "there will be those who strongly disagree with this decision, including those who say we should not open any new areas to drilling." But he insisted that new drilling was a legitimate part of a comprehensive strategy to shift toward a clean energy economy.
In a press briefing following Mr. Obama's statements, White House spokesman Bill Burton made a similar argument, insisting that the president's plan represents a sensible middle ground. The approach, he said, is "a lot less 'drill baby drill' and more 'drill where it's responsible.'"
There appears to be a political calculation at play here: The White House is pushing forward with efforts to pass a climate change bill, and Lindsey Graham, the Senate Republican involved in the bipartisan effort to craft a bill, has stated flatly that he wouldn't support the bill if it "doesn't have off-shore drilling in a meaningful way."
The White House -- which, you'll recall, was willing to jettison the public option from the health care bill in order to get it passed -- seems to once again be displaying its pragmatism with today's announcement. The decision, however, has left even some liberals sympathetic to a pragmatic strategy scratching their head.
The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen noted that the initial White House strategy on energy seemed to involve a quid-pro-quo arrangement in which Republicans got offshore drilling and Democrats got cap-and-trade as part of an energy bill. But cap-and-trade seems to be effectively dead, leaving Benen wondering what the Obama administration is getting for its trouble.
"In February, the president cleared the way for the first new U.S. nuclear power plants in more than 30 years. Today, the president will reportedly open up new opportunities for coastal drilling," he wrote. "In other words, Obama has already effectively given Republicans what they wanted on energy. What is he getting in return?"
What he may be getting is credit for trying to craft legislation in a bipartisan way. The White House was stung during the health care debate by charges that Democrats were working unilaterally; to address that claim before the final push on behalf of the legislation, the president hosted a bipartisan summit designed to convince Americans that he was open to Republican ideas.
More Mortgage Modification: (CBS) What is the new government program doing for those whose mortgages are with Deutsche National Bank, which is out of the country and refuses to work with you AT ALL? After hundreds of phone calls to their "United States office in New York", my son gets the same answer ...whoever your "lender" is has been given the power of attorney to handle your mortgage. The lender reverses to an automatic "We cannot help you".
Maybe the government should LOOK at the packaged loans they have sold EN MASS to outside countries who are not concerned about American mortgages. They couldn't even produce the note to his mortgage. I did an extensive search on Deutsche and they have no reason to work with any of their customers because their holdings reach FAR beyond the United States. Very lucrative.
What a vicious circle the American people have to endure because of our newly elected Administration, but rest assured we realize the REAL equation...NO JOB=NO MONEY=LOW CREDIT SCORE BEGINNING=NO HELP ON YOUR MORTGAGE!
China Likely to Agree to Iran Sanctions: (CBS) Six major world powers have agreed to begin putting together proposed new sanctions on Iran over its suspect nuclear program after China dropped its opposition, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
China, long a holdout against fresh international penalties against Iran, signaled its willingness to consider a United Nations Security Council sanctions resolution, the officials said.
Speaking at the U.N., Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the officials had "accurately described" the position of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany. She did not elaborate but said the group, known as the "P5-plus-one," was unified...
China's change of position improves prospects for passing a resolution aimed at pressuring Iran to scale back its nuclear ambitions, which Tehran insists are limited to developing nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
President Barack Obama had said Tuesday he hoped to have Iran sanctions in place within weeks - a timetable that appeared highly ambitious given China's previous reluctance to even discuss specific sanctions. China had insisted that negotiation with Iran needed to be pursued.
On Wednesday, however, two U.S. officials said that in a phone call among officials from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, the Chinese representative said his country was prepared to discuss specific potential sanctions...
The Obama administration is hoping to get a U.N. resolution by the end of April. Clinton has not publicly cited a specific timetable but in recent days has sounded more optimistic about the chances of getting China to agree that new penalties are needed to force Iran's hand...
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking to reporters after meeting with Obama at the White House on Tuesday, said Washington and Paris were "inseparable" in their thinking on the subject of Iran sanctions.
"Iran cannot continue its mad race" toward acquiring nuclear weapons," Sarkozy said. "The time has come to take decisions."
GOP Wary of Campaign to Repeal Health Law: (CBS) Despite Conservatives' Crusade to Roll Back Reforms, Top Republicans Fear Doing So Will Alienate Moderates, Independents. Top Republicans are increasingly worried that GOP candidates this fall might be burned by a fire that's roaring through the conservative base: demand for the repeal of President Barack Obama's new health care law.
It's fine to criticize the health law and the way Democrats pushed it through Congress without a single GOP vote, these party leaders say. But focusing on its outright repeal carries two big risks.
Repeal is politically and legally unlikely, and grass-roots activists may feel disillusioned by a failed crusade. More important, say strategists from both parties, a fierce "repeal the bill" stance might prove far less popular in a general election than in a conservative-dominated GOP primary, especially in states such as Illinois and California.
Democrats are counting on that scenario. They say more Americans will learn of the new law's benefits over time and anger over its messy legislative pedigree will fade. For months, Democrats have eagerly catalogued Republican Congressional candidates who pledge to repeal the health care law, vowing to make them pay in November.
Republican leaders are stepping cautiously, wary of angering staunchly conservative voters bent on repealing the new law. In recent public comments, they have quietly played down the notion of repealing the law while emphasizing claims that it will hurt jobs, the economy and the deficit...
President Obama said last week he would relish a Republican bid to repeal the new law.
"My attitude is, go for it," Mr. Obama said in Iowa on Friday. "If these congressmen in Washington want to come here in Iowa and tell small-business owners that they plan to take away their tax credits and essentially raise their taxes, be my guest."
Michelle Obama Blooms in the White House: (CBS) Back in the White House Garden, The First Lady's Popularity is Already Growing by the Bushel. The White House garden has done quite well in weathering the wild winter.
The garden has produced 50 pounds of produce before the tulips even came up.
Fourteen months into her tenure as first lady, Mrs. Obama is enjoying the kind of popularity her husband would jump through hoops for, reports CBS News Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes.
Her approval ratings are blooming at 78 percent, higher than her recent predecessors at similar points in their husband's presidency.
Comparatively, Laura Bush rated at 74 percent, and Rosalyn Carter rated at 59 percent. Hillary Clinton rated at 58 percent and Nancy Reagan at 57 percent.
And she has settled on a signature issue: Childhood obesity.
She is using her clout to chide grocery manufacturers and encouraging innovative ways for kids to get exercise, including hula hooping.
"I love the way that Mrs. Obama has stressed the simple things that people can change to make a huge difference in their lives," says Katherine Tallmadge of the American Dietetic Association. "Things like eating more vegetables. Having a garden and being more physically active.
"They may seem like simple things but study after study show they're effective things."
While Mrs. Obama is known for taking fashion risks, she's taken more pressing risks as well, including talking frankly about race.
"There were kids around my neighborhood who would say oooh you talk funny," Mrs. Obama admitted, candidly. "You talk like a white girl."
She granted an interview with right-leaning Fox News before her husband would.
She hasn't been afraid to get her hands dirty... which seems to be going over well with most Americans.
To Scientists, Laughter Is No Joke: (CBS) Funny How? Scientists Study What's Behind Guffaws And Find Laughter Links Us In Primal Ways. one teaches you how to laugh. You just do. And often you laugh involuntarily, in a specific rhythm and in certain spots in conversation.
You may laugh at a prank on April Fools' Day. But surprisingly, only 10 to 15 percent of laughter is the result of someone making a joke, said Baltimore neuroscientist Robert Provine, who has studied laughter for decades. Laughter is mostly about social responses rather than reaction to a joke.
"Laughter above all else is a social thing," Provine said. "The requirement for laughter is another person."
Over the years, Provine, a professor with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has boiled laughter down to its basics.
"All language groups laugh 'ha-ha-ha' basically the same way," he said. "Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. ... There's a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound."
Each "ha" is about one-15th of a second, repeated every fifth of a second, he said. Laugh faster or slower than that and it sounds more like panting or something else.
Deaf people laugh without hearing, and people on cell phones laugh without seeing, illustrating that laughter isn't dependent on a single sense but on social interactions, said Provine, author of the book "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation."
"It's joy, it's positive engagement with life," said Jaak Panksepp, a Bowling Green University psychology professor. "It's deeply social."
And it's not just a people thing either. Chimps tickle each other and even laugh when another chimp pretends to tickle them.
"That's my candidate for the most ancient joke," Provine said. "It's a feigned tickle. That's primal humor..."
Songbird's Genome Carries Speech Clues: (CBS) Scientists have sequenced the complete genome of a songbird - the Australian zebra finch - and say the complex mechanisms by which young birds learn songs from their parents offer insight into human speech acquisition.
The international team, led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, found that most of the bird's DNA is involved in hearing, imitating, and producing even simple melodies.
Because the analysis traces the vocal learning down to the molecular level - and because humans and finches have much of their genomes in common - the research could lead to strides in combating human speech disorders such as those related to autism, stroke, stuttering and Parkinson's disease.
"The zebra finch genome will be a valuable tool for neuroscientists," said lead author Wes Warren. "They can now carry out studies to identify a core set of genes in the zebra finch brain involved in both hearing and producing song and then look to see if any of these genes are disrupted in people with speech disorders."
Singing activates a large swath of the zebra finch's genes - some 800 in all. The researchers found that many of the genes did not manifest in the traditional way, by coding for proteins. Instead the DNA from these genes helps write short stretches of "non-coding RNA," which in turn affects how other genes are expressed in a cascading effect.
Non-coding RNA is already known to play key roles in developmental processes in humans and in animals.
The zebra finch is only the second bird to have its genome decoded. The first was the chicken. The research is set to appear in the journal Nature on Thursday.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
How are President Obama and the Democrats faring in the polls after passing health care? Two conflicting polls.
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In the Aug. 27, 1963 letter, the head of the New Mexico-based Servants of the Holy Paraclete tells the pope he recommends removing pedophile priests from active ministry and strongly urges defrocking repeat offenders.
The letter, written by the Rev. Gerald M.C. Fitzgerald, appears to have been drafted at the request of the pope and summarizes Fitzgerald's thoughts on problem priests after his Vatican visit.
A message left with the Paraclete order at one of their two existing facilities in Missouri was not returned. A number for the second facility was disconnected.
Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, defended the church and said it was unlikely Paul VI ever saw the letter.
"The fact of the matter is, the prevailing ideas at the time about how to deal with abusive behavior were not adequate," Tamberg said. "Clearly, society and the church have evolved new understandings of what causes sexually abusive behavior and how to deal with it."
Fitzgerald opens the five-page letter by thanking the pope for an audience the day before and says he is summarizing his thoughts at the pope's request on the "problem of the problem priest" after 20 years working in to treat them.
He tells Paul VI that treatment for priests who have succumbed to "abnormal, homosexual tendencies" should include psychiatric, as well as spiritual, counseling - but goes on to warn about the dangers of leaving those individuals in ministry.
"Personally, I am not sanguine of the return of priests to active duty who have been addicted to abnormal practices, especially sins with the young," Fitzgerald wrote.
"Where there is indication of incorrigibility, because of the tremendous scandal given, I would most earnestly recommend total laicization," he wrote. "I say 'total' ... because when these men are taken before civil authority, the non-Catholic world definitely blames the discipline of celibacy for the perversion of these men."
The letter proves that Vatican officials knew about clergy abuse decades ago and should have done more to protect children, said Tony DeMarco, an attorney for clergy abuse victims in Los Angeles....
Obama Sees Value in "Drill, Baby, Drill": (CBS) It may be hard to remember now, but one of the defining disputes of the 2008 presidential campaign -- at least until the economy collapsed -- was offshore drilling.
Republicans, looking to capitalize on Americans' concerns about high gas prices (as well, perhaps, as lingering resentments in their base toward the environmental movement) turned "drill, baby, drill" into a mantra that was lustily chanted by delegates at the party's national convention.
Today, President Obama essentially answered that call with: "You got it."
While his decision to open up the southern Atlantic coastline and some other areas to offshore drilling may not have entirely appeased Republicans -- House Republican Leader John Boehner complained that it did not go far enough -- it nonetheless played like a repudiation of some of the beliefs of some of the most passionate members of his base...
The president acknowledged such criticism in his comments today, saying that "there will be those who strongly disagree with this decision, including those who say we should not open any new areas to drilling." But he insisted that new drilling was a legitimate part of a comprehensive strategy to shift toward a clean energy economy.
In a press briefing following Mr. Obama's statements, White House spokesman Bill Burton made a similar argument, insisting that the president's plan represents a sensible middle ground. The approach, he said, is "a lot less 'drill baby drill' and more 'drill where it's responsible.'"
There appears to be a political calculation at play here: The White House is pushing forward with efforts to pass a climate change bill, and Lindsey Graham, the Senate Republican involved in the bipartisan effort to craft a bill, has stated flatly that he wouldn't support the bill if it "doesn't have off-shore drilling in a meaningful way."
The White House -- which, you'll recall, was willing to jettison the public option from the health care bill in order to get it passed -- seems to once again be displaying its pragmatism with today's announcement. The decision, however, has left even some liberals sympathetic to a pragmatic strategy scratching their head.
The Washington Monthly's Steve Benen noted that the initial White House strategy on energy seemed to involve a quid-pro-quo arrangement in which Republicans got offshore drilling and Democrats got cap-and-trade as part of an energy bill. But cap-and-trade seems to be effectively dead, leaving Benen wondering what the Obama administration is getting for its trouble.
"In February, the president cleared the way for the first new U.S. nuclear power plants in more than 30 years. Today, the president will reportedly open up new opportunities for coastal drilling," he wrote. "In other words, Obama has already effectively given Republicans what they wanted on energy. What is he getting in return?"
What he may be getting is credit for trying to craft legislation in a bipartisan way. The White House was stung during the health care debate by charges that Democrats were working unilaterally; to address that claim before the final push on behalf of the legislation, the president hosted a bipartisan summit designed to convince Americans that he was open to Republican ideas.
More Mortgage Modification: (CBS) What is the new government program doing for those whose mortgages are with Deutsche National Bank, which is out of the country and refuses to work with you AT ALL? After hundreds of phone calls to their "United States office in New York", my son gets the same answer ...whoever your "lender" is has been given the power of attorney to handle your mortgage. The lender reverses to an automatic "We cannot help you".
Maybe the government should LOOK at the packaged loans they have sold EN MASS to outside countries who are not concerned about American mortgages. They couldn't even produce the note to his mortgage. I did an extensive search on Deutsche and they have no reason to work with any of their customers because their holdings reach FAR beyond the United States. Very lucrative.
What a vicious circle the American people have to endure because of our newly elected Administration, but rest assured we realize the REAL equation...NO JOB=NO MONEY=LOW CREDIT SCORE BEGINNING=NO HELP ON YOUR MORTGAGE!
China Likely to Agree to Iran Sanctions: (CBS) Six major world powers have agreed to begin putting together proposed new sanctions on Iran over its suspect nuclear program after China dropped its opposition, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
China, long a holdout against fresh international penalties against Iran, signaled its willingness to consider a United Nations Security Council sanctions resolution, the officials said.
Speaking at the U.N., Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the officials had "accurately described" the position of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany. She did not elaborate but said the group, known as the "P5-plus-one," was unified...
China's change of position improves prospects for passing a resolution aimed at pressuring Iran to scale back its nuclear ambitions, which Tehran insists are limited to developing nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
President Barack Obama had said Tuesday he hoped to have Iran sanctions in place within weeks - a timetable that appeared highly ambitious given China's previous reluctance to even discuss specific sanctions. China had insisted that negotiation with Iran needed to be pursued.
On Wednesday, however, two U.S. officials said that in a phone call among officials from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, the Chinese representative said his country was prepared to discuss specific potential sanctions...
The Obama administration is hoping to get a U.N. resolution by the end of April. Clinton has not publicly cited a specific timetable but in recent days has sounded more optimistic about the chances of getting China to agree that new penalties are needed to force Iran's hand...
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking to reporters after meeting with Obama at the White House on Tuesday, said Washington and Paris were "inseparable" in their thinking on the subject of Iran sanctions.
"Iran cannot continue its mad race" toward acquiring nuclear weapons," Sarkozy said. "The time has come to take decisions."
GOP Wary of Campaign to Repeal Health Law: (CBS) Despite Conservatives' Crusade to Roll Back Reforms, Top Republicans Fear Doing So Will Alienate Moderates, Independents. Top Republicans are increasingly worried that GOP candidates this fall might be burned by a fire that's roaring through the conservative base: demand for the repeal of President Barack Obama's new health care law.
It's fine to criticize the health law and the way Democrats pushed it through Congress without a single GOP vote, these party leaders say. But focusing on its outright repeal carries two big risks.
Repeal is politically and legally unlikely, and grass-roots activists may feel disillusioned by a failed crusade. More important, say strategists from both parties, a fierce "repeal the bill" stance might prove far less popular in a general election than in a conservative-dominated GOP primary, especially in states such as Illinois and California.
Democrats are counting on that scenario. They say more Americans will learn of the new law's benefits over time and anger over its messy legislative pedigree will fade. For months, Democrats have eagerly catalogued Republican Congressional candidates who pledge to repeal the health care law, vowing to make them pay in November.
Republican leaders are stepping cautiously, wary of angering staunchly conservative voters bent on repealing the new law. In recent public comments, they have quietly played down the notion of repealing the law while emphasizing claims that it will hurt jobs, the economy and the deficit...
President Obama said last week he would relish a Republican bid to repeal the new law.
"My attitude is, go for it," Mr. Obama said in Iowa on Friday. "If these congressmen in Washington want to come here in Iowa and tell small-business owners that they plan to take away their tax credits and essentially raise their taxes, be my guest."
Michelle Obama Blooms in the White House: (CBS) Back in the White House Garden, The First Lady's Popularity is Already Growing by the Bushel. The White House garden has done quite well in weathering the wild winter.
The garden has produced 50 pounds of produce before the tulips even came up.
Fourteen months into her tenure as first lady, Mrs. Obama is enjoying the kind of popularity her husband would jump through hoops for, reports CBS News Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes.
Her approval ratings are blooming at 78 percent, higher than her recent predecessors at similar points in their husband's presidency.
Comparatively, Laura Bush rated at 74 percent, and Rosalyn Carter rated at 59 percent. Hillary Clinton rated at 58 percent and Nancy Reagan at 57 percent.
And she has settled on a signature issue: Childhood obesity.
She is using her clout to chide grocery manufacturers and encouraging innovative ways for kids to get exercise, including hula hooping.
"I love the way that Mrs. Obama has stressed the simple things that people can change to make a huge difference in their lives," says Katherine Tallmadge of the American Dietetic Association. "Things like eating more vegetables. Having a garden and being more physically active.
"They may seem like simple things but study after study show they're effective things."
While Mrs. Obama is known for taking fashion risks, she's taken more pressing risks as well, including talking frankly about race.
"There were kids around my neighborhood who would say oooh you talk funny," Mrs. Obama admitted, candidly. "You talk like a white girl."
She granted an interview with right-leaning Fox News before her husband would.
She hasn't been afraid to get her hands dirty... which seems to be going over well with most Americans.
To Scientists, Laughter Is No Joke: (CBS) Funny How? Scientists Study What's Behind Guffaws And Find Laughter Links Us In Primal Ways. one teaches you how to laugh. You just do. And often you laugh involuntarily, in a specific rhythm and in certain spots in conversation.
You may laugh at a prank on April Fools' Day. But surprisingly, only 10 to 15 percent of laughter is the result of someone making a joke, said Baltimore neuroscientist Robert Provine, who has studied laughter for decades. Laughter is mostly about social responses rather than reaction to a joke.
"Laughter above all else is a social thing," Provine said. "The requirement for laughter is another person."
Over the years, Provine, a professor with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has boiled laughter down to its basics.
"All language groups laugh 'ha-ha-ha' basically the same way," he said. "Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. ... There's a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound."
Each "ha" is about one-15th of a second, repeated every fifth of a second, he said. Laugh faster or slower than that and it sounds more like panting or something else.
Deaf people laugh without hearing, and people on cell phones laugh without seeing, illustrating that laughter isn't dependent on a single sense but on social interactions, said Provine, author of the book "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation."
"It's joy, it's positive engagement with life," said Jaak Panksepp, a Bowling Green University psychology professor. "It's deeply social."
And it's not just a people thing either. Chimps tickle each other and even laugh when another chimp pretends to tickle them.
"That's my candidate for the most ancient joke," Provine said. "It's a feigned tickle. That's primal humor..."
Songbird's Genome Carries Speech Clues: (CBS) Scientists have sequenced the complete genome of a songbird - the Australian zebra finch - and say the complex mechanisms by which young birds learn songs from their parents offer insight into human speech acquisition.
The international team, led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, found that most of the bird's DNA is involved in hearing, imitating, and producing even simple melodies.
Because the analysis traces the vocal learning down to the molecular level - and because humans and finches have much of their genomes in common - the research could lead to strides in combating human speech disorders such as those related to autism, stroke, stuttering and Parkinson's disease.
"The zebra finch genome will be a valuable tool for neuroscientists," said lead author Wes Warren. "They can now carry out studies to identify a core set of genes in the zebra finch brain involved in both hearing and producing song and then look to see if any of these genes are disrupted in people with speech disorders."
Singing activates a large swath of the zebra finch's genes - some 800 in all. The researchers found that many of the genes did not manifest in the traditional way, by coding for proteins. Instead the DNA from these genes helps write short stretches of "non-coding RNA," which in turn affects how other genes are expressed in a cascading effect.
Non-coding RNA is already known to play key roles in developmental processes in humans and in animals.
The zebra finch is only the second bird to have its genome decoded. The first was the chicken. The research is set to appear in the journal Nature on Thursday.
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