Miami Herald slide show here. Lots of celebrities in attendance, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Martha Stewart, P. Diddy, Kate Hudson, Paris Hilton and Heidi Klum, to name just a few.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Hundreds protest Florida's gay marriage ban
From The Miami Herald.
Hundreds came to Miami Beach City Hall Saturday afternoon as part of a national Join the Impact movement to protest this month's passage of anti-gay-marriage laws in Florida, California and Arizona. About 1,000 protested in Fort Lauderdale.
See here (lots of photos).
'Saving Detroit From Itself'
New York Times editorial here.
We have seen a lot of posturing, but we haven’t heard a lot of sense in the debate over whether the government should spend even more to bail out Detroit’s foundering automakers.
Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican of Alabama, is wrong when he says that the troubles of the Big Three are “not a national problem.” The Detroit companies support nearly 250,000 workers and more than a million retirees and dependents, as well as millions of workers at part makers and dealerships. A messy bankruptcy filing by any of the big car companies, in the midst of this recession, would likely cost the government and the economy more than trying to keep them afloat.
At the same time, Congressional Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama, who are pushing for many billions worth of emergency aid for the nation’s least-competent carmakers, must ensure that tough conditions are attached to any rescue package. If not, the money will surely be wasted. . . .
The automakers hitched their fate to gas-guzzling trucks, and they obstinately refused to acknowledge that oil is a finite resource and that burning it limitlessly is harming the planet. They lobbied strenuously against tighter fuel-efficiency standards. That wrongheadedness did them in as gas prices spiked and consumers flocked to energy-efficient cars made by Toyota and Honda. . . .
'Keep Lieberman in the Caucus (For Now)'
This also from The Nation.
Lieberman's ridiculous appearance at last summer's Republican National Convention should have been sufficient punishment for the senator from Connecticut. After all, the man who was himself the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000 had to try and find nice things to say about McCain's veep pick, the absurdly unqualified Sarah Palin.
But there are many Democrats who now propose to purge Lieberman from the party's Senate caucus -- a move that would strip him of committee assignments and the advantages that accrue to a senior senator serving with the protection of the majority party. The issue will come to a head in short order, as the new Senate majority determines whether to kick this particular senator out of the club.
Were I a senator, I'd oppose the purge.
It is not that I have any particular taste for Lieberman or his policies. I have interviewed the man a number of times and covered him in many settings and, frankly, he has always impressed me as a self-serving petty moralist who is a bit too bemused by himself . . . .
But it strikes me that purging members from caucuses never looks very good and never has the desired effect of achieving the ever-illusive goal of ideological purity. . . .
My sense is that Democrats would be wiser to keep Lieberman in the Democratic circle for so long as he sides with the caucus on cloture votes. After all, if Al Franken prevails in the Minnesota recount and Jim Martin wins the Georgia run-off -- both serious prospects -- a Democratic caucus that includes Lieberman will have 59 Senate seats. And if Alaska's Nick Begich comes from behind as that state counts the last of its ballots -- a more remote prospect -- a Democratic caucus that includes Lieberman will have the 60 seats needed to block a Republican filibuster. . . .
If Democrats did somehow get to 60 in the Senate, and if Lieberman then betrayed the party on a critical vote, that would be the point at which to debate expelling him from the caucus.
At this point, the discussion sounds more like venting than smart, or serious, politics.
So there, Rachel Maddow!! (And this is ridiculous.)
'Obama's New Deal'
"Obama has an opportunity to further racial and economic justice by fusing the New Deal and civil rights traditions." See The Nation here.
Time magazine cover
Like this cover, though. I think Obama will be the new FDR. He's got the mandate and the smarts. See here.
'Will a Glamorous Hotel Resurrect Miami?'
What a stupid headline. I didn't know Miami was dead--and I should know, since I live here. (It's not.) Time story here.
When James Bond needed a vacation from fighting Her Majesty's cold war enemies, he stayed at the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach. Now I know why. As the Fontainebleau prepared to re-open this weekend, I watched busty young women in skin-tight uniforms serve fruit drinks to seaside cabanas large enough to have P.O. Box numbers. Supermodel Marissa Miller was posing in a bikini beside a swimming pool as long as her legs, looking a lot like the hottie who fell for Sean Connery in Goldfinger. . . .
'Bailout Money Used to Pay off Gamblers in Credit Defaults'
From Firedoglake here.
In the final push to the election, the New York Times asked what on earth AIG is doing with all the money: $90 bn and counting. The short answer: it’s giving the money to counterparties to credit default swaps as additional collateral for potential losses. AIG apparently has a portfolio of $447 bn in swaps. And who are those counterparties who are getting our bailout money? AIG won’t say, and neither will the Treasury, if it even knows.
Warren Buffet famously called derivatives, which include swaps, the neutron bomb of financial instruments, having the potential to destroy the financial system, presumably leaving the buildings and some of the people standing. It looks like one of the groups getting neutroned is us taxpayers. . . .
For an explanation of these instruments, see here.
Friday night late
Not much to write about.
I'll say that if I were Hillary Clinton, I wouldn't take the job as Secretary of State.
Also, regarding Joe Lieberman's retention of his committee chairmanship in the Senate, I tend to agree with Evan Bayh, who appeared on Rachel Maddow's show the other day. Here's what Rachel said last night:
I have to say, I'm not terribly impressed with Rachel Maddow (or her show). I think the Dem leadership and Obama know what they're doing here. Rachel has her own axe to grind.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
'AIDS Patient Is Reported Cured'
AIDS of course is the deadly immune deficiency syndrome resulting from untreated infection by the HIV virus. Nowadays people can become infected with HIV and potentially never get AIDS (thank God--no, thank science for that, and then you can thank God for science). If you can cure HIV infection, nobody will get AIDS (unless another virus comes along). I'd read this story earlier on AP and thought the Times would have reported it better. NYT story here.
Doctors in Berlin are reporting that they cured a man of AIDS by giving him transplanted blood stem cells from a person naturally resistant to the virus.
But while the case has novel medical implications, experts say it will be of little immediate use in treating AIDS. Top American researchers called the treatment unthinkable for the millions infected in Africa and impractical even for insured patients in top research hospitals.
“It’s very nice, and it’s not even surprising,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “But it’s just off the table of practicality.”
The patient, a 42-year-old American resident in Germany, also has leukemia, which justified the high risk of a stem-cell transplant. Such transplants require wiping out a patient’s immune system, including bone marrow, with radiation and drugs; 10 to 30 percent of those getting them die.
“Frankly, I’d rather take the medicine,” said Dr. Robert C. Gallo, director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, referring to antiretroviral drugs.
Moreover, the chances of finding a donor who is a good tissue match for the patient and also has the rare genetic mutation that confers resistance to H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, are extremely small. Nonetheless, the man has been free of the virus for 20 months even though he is not using antiretroviral drugs, and the success in his case is evidence that a long-dreamed-of therapy for AIDS — injecting stem cells that have been genetically re-engineered with the mutation — might work. . . .
Andrew Sullivan: 'Why Palin Still Matters'
It seems Andrew Sullivan is getting smart, at last, and maybe starting to be of help (instead of being a persistent part of our national problem). I've often thought he came to this country for all the wrong reasons. From his post here:
Some readers think my continuing attempt to expose all the lies and flim-flam and bizarre behavior of Sarah Palin is now moot. She's history - they argue. Move on. I think she probably is history. Even Bill Kristol [see here] and his minions in the McCain-Palin campaign may not be able to resuscitate her political viability now. But even if she is history, she is history that matters.
Let's be real in a way the national media seems incapable of: this person should never have been placed on a national ticket in a mature democracy. She was incapable of running a town in Alaska competently. The impulsive, unvetted selection of a total unknown, with no knowledge of or interest in the wider world, as a replacement president remains one of the most disturbing events in modern American history. That the press felt required to maintain a facade of normalcy for two months - and not to declare the whole thing a farce from start to finish - is a sign of their total loss of nerve. That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth in national government is particularly troubling. 46 percent of Americans voted for the possibility of this blank slate as president because she somehow echoed their own sense of religious or cultural "identity". Until we figure out how this happened, we will not be able to prevent it from happening again. And we have to find a way to prevent this from recurring.
It happened because John McCain is an incompetent and a cynic and reckless beyond measure. To have picked someone he'd only met once before, without any serious vetting procedure, revealed McCain as an utterly unserious character, a man whose devotion to the shallowest form of political gamesmanship trumped concern for his country's or his party's interest. We need a full accounting of the vetting process: who was responsible for this act of political malpractice? How could a veep not be vetted in any serious way? Why was she not asked to withdraw as soon as the facts of her massive ignorance and delusional psyche were revealed? . . .
This deluded and delusional woman still doesn't understand what happened to her; still has no self-awareness; and has never been forced to accept her obvious limitations. She cannot keep even the most trivial story straight; she repeats untruths with a ferocity and calm that is reserved only to the clinically unhinged; she has the educational level of a high school drop-out; and regards ignorance as some kind of achievement. It is excruciating to watch her - but more excruciating to watch those who feel obliged to defend her.
Her candidacy, in short, was indefensible. It remains indefensible. Until the mainstream media, the GOP establishment, and the conservative intelligentsia acknowledge the depth of their error, this blog will keep demanding basic accountability. . . .
Home Depot almost done here
(I signed the contract on May 4th.) It's looking good. Today the electrician and electrical inspector came. Passed inspection. Fan and lights are up, but the lights no longer dim (and they are very bright). The fan works great, though.
They were also supposed to install a fan here in the "computer room" today but their electrical parts supplier didn't have a part, so an electrician will come back next Saturday to install the fan and also to replace the dimmer in the kitchen.
Now I can wipe out all the cabinets and start putting stuff back inside them.
'Bush Pitches "Free Markets" In Speech As Bailouts Continue'
It's the free-market, laissez-faire ideology that got us into this mess in the first place. See TPM here.
Socialism for the rich
Bush cronies cash in on financial crisis (just as they cashed in on the Iraq War). We can't have Obama in office soon enough. See Digby here.
Dingbat speaks in Miami
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Wednesday night
Feeling better but I still have that bug. No nausea, however. Just the other. I hate being sick.
Big day here today and another one coming tomorrow. Electrician and plumber were here for hours. Right now I'm running the dishwasher for the first time since the beginning of July (or the end of June). The stove works again, but it's not plugged in since I had to spackle around the outlet. The new disposer works great--you can barely hear it. (The plumber said not to make the mistake of leaving it on, since it makes practically no noise when nothing's being disposed of.)
The plumber's work is done--he replaced valves, etc. Nothing leaking. The electrician will be back tomorrow for the final electrical inspection. If passed, he'll be able to re-install the recessed lights, which are still dangling down from the ceiling. He'll also install two ceiling fans.
Sears was also here today, delivering and installing the new microwave oven above the stove.
The plumber warned me about the thinness of the water line from the water source to the refrigerator and showed me what he would have installed. He said if the cabinets start getting wet (from a leak in the line) to call him. Actually, the brand new line I recently bought at Home Depot is the same thickness as the one originally installed by Sears when they connected the refrigerator to the water supply, and it's what the Home Depot kitchen designer picked out for me. So I can't be too worried.
I think the plumber is kind of a crackpot or alarmist. At first he said--much to my dismay, the day he first came here--he wouldn't be able to install the new disposer since the water drained out of it at a level slightly lower than the drain pipe coming out of the wall. Then he found a solution. (He extended the trap to a level below the disposer, so that water wouldn't accumulate in the disposer.) Today he was constantly bitching about Home Depot (the kitchen expediter in particular), saying they should have brought him in before the cabinets were installed and that he wasn't being paid enough for the work he was doing. I don't know. This morning I got a call from the Home Depot kitchen expediter and, over the phone, paid an extra $200+ to his company (i.e., over and above the plumbing charge I'd already pre-paid) before the plumber got here to do this work. I did tell him I'd had trouble with Home Depot myself, and that I hadn't had water since July 2.
Took a two-hour nap after the guys left.
Tonight I was hungry and ate dinner at Red Lobster, across the street from Flanigan's. I wanted to try the new wood-fire grilled seafood that's been advertised on TV and was tired of Flanigan's. The lobster was good (ate it all), the scallops had practically no flavor whatsoever (even dipped in drawn butter and lemon juice and salted), and the shrimp were so-so. I had to make a trip to the bathroom before I left. Took the rest of the scallops and shrimp home with me to eat tomorrow. I wasn't going to waste them.
I'm not going back to Red Lobster anytime soon (hadn't been there in years, and I always say that every time I go). Now that I have the kitchen back working again (almost), I can do better by going to the supermarket and getting fresh seafood and cooking it myself. (The lobster tonight may have been fresh--there were dozens of lobsters in the tank in the restaurant--but the scallops and shrimp didn't taste like it.)
Fortunately, I don't have to wake up so early tomorrow morning.
Olbermann on Palin
As one commentator said last night, you don't want to be on the other side of the door when she plows through it.
See here also.
'Sen. Baucus Brings Back the Health Insurance Mandate'
WSJ Health Blog post here (via TPM).
The morning papers bring word that Max Baucus, the powerful Montana Dem who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, is rolling out a big health reform plan today.
It has a lot in common with Barack Obama’s plan, and at least one major difference: It would require everyone to buy health insurance.
There is a bit of deja vu here. We heard a lot about an insurance mandate during the Democratic primaries, because Hillary Clinton, like Baucus, argued that everyone should be required to buy health insurance. Obama says all children should be required to have health insurance, but has not supported a mandate for adults.
Both the Obama and Baucus plans would offer government-backed plans to more citizens, and would bar insurers from denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. The Baucus plan seems to acknowledge that, without a mandate, this could give people an incentive to wait until they are sick to buy insurance.
“Insurance works because policyholders pay into their plans when healthy, and have their medical bills paid when they are sick,” he said in his proposal, the WSJ reports. . . .
