The Nightowl Newswrap

by: BG & YD bring you the news

Tue Dec 14, 2010 at 23:15:00 PM CST

• They're just not that into you, Silvio. "Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has narrowly won a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament by 314 to 311, prompting street protests. In Rome, violent clashes have left 50 police officers and at least 40 protesters injured. The marchers set fire to cars, threw stones and overturned bins in Italy's worst street violence in recent years. Mr Berlusconi's critics say he is too deeply mired in scandal and corruption allegations to remain in office. The Italian prime minister, 74, is halfway through a five-year term but his position has been weakened by a series of scandals, largely involving his relationships with women."

• Maybe not war crimes, but damn close. "Former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders are accused of serious human rights abuses, including organ and drug trafficking in a report from the human rights body, the Council of Europe. A draft copy, seen by the BBC, names Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's current prime minister and wartime political leader of the KLA, 27 times in as many pages. The Kosovo government has dismissed the draft as "baseless and defamatory"."

• There are armed security people at Florida school board meetings? "A gunman who opened fire during a Florida school board meeting has been shot by a local security chief, school officials in the US state say. They say the chief - who is a former board member - shot the attacker at the Bay District School in Panama City. Some reports say the gunman died. There were no other injuries, the officials say. This has not been confirmed by local police. The motive for the shooting remains unclear. A local reporter for WMBB television said the gunman approached the podium during Tuesday's board meeting and said he had motion. The reporter said the man then pulled a can of red spray paint and drew a "V" with a circle around it, before he started talking. One school board member hit the gunman with her handbag and he then opened fire randomly. The security chief, named as Mike Jones, later shot the gunman."

• But Farc can't be terrorists - they're not muslins! "A US court has indicted a Dutch member of the Colombian Farc rebel group on kidnapping charges. Tanja Nijmeijer joined the left-wing guerrilla group shortly after her arrival in Colombia, and is believed to be still at large. The court accuses her of hostage-taking and "conspiracy to provide support to terrorists". The federal grand jury says she was part of a group of Farc rebels who kidnapped three American contractors. The three, Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howe, were taken hostage by the Farc after their plane crashed in the jungle."

• It's a sad day when commies sink to the level of Randian capitalists, exploiting the helpless. "Chinese police are investigating reports that a group of people with mental disabilities have been working in slave-like conditions. The 11 workers were apparently sold by an unauthorised charitable organisation to a factory in the country's north-west. Reports say the workers were unpaid and lived in appalling conditions. This is not the first time a case like this has been uncovered in China, where there are no independent trade unions. Media reports suggest the workers lived as virtual slaves. They were given no pay, no protective clothing and had not showered for years, according to the Global Times newspaper. They apparently had to eat the same food as the factory owner's dogs. One man said he twice tried to escape but was caught and badly beaten."

• While your attention is focused on Iran, the real threat is elsewhere. "North Korea has "at least one other" uranium enrichment site in addition to the one shown to US experts last month, the US State Department has said. The country's enrichment programme "reflects work being done at at least one other site", a spokesman said. A New York Times report quoted unnamed intelligence officials, saying North Korea was using "significantly more advanced" nuclear technology than Iran. Enriched uranium can be used for nuclear fuel or made into weapons."

• Their naive and silly belief in the tax fairy would be cute and funny if the results weren't so tragic "Yesterday, the Senate approved the tax deal that President Obama negotiated with Congressional Republicans by an 83-15 vote. The legislation now moves to the House, where Democrats are saying that they might tinker with the estate tax cut that Republicans are insisting upon. ... But it isn't only on the left that opposition to the deal exists. A few House Republicans have disparaged the deal for including too few tax cuts and too much help for the jobless. In a USA Today op-ed today, former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) - who is consistently mentioned amongst GOP 2012 hopefuls - came to the same conclusion, saying that a two-year extension of all of the Bush tax cuts is too short, while a one-year extension of unemployment benefits is too expensive. ... Romney also criticizes the deal's payroll tax reduction for adding to the deficit. But then, in order to get around the fact that he favors permanent extension of the entire Bush tax cut package (at a cost of $4 trillion over the next decade), Romney asserts that such an extension will actually increase revenues."

• We're with you, Steve.  President Obama has appointed Jon Bon Jovi to a new advisory board dedicated to providing advice on "the best ways to mobilize citizens, nonprofits, businesses and government to work more effectively together to solve specific community needs." In his mini-report tonight, Steve Benen said that he was ready to start hearing rumors of Jon Bon Jovi's immenent political career any day now, and wanted to know who was with him. We are. Because frankly -- we could do worse than a personable, likable, engaging, intelligent, well-informed, liberal who can work a crowd of a hundred thousand or so, so why the hell not?

• Georgia inmates use cell phones to coordinate non-violent strike "Using cellphones, inmates in as many of 10 of Georgia's correctional facilities have successfully organized a peaceful protest against what they see as cruel and unusual punishment. ... The prisoners acquired phones from guards, enabling them to plan their grassroots demonstration. ... "The protest began Thursday, but inmates said that organizers had spent months building a web of disparate factions and gangs - groups not known to cooperate - into a unified coalition using text messaging and word of mouth," The New York Times reported. ... In what was intended to be a one-day strike but has lasted six, prisoners vowed to stay in their cells, refused work assignments and other activities. The Georgia Department of Corrections has not publicly acknowledged the strike. ... "This is a groundbreaking event not only because inmates are standing up for themselves and their own human rights, but because prisoners are setting an example by reaching across racial boundaries which, in prisons, have historically been used to pit oppressed communities against each other," Bruce A. Dixon noted, writing for the Black Agenda Report."

• The closer we get to the inevitable repeal of DADT, the more hysterical some of those who oppose discarding the policy get. A shrieking queen has nothing on Marine Corps Comandant General James Amos, who is now insisting that if the policy is discarded, it will cost the lives of straight (read that as "better" and "more desirable") soldiers because they might be distracted. This is ridiculous, of course. First of all, there are plenty of gay members of the military serving already. Second, the same thing was said about the integration of blacks and women into forward operating units.

• Constitutional purist Allen West has no use for the First Amendment "After the whistleblower website WikiLeaks began leaking hundreds of diplomatic cables sent by U.S. embassies and diplomatic staff across the world, a number of politicians and pundits have called for extraordinary measures to silence WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. For instance, conservative bloggers and Fox News personality Mike Huckabee have called for Assange to be killed. ... The political assault against WikiLeaks has increasingly focused on efforts to chill the freedom of the press. Last week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) raised the stakes by suggesting that the New York Times should be investigated by the Justice Department for reporting on the WikiLeak cables. On a right-wing Internet radio station last week, Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL) condemned Assange, and said that he thought the government "should be censoring the American news agencies which enabled him to do this." He added that American media outlets which "supported him and applaud[ed]" the WikiLeaks release should also be censored."

• The right killed us last month by first killing ACORN "Long before voters hit the scanner box this bleak electoral season, Republicans knew they'd already scored a huge win: Thanks to a fusillade of hyped-up stories and pumped-up investigations, they'd succeeded in knocking out an organization with a well-honed ability to turn out large numbers of people likely to vote for the other side: Acorn. ... Most local Acorn chapters closed in the wake of last year's sensational right-wing video stings, escapades that on closer inspection turned out to be just more YouTube foolery. On election day, what was left of the organization announced for bankruptcy. "Acorn has fought the good fight," said executive director Bertha Lewis, who was recruited while battling her landlord in an ailing Bronx tenement. ... Not that the now-defunct national community organizing group alone could have turned the GOP/Tea Party tide. But it's not a big leap of faith to believe that in a few races it might well have made a difference."

• This is sedition, and charges are clearly in order. On his radio program today, Glenn Beck pleaded with members of the active duty military "if you're in special ops, please - please - tell your friends, wake them up" about the revolution he has been insisting for days is already underway.

• KC Mayor asks U.S. Attorney to investigate KC Port Authority "Mayor Mark Funkhouser has asked U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips to consider assigning an investigator to examine the Kansas City Port Authority. ... Funkhouser's letter Tuesday to federal authorities came in response to an article Sunday in The Kansas City Star examining allegations of a potential conflict of interest involving one of the Authority's attorneys, William Session. ... Also Tuesday, several members of the City Council said they wanted an immediate audit of the agency - and at least one councilman questioned whether the Authority needs to be dissolved. ... "As Mayor of the city of Kansas City, Missouri, I...ask that you take what steps you feel are appropriate to ensure that all applicable laws are being followed by the Port Authority and its agents," Funkhouser said in his two-page letter to Phillips obtained by The Star."

• We think this guy and his kid are more in need of help than criminal charges "Kansas City police arrested a man Monday night after he abandoned his 6-year-old son at a bus stop in freezing temperatures. ... A woman saw the boy get out of a pickup truck near 91st Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard about 4:15 p.m. She then saw the truck drive away. ... She immediately contacted the boy and told him he could sit in her vehicle. She then drove to a nearby school and called police. ... The boy told police his father could no longer take care of him, so he was supposed to go live with his mother in California. The boy said he packed his belongings, including clothes and his toothbrush. His father dropped him off at a bench and handed him some papers. The father reportedly said the papers were his "ticket" but the papers actually were unemployment documents, according to police reports."

• The Washington Post has been doing a really good job with their year-long investigative series into the gun trade. Every word of every article they have printed so far ought to be required reading.

• They didn't get a pass, they got a  chance "Republicans made major gains in the November elections, but they have yet to win the hearts and minds of the American people, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. ... The midterm elections - where Republicans gained 63 seats to take control of the House of Representatives and added six seats to their Senate minority - were widely seen as a rebuke to President Obama. Still, the public now trusts Obama marginally more than congressional Republicans to deal with the country's main problems in the coming years, 43 to 38 percent. ... The poll suggest that the election results may have been a vote against the status quo, but it was not a broad mandate for Republicans and their agenda. The survey also underscores the degree to which Americans are conflicted about who they believe is setting the agenda in Washington. ... The president's narrow advantage is a striking contrast to the public's mood at this time in 1994 and 2006, the last two midterms where one or both chambers of Congress changed hands. ... After Democrats won back the House and Senate four years ago, they had a large, double-digit lead over President George W. Bush when it came to big issues. Similarly, after the GOP's 1994 landslide, people expressed far more confidence in congressional Republicans than they did in President Bill Clinton. ... In the new poll, just 41 percent of those polled say the GOP takeover of the House is a "good thing." About 27 percent say it is a "bad thing," and 30 percent say it won't make any difference. Most continue to say the Republicans in Congress are not doing enough to compromise with Obama on important issues."

• We aren't superstitious and we don't believe in signs, but this chiropractic group might want to consider relocating to a nice highrise downtown or in one of the medical plazas "Tammy Hatley stopped to ask a doctor whether he wanted a refill on his coffee before she continued to the front desk this morning. ... It may have saved her life. ... An elderly patient arriving for an appointment at Lakewood Chiropractic, 2434 N. Woodlawn, shortly before 10:30 a.m. hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, propelling her car through the wall and into the office. ... Five hours later, it happened again - this time an elderly man broke the freshly replaced front window with his car."

• A cure for AIDS? Maybe. "On the heels of World AIDS Day comes a stunning medical breakthrough: Doctors believe an HIV-positive man who underwent a stem cell transplant has been cured as a result of the procedure. ... Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the "Berlin Patient," received the transplant in 2007 as part of a lengthy treatment course for leukemia. His doctors recently published a report in the journal Blood affirming that the results of extensive testing "strongly suggest that cure of HIV infection has been achieved." ... Brown's case paves a path for constructing a permanent cure for HIV through genetically-engineered stem cells. ... Last week, Time named another AIDS-related discovery to its list of the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2010. Recent studies show that healthy individuals who take antiretrovirals, medicine commonly prescribed for treating HIV, can reduce their risk of contracting the disease by up to 73 percent."

• We would be lying our asses off if we told you we weren't just tickled fuckin' pink watching the teabaggers do amazing contortions and flips "When the good people of South Dakota voted last month to send Republican Kristi Noem to Congress, they probably believed that she would give no quarter to the lobbyists and special interest groups who enjoyed, as she put it, "throwing money at the feet of a member of Congress." ... But since she defeated Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (in part by making an issue of Herseth Sandlin's marriage to a lobbyist), Noem has hired as her new chief of staff . . . a lobbyist! And on Tuesday afternoon, she was scheduled to be the guest of honor at a "Meet & Greet" with Washington high-rollers at the powerhouse lobbying firm Barbour Griffiths Rogers (BGR). Once these boys start throwing money at Noem's feet, she'll soon be chin deep in lobbyist greenbacks."

• Call a Wahhhh-mbulance "To Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's suggestion that the Senate come back the week after Christmas isn't just a way to complete a busy lame duck agenda -- but an attack on people of the Christian faith. ... "It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out," Kyl said today, "frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff." ... To be clear, Reid was suggesting the Senate come back for votes after Christmas and before this Congress ends on Jan. 4."

• We kinda hope we're wrong and there is a hell so Jan Brewer can burn for eternity. "Anxious over serious state deficits, many Republican governors have decried Medicaid as the "monster" eating at the budget. Chief among them is Arizona's Gov. Jan Brewer (R), who is committed to gutting Arizona's Medicaid program at the expense of transplant patients. Ignoring pleas from Democratic lawmakers and transplant patients to restore the $1.4 million in funding to the transplant program, Brewer insists that such "optional," "Cadillac" treatment for the dying must go toward recouping one-tenth of a percent from Arizona's projected budget shortfall. ... Brewer is no stranger to sacrificing the welfare of vulnerable constituents for a buck. But this particularly callous dogma made enough waves across the pond to bring Britain's Channel 4 News Washington correspondent Sarah Smith to her doorstep. Confounded by Brewer's dismissal of the lives her decision damns, Smith asked Brewer "how many people have to die" before she'd reverse her position. Calling the "obvious" question "unfair," Brewer then quipped that "if people are so worried about the transplant patients, then they should ask the federal government in Washington to send us more money.""

• Keep calling them out, Think Progress "Yesterday morning, the Annenberg Public Policy Center's Factcheck.org hosted "Cash Attack 2010," a discussion about political advertising in the 2010 midterm elections. One panel featured an assortment of Republican strategists, including Carl Forti, the director of the Karl Rove front group American Crossroads, and Rob Collins, a former aide to Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) who now leads the Wall Street-funded group called American Action Forum. American Action Forum claims to be a policy think tank, but it spends much of its money on busing volunteers to help Republican candidates, airing attack ads on television and radio against Democrats, and engaging in other partisan activities. Along with the two tax entities of American Crossroads, AAN spent over $70 million helping to elect Republicans in 2010. ... Collins used his time during the panel to explain that AAN played a pivotal role "expanding the playing field" for Republicans to gain additional seats by supplementing the campaign expenditures of candidates and party committees. One of the American Action Forum ads Collins highlighted was called "Ouch," an early attack commercial against Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). The ad depicted Murray wearing her famous tennis shoes stepping through the mud and then literally stomping on the backs of a man and two children. The citation list that backed up the message for the ad claimed that Murray was stepping on children because she voted for H.R. 2, an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). ... Yesterday, ThinkProgress asked Collins to justify how voting to provide children with health insurance is related to stepping on the backs of children. Collins stammered repeatedly before eventually mumbling that SCHIP decreases "opportunity.""

• Cutthroats, cowards, chickenshits and Texans -- we are never surprised by anything any of them do -- especially the assholes to which all four labels apply "Texas State Rep. Aaron Peña, of the state's 40th district, is expected to switch parties today, thereby giving Republicans a super majority in the Texas house, The McAllen Monitor reports. ... Peña was first elected as a Democrat in 2002 and ran unopposed this year. He will bring the GOP to 100 members in the 150 member House. But Peña is actually the second Democrat to flip this week. State Rep. Allan Ritter, who also ran unopposed in November, announced this weekend that he would join the GOP, and is scheduled to appear at a news conference today alongside Gov. Rick Perry and Texas House Speaker Joe Straus. The Dallas Morning News reports that State Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie has called on Ritter to resign. ... Republicans gained 22 seats in the Texas House in November, and a special election is being held today to fill the seat of Republican Rep. Edmund Kuempe, who died of a heart attack after last month's election. A win there would give Republican 101 seats. ... Peña's move is notable because he comes from a traditionally Democratic stronghold, Hidalgo County in south Texas. The Monitor reports that 71 percent of voters there voted a Democratic straight ticket in November. Peña met privately with Hidalgo County Republican Party Chair Javier Villalobos yesterday, and Villalobos told The Rio Grande Guardian afterwords that he was confident Peña would flip."

And finally...

• But how will it survive "frying pan earth"? "Life may have survived a cataclysmic global freeze some 700 million years ago in pockets of open ocean. Researchers claim to have found evidence in Australia that turbulent seas still raged during the period, where microorganisms may have clung on for life. Conditions on what is dubbed "Snowball Earth" were so harsh that most life is thought to have perished. Details are published in the journal Geology. The researchers in Britain and Australia claim to have found deposits in the remote Flinders Ranges in South Australia which bare the unmistakable mark of turbulent oceans.They say the sediments date to the Sturtian glaciation some 700 million years ago, one of two great ice ages of the Cryogenian period associated with the "Snowball Earth" hypothesis. The evidence comes from the Flinders Ranges in South Australia These sediments, they say, prove pockets of open ocean waters must have existed during the period, perhaps supporting microscopic life. The snowball earth hypothesis suggests the land and oceans of our planet were thrown into a deep freeze, the like of which has never been seen before or since."