:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 1.18.2010 ::

:: Obama: King's work is 'living history' ::

USA Today

President Obama sought to transmit Martin Luther King's message across generations today, speaking with a group of senior citizens and their grandchildren at the White House.

The older people discussed their own actions during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, including encounters with King himself, Obama said. It was a good way to remind the other guests that young people played a major role in "one of the great moments in United States history."

The younger people asked many question as they realized how King's work is "living history," Obama said after the meeting in the Roosevelt Room, just steps from the Oval Office itself.

The group also heard from author Taylor Branch, whose three-volume history of the King years is the standard work.

Obama made special note of two guests.

"Mr. Joseph Harvey is 105, and Ms. Mabel Harvey here is the spry young one at 102," Obama said. "And Ms. Harvey just now was whispering in my ear, as you guys were walking in, that this must be the Lord's doing, because we've come a mighty long way."

Read more here.

A L S O

Current events resonate during Martin Luther King Jr. Day events
Washington Post
By Ashley Halsey III and Hamil R. Harris

With Haiti in ruins and the needy closer to home bearing the brunt of a sour economy, the transformation of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday from a day of remembrance to one of action was evident across the Washington region and the nation Monday.

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.
Washington Post

A look at how the Washington area celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

What Would Martin Luther King Make of Twitter?
Huffington Post

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:: President Obama pledges to scour world for terror cells ::

Times Online UK

President Obama vowed to track down and destroy terror cells all over the world last night as he finally ended his silence over a failed Christmas Day plot to blow up an American passenger jet.

The White House said that Mr Obama’s reticence to speak out was designed to reduce the attention focused on an extremist group based in Yemen calling itself al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Islamist organisation led by a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the botched attack in a statement yesterday.

The President took a few minutes out of his holiday in Hawaii to pledge that he would work to keep America safe from attack with further foreign interventions where necessary.

“We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us,” Mr Obama said.

“Whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland."

A new front in the battle against extremists has already been opened in Yemen, where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a former student in London, spent three months earlier this year.

Yemeni government forces, acting on US intelligence and using what officials have admitted was American military hardware, launched air raids on suspected militants in the east of the country on December 17 and again on December 24. At least 60 people were understood to have been killed.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed that the Christmas Day plot was a response to those raids but plans are believed to have pre-dated the US-backed assaults.

Mr Obama has proved willing to sanction military intervention but appears to be less tough than his predecessor in terms of rhetoric.

George W. Bush, who was elected in 2000, responded to the September 11 2001 attacks by pledging to seize bin Laden “dead or alive”. He said would “smoke” extremists out, and taunted “bring ’em on” when asked about insurgents in Iraq.

Despite the potentially devastating impact of Mr Abdulmutallab’s attempt to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Mr Obama was measured in his response.

“The American people should be assured that we are doing everything in our power to keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season,” he said.

The incident prompted stiffer airport boarding measures and authorities warned travellers to expect extra delays in the coming weeks.

Read more here.

A L S O

Obama blames 'systemic failures' in US security
Reuters

A N D

An Obama Christmas
ABC News (blog) - Jon Garcia

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For your consideration. Froehliche Weihnachten!

:: Jesus Hated War -- Why Do Christians Love It So Much? ::

Gary G. Kohls, Consortium News
via Alternet

Belief: There are no "blessed wars". Yet virtually all evangelical, conservative and many mainstream church leaders were active supporters of the Bush wars.

A L S O

Christian Story of Jesus's Birth Is a Myth Born of Politics
Rev. Howard Bess, Consortium News
Belief: Beautiful as it is, the story of the birth of Jesus is a myth born of the political needs of early Christians.

Most of Us Hate X-mas: Let's End That Holiday As We Know It
By Bill McKibben, Grist.org
Environment: If you poll Americans this time of year, far more regard the approaching holidays with dread than anticipation. How can we make Christmas worthwhile again.

Senate Passes Health-Care Reform Bill; Feingold, Rockefeller Issue Appeals to Progressives
Adele Stan, AlterNet
Politics: With no public option or Medicare buy-in, the Senate's health-care reform bill passes in the early hours of Christmas Eve.


Rep. Keith Ellison: Public Option Still Possible If We Get Loud
AlterNet Staff

New Year's Resolutions To Help Make Corporate Fat Cats and Our Politicians Human Again
Jim Hightower, AlterNet
I was working on my list of New Year's resolutions when it occurred to me that some of the people running our country could benefit from my suggestions.

Let's start, then, with those proud-and-loud members of Congress who've adamantly opposed real health insurance reform for workaday Americans. Not only do I include the entire block of Republican lawmakers whose vocabulary is limited to the word "no," but also those pathetic Democrats who've compromised the reform idea into corporate mush. It would be neat (and only fair) for each of these stalwarts of the status quo to make this vow for 2010: "Since I helped kill reform, I will give up the excellent government-paid, socialized health coverage that I get so that I am in the same leaky boat as my constituents."

And here's one for the barons of Wall Street, who continue to float on billions of dollars in government bailout money, yet are grabbing bonus payments for themselves, while pouting that the public is not showing them the love they deserve: "I hereby pledge to go through the 12-step detox program of Greedheads Anonymous to cure my narcissism and become a human being again."

Let's not forget the Obamacans, either! They came into office on an antiwar, anti-fat cat, pro-middle-class program, yet they've expanded their war, catered to fat cats and offered the middle class nothing but "a jobless recovery." Here's the resolution we need from Obama: "In year two of my term, I promise to Democrat-up by getting some economic advisors who've actually met a real worker and downloading some recordings of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to my iPod. I'll also require top officials in my administration to volunteer at least one loved one to go to war in Afghanistan." If only we can get those in charge to make these pledges, we'll all have a happier New Year!

Top 10 Ethics Scandals of 2009
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Politics: Madoff, Sanford and Murtha are just a few who made it onto the top 10 list of the nation's most ethically challenged players of the year.


The Ten Worst Nightmares Bush Inflicted on America
Juan Cole, Informed Comment
Politics: Here are my picks for the top ten worst things about the wretched period, which will continue to follow us until citizens stand up to fix them.

Will Dur$t's Xma$ Gift Wi$h Li$t
By Will Durst, AlterNet

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Just ask anybody. Oh, they’ll tell you. Over and over and over again. On the radio, they’ve been pounding it into our heads ever since November 1st. That’s when a lot of stations went 24/7 Christmas. And every single one of them went 24/7 Christmas ads nauseum. A sixth of a year. Longer than the lifespan of 4 generations of drone ants. More protracted than an entire Minneapolis summer. Double the playoff contention duration of the Detroit Lions.

The problem is, this particular most wonderful time of the year is proving to be a bit less than. More like the most semi- wonderful time of the year or the most not too bad time of the year. Mainly because people like you and me (mostly you) selfishly refuse to stop whining and go out there and do their patriotic duty by sinking deeply into debt to honor the birth of that Jewish hippie kid by buying more stuff than anybody in their right mind really needs. The worst holiday season in recent memory. Except for last year. So, things are looking up. But it’s an odd up.

It is fair to say that a great many of us are not going to find everything we want under the tree. So, making sure that we don’t throw a perfectly good premise out with the financial bath water, let me offer up my annual scathingly incisive yet curiously refreshing, WILL DUR$T’$ 2009 XMA$ GIFT WI$H LI$T. These are the presents that folks may not receive wrapped up with bows this year but certainly deserve.

For Bernie Madoff. A sudden illness that causes him to die peacefully in his sleep.
For Joe Biden. Since his foot spends so much time in his mouth, mint flavored shoelaces.
For Tiger Woods. A marriage mulligan.
For Hall & Oates. Another 500 or so casinos in Las Vegas so Cirque du Soleil finally gets around to doing a show based on them.
For Barack Obama. A reset switch for his Presidency.
For Sarah Palin’s Publisher. More best sellers targeted to people who don’t read. Maybe an “audio book for the deaf” division. Cookbooks for Supermodels.
For the US Economy. A bit more stimulus to goose that whole stimulus thing into action.
For the Mitt Romney and the Rest of the Republican National Committee Looking at 2012. Something else on Sarah. Then again, maybe the Mayans were right.
For Newspaper Headline Writers Everywhere. Something else to write other than “Recession Appears to be Over.”
For Mexican President Calderon. A wall on the border to control our immigration.
For the Imposters Who Crashed the White House. An endorsement deal with Butterfingers.
For the Democrats in Congress. A year’s supply of whole milk to put a little calcium into their spine.
For Medical Science to Study. Dick Cheney’s heart. George Bush’s brain. And Howard Dean's mouth.
For Granny. Someone to ask, if maybe she might not like her plug to be pulled.
For Those 3 Hikers Facing Trial in Iran. Bill Clinton’s attention.
For Glenn Beck. A one way ticket on the clue train.
For South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. See Tiger Woods.
For Joe Lieberman. A diamond-studded collar to befit his position as GOP lap dog.
The State of Texas. A time out, so they stop executing people with IQs of 62. And stop electing them governor as well.

P R O S T !

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:: 1:51:00 AM [+] ::
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:: LHC nears restart after repairs ::

BBC News

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could restart as early as this weekend after more than a year of repairs.

But officials have avoided giving an exact date for sending beams of protons around the 27km (17 mile) circular tunnel which houses the collider.

The LHC was first switched on in 2008, but had to be shut down when a faulty electrical connection caused one tonne of helium to leak into the tunnel.

The vast machine is located 100m below the French-Swiss border.

Operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern), the LHC will recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang.

Two beams of protons will be fired around the tunnel. These beams will travel in opposite directions around the main "ring" at close to the speed of light.

At allotted points around the tunnel, the proton beams will cross paths, smashing into one another with enormous energy.

Scientists hope to see new particles in the debris of these collisions, revealing fundamental new insights into the nature of the cosmos.

Read more here.

A L S O

Earth Destroyed By Large Hadron Collider; Martian Questioned
Wired News

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:: 3:22:00 AM [+] ::
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:: In Germany, an ode to joy ::

Fall of Wall commemorated World leaders attend celebration in Berlin
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service

BERLIN -- For once, Germans celebrated a moment from their tumultuous past without a pang of guilt.

World leaders, aging Cold War luminaries and tens of thousands of spectators packed the center of Berlin on Monday to commemorate a singularly joyful chapter in Germany's national history, the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

On a rainy night, spotlights bathed the Brandenburg Gate in a spectrum of color to mark the anniversary of the night -- Nov. 9, 1989 -- when Berliners spontaneously reunited their divided city and sealed the end of the Cold War.

"Almost everyone can remember what he or she did on that evening," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A young East German physicist at the time, Merkel had just finished her regular Thursday night trip to the sauna when a crowd swept her past a border crossing into West Berlin. "For me, it was one of the happiest moments of my life," she said.

In a symbolic procession, Merkel led a delegation of leaders from the United States, Britain, France and Russia -- the powers that divided and controlled Berlin after World War II -- through the restored Brandenburg Gate, from east to west. Joining her were French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Read more here.

A L S O

Cold War's End -- The Wall Comes Down
Huffington Post

'I'll always associate Beethoven's 7th with the fall of the Berlin wall'
Guardian UK

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:: Barack Obama puts Bush era behind him in UN general assembly speech
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Guardian.co.uk

Barack Obama put the Bush era decisively behind him today in a speech to the United Nations in which he rejected unilateralism in favour of countries working together to problems ranging from the Middle East to Iran and North Korea.

Obama, in his first address to the UN general assembly, pleaded he would need the support of other countries in tackling what described as the world's most intractable problems.

"Make no mistake: this cannot solely be America's endeavour. Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world can not now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone," said.

In contrast with Bush's speeches at the UN that were usually heard in sullen silence, Obama was greeted with two minutes of applause at the end of his 41-minute speech, as well as bursts of appreciation throughout.

But, in contrast with Obama's soaring rhetoric, the UN continues to be bedevilled by divisions and walk outs.

Among the 100-plus world leaders attending were the Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, attending for the first time, and the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chávez. European leaders included Gordon Brown, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the Italian president Silvio Berlusconi.

Highlighting the problems of Obama's call for unity, Ahmadinejad is threatened with a walk out when he delivers his speech because of his reiteration on Friday that there was no Holocaust. The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Carter, was among leaders who said his country would leave its seat empty.

Ahmadinejad, sitting in the fifth row, was among the few leaders not to applaud Obama. Gaddafi, also faced a walk out when he took to the podium immediately after Obama, mainly because of US anger over the release of the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

White House aides made sure that Obama and Gaddafi did not meet and all the members of the US delegation, other than a notetaker and an African specialist, left the chamber when the Libyan leader began a speech that lasted one hour and 40 minutes.

Obama, in the most sweeping foreign policy speech he has delivered since becoming president in January, set out four priorities are: nuclear non-proliferation, Middle East peace, climate change and addressing poverty among developing nations.

There were bursts of applause when he mentioned all these, and when he promised to close the Guantánamo detention centre and push to end the conflict in Sudan.

At the heart of his speech, he promised to work with the UN in a way that Bush had not: "The choice is ours. We can be remembered as a generation that chose to drag the arguments of the 20th century into the 21st.... Or, we can be a generation that chooses to see the shoreline beyond the rough waters ahead; that comes together to serve the common interests of human beings, and finally gives meaning to the promise embedded in the name given to this institution: the United Nations."

Read more here.

Video of the speech.

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:: 3:14:00 PM [+] ::
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:: FCC chief proposes new Net neutrality rules ::

by Marguerite Reardon
CNET News.com

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday outlined a plan to keep the Internet open.

In a speech given at the Brookings Institute, Genachowski proposed that the FCC turn its four principles of network openness official into regulation. And he suggested that the FCC add two more "principles" as part of these new rules.

The existing principles can be summarized this way: Network operators cannot prevent users from accessing lawful Internet content, applications, and services of their choice, nor can they prohibit users from attaching non-harmful devices to the network.

Now Genachowski is proposing two new principles. The first would prevent Internet access providers from discriminating against particular Internet content or applications, while allowing for reasonable network management. The second principle would ensure that Internet access providers are transparent about the network management practices they implement.

Genachowski tried to alleviate fears that the FCC will overstep its bounds and create rules that hamper innovation.

"I am convinced that there are few goals more essential in the communications landscape than preserving and maintaining an open and robust Internet," he said. "I also know that achieving this goal will take an approach that is smart about technology, smart about markets, smart about law and policy, and smart about the lessons of history."

The debate over so-called Net neutrality began heating up about three years ago, when congressional leaders first held hearings on potential laws to ensure that Internet service providers couldn't monkey with traffic. There is no clear definition of the term "Net neutrality," but in general it refers to the concept that Internet users should have unfettered access to content and services. In other words, service providers should not be allowed to either impede or favor access to particular sites or applications.

The discovery that the nation's largest cable operator, Comcast, had slowed down certain kinds of peer-to-peer traffic on its network fanned the flames and sparked public outrage over such practices.

Read more here.

A L S O

Republicans to Push Against Net Neutrality
Washington Post

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